Back in the homeland it’s a common thing to hear ‘its grim up north’, or at least it used to be. Having lived in the north and south of England and really enjoying both areas for different reasons, I’d disagree. Hence, I’d rather say ‘it’s different up north’. And Western Australia is similar, although from a climate perspective even more so. Ranging from tropical in the north to Mediterranean in the south. Even the short distance of approx. 200km from where we live to Perth can see quite a change, as Verity proved when she went for a snorkel this morning:
The waters at her local spot proving to be much better than my local pea soup. Enabling her to spot several Fantail Leatherjackets (Monacanthus chinensis). A fish that doesn’t venture this far south, which means I will not be lucky enough to find round these parts. And while she was enjoying the waters before it feels too cold, Howsie and I set off for yet another Friday climb. Yes I have restarted my attempts to get my leave hours down by sneaking out on the last working day of the week, and I’m not doing a very good job of it:
We were greeted by a large male Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus), as we walked towards the cliffs. Not worried by our intrusion, it took a lazy hop to get off the path and then just watched us as we walked past. While it was looking super chilled, it’s broad muscular shoulders suggested that it was best not to tangle with this one. Continuing down to Wilyabrup we chatted about what we might jump on. Should we continue on the 2024 challenge and push the grades, or have a more laid back day and maybe get some mileage in:
We opted to start with mileage and see where the day took us. Ten cruisy lines would be fun, and the first two pitches were exactly that. Allowing me to continue making good use of my crag booty, and this time I brought all of it along. Howsie inspected the carabiners and slings for wear and corrosion, and was unable to find any. In fact the gear looked practically unused. Our next two lines were not quite as easy, being three grades harder. The first seemed fine, but on the second we both hinted that our not so muscular shoulders were starting to feel it:
We were just enjoying being out and wanted to keep it that way, so dropped the grades back down by three for the next two routes. Searching for any signs of our local Carpet Python as we climbed them. Sadly only finding an old snakeskin tucked behind a flake. The easier lines seemed to revitalise us as the iconic Steel Wall, on which we started the day, again drew our attention. It meant bumping the grades up by six. Both of us spent time on the halfway ledge to have a that bit more of a breather than usual, which assited us in managing clean ascents. The two lines did however take enough out of us to call it a day:
Being happy with our lot, and not worrying about having fallen short of our intended ten climb goal. I knew it was the right choice for me when I puffed my way back up the path, with my legs feeling pretty ‘tree trunky’. As I scoured the bush, Howsie mentioned a friend had sent him an image of a Common Bunny Orchid (Eriochilus dilatatus) found in the hills that fringe Perth. And a bit like I started this post, I said to him ‘it’s different up north’ and the orchids usually flower earlier up there. We did however find a small patch of Common Bunny Orchid leaves, indicating the orchids are on their way:
Sandbagged 