The grieving family of a Queensland ecologist who tragically died while holidaying in Bali has launched a desperate appeal to bring her body home and, hopefully, fulfil one of her lifelong dreams.
Solo traveller Brianna Cronin, 29, slipped and fell to her death at the famous Kelingking Beach on the Indonesian island of Nusa Penida on Saturday.
The University of Queensland graduate was on a notoriously steep and narrow track to explore the famous landmark when she slipped on loose rock and became stranded on the southern side of the cliff.
She was spotted stranded precariously on a ledge below the path by another tourist, unable to get back to the track and too high up to descend to the beach.
She then suffered a second fall down the rocky cliff, sustaining multiple injuries.
Rescuers spent 90 minutes carrying Ms Cronin’s body back up the clifftop after an earlier attempt to recover it by boat was abandoned due to large and dangerous swells.
Ms Cronin’s body remains in a Bali hospital as her family paid a heartbreaking tribute and launched a public appeal to help bring her home.
‘This is Brianna, our daughter, our sister,’ they said in a video message shared online.
‘She was bubbly, a little quirky, and a friend to everyone. And happiest out in nature.
‘Brianna passed away in Bali, and right now she is so far from home. We need your help to bring her back to Australia so we can hold her close and say goodbye.
‘No family should have to grieve from the other side of the world. We just want our girl home.’
Funds raised through the GoFundMe page will go towards Ms Cronin’s repatriation and funeral costs.
Repatriating a body from Bali to Australia can cost up to $20,000.
Any funds left over will go towards her dream of building a solar-powered greenhouse.
‘On her vision board, under the words ‘Personal Growth,’ she had drawn her dream: an environmentally friendly greenhouse powered by a solar roof, filled with strawberries, blackberries, grapevines and passionfruit, with a cobbled garden path, a café, a yoga studio and a space where people could gather, connect and grow together,’ the family wrote on the fundraiser.
‘Any funds raised beyond the cost of bringing Brianna home will go towards making that dream real, a living place in her honour that carries on her love of nature, wellbeing and community.’
The family also paid a heartbreaking tribute to the former Bunnings worker turned ecologist, who lit up every room she walked into and was a friend to everyone she met.
‘She was a kindred spirit, quirky, bubbly and endlessly curious, with a laugh that pulled everyone in,’ they added.
‘She was always growing, always dreaming, and always making room for other people.’
Ms Cronin also loved nature and travel.
‘She would be the one wandering off the track to look at a mushroom, crouching beside tiny wildflowers, or gently holding a python while the rest of us kept our distance,’ the family wrote.
‘She practised yoga with grace and joy, climbed mountains, explored rainforests, and travelled the world with wide-open eyes, from the lakes and peaks of Europe to the canals of Venice.’
The family thanked consulate staff and officials in Bali for taking care of Ms Cronin.
‘We also extend our heartfelt sympathy to other families who have lost loved ones overseas,’ they wrote.
Ms Cronin and a friend had been planning a trip to Byron Bay next month, according to the friend’s mother.
The spectacular rock formation at Kelingking Beach is one of Bali’s most recognisable landmarks, attracting thousands of international visitors each year.
The track to the beach has previously been described as a ‘death trap’ and an ‘accident waiting to happen’.
‘The views are spectacular but it is downright dangerous and irresponsibly managed,’ one visitor wrote on Tripadvisor in 2019.
‘At least half of the ”path” is sheer, vertical drops, requiring climbing, hanging, and holding on to broken side rails made literally of sticks and bamboo.
‘Should you twist your ankle or break something you’d be in serious trouble, let alone how easy it would be to tumble through the ”side rails” and drop straight down the side of a cliff.
‘Beautiful as it is, this attraction is going to make headlines for all the wrong reasons if responsible action is not taken soon.’
Another traveller, in a video posted to TikTok in 2024, issued a stark warning to anyone considering attempting a hike to Nusa Penida’s famous beaches.
‘My number one tip for Diamond Beach, Nusa Penida, is do not do the climb down,’ she wrote.
‘There have been numerous deaths over the years. The last part is actually so hard to get onto the beach that after climbing down for 40 minutes we had to turn around and climb back up.’