Apologies to Rob, but I’ll make it up to him tomorrow. He had asked if Howsie was keen for a session up at Welly Dam this morning, but with everything that Howsie had to organise before the big off on Sunday he declined. I wasn’t aware of that when I also suggested to Howsie that if he was keen we could squeeze a quick trip up to the quarry. Suggesting that we could hit two lines, allowing us to be in an out within an hour’ish. That and an early start would therefore not eat too badly into his and Nadia’s preparation schedule:
To my surprise he was tempted, and upon checking with Nadia she was also OK with it. With the plan set I asked if he had a particular climb in mind, which he did. And then promptly swayed his decision, with very little resistance, by suggesting he should attempt a grade 23. Due to the higher grade of the second line, the warm up had to be a reasonable grade. So we started on Savage Sausage Sniffer. And when it was my turn Howsie repaid my belay style by walking away as I started, and didn’t put me on belay until I clipped the first bolt:
I really didn’t mind, after all if I am prepared to do that to him, and others, then I have to be prepared to accept the same treatment. With the camera in his hand I’m not sure how much he was watching me and, like I do, his eyes may have been drifting. This meant he saw, and took the following image of what is probably a Garden Orb Weaver (Eriophora transmarina), based on the hairy nature and triangular body. Huddled tightly against the rock, no doubt making use of the heat that the rock still held:
The mornings are feeling a little cooler now, but we didn’t have the time to ease into the climbing to allow our bodies to warm up as we would normally. Although I confess we snuck a third line in by jumping on Murky Corner, which didn’t take more than ten minutes between the two of us. Our rationale being that the first climb had worked Howsie a bit harder than was probably ideal before attempting a grade 23. So to keep the body moving, while allow the muscles to recover and relax a bit, an easy lead to focus the mind wasn’t a bad idea:
Now it was the business end. Howsie prepared himself and set off, while I sat with a friendly juvenile Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen). Magpies are very social animals forming tribes of up to 50 individuals, however the start for young magpies can be tough. When they are kicked out of the nest, it is not uncommon for them to be ousted from the tribe and this leads to them needing to figure out how to survive. Like the youth of today, juveniles can be found hanging about in gangs, although this one seemed to be all by itself:
Finding a good habitat, partner, and eventually new tribe can be dicey business. Added to that existing tribes can be ruthless to newcomers. Unsurprisingly, not all young survive this harsh stage of their life, and being alone we did wonder if this one would make it. My focus had to then shift onto Howsie and whether he would make it, unlike the grade 23 a week back. I’m pleased to say he completed Chasing Mason, and was very chuffed. But there was no time to celebrate, and it was time to dash back:
Sandbagged 