Bavali was first introduced to ‘rucksack sports’ in 1968 on one of John Davis and Gary Steer’s famous igloo trips into the winter wilderness zone, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Gary took her bouldering at Wahroonga practice rocks in Sydney soon after, and she was hooked, joining the Sydney Rock Climbing Club (S.R.C.) and Uni NSW Mountaineering and Climbing Club. Her forays into cliff climbing, bush walking, caving and canyoning was interrupted during four years of travel and living in spiritual communities in Asia, until returning to Sydney for two years in 1981.

Bavali relocated to Perth, Western Australia in 1984, where she continues her social work career in child protection while studying part time for a Masters in Creative Writing. Her connections with the S.R.C community remains strong, although her love for rock is now quenched only through visiting crags on Common Climber and similar sites online.  Bavali has always been known in S.R.C. circles by her nickname of “Megs”.

Megs on her first rock climb in 1968 at Wahroonga practice rocks, using a manila rope (Photo Credit: John Davis/Gary Steer collection)

Megs on Tombstone Wall (grade 15) in the Blue Mountains, 1983 (Photo Credit: Bavali Hill Collection)

Megs in 2021, now working on a Masters Degree in Creative Writing.

Common Climber Articles

• The Three Sisters (by Bavali "Megs" Hill) - Nineteen-year-old Bavali does her first multi-pitch climb on the West Face of the Three Sisters and reflects on the Aboriginal origin story of the rocks.