Victorians are being urged to take care in the outdoors after a woman fell down a cliff while taking photos at a popular surfing spot.
The woman, aged in her 20s, fell at Cape Woolamai in Phillip Island and was winched to safety by an air ambulance on Sunday.
She was transferred to the Alfred hospital in Melbourne in a stable condition.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said the woman had been stuck for “some time”, with injuries to her back and upper body.
A Victoria police spokesperson said she fell down the cliff face on Sunday afternoon and confirmed that “crews worked to winch the woman to safety”.
Bass Coast acting police inspector Dave Fyfe told the ABC that the woman’s injuries were not life-threatening but included multiple fractures.
“She’s in hospital now,” he said. “They’re not fatal injuries but they’re still pretty serious.”
Fyfe warned that “physics doesn’t come with a selfie clause and gravity’s a one-way trip”.
“I don’t mean to make light of what happened to her,” he said. “I’m certainly hoping the lady makes a full recovery.”
Phillip Island is a popular tourist destination, particularly due to its world famous penguin colony. But the woman’s fall occurred on the other side of the island to the popular penguin parade.
Fyfe said the incident was a reminder for people to be careful in the outdoors as warmer weather approached.
“She walked off the walking trail and unfortunately she’s taken a tumble down the cliff face,” he said.
“So where there’s tracks, stick to tracks, especially those people who might be visiting this area.”
In 2015, police said two people who fell down a Cape Woolamai cliff face while abseiling were “lucky” to be alive.
The pair were reportedly halfway down the rock wall when they fell 10 metres on to rocks near the waterline, sparking a large rescue effort.
