Stuffed jalapenos

The theory was for Lisa and I to head up to Wellington National Park for a wander, overnight camp and then hit a second walk tomorrow.  But plans change.  It was not that we were put off by the fact that it had bucketed down the night before, the forecast from this morning onwards looked great.  It was due to Lisa being hit by a migraine, and despite being laid out all day yesterday it was sadly still persisting today.  She was however determined to get out, so dosed herself up with painkillers as we hit a coastal path:

As can be seen above evidence of the rain the night before was about, and for the first half of the walk the sky above couldn’t seem to make its mind up.  That said the cloud cover, when it did pass over, provided some welcome relief from the rays of the sun.  We had headed out to the Meelup Regional Park, a place I have been to heaps to climb at Castle Rock.  But today the intention was to wander along the coastal path starting from Dunsborough and seeing how far north we would go:

The path is a well-trodden and mostly level path, perfect for Lisa today.  On the first stretch to Castle Rock we were passed by many runners and families with children keen to scamper ahead.  We however took our time and checked out the plants, colour was splattered all around with some familiar and some new ones to find.  This area is the only place where it is possible to find the Cape Spider Orchid, and there are only six known populations and their location is a well-kept secret.  Needless to say we were not lucky enough to find any of them:

As we walked along I kept a keen eye out, but didn’t see any orchids.  I did however spot a big round rear end of an animal with brown fur and a slim short tail, which makes me pretty sure that it was a Quenda, or Bandicoot.  Normally a nocturnal animal I was a little surprised but am convinced that is what I saw.  We also came across something a little slower.  This Red Headed Cockchafer beetle was laboriously hobbling along the path, I have previously come across their larvae when walking out from Bobs Hollow and it is considered a native pest:

Shortly afterwards we came across the first orchid, one that many would possibly walk past like Lisa would have.  This is a Mignonette Orchid, also called an Onion Orchid.  It has a single onion like leaf and a single stem, being nearly all green I believe it is the common variety and as such can have up to 100 flowers. Each of them only being about 5mm in length.  The flowers do not portray the distinctive orchid sepal and petal configuration.  On these flowers these parts are much smaller and the main distinguishing feature of the tiny flowers is the labellum that sticks out like a tongue and has a frilly end:

We passed Castle Rock and as we approached the next headland I suggested a little detour out to Copper Rocks.  Not to climb, but just because it is such a lovely spot.  Here Lisa had a snack and lay down to chill for a bit while I explored the nooks and crannies.  The best find being this King Skink basking in the almost sunlight on the beautifully coloured granite that gives the boulders here their name.  Just as we were about to move on Aaron and some from the Forest Adventure crew rocked up intending to have a boulder, so we had a quick chat and left them to it:

The next headland we passed was Sail Rock, and along the way we spotted a Purple Enamel, Cow Slip and Pink Fairy orchid.  Only one population of each, and the Cowslip was a variety that didn’t show the familiar patterning, just being a plain yellow flower.  The next find was a single Forrest Mantis Orchid, the green upright fringes and deep red pointy labellum giving it away.  Not forgetting the two upright sepals at the front that mimic a praying mantis:

There were lots of other types of flowers in abundance, but we didn’t find any more orchids.  The next landmark was the centre piece of the regional park, Meelup Beach.  This is where most of the tourists end up, and it was pretty busy, so we didn’t hang about and carried on passing the headland of Gannet Rock.  Shortly afterwards you come to Point Picquet, which we decided was far enough.  By this time the sky was mostly clear and the bays separated by each of the headlands we had passed was the sort of turquoise colour that you had to see to believe.  The images simply don’t do it justice:

On the way back we decided on another slight detour.  This time taking the Meelup lookout path, which wove it’s way uphill.  Near the start of this path I spied a stink bug, the intricate patterning of the shell was stunning and had what looked to be a couple of false eyes.  Maybe to trick would be predators as to where the head was, and allowing it to run the other way.  With Howsie’s assistance it has been identified as a Nymph of Gum Tree Shield Bug. Not quite an adult yet (adults have wings, nymphs are wingless), and is likely a later instar nymph (3rd or 4th) by counting the segment of its antennae. The nymphs go through 5 instar stages before they become adults:

The path took us high enough to get a great vista of the bays.  As we made our way uphill and along the crest we came across quite a lot of Purple Enamel Orchids, but no others.  Some may recall these are Lisa’s favourite orchid and I feel that they were rewarding her for managing to get out and about today.  After soaking in the views we followed the path back down which eventually took us back to the masses at Meelup Beach, which we passed through quickly once again leaving the crowds behind us:

For most of the walk we had the company of birds hiding in the undergrowth, this included the New Holland Honeyeater that seemed to be ever present and not as shy as the others.  We passed Copper Rocks just as Aaron and the boys were just packing up, so I said a quick hello as we moved on.  We didn’t stop as much on the final leg of the walk, as we were getting hungry and the stuffed jalapenos at Occy’s were calling us.  Hopefully Lisa will be feeling up to getting out for another wander tomorrow:

There she blows

Walking back into Wilyabrup today it looked like we might have lucked out.  We were heading to Driftwood Bay as Rongy had never climbed there.  Despite having been out here top rope soloing only last weekend I was of course happy to return.  The place has a charm to it, one that resonates with me and this time we would be leading and that always feels different.  Approaching the crag we could see a rainbow starting to form and as I set the rap line up the rainbow, like the dark clouds out to sea, seemed to expand:

Unperturbed we set off, and while I said leading would make it feel different I of course meant for Rongy.  Having lead all of these routes myself before, some numerous times, I was more than happy to offer up the pointy end.  While it rained as we rapped down when Rongy was ready to set off the sky opened up above us.  The rock was damp but not too bad.  However, the black lichen on the granite was best avoided and any attempt to hold onto that stuff would surely have resulted in a fall:

Pick Pocket was a good warm-up route for this crag, never too hard and nicely consistent with ample gear opportunities.  The rock certainly needed to be treated with respect, due to the dampness, but also checking for loose holds.  Sat atop the crag we looked to the south west and the next bank of clouds were rolling in.  This time we couldn’t see an end to them, but we put any thoughts of heading home to climb in the shed, with a hot cuppa, to the back of our minds and instead went back down the rap line:

Sure enough the sky opened again, this time not with blue sky.  It was the sort of rain that even Craig would call rain.  It didn’t take long before water was streaming down the rock and it felt we were under a waterfall.  The grades here are however reasonable and so we cracked on.  Old Crate was the next line for the picking, again because it seemed to offer plenty of gear as it followed an obvious crack and flake system.  Rongy climbed the route almost entirely in the rain, and it started to ease off as I prepared to follow up:

Things looked to be brightening up and Rongy was incredibly upbeat with the climb he had just done, having really enjoyed the fine natural features.  So we decided to forget the shed and stay for another line or two.  This time I went first, enjoying a gentle ramble up Crab Slab.  The route was first climbed in 1970 before camming devices were available, which didn’t arrive on the scene until the late 70s.  The upper slab would have been a bold lead back then.  Today while it still has a move or two the security of a cam slotting into the slightly flared parallel crack system made it safe as houses:

The sky was now playing nicely and so we went back down for the crag classic.  Water still dribbled down the two cracks, and they felt slimy to touch and less inviting than normal.  Despite this the holds are positive enough to still use in these conditions, plus it has awesome slots that can gobble up wires providing an extra layer of comfort.  This climb was also put up in 1970, and with loads of passive gear options I imagine this would have been a safer proposition despite being technically harder:

As Rongy was enjoying the delights of Integrity I was watching the sun creep round and hit the crag.  With a bit of wind and sun, it doesn’t take long for the clean granite to go from sopping wet to bone dry.  So I was eyeing off Turkish Delight, a route that stood out for me when I was here last weekend.  It does make use of a fair bit of the black lichen covered rock, but I guessed that by the time we came back down the sun and wind would have worked enough magic to make it feel OK.  That it did, and it was great fun:

Rongy managed to pull a reasonable sized plate of the wall as he came up, which landed on his leg before tumbling down.  He held on, but it is never a great experience when a hold comes away on you so I thought that he was ready to call it a day.  But as he climbed the top section I could see him looking over to the slabby finish of Sure Footed.  So it didn’t take a lot of convincing that we should maybe squeeze one more route in, that plus I knew he would enjoy the start of the route up a jamming crack:

When it was my turn to follow I was just loading the inverted jam, which just doesn’t feel right, when I heard Rongy shout out WHALE.  Holding onto this jam I twisted my body looking out waiting for a flipper, tail or full breach.  Eventually and without seeing the whale I knew I had to keep climbing or fall off.  As soon as I pulled up the jam slipped, and the stretch of the rope resulted in me gently landing on the deck.  As I pulled past the tricky moves on the next attempt I looked round in time to see a big tail slap, after which the whale disappeared from sight:

Turf-n-surf

All fired up after a couple of great walks and good number of orchids under my belt, I decided to test what the home turf had on offer.  So jumping over the back wall of our garden I trudged through the small reserve to see what I could find.  There were lots of Pink Fairy Orchids about but no other ones.  We live on a sand dune and so the next day I thought I’d try out the lower lying local Tuart Forest National Park and see what that had on offer:

We drive past and through the National Park to get in and out of Peppermint Grove Beach, and it is the largest remaining pure forest of tuarts.  While it is a very special place it is overrun with Arum Lilies and pasture grasses, just like the little reserve behind our house.  It is possible to find small pockets where the wildflowers managed to survive, and these areas spring to life with colour:

I’ve worked in river restoration for many years and a key aspect is the rehabilitation of the banks with appropriate flora.  The biggest struggle is managing the weeds, which grow at such a rapid rate.  We have spent close to 200 years perfecting the landscape for agriculture, and with these successful grasses and clover abound, it is incredibly difficult to reverse the process to give the native plants a chance:

Undeterred by the battle of the lower storey, which is mostly won by the invasive weeds, I wandered under the tall tuart trees checking out what I could find.  I’m sure these two flowers are related, both with stripy and spiny receptacles and five similar shaped petals.  The flowers are less than one centimetre across so had to get down on my knees and get in pretty close to get the images.  I only found the one on the right in one location, whereas there were more places with the left hand variant:

With so many weeds over here it is hard to know what is and isn’t a weed.  Quite often the more leafy plants with larger flowers are weeds, such as this Long Tubed Painted Lady.  Originating from South Africa and introduced as a garden plant, it is now viewed as being high on the priority list for removal due to its ability to spread quickly.  Something pretty evident in this National Park:

Now it may seem that I was having a fine old time of it in the tuart forest, but… there was one pest here that really was very aggravating.  The mozzies.  It seemed like there were none about but as soon as you stopped moving they would close in.  Wasting no time in landing on any exposed skin, ready to stick their proboscis in to suck out some blood.  They even dive bombed a few images such as this one of a Purple Tassel Flower:

The purpose of this walk was once again to see if there were any orchids, and indeed there were.  Lots and lots of Pink Fairy and Cowslip Orchids.  Having seen a fair few already I didn’t stop to observe them due to the clear and present danger of being attacked by clouds of mozzies.  I did however have to take this image, as there were bucketful’s of Cowslips more than I have ever seen in one spot:

Lisa was wise and didn’t join me on the two backyard walks.  She did however tag along today for a wander up to Cape Naturalist.  There were two very good reason for why she was keen to head here.  Firstly she has some new walking shoes that needed a test run to see how they treated both her fused toe and the other arthritic one.  The second reason was to get a chance to spot some whales:

Sure enough they were out there, quite some way off but we could make them out with the naked eye and with a 200mm zoom could just about take an image that was worth including here.  The Naturalist Charter whale watching tour was out on the water and finding plenty of flipper and tail action and the occasional breach.  Maybe one day Lisa and I will jump on board to get a bit closer:

Being school holidays and a weekend the carpark was packed, but we managed to avoid most of the crowds and even lucked the lookout to ourselves for a period.  Unlike my last few wanders there were no mozzies here to annoy us, but on the flip side there were also no orchids to be found.  Some flowers were out but I’ll spare you any more close up images in this post:

From the lookout there is a large rock outcrop that is far enough out to always be surrounded by the ocean.  This rock is home to a seal colony, and with seals about you tend to also have a good chance of finding larger sharks.  It’s not surprising to therefore hear that sharks sightings, near misses and attacks in this area are not uncommon.  This doesn’t seem to stop people taking to the water for a surf in relatively close proximity to this area, and they say I’m crazy climbing rocks:

I got all excited when I could see a sea lion swim towards the rocks, clamber up and waddle along.  You can make it out on the left-hand side of the image below.  The image, like that of the whale, is not great but I had to include it.  Both Lisa and I were very surprised when we got home to see how many fur seals, which we had not noticed while out there, were lounging on the rocks.  We are home now and it our time to lounge about:

Counting steps

Having lived in this area for close to fifteen years you would have thought we would have hunted out the local spots to go for a wander. However, there are still a few places left for us to explore, one being Wellington National Park. I have climbed here, way too many times, in fact it is probably the crag that I have been to the most and my number of trips would likely be in the triple digits:

However, neither Lisa nor I have really explored the park and we kept hearing about some great walk trails.  But… they are certainly not well advertised.  When we first came over from Alice Springs there was nothing, and even now it is hard to find information out about them.  There are a few boards up at the park but they are not overly informative, and there is limited information online with only a couple of the marked trails being noted:

So yesterday we finally went out there for a wander, we had in mind to hike the Silka Trail and approximate 10km loop walk.  The reason being that information as available for this one online, and Lisa isn’t all that keen on just winging it.  It was very different from our wander earlier in the week, the landscape was filled with tall Jarrah and Marri trees.  The understorey wasn’t thick but there were lots of Cycads and Grass Trees, formerly call blackboys until that was deemed too racist:

The Cycads remind us of Alice Springs.  With thick leathery leaves, too tough for any animals to gnaw on.  As the first image shows there were lots with seed cones forming, and these plants are reputed to be the oldest seed plants about.  Also out were plenty of flowers and so once again it was not a fast walking pace, the place was littered with Karri Cowslip Orchids (the second image).  Distinguishable from the more common Cowslip due to the flower growing on a long stem:

I’m pretty sure the second orchid image is of a Blue China Orchid, and these too seemed to be plentiful.  In fact I thought they were all the same until we got home and I started to look at them in more detail at noticed the differences.  Maybe I need to take my field guide out with me, but if I did that we would walk even slower:

For a good chunk of the walk we could hear the majestic Red Tailed Black Cockatoos, gentle cawing above.  As the image shows there were young about and the parents were feeding them.  We stopped for a bite to eat early on, which gave us a bit of time to sit and watch them.  Hoping to get a glimpse of the flash of red as they fanned their tails open:

We managed to see the bright red, but the images I got were not that fabulous.  So instead, as I scoured the area, you instead get an image of a mushroom coming out.  It feel it is a little late in the season for them but I always like seeing fungi so had to stop and lie on the ground to get a good look.  And above I am taking an image of the water drops decorating a web, in which you can make out the entrance to the spiders home:

The day before Lisa and I had been in town and due to the prospect of getting out walking more often I started to think about getting a new lens for my SLR camera, possibly a macro for close up images.  But I decided not to get one yet, and am glad of that as today I took out my waterproof point and shoot camera that I use for snorkelling.  This has a macro setting and it was the first time I used it, needless to say I don’t think I need to bother with the new lens for my SLR:

I am pretty happy with the image quality of the above Jewel Beetle.  I took a few more that were equally good.  One was of a moth that had the same stunning colours when you looked at it from the right angle, but from other angles it just looked a dull dark brown.  The treasures kept appearing and the next one was a Pink Fairy Orchid, the white flora tips are what makes me sure I have got this one right:

I only found one of the above orchids, but the next one was a little more common.  This was the one that I was confusing with the Blue China Orchid, but it is obviously very different, and I’m still a little embarrassed to admit I didn’t notice it while we were out.  This one is a Silky Blue Orchid the speckled patter and more upright column, as well as pale colour being quite different:

I found a few of these, and on one I noticed a tiny spider on the back of one of the petals.  It crawled out into full view allowing me to get some great images, testing what I found out to be the battery guzzling macro setting a bit more.  I’ve had a quick look on Google but don’t think I have a hope of finding out the name of the spider, which was only half a centimetre in size:

Seeing this walk was a little long we came prepared with snacks and, better still, a hot flask of tea.  Just over half way round we stopped for a cuppa, and soaked in the silence of the forest.  We only came across one other group, and we knew they were out as we saw them head off.  Not that we are completely antisocial but we decided to walk the loop in the opposite direction to them:

The first half of the trail was on lower ground, near but never close to the reservoir.  The ground was mostly dry and in summer this place would heat up like an oven, with not a drop of moisture to spare so the amount of flowers out was a little surprising.  The second half of the walk was on higher territory and felt even drier, the narrow path of before became more of a fire track as it went up and down the gentle hills:

In this are there were also Banksia trees with their very distinct and ornate cones, but the taller Marri and Jarrah trees stayed with us for the whole hike.  As we approached the magically 10,000 steps Lisa was waiting for her Fitbit to congratulate her with a display of fireworks, but due to me wanting to get an image of her technology she missed the chance and there is also no image, she might have had a little moan:

I can’t complain though, as she carried the pack for the whole walk.  I did offer but she feels that she isn’t doing as much exercise at the moment, so considered that this would help her out in getting a bit fitter.  Now I mentioned the Grass Trees before, well they were also in spring mode, but they do not flower every year.  There were lots that were and the flowers were coming out on some of the tall spear like spikes:

The small spiny flowers were poking out from the spike, and these are known to produce a lot of nectar that attracts insects and birds alike.  Some had several spikes, and not all were standing tall and straight.  Instead woven into curves and at times coils.  It was in the last few kilometres that we got a few vistas, with no soil covering the granite rock here the tall trees were not able to grow:

As we made our way back under the trees we came across a clump of Little Pink Fan Orchids.  The dorsal sepals, or in more understandable language bottom two petals, are joined which is one of the features that gives it away.  There were not many of these ones about, and in truth I thought that this would be the last variety I would find as Lisa’s Fitbit was indicating that we should be close to 13,500 steps and the 10km mark:

All of a sudden I gave Lisa a scare when I spotted something on the side of the track and jumped across her path.  She was probably thinking it was a reptile most likely a snake, but today it had been overcast and quite cool with even a bit of drizzle.  So it was not a scaled friend but a Wallflower Donkey Orchid, one of my favourite orchids to find and on this walk it was also the last:

As we trudged along the final part we noticed rusted barrels, which I swear would have been a still in the days when it was an illegal it have alcohol.  Our very last find was an old banger.  Left here to rust away, which will no doubt take many decades and by the look of it its been here a great many already.  We made it back to our car and the Fitbit told us we had walked approx. 17,000 steps and a little over 10.5km, a great walk and we will come back to experience the other trails another day:

Flower power

While I realise this isn’t about climbing or snorkelling I didn’t feel there was any harm in diversifying the topics of my blog.  So after coming across my first orchid of the season down at Wilyabrup yesterday I thought Lisa and I should do something we haven’t done for a while and that was go out for a wander somewhere new.  I’ve had a place in mind for several years that isn’t too far away and is renowned as a great wildflower spot:

So it was that we found ourselves at the Ambergate Nature Reserve.  I said in yesterday’s post that I do not have a wildflower guide for this area, but I do have an orchid guide and this place is quite well known so Google has helped with a couple of images but not all.  Our first find was a spider orchid, and for those that know there are heaps of different spider orchids so I’m going to take a stab and say this one was a Carbarup King Spider Orchid:

The main reason I took the above image, which didn’t turn out as great as I hope, was due to the spider that that was sleeping inside the labellum.  It had also craftily used its web to pull the petals and sepals together to create a more protective house.  In the image below Lisa went off the beaten track to check what was hanging in a tree, which turned out to be a bat box:

Stepping off the path you do need to watch where you step and it probably not a good thing to do, but this place had little goat tracks all over the place so at times it was hard to resist.  No doubt avid orchid and general wildflower hunters scour every inch of this 75 hectare reserve, which volunteers have helped make accessible with a 4km circular track:

Above is a Red Ink Sundew, one of the many types of sundews we saw.  Most were of a creeper variety but this one was a ground dweller.  It could be found lurking in the undergrowth and leaf litter awaiting unsuspecting insects foolish enough to be attracted by the sweet sticky meal that exudes from the hairs on the leaves:

I have to confess that while we saw lots and lots of spider orchids we didn’t pay enough attention to identify the different varieties.  The above is a Karri Spider Orchid.  You may be thinking I’m just spouting names, but for each image I have carefully checked the leaf and sepal configuration, size and colours, as well as that of the fringe and calli (the parts of the striking centre piece):

We also came across heaps of variety of what I think are pea flowers, there were way too many of them to take images of and then try to identify.  Lisa and I love these small but striking flowers as they remind us of our time in central Australia, not the same variety but similar in shape.  It was then we came across a completely new orchid, the Rattle Beak Orchid:

In days gone past it would have been me slowing us down on our walks.  Checking for new finds and then when I had discovered one looking at it from every angle trying to get the perfect framing for an image.  However, times are changing and Lisa also seems to have started to follow suit, even hinting that she might convert some of the images into artworks at a later date:

As I type this post Lisa is rearranging the “art room”, so hopefully she will spend a little more time in there creating some more amazing artworks.  Back to our walk and below is an image of a flower that I can’t identify, but I liked it due to the insect that for once wasn’t camera shy.  The sun was fully out now and as it heated up more bugs were starting to show themselves:

We started to spot more and more of them feasting on the nectar that the spring weather was bringing out.  These beetles are no more than a few millimetres long, but on such a sunny calm day I managed to get a pretty neat image of yet another unknown flower.  The reserve is split by roads to form four quadrants and each one had a very different feel to it:

The variety of upper, middle and lower storey varied and this diversity resulted in us finding new flowers and plants as we continued on our journey round this magical place.  We then came across this Rose Coneflower, probably the most stunning flower we found.  At the end of each what I assume is a sepal a small flower sprouts from the bud, with some just starting to come out:

One of the orchids that Lisa likes the best is the Purple Enamel Orchid.  While I agree the purple coloured petals are stunning and even more so when the sun hits them, I was more taken today by the back of the petals which have a great pattern that I have never noticed before.  It took us a while to find one but after seeing one they seemed to pop up everywhere:

The Purple Enamel Orchid is almost as common in the south west of Western Australia as the Cowslip Orchid.  Not that the bugs seemed to mind that it was so common.  We watched the two larger critters fighting over possession of this food source knocking each other off, like playing king of the castle.  Meanwhile the small beetle simply buried it’s head deep into the flower and gorged away, ignoring the other two as they carried on:

One last image of what I first thought was a dragonfly, but now I am not so sure.  I don’t even have the foggiest as to what the flower it is hanging off is.  It was pretty amazing to see how it would hang off three flowers with its gangly legs, which this would then position it perfectly to get a feed out of a fourth flower.  It was no fluke, as we saw it fly to the next plant and do the same thing:

Of course where there are bugs, there are the next creatures in the food chain.  We didn’t see too many, but a few small skinks did cross the path and hurriedly scamper into the undergrowth as we approached.  This one didn’t see me as I crept closer and closer, while it seemed to be sunning itself.  It was a great walk and the 4km took us three hours to complete, but we both spent a lot of time checking out the sights above and so many more:

Happy holidays

Finally the school holidays have arrived!  And seeing my trip back to the UK had to be cancelled I am staying home for the two weeks, as we are being told at work that we have to keep using our leave.  While many are complaining about this I don’t mind a couple of weeks at home, time to kick back and head out for a few walks and just maybe a bit of climbing.  It didn’t start off too well on this long weekend, with no one available for a climb.  I was however not perturbed and picked a destination and headed out, but not until I had a cuppa or two with Lisa who this time hadn’t had any vivid dreams for me to recount:

As I drove past Busselton there was a stunning cloud formation ahead.  It looked like the front drum of an old style lawnmower.  Cylindrical in nature, low to the ground and dark and ominous, it extended a long way from south to north and was an amazing sight.  I can’t show you and even if I had stopped to take an image I doubt it would have done it justice.  Sure enough as the drum rolled over the rain fell, I was however feeling optimistic and drove onwards.  As I closed in on my destination the clouds were still low, so low that at times there was a mist, and peeking through I could see the blue sky fighting to break through:

It wasn’t an early start, and two cars had beat me to the carpark of Wilyabrup.  There was also a signed at the start of the gravel road, just off the bitumen, warning drivers that the unsealed road that led to the carpark could be slippery.  It seems that more and more city dwellers are heading out to these kinds of places and need reminding of the obvious.  Indeed as I drove out later on I came across a couple of cars coming in, unprepared to give way until I made it clear I wasn’t stopping seeing in both situations they were on a straight and wider section than I was:

The walk in was slower than normal, there were so many flowers out.  Red, blue, purple, white and yellow abounded and it was hard to walk past without spending a bit of time soaking them up.  I came across my first orchid of the season, a pink fairy and I always marvel when I see an orchid.  We used to scour the Stirling Ranges looking for orchids every spring time, and have amassed a photo library of some twenty plus species.  There were also large clumps of the above Clematis, a creeper plant that looked to almost be suffocating it’s host.  I don’t recall seeing this plant before but it is a native to the area:

In view of the long weekend, I had decided on a place that I was ninety-nine percent certain that no else would go to.  In the South West guide I described this place as “likely to appeal to those die-hard traditional climbers”.  The rock can be variable and you have to use holds that may comprise gneiss, flowstone and at times a mica-rich weakly cemented, crumbling choss.  Below is probably the scariest hold you have to put all your faith in as both a hand and then foot hold.  I’m probably not selling the place and in view that the ground underneath the first two lines was completely covered with greenery I’m guessing that Wiggins and I may have been the last people to climb here, back in June 2019:

I started on Sure Footed a route I put up on my first visit here in 2013 with Alan.  Next up was one of the original routes of the area Turkish Delight and I was pleasantly reminded of the great moves and positions of this line.  It was so good that I took a short video of my second lap.  Then I climbed a creation of Steve, Old Crate and that too was very fun.  It’s been a while since he has been out and I’ll have to encourage him a bit more persistently to hit some rock.  After that I turned my attention to another one I put up, during a different trip here with Wiggins.  On the Face of It is the route for which you have to use the above hold.  Looking back it was a bit of a crazy lead and I doubt anyone else has ever touched it:

As I rapped down and climbed up the great cliff of Driftwood Bay I checked every pocket, break and gully I could find.  Sadly there was no sign or clues to suggest the presence of a snake, lizard, or even beetle.  But I did stumbled across the above molted exoskeleton from a huntsman spider.  It was lazily twisting and turning from the single silk thread that attached it to the rock, as the gentle breeze blew it about.  Sorry to anyone who suffers from arachnophobia, but I just couldn’t resist including the image and probably should have warned you in advance:

The last two climbs were the crag classic Integrity, and the only route on which a hold broke on me, and yet another one of my routes Cauliflower Soup again put up with Wiggins.  It is certainly not for gym junkie or sport climbers, and while there is nothing too hard here it is also not for the weak hearted.  Like I said only die hard traditional climbers would enjoy this place, not only the variable rock but also the occasional long runout.  I have however introduced a number of local climbers to the delights of the place, including those mentioned above and Lou, Glen and maybe a few others.  Some have even returned for a second helping:

It wasn’t until I topped out on the last lap of the last line that I saw anyone else.  Two people were preparing to climb at the main cliffs of Wilyabrup and above were the tourists, I could see them with their selfie stick taking images.  Judging by the location of the two climbers I guessed they were going to tackle Stormcock.  It would have been fun to watch them from my vantage point from where I had a great view and it had, as I had hoped, turned into a glorious day.  But they were phaffing about taking forever to get ready and I was tiring, so headed out:

It was a slow walk out as I admired the flowers again, only this time in sunlight.  Checking the images back home, to try and put a name to the many flowers I saw, I was amazed to realise that we have not got a flower identification book for our local area.  We have them for the South Coast, Stirling Ranges, Dryandra, Central Australia and several other places but not the South West where we live.  On the final approach to the car the familiar call of the Black Cockatoos, I think they were the long billed variety, was louder than normal.  As I passed underneath a tree, ten or more of them erupted from the canopy some of them holding onto the gum nuts they had been feasting on:

Seventies style

This morning started in a house full of stairs, it was a house on stilts high above the ocean and the water below was angry and menacing with crashing waves.  I found a strange shaped bottle of what looked to be a boutique beer, and downed it.  Unbeknown to me it was made from magic mushrooms so I was in a bit of a stupor and Lisa had to follow me round.  Looking after me and making sure I didn’t fall down any of the stairs or worse into the ocean.  Then Lisa woke up and while I was up and about I hadn’t touched any alcohol, or other substances for that matter, other than a cuppa of earl grey tea:

I do wonder what it would be like to have dreams like Lisa, she certainly has some amazing adventures and it is not surprising she at times wakes up tired.  I’m the opposite, out and about soon after waking up, ready for action.  Today however I wasn’t being picked up till 7:30.  It was still raining on an off, like it had been for the last 36 or so hours.  Because of that we were still not sure if we would head out or just go into the shed.  Discussions were had between Howsie and Rongy as they drove out to my place, and I got a message that we would head outdoors so threw my gear in the back of my car and waited for them:

Castle Rock was our destination.  The crags on the western coast would be subject to full force of the strong winds and potential of bands of rain that the forecast promised.  Here at least we were in a more protected bay, plus there was the lure of a grade 20 for Howsie.  Just one at this crag and one he was yet to bag in 2020.  It wasn’t too cold but the wind was blustery and the west face was in shade so we were rugged up.  We sent Howsie up Smear to Glory, a fun and very trad style route that is never too hard but has added spice due to the gear and positions:

I was also a little surprised that neither of the boys had climbed the cracks to the left.  A while back Rongy and I climbed a route to the far left with Katie, which is when I got him to climb the route Howsie just led.  But the cracks that sit between these two lines had remained untouched.  They are not hard maybe grade 8 or so but they are fun lines.  I seem to repeat them many times with the likes of the Peppy Crew and Lou, in fact a few people have popped their leading cherry on the line below.  Seeing it was a windy and uncertain day we hit the cracks next, with Rongy picking the obvious and most striking corner:

By being selective in the choice of holds this allowed for a bit of practice jamming.  As mentioned in my post last week, some jamming practices is a good thing for an up and coming trip which is starting to get closer.  Back to Castle Rock and I too picked off an easy line, one that has a top out that seems to stump a few people due to the lack of gear.  But it really isn’t bad, and today I almost wondered if had needed to rope up for it.  It felt nice to cruise on some easy lines, but we knew there was some business on the other side of the crag that we could not avoid:

So it was that Howsie stood at the bottom of Well Rounded, contemplating whether he was warmed up enough.  He pondered this for a while, and then a while longer before thinking just a little more about it.  All the time any warming up the previous climbs had provided would be a distant memory, so we made the decision for him.  One of the worries on this route is the first clip as it is awkward, quite high and has a nasty landing awaiting anyone who fails before clipping it.  Steve has been known to stick clip this bolt (with his fishing rod) to avoid this:

Howsie was looking good, slow but steady.  He made the first clip, teetered about for a bit then made his way to the second clip.  All the while hanging onto all the namesake rounded holds, which is all this route offers for the two thirds.  He seemed not to have any memory of the line, and we later worked out the last time he had climbed this route was with me in March 2015 while Rhys had been taking images of us.  Three of the images made it into the South West climbing guide, including Howsie on this route:

Back then he managed a strong, confident and clean ascent.  But this time he was spending way too long on those rounded holds, so it was he slipped and decided to go back down to have a second bash.  You may have noticed the jacket was off.  This side of the crag was in full sun, when it wasn’t playing hide and seek with the clouds, and it creates a bit of heat trap.  Fine on a winter, coming into spring day, like today and we were relishing it, but on a summer day it is a killer.  On his second attempt at least the draws were in, taking the edge off slightly:

As we went up he was looking less coordinated than the first time, a bit like I must have looked in Lisa’s dreams after having the magic mushroom beer (supposedly).  He got to the same height as before and then slipped off those smooth holds, again.  To give him a proper rest Rongy provided a master class of how to use smooth, slopey holds and glided up the route.  This style of climbing suits Rongy down to the ground.  The holds are less positive and you need to put your limbs in unlikely positions and use body tension and to maximise every point of contact.  It’s hard to explain but when you see it in action it is very graceful:

I followed Rongy up and have to say I’m glad I didn’t lead the route, it felt just that little bit too testy for me today.  Howsie watched on and when we came back down he went for attempt number three.  With the draws in, a bit more intel and a decent rest he looked smooth and never showed any signs or made any noises to indicate he might fail.  It was third time lucky and there was a big sigh of relief, as that meant we do not need to use one of his opportunities to get out to bag this line.  Rongy and then I took the opportunity for a second lap seeing the rope was there, and I stayed atop as they went back down:

A route at the crag called Spanking the Monkey has always drawn my attention.  I’ve attempted it several times and it always ends the same, I get a spanking and there is no sign of a monkey.  More of those strange smooth holds that Castle Rock gives, but this time it is steeper and they are less obvious.  The start is tenuous, pumpy and a little scary.  Even Rongy had to dig deep to work out the sequence, using every ounce of that special technique he has.  Despite giving it everything he slipped off several times until he finally managed to unlock the path and get established in the crack above:

On my previous attempts I seem to recall I was out with Craig, we were both climbing strong and were not afraid to jump on a 23 at any crag.  This feisty 22 however had us foxed and we never got it clean.  The big issue with this line, is that the start simply drains you of almost all of your energy, and after that while there are reasonable hand holds it stays steep and you need to keep hanging on, and on, and on all the way up.  Add to that your feet and mostly on smears, so it is exhausting to climb and just as exhausting to watch:

After slipping off the start, Rongy managed to get the rest of the route clean.  There was a fair bit of uncharacteristic huffing and puffing going on, and several times he asked Howsie to watch him indicating he was close to falling off.  Then for the top moves he seemed to hang about for ages, shaking out and taking his time.  I thought it was because he knew I was running about like a mad person taking images from every conceivable angle.  Eventually he topped out and both Howsie and I could let our hearts subside from our throats back down to where they should be:

Both Howsie and I were a tad nervous to follow up this line.  I followed first and kept slipping off the start flakes, my use of body positions wasn’t up to scratch and I felt like I was being spanked again.  However, once I sorted out the sequence the rest flowed… until those final moves.  Rongy hadn’t been posing but resting, as best the position would allow, and working out the next moves.  It was overhung, had small holds, required big moves and all that on tried arms.  It was an epic finish, one I only just managed to do:

Howsie went up next looking weary.  They offered me the opportunity to bag one more lead, but after that line we all felt that we had been worked enough today.  Despite the inclement weather that had resulted in an occasional sprinkle from the clouds, which had continually rolled past overhead, we had managed to bag some fun lines on this small crag that packs a punch.  Now in case you are perplexed about the title of the post it has nothing to do with my antics in Lisa’s dreams… as we sorted through the gear we supped on a hot cuppa from the thermos that Howsie had kindly brought along, so I just didn’t have it in me to comment on his 70s attire:

Going solo, but not alone

After two sessions of pulling plastic over the last week I have been feeling pretty whacked, and while I’ve highlighted the two boulder sessions there are probably a few factors at play.  So when there seemed little chance of anyone else being available to head out this weekend, I was undecided.  But my rock fetish got the better of me and I prepared myself for a solo mission.  In my usual overly organised fashion the bag was packed on Friday night, and when Saturday morning arrived I wasn’t feeling particularly motivated.  Instead mooching about the house chatting to Lisa and sipping cups of tea.  Eventually I got moving, and in my relaxed state I couldn’t help stop just after leaving Peppermint Grove Beach to take a snap of the black swans:

Being early spring the wetlands that boarder our little hamlet are full of water and attracting many waterbirds, including egrets, herons spoonbills and of course the black swans.  They have an erratic migration pattern, but are known to mainly breed in our part of the world and these wetlands are perfect for them during this period.  In the 1800s they were seen as ornamental birds, a little like peacocks, and introduced to quite a few other countries.  I can understand why, as the red beaks stand out and when they fly the flash of white in their wings is very striking:

Despite the glorious forecast and my late arrival at the carpark, I had the pick of spots with not one other car having gotten there before me.  It is the first time in many months that I have walked to the crag in just a T-shirt, and even the baggy bottoms felt a little overkill today.  While there were no cars at the carpark I did pass a couple of people hiking on the Cape to Cape track.  The “Wander out Yonder” campaign being promoted in Western Australia to increase local tourism is working very well at getting people out and about, maybe a little too well for us locals:

I had initially procrastinated about where to go, Welly Dam or Wilyabrup and if the latter then which area.  I plumped for Wilyabrup, and then even as I walked in I was changing my mind about which area to climb.  There had been a bit of rain early this morning and so the rock might have been damp, and that along with me feeling achy and tired made me think about Driftwood Bay where there were long lines and easy grades.  But as it was I stuck to my original intention as I had left the house and headed to the Northern Blocks:

It’s easy to set up the top ropes here and every route, or at least the ones I had in mind, are worthy.  As I started on my first route, Corpus Delecti, there were a few drops from the sky.  They however soon stopped and never returned.  Next I hit Digital Delecti.  The two climbs felt hard and my arms pumped out very quickly, I was doing my usual of two laps on each route and they didn’t feel any easier on the second lap, which I would normally expect.  As I was tackling these lines a group had congregated on the rocks with all their photography gear, and stayed there while I played on the two lines.  Hopefully I didn’t spoil their natural landscape:

I was thinking that maybe four lines would do me today.  So I climbed Use No SLCDs and then shifted the top rope setup again to play on Trust Your Instincts (below).  Despite both of them being a grade harder than the first two lines I felt good on them.  On most of the lines today I took my time, resting where I could and shaking out to avoid getting pumped.  But on the first lap of Trust Your Instincts I was extra slow, then as I got to the top a large group of hikers burst into applause and cheers.  From previous posts you may have noticed it is not something I particularly enjoy, so it didn’t result in any response from me:

As the image below shows the offending hikers moved on after lap number one of Trust Your Instincts, which I was pleased about.  Then after finishing the second lap and feeling pretty good I looked down and decided to hit Green Stone, at two grades harder.  I have led this route a couple of times before so kinda knew what to expect.  But my prior knowledge and new found rhythm for the morning didn’t help me, and on both laps I was unable to sustain the pace and had to rest.  I’m still not sure and replaying the route in my head about how to manage the many sustained moves in one hit:

Howsie be warned that last route will be on your list for next year…  Now I feel you should never finish a climbing morning on a failure, so I set up on the easiest line of the day and a cracker of a route called Banana Split.  In fact you should never climb here and not do this route, it’s so good.  It was a nice cruisey way to finish off and I had enough left in the tank so it didn’t feel too challenging.  It also offered, like the first bit of Use No SLCDs, a chance to practice my jamming skills.  Something that may well be required in earnest on a trip planed in November:

After six fine lines and twelve laps I was toast.  In addition to the photographing and applauding hikers I had seen quite a few others out as well.  Even as I walked out I bumped into a few more so I let them get ahead of me as I scoured, as I had been all morning with no success, for any fauna or flora of interest.  So I’ll leave you with an image of this wood layered bracket fungus, this was the best specimen I found.  Google has however failed me and I can find no interesting facts about it:

Farewell to winter

September marks the start of spring and so Rongy came up with the idea of having a winter food farewell feast.  One last gorge on all that comfort food that is so welcoming on a cold wintery day, before we supposedly transition to the more healthy options that we are more likely to go for as the weather improves.  To be truthful I’m not convinced that happens, but the idea of a gathering was great.  This did however mean that my usual partners in crime on rock were all busily preparing dishes for the afternoon/evening event, and so for the first time in many months I did not head out to touch rock:

I was itching all Saturday morning and eventually succumbed to the call of my indoor wall.  So it was that I pulled on my trusty shoes that many have ridiculed me for, due to their ever deteriorating state.  I must stress here that they were subject to a material fault and Mad Rock had replaced them without question immediately, it was great customer service.  The shoes despite their dilapidated state have however served me very well.  This was a little foolish, as Rongy also has a wall at his place and a social gathering is also a guise for a boulder session.  This works well for the less social folk, like myself, as we can hide away bouldering were the talk is generally climbing related and within my comfort zone:

Now I have to apologise for the state of this next image.  One thing about the evening was that despite the house being full of young and old alike, I don’t recall seeing a phone other than when I was guilty of taking a very occasional snap.  It was traditional face to face chatter and play, without the need for any technological assistance or stimuluses’ to find new topics, prove facts or share images.  It was so refreshing.  Alana and Rongy’s house is well set up for do’s like this one.  The can kids to run amuck and create an almighty din without disturbing the more adult setting where there is still the ability to have a chat.  While those not disposed to lots of conversation can sneak away have a boulder or play pool:

The diehard climbers stuck it out for quite a long time in the shed.  Mostly Rongy, Howsie, Craig, Katie and I.  Steve did a little bouldering but isn’t climbing fit and has to watch his hand, which like my old shoes feel like they are deteriorating.   KC, Josh and various kids and others came and went to briefly see what was holding our attention for so long.  While I was a little weary from playing on my wall in the morning I still managed to mostly hold my own.  Eventually however hosting duties were beckoning Rongy away, and when the food came out one by one the others were drawn towards the aromas drifting out of the house.  Until only Katie and I were left:

When I finally went inside I think most people had eaten, but there was plenty left from every dish.  The wide variety of homemade curries, pasta dishes, soups, pies and more filled the room with tempting smells and I tucked into a number of them.  After what seemed like an appropriate amount of time of being social Rongy suggested a game of pool, before the desserts came out.  Not that we needed it but we then joined the crew to dive into healthy portions of apple flan, chocolate mud cake and cherry ripe crumble with lashings of custard or ice-cream.  A grand evening was had by all and the feast was a fitting farewell to winter:

The spider monkeys

Howsie sent me the list of grade 20s still left to bag after our trip to Wilyabrup last weekend, and seeing we had a week of dry’ish weather ahead of us I suggested a short jaunt up to Welly Dam might be in order.  With five lines still on the list from this location it was the obvious choice, plus we were both keen on a quick session and the accessibility of Welly Dam gives exactly that.  After the last few trips out, and feeling the cold, we decided on a far more reasonable start and the mist was rolling over the dam wall as we arrived in full daylight:

Over winter Welly Dam has been pretty soggy, worse than any winter I can recall.  However, Rongy had been here on Friday doing a bit of trip rope soloing and had said it was definitely drying up.  We were not expecting perfect conditions but we were hopeful and on arrival it was looking promising.  We had not however managed to dodge the cold and it nowhere near to breaking double digits.  Howsie had already suggested a warm up climb and was looking at me expectantly.  I got the hint and racked up and pointed me towards Raging Torrent:

I felt cold and clumsy and by the top of the climb my arms were feeling tired.  That said today was not about me, and it was the perfect warm up climb for Howsie.  Making the whole body move about and stretch, with not too much fingery stuff.  One of the negatives of the dam being that after winter loose rock can be more abundant, and as Howsie climbed up he managed to dislodge the rock above that narrowly missed me.  If you look carefully you might be able to see it below as well, lucky I had my tin pot on eh.  As we were finishing up a couple of cars rolled into the carpark:

The new arrivals were also climbers, a crew from Perth.  A friendly mob who had camped to last night, so before they intended to get climbing they needed coffee.  Out came a stove and they mulled about as Howsie took on his first grade 20… Gumby Goes Bolting.  It’s a route he seems to enjoy and he made short work of it, I then pulled the rope and went up.  I was again feeling clunky and robotic and felt like this pink fumitory, which is almost a climber.  This weed doesn’t quite manage to climb and instead just seems to crawl over, and smoother, whatever it can:

Next on the list was Ebonie Road, the rock on this route was a bit wet in places.  The start wasn’t too bad but the mid-section followed a line of very wet and greasy holds.  Howsie was looking in fine form and cruised the start better than ever before, and then kept his cool on the upper section to make it two out of two.  I followed up and this time I had started to warm up and things felt much smoother.  The new arrivals who were still just mulling about watched on and afterwards we stopped for a bit of a chat to discuss the various lines here:

Today I was doing Craig’s job and had brought us a flask of tea.  So with three lines down we felt like it was a good time to pour a cuppa, and make sure Howsie didn’t burn out to quickly.  On the last few trips out he has only managed to bag two (or less!) 20s before his arms and stamina had given up.  This meant we stopped and looked about a bit more and we noticed a sure sign of the changing seasons.  The deciduous trees were covered in buds just starting to open up.  The new green foliage will no doubt be very welcome as things heat up, providing us with a bit of shade when we start to battle the heat instead of the cold:

As we looked about a bit more I started to take a few images of the magical patterns lichen makes.  Howsie told me how lichen are made of two plants that form a symbiotic or mutualistic relationship.  They are formed of both algae and fungi, the algae produces carbohydrates which the fungi make use of and the fungi provide a protective environment for the algae to live in.  They are very slow growing creeping outwards by 0.5mm a year and can live for up to 5,000 years.  Even more amazing is that it is estimated that 6% of the earth’s land surface is covered with them:

Next up was Savage Sausage Sniffer, and seeing the tea was piping hot we left the lids off so it could cool down and marched on.  Howsie had a bit of a stutter on this one near the top of the flake and I like to think that my words of encouragement along with reminders of where the better holds were helped him break through the maximum of two 20s a session barrier.  Number three was in the bag and on each route I pulled the rope and led after him, this was in part to help slow us down and give him a bit more recovery time:

The red tails could be heard afar for most of the morning, but for a fleeting moment they gave us a display as landed and then took off from the trees atop the quarry wall.  One of the other crew, who were still not climbing, also took advantage of the opportunity and got his camera out.  Despite them all being racked up there was not a rope was in sight.  They admitted to finding the climbing here “different” and quite sustained and difficult, and they are certainly not alone with that thought.  Finally as Howsie and I finished our cuppas and started up Shock Therapy they started to put a few top ropes up:

We both had a shock when both of us walked up Shock Therapy, leaving only one grade 20 left at the dam.  Loose Association was looking the least inviting of all of them, a rarely climbed route in the dry it looked even more ominous with water dripping down much of the line.  Half of the holds were covered in slime and despite his best efforts, getting past the first bolts was just too difficult with so many holds out of action.  So we decided to back off but not before I solo’d up to get the runner back and also witness just how horrible the holds were.  They were truly grim, and we made a good choice:

We still had time for a bit of fun and just as we had started Howsie looked at me expectantly, so it looked like I was going up first and he gave me a choice of two routes.  It was a quick decision, Taj vs The World won because it is technical, sustained, lots of fun and both Howsie and I really rate it.  As I inched upwards, holding onto and relishing the small insecure holds Howsie had to occasionally return the favour and remind me where the holds were.  It was, as always, brilliant and Howsie just couldn’t resist but to have a bash on lead himself while I experimented with a few new photo angles:

It was not until we were getting ready to pack up that the other crew finally started to put the top ropes to use.  There was no sense of urgency created by crazy challenges or limited timeframes.  Mind you even when we are not on a time limit there is still an air of desire to pack the lines in, or is that just when I am out there?  It was time to fill the cups again and hit the road for the journey home, with four out of five 20s in the bag.  A great session at the dam but it was time for us to leave the other crew to enjoy the pleasures of Welly Dam, who we found out were known as the Spider Monkeys: