Feeling wobbly

When reaching for my glasses as I got out of the car for my morning walk to look for orchids, the tiny screw that held the frame tightly round one of the lenses had come out.  Luckily all the parts of the dismantled glasses were still in the case, enabling me to fix them back at home.  It is therefore possible my lack of luck with the hunt was partially due to wearing my prescription sunglasses.  That said it was fortunate I had my glasses at all.  Going through the security check in Singapore for the final flight home my bag was checked and they fell out:

It was only because I was keen to prepare for a quick getaway on arrival at Perth that I noticed this.  While waiting in the departure lounge I pulled out the car keys, parking ticket, but couldn’t find the glasses.  They had been put to one side at the security gate, and I do wonder if they would have tried to find the owner if I hadn’t gone back.  The reason my bag had been pulled to one side was the crag booty I had collected on Kinder Scout, during my walk with Dave the postie.  The unusual metallic objects not surprisingly drawing their attention:

For the climbers out there the crag booty comprised: a 60, 100, and 200cm sling; a quickdraw, and two wire and a locking carabiner; and a no.10 and 11 offset wire.  A bit over $200 worth, so whoever left them may be a bit sad but must have had good reason to leave it halfway up a waterfall.  Hopefully they are safe and unscathed.  Being truthful the amount of gear left behind and their placements indicated a lack of experience.  And there was little point leaving it there to succumb to the elements that were quite literally raining down on them:

Today in complete contrast the rock was bone dry.  Not even a hint of that pesky and greasy salt spray, despite the crashing waves being brought in on a rough swell.  And while Howsie had brought his rack, I couldn’t resist bringing the two offset wires.  Luckily back at the waterfall I managed to remove them from their placements with ease.  Today however, they sat perfectly in the flared cracks and bit tightly against the more textured rock, something normal wires just wouldn’t do.  So much so Howsie had to get out the nut tool to help ease them out of their snug and secure placements:

There was a risk I wasn’t going to get any images of the nut placements.  Similar to the glasses coming apart, the strap on my camera had worked its way loose.  On my first climb, as I went to take an image, I watched helplessly when the camera fell three of so meters.  Bouncing of the rock several times.  Amazingly there was not a scratch on the all-important lens and screen, and the body only received a couple of extra dings to show it was well used.  On the plus side Howsie was climbing well, and managed to bag the second ascent of the difficult to read Off the Rails without any hints:

You may recall this climb as my most recent addition to this wall.  Established when I came here with Craig just four months back.  Howsie hung on his arms and before they gave out he eventually unlocked the puzzle of the first roof, after multiple attempts.  Today for the first time this year, we enjoyed an afternoon climb.  This was due to kids sports dictating Howsie’s availability, although we both agreed climbing in the evening light was wonderful.  And in the cooler time of year, having the sun on your back feels good.  We had evened up the numbers between us, but there was still a bit of time before the sun set:

Howsie was keen to maximize the use of the evening light, and jumped on one more climb.  I was more than happy with that, finding a perfect rock to sit on to watch the sun inch towards the horizon, as I belayed him.  With the sun gone we packed up and walked out, as the light was sucked out of the sky.  Reaching the car as the darkness was taking a stronger hold of the sky, allowing the thin slither of a moon to shine through.  It had certainly been a very enjoyable trip out, although I think I have said that for every one of the many trips to Moses Rocks:

This visit was a little touch and go, as in addition to the crag booty I had possibly brought something else back with me or someone here had shared it with me since my return.  After battling through whatever it was on Wednesday, I was then unable to function on Thursday.  Taking a day off work sick for the first time in as long as I can remember.  I like to think the power of positive thinking assisted my recovery, allowing me to muddle my way through work on Friday and get out today.  The friendly and lower grade routes at Moses were the perfect choice, as I was still a little wobbly on the rock: