There is only one place to head when there is limited time for a play, and that is Welly Dam. Today’s trip started with Howsie and myself, and as the day got closer the group expanded with Josh, Rongy and finally Rob also keen to tag along. Josh was accompanied by Kellie, although she went trail running, leaving us to play on the rocks. Howsie and I were the first to arrive, shortly after sunrise. Rongy was next to park up and came up to us all excited, but not because we were back at the quarry:
He was lucky enough to encounter a Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus). A creature that despite the few times I have been lucky to see them, holds the title of being the most widespread native mammal of Australia being found in every state and territory. It is also one of only two egg laying mammals, the other being the Duck-billed Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). I have not seen a Platypus, which is not surprising as they are only found in the eastern states and are now regarded as being near threatened:
Something I was not aware of is that like the Platypus the Echidna can swim, using their snout as a snorkel. In fact they are regarded as strong swimmers and not just out of necessity to avoid predators, with research showing they also swim to entertain themselves. Rongy had stopped to make sure the Echidna manage to get off the road safely. Taking his time, as I would to enjoy such an encounter. His relaxed pace continued when he joined us and he didn’t seem to be in any great rush to get climbing:
With five of us we set up a few ropes to entertain those not inclined to lead, or wanting to try something a bit more challenging with the safety of a rope. And to be honest even Howsie, Rongy and I, seasoned Welly Dam climbers, found the routes that bit stiffer than we remembered them. My last trip here was close to three months back, with Josh and Howsie, and Rongy’s last visit was closer to five months back. Our absence from here seemed to have resulted in us losing our edge, the edge that climbing here on a regular basis gives you:
Just like the Forest Red-tailed Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii naso) that were flying past, there was also humidity in the air. This resulted in the friction being that bit reduced, and combined with the warming temperature of the morning was probably also influencing why the climbs were feeling that little bit harder today. Despite that I was however keen to get a second opinion of the two possible new routes, which were a wee bit stiffer than the routes we had climbed so far:
Usually the three of us will be keen to be on the pointy end. But when establishing a sport climb at a place like this where you are not following a natural feature, there is a need to top rope it a few times before even considering equipping it with bolts. This is required to work out where the line takes you, see if it worth the effort required, clean the route, and then to check where it is best to place the bolts. So I threw a top rope down both lines keen to see what Rongy and Howsie thought, and they both thought they would make worthy additions:
That now means we will need to come back a few times to remove any loose rock and work out how many bolts we will need. This may seem at odds to my last post, in which we left the large wobbly flake in place at Cosy Corner. The difference being that here we are establishing sport routes on artificial walls created by blasting, when granite was quarried. We will also need to drill holes to place the bolts, so to create these routes there is already a need to change what exists. Josh was also busy creating today, offering a range of beverages and fruit ladened tapioca breakfasts:
I eagerly accepted the first, but declined the latter, as it brings back nightmarish memories of school dinners from an ear when you were expected to eat what you were given. Even when what you were given was what we called frogspawn, something that once described in The Guardian newspaper as “Britain’s most hated school pudding”. Hate is a harsh word, and one I try not to use too often, but there are times when its use may be considered reasonable. Another such situation being when you refer to the dreaded March Flies (Tabanidae), and as they started to come out to play it was fortunately time for us to fly:
Sandbagged 