With a wet weekend ahead and being unable to take Friday off, the option of an early morning before work climb was back on the cards. Having the entire day off, Rongy who initiated the discussions decided to use his full day for more leisurely activities. Howsie was still chomping at the bit, and there is only one place to head for such a short fire session that allows us to get back in time for work. Much as we relish the climbing style here, it is a place where the origins of the phrase ‘chomping at the bit’ does not spring to mind:
Originating from a horse grinding its teeth on the metal bit in its mouth, as it eagerly awaits the start a race or ride. Whereas we suddenly feeling less confident, weaker, and not so keen to take the first lead on arrival, and after looking blankly at the sheer looking walls. Not wanting to be the one to be hit with the realisation that we have not been here for too long and that it is hard climbing, as we more clumsily make our way up. I would not go as far as to say that we would make an ass of ourselves, but the phrase is probably closer to the mark:
A phrase with a much older history, having been first used in a book I recall from my days sat in a classroom being forced to learn about English literature. Reading Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, which has the first known written use of the term. The actually wording being ‘This is to make an asse of mee, to fright me, if they could’, when fairy Puck magically transforms Nick Bottom’s head into a donkey. Not that I can recalled that level detail from my classroom days, I had to look that up. Today was however different:
I had come with a plan, already set my mind and prepared myself mentally for what was to come. Being physically prepared is a whole other matter, but we know the routes well enough and with that advantage the mental game can help a lot. Not hanging of small holds too long, if we know a better stance is above. Howsie was surprised when I racked up and placed the crate at the base of the first route. Today with this positive attitude the grass was greener, also in reality as the grass was greener at the base of the wall than I can ever recall:
I won’t say it was easy. But I held on for every route, faring much better than my last trip here over six weeks back when I had to take a rest in the harness when following Rongy on the only route we did on the big walls. This time I had a few nervous moments requiring some loud vocal queues to push through. Not quite the ‘hee-haw’ sounds of a donkey but it may have made other people wonder if we were OK. Maybe they didn’t hear as no one came to check on us, which I am pleased about as it would have been a tad embarrassing:
As the above image shows there was an event occurring, so there were a lot of people milling about. Fortunately they stayed at the top carpark. Leaving us alone in the quarry where we had a great time racking up six fine routes before our attention was diverted elsewhere. I’ve since read it was the AusCycling Enduro National and Oceania Championships, which started a few days back and goes till Sunday. In a way Howsie and I were lucky the road to the quarry wasn’t closed, which did occur the last time there was a national mounting biking event here:
We purposely topped out on our last route, rather than lowering off the anchors to get back down. This allowed us to wander along the top, where there was still plenty of water lying about so late into spring. The narrow strip of granite with its thin veneer of mossy soil amazes me with the variety of orchids we see. Above we came across the Small-flowered Donkey Orchid (Diuris porrifolia), the leaves giving it away. The name porrifolia comes from Latin words porrum and folium meaning ‘a leek’ and ‘leaf’ referring to the shape of the leaves:
We saw these a year ago, almost to the day https://sandbagged.blog/2024/10/11/packing-it-in/. You could say I made an ass of myself by mistaking a donkey for a bee. Back then I incorrectly suggested they may have been a Dark Bee Orchid (Diuris insignis). This was due to the more ‘tunnel’ like appearance of the shape when you look at them side on, as above. I have decided not to jump at shadows this time, and will stick to identifying the below as Forest Mantis Orchid (Caladenia attingens). Despite what seems an unusually wide labellum:
Sandbagged 