Yesterday we caught up with some friends who we hadn’t seen for too long, as we made some time for a kinda farewell catch-up for Tom who would soon be heading overseas. It was great to see everyone, and with luck I might get to have a climb with Tom in a few weeks as his departure date looms. All going well the timing should coincide with my plans to finally head to Perth and spend a couple of days climbing with Mario. Mario also happened to be down south this weekend, climbing up at Welly Dam and I was quietly hoping he’d give my new line Peanut Brittle a crack and be the second person to get it clean:
I didn’t join Mario yesterday as we were busy, nor today as I had committed to head out with Ash. Another person with an overseas departure getting closer and closer. So what with the trip to Perth planned, the choice was easy and Ash and I headed out to the Northern Blocks at Wilyabrup. It was another glorious morning to be out and about and watch the sky wake up. It was however a bit more of a struggle than usual to get up. Last night Elseya and her mate, who as down from Perth, fancied a night out on the town. And they asked if we were able to help out with lifts. We’ve encouraged Elseya to be sensible in such situation and have offered to help when she has asked:
This time Lisa kindly offered to take on the taxi service, knowing that I was planning for an early start in the morning. It was a restless night with the poodles kicking off at 10pm and then again 2:30am as the car rolled in and out. I was however thankful and certainly managed to get more sleep than Lisa did. It seems Ash too had struggled a bit with the start time, but had managed to get up and out. Waiting for me as I rolled into the driveway as the deep reds in the sky were turning into dark oranges. Then as we arrived at the carpark the yellows started to creep in, lingering that bit longer than normal and stretching all the way to the opposite horizon from the sunrise:
With both of us being that little bit more lethargic I did wonder about my choice of crag today. My rationale had been to pick a place Ash hadn’t climbed at before, but the walls are that bit steeper and the climbing more technical and sustained. While there were very few easier lines, there was no turning back and we simply had to dig a bit deeper. Both on account of the general difficulty of the routes and both of our slightly off-kilter mindset. The northerly wind felt cold and the clouds failed to lift and disperse, so the sun remained hidden from view. We were however soon feeling pretty warm, as we jumped on the rock and started to climb:
Generating our own heat as out muscles needed to work pretty hard, and then the blood pumped round the body that bit quicker heling to circulate the warmth. Although after each climb, as we stood about enjoying the view and straining our eyes to look for dolphins that we never managed to spot, the cold crept back in. Truth-be-told I reckon we did really well, leading these routes one after another certainly made me focus and work. Ash was again happy to be on second, and even more so as he followed me up the lines. He thoroughly enjoyed them and managed to get clean ascents, but also declared he would never have led:
Never is however a word that we should use with caution, a bit like always. Terms commonly used in moments that we are not thinking straight, and that can quickly escalate emotions. They are however words that rarely hold truth in the way they are used. I’ll remind Ash of that one day, after his time overseas, when I encourage him to have a bash at leading one of the routes here. Four climbs in and our bodies were happy to dial things back, and jump on a couple of the easier lines. And as we made the decision the clouds seemed to, all of a sudden, break up and let the sun through. The next line was Missing Frog, but what was missing as Ash came down the rap line was a lead rope on his back:
Due to a bit of poor communication we both ended up scrambling to the top of the cliff different ways to find the lead rope. But I was pleased to have gone up the way I did, when I spotted this beautiful green Praying Mantis. There are approx. 160 known species in Australia and I have spent a lot of time trawling through many of them, unsuccessfully. It seemed like it could be an Australian Green Mantis (Orthodera ministralis), the colouration and length seemed right. But, a distinguish feature of this species is the thorax is wider than the head, and that was definitely not the case. So I am at a bit of a loss, and have not been able to identify it:
We found the rope, and climbed the line but the frog remained missing. One day I’ll have to quiz Kym as to how he came up with the name, my theory being that he could hear but not see a frog when he first climbed the route. The morning was wrapped up on the classic Banana Split. Another lower grade route that seems so fun an innocent until it spits you out from the comfort of a chimney onto a steep face with a long drop below your feet, and it certainly freaked Ash out. Not so much that it has put him off considering another trip out, and it seems he may be keen to make time for one more foray on rock before he heads off:
Sandbagged 