I was torn today, whether to use my window of opportunity to go orchid hunting or play on a cliff. I had two plus hours up my sleeve in-between dropping off and then needing to pick up Lisa and Elseya, who were going for a wine and dine experience. It really is not something I would enjoy, but I was more than happy to be their taxi driver for the day. Allowing them to enjoy the wine sampling without the worry about transport. They had picked what is claimed to be the first vineyard and winery to be established in the region. It started life in the same year I did, so I was sure there would be some good vintages for them to sample:
In May there are only a few orchid species out, but not having gone hunting this early in the season before this includes a few that I have not as yet seen. This includes the Leafless, Hare, and Easter Bunny orchid, and in one of my older orchid books there was a place just twenty odd minutes down the road in which all three were claimed to occur. However, just five minutes away was Wilyabrup and the taste of rock won me over. The forecast wasn’t great so I thought it might be quiet. You might notice some ropes in the image below, and seeing I was the only person here someone or a group had no doubt accidentally left the gear behind:
Top rope soloing was the order of the day. Tallying up the time to drive here, walk-in, setup, and then need to repeat it all in reverse, I reckoned that I had an hour and half to crank a few lines. I picked the walls of Dolphin Smiles and Hope, allowing one anchor to service the four routes I had in mind. Nothing too hard, as I have started to pull plastic on my home wall again and Thursday’s session had felt a tad hard, and I was still a little sore today. Starting on the Dolphin Smiles wall I kept my eye on the ocean, but there were no dolphins were to be seen:
I then swung the rope round onto Hope wall. Quietly wishing to see, and very happy when I did spot, our resident Carpet Python. This time he was snuggled up on top of the flake of Hope soaking in the warmth from the sun. I thought he would slink deeper behind the flake, so took this video as he turned his head, buried it under its body, and then just lay there. I went past the snoozing snake eight times in all, as I went down on abseiling, stopping for a look, and then climbed up. and again stopped for a look. With two laps on both routes:
The whole time he just lay there, not minding me and even allowing me to get up close and personal. So close I could see his beady eye peering back at me from between the folds of his body. There was a distinct lump in his body and no doubt he had recently fed. Not that that is why he would not have slithered away from this annoying creature that kept coming back and staring in awe at him. I did however refrain from picking up and handling him, which I could so easily have done and really don’t think he would have tried to fight me off:
Not that I too was lazing about, but I was happy with just four climbs today. Two climbs and four laps less than what I would normally try to get in. Not only were my arms feeling it from the session on my indoor wall, but my legs were a bit also a “tree-trunky”. I’ve decided that, what with my sedentary job, I really do not get enough cardio exercise. There are the walk-ins for the climbs but there are never too long, other than for the not very often trip to Perth or the South Coast to climb with Mario or Kym. So on Friday after work I went out for a 20km’ísh bike ride, which certainly felt enough for me to start with:
That said I did get one last sneaky top rope in. There are some bolts that appeared a few years back on the Hope Wall, and no one has claimed responsibility on the climbing forums. If I do update the local climbing guide, I thought I better see what the line was like so I could at least mention it. Pointless is probably the only word I can think of, and needless to say one lap was enough to come to that conclusion. After which I started to pack up, while being watched carefully by the above King Skink. And unlike the snake this fella was not so keen on my presence and certainly did not tolerate me when I tried to get closer:
I was ready to roll and pick the girls up when I saw a message from Lisa to say that I had an extra half an hour to kill. Enabling me to stopped at what looked like a possibly orchidy location, as I drove out from the crag. Sure enough Bunny Orchids were about, but not the Easter Bunny and nor the Leafless or Hare orchids. It was still fun looking for them and I also noticed loads of basal leaves, a sign that this may be a place worth coming back too soon. I arrived at the winery just as Lisa and Elseya were about done. They too were feeling very satisfied from the amazing food, the different wines served came with each of the five courses, and their choice of vintages to takeaway:
Sandbagged 