A good dump of a couple of inches fell on us and the surrounding area mid-week. Despite the pounding sound of the rain overnight, it didn’t put Lisa and I off from heading down the beach to allow the poodles to stretch their legs. Unlike most days this winter, which have been clear and sunny, Wednesday morning was dark and foreboding. Mist hung above the ocean and seemed to hang heavy in the sky at the same time. And unlike the clear waters we saw of Castle Rock just four days back, the ocean waters here were full of silt, sand, and weed:
The weather patterns of the South West generally comprise of bursts of fronts, interspersed with clear sunny periods of which we have had more than normal this year. Not good for the landscape or vegetation, but great for getting out and about. Friday morning I popped down the beach an hour and a half earlier than we did on Wednesday, while Lisa was F45ing and the poodles were snuggled in front of the fire. A hint that the temperatures have dropped, partly in response to the clear night skies that came after the midweek front abated:
The waters were flat, with just a ripple ebbing up and down the shoreline. If it holds it’ll be great if not cold conditions for Lisa and the Peppy Plunger’s bob on Saturday morning. And you may be forgiven for thinking that it was a full moon floating above the ocean. A full moon occurs when it is perfectly aligned with the earth and sun, with the earth playing piggy in the middle. As such it occurs at a precise moment in time, so the concept of there being a full moon on a particular night is incorrect. Today’s full moon occurred at 12:18pm:
Just part midday, so we would not be able to see it. Meaning that on Thursday and Friday night it was waxing towards and then waning away from the moment of glory. Some animals can and will shift their daytime routines with the extra night time light a fuller moon can provide, either hunting of hiding. Some believe a full moon affects our sleep, but this has not been proven. Seeing we shut out the night in our bedrooms, why would it. Another unproven belief is that the full moon causes changes in human behaviour and mental health:
This is called the lunar lunacy effect. And on arrival at the dam with Howsie, it seemed that a Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus) may have lost its way, whether a result of the moonlight or not. For the first time in the decades of coming here, there was one at the top of the quarry wall. Perched above our first line on the 3m wide ledge, with a rock wall behind it. We watched it unsure of what to do, not wanting to spook it such that it may fall. For most of the time it seemed to sense the precarious position, moving very slowly and cautiously:
Truth be told, I think we were both happy to have the distraction. Waiting until the Kangaroo had managed to work its way round the end of the ledge, where the rock wall dropped away. When we arrive here with the place under a blanket of soupy fog it helps keep the air temperature up a bit. Today with an uninsulated sky it was below four degrees and bitterly cold. So much so that when I started climbing I only manage to clip the first bolt before I lost all feeling in my fingers. My body was also feeling discombobulated and mind befuddled:
Two awesome words, that sound exactly like I felt. With no ability to feel the holds, an uncoordinated body, and wavering mind there was only one thing to do. Bail, and send Howsie up. He came to the same conclusion. This saw us drop the grades and play on the easier and shorter routes. Lines we haven’t been on for ages, so they were fun to revisit. After knocking off three of them our blood was flowing stronger, bodies felt limbered up, and minds were free of the demons that the cold had allowed in. So we went back to big wall:
I went first and it felt great. With all the draws now in, and with a rope above Howsie was still undecided. He waited too long, so I pulled the rope allowing him to lead it. I’m not sure he was completely happy about that as he looked up, but after bagging a clean ascent he was. I spotted this fella on that route and it had me wondering, but we guessed right. It was just another Black Portuguese Millipede (Ommatoiulus moreleti). All the others we saw were the usual solid slate-grey to black, whereas this one has the colours of a juvenile or young adult:
We managed two more routes on the taller walls before it was time to head back down the hill to work. We would not confess to climbing either in the best style. And could blame the slightly damp patches of rock on the routes we choose, the coldness of the rock starting to once again take affect as we once more climbed on the longer lines, or maybe the effect of the full moon hadn’t quite left us. No matter and as we always do, we had a fabulous time. Ending on a high when we were greeted by the sun’s rays as we topped out on the last climb:
Sandbagged 