Just 17KMs south of Albany, within Torndirrup National Park, is an impressive piece of imaginative engineering that both thrills and frightens the life out of people.

The Gap

2016 saw the opening of two lookout structures at an area known as The Gap. As part of a $6.1 million development, an enormous cantilevered see-through platform was constructed hovering 40-metres above the Antarctic Ocean and reaching out 10-metres from the cliff face. Below, huge waves driven by the ocean wind smash into opposing cliffs in a narrow ravine.

Over tens of thousands of years the sea has cut away at the granite cliffs leaving the narrow Gap as a spectacular natural feature in Western Australia’s most popular National Park.

While some people will quite happily walk to the edge of the platform to take photographs and experience the flex in the stainless steel structure, others will grip onto the handrails while those of an even less confident disposition will happily watch from the comfort of solid ground.

It is absolutely worth donning the brave pants to experience the thunderous power of the waves. I can only begin to imagine what it would be like when a full Southern Ocean storm rolls in.

A smaller platform gives safe and flex-free access to views along the coast.

No crossing the Bridge

Just to the west of the Gap, and a short stroll, is a second and just as impressive feature. This time a completely natural one – a rock bridge known simply as the Natural Bridge. Perhaps not the most imaginatively named but how this bridge remains standing is a wonder.

Like The Gap, the rock along this section of the coast is extremely old dating back 1.2 to 1.6-billion years ago when Australia and the Antarctic plates collided. A fault line has allowed the ocean waves to progressively gnaw away at the granite and gneiss rock creating weaknesses that result in the rock breaking into rectangular blocks.

In the case of Natural Bridge waves have hammered away at the lower laying blocks and pushed them free to topple into the ocean leaving behind a self-supporting bridge. How long this survives is anyone’s guess but in time the bridge will collapse dropping tens of thousands of tonnes of rock into the ocean. That would be an incredible sight to experience but from a very far away point of safety.

The National Park have done a fantastic job with this development providing easy access for all to experience and a large car park too. Being a National Park fees, of course, apply and an automated ticket machine has been provided for those that don’t already have a Parks Pass. Facilities like these cost considerable money to provide and maintain and it will be interesting to learn just how many people pay or consider this just a car park charge.