You are getting this as I know you’ll appreciate even more underwater images of some creatures I’ve been lucky enough to watch on my last two days of snorkels at our local Peppy Beach. I’ll start with this fish called a White Ear, and is in fact a teenager. I can tell this as the adults are a unfirm brown or black, but the young start off with fluorescent blue lines that with age become spots that eventually disappear. The image doesn’t do this 10 cm long fish justice and the blue dots really do light up:
Next up is yet another jellyfish, that I assume is of the Combes family members as it has the same distinct ribs of fine hairs , called combes, which seem to light up. This one looked just like a molar tooth and if you looked at it side on was quite narrow:
The thing that really caught my eye was the size and it was easily double the size of my hand. It really is staggering how these gentle creatures survive in the ocean as even the striking of a flipper seems to break down, so I have no idea how they survive the rolling ocean with its swells, waves and tides:
Next up is yet another mass of tiny, what seems to be baby fish. But on closer inspection either they have legs or, as it not uncommon, their gills are on the outside of their bodies. So I’m not sure whether to plump for tiny cleaner shrimps or a shoal of baby fish. Either way it is great to see these no more than 1-2cm long whatever they are:
Previously I have come across the female Shaw’s Cowfish, in fact I have seen a stack of them so that I almost pass them over. But today I found the more colourful male of this fish, and he was indeed very striking. He moulded into the weed really well, but luckily the shallow waters of where I was made it hard for him to get away. I reckon he was fully grown being close to the maximum 20cm length that they grow:
I stumbled across this fully grown 25-30cm long Globe Fish a couple of times, again in the relative shallows. This one truly was magnificent and getting up so close to see every detail was awesome, there is no zooming in on this image and I could have touched it. Again well camouflaged in the mostly yellow and light brown weed but he didn’t seem to perturbed with my presence:
I was also lucky to see a solitary squid, I reckon he was a Bigfin Reef Squid and approx. 20cm long. I’ve seen these in more northern and warmer seas but not here before and thought they were quite social creatures travelling in groups. Unfortunately on this occasion I only saw the one and snapped an early picture even though it was from afar. I could see his eye watching me carefully and knowing this was one of the two most intelligent cephalopods, with only the octopus beating it, I realised that if I tried to duck dive he would be off like a shot. So after a while watching and taking images I duck dived and never saw it again:
This fish is a Banded Sweep and I see it on almost every snorkel, It seems to hover about and follow me around. I’ve been told they are often found near to where crayfish are hiding in the reef of Peppy Beach, as they share the caves and hollows used by the crays. They grow to some 45cm and unlike other types of sweeps this one has in its favour that it is not great eating. I was lucky to get a great snap of it while in the shallows:
Last up for this email is a little 1cm long creature that I have no idea as to what it is. When I first saw it I thought it was just another bit of flotsam but then I noticed a regular movement in it and as I watched and got closer it was clearly alive. The best I can come up with is possibly a baby sea or dancer slug, one to check out a bit more as it was an amazing little creature:
Last night Elseya’s mate from next door had a sleepover, and subsequently they were up till tale making movies and playing games. Lisa and I crashed by 10pm and left them to it. In the at 6am the green waste truck came by, I swear we could set out clocks by that truck. So by 6:30 with the Lisa and the girls still snoozing I was getting restless so headed to the beach for a snorkel. My thinking was that there was more chance of seeing fish early in the morning than midday, don’t ask me why but I had a hunch. I was kind of right but there were not that many more. This was the first encounter I had was a female Shaws Cowfish:
I then spied a Sand Gobbler making its way not surprisingly across the sand. These are also called Sea Cucumbers, and it is a bit tricky to identify but I’m going to guess it is a Thelenota anax. It is a small one at only 30cm long and they can get easily double that size:
The next find I knew would have me stumped, the last few sea stars I really struggled to identify and google simply has far too many. But I’ll guess it is a Fromia indica, no matter how many I see it always feels so special when I find them:
I came across a heap different fish and some of the bigger ones included Truncated Coralfish, Southern Goatfish and Banded Sweep, but they were all too shy and quick to get away before I could get close to them. I did however have a small school of Scad, which I watched as these feasted on Jellyfish. I think they may be Jack Mackeral (one of the many types of Scad) and they are one of the recreational fish that attracts fishers to Peppy. This morning a few people were out hoping for a catch:
There were also lots of little fish but they are so hard to capture in a photo probably more because I can’t hold my breathe long enough to allow them to get used to me floating next to them. Still I couldn’t resit including this blurry photo of some small Western Pomfred, only being an inch or so long:
There are spots there is a small reef along Peppy and in the nooks and crannies there are always things to be found, today it was the Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (Purple Sea Urchin). There distinctive pale spines is what gives them away, and I’m not sure if they find holes to live in our burrow into the reef, as each time the homes I find them in are a perfect fit:
As I was looking about something caught my eye and after diving down a few times I came across , for the first time, some Western Rock Lobsters. I came across three in all and was led to believe that you had to swim out 200m to get the outer reef to find these fells. Being a wuss I only ever go out about 20-30m, so was stoked to finally get to see these amazing creatures up close in their natural habitat:
By now I was getting cold and had to head back to shore, but not before a few more Jellyfish images. I have now worked out that these are part of the Ctenophores family and are probably Comb Jellies. It is great watching these guys and the little beads of light that move along the ridges is so sool to see. I tried and tried to get a good image of this and this was the best I got. It kind of captures it and now you just have to imagine these flicks of light travelling along the ridge while also changing colour:
One final image just because:
Elseya is keen to get out and snorkel with the Jellyfish so later this morning I’ll head back out but you are in luck as she will have the camera not me
On Saturday I headed with Kym to Whaleback Boulders. I’d been there many years back with Craig and the wave washed shelf on which the boulders sat was wet, as was the rock. So we didn’t enjoy the place too much and I never really thought to go back. On this trip we parked away from the bouldering area due to the track having been churned up too much, but it was only a short rock hop along the coast to get there:
Today, while the rock pools still had water in them, the shelf was high and dry and the rock was also in perfect condition. It’s a place with slopers and smears so the rock condition is critical, and we really couldn’t have picked a better day. We warmed up on a few easier problems to get used to the rock and style. Kym has been here a few times so I was following his lead and we started on two V1s next to each other called Supplies! and Dolphinius:
We then moved just round the other side of the same boulder to try out a V2 and V3 called Bacon Balls and Slippery Crab. The V3 is one of Kym’s favourite, which he is one in the image below, and as the name suggests is full of slopers but also requires real body tension techniques to maximise the holds. I tried this one numerous times but kept failing only making it two thirds of the way up:
Then it was onto an unnamed V4 that is a one move wonder but man it is a big move, Kym made it look so easy throwing up and catching the magic hold first time. I tried over and over but kept falling short of that hold and much as I shouldn’t I am putting it down to Kym’s extra 4 inches of reach. Knowing full well it all came down to my technique simply not being up to scratch:
Before we got too tired Kym recommended the classic V3 named A Crab Called Wanda (Direct). A juggy traverse leads to an imposing hanging arête on which there is a small flake and a somewhat rounded top out. It was one for which I needed to spot Kym so unfortunately no action shots to show the exposure of this route:
I was stoked to get this one with only two attempts. It felt as highball as I wanted to go and it really focused the mind as you balanced on the arête reaching up for the last slopey holds. Fortunately as the hand holds got more slopey some good edges came for your feet, I breathed a very big sigh of relief as I pulled over the top:
It was then time to get really silly starting with this nasty V8 finger crack called Claw of the Crab. Needless to say we didn’t get it, and Kym at least managed to get his feet onto the break at which his right hand is at. After that it was hard to figure out what to do next, the crack gave a wicked finger lock but the thought of falling on it was worrying:
So being shut down by a V8 there is of course only one thing to do – jump on a slightly easier problem. So we aimed for Bad Boys at V7! Even getting the first moves was nuts, then there was this crazy reach/lunge out left from a horrible sloper to a better hold which Kym manage to get. The image indicates he is jumping from the ground, but that is not the case and I didn’t even get close. After that move it was too hard to hold on so the next sequence is yet to be discovered by Kym (and probably never by me):
There is a route that Kym had never tried yet so he was keen to try a real slab route so we went on the The Long Road Home at V3. The holds were small but with just enough edge on them to get purchase but the bottom was bulging out making it tricky to get your feet up:
As some of you know slabs are my thing, I do enjoy the technical and delicate climbing. So in this instance I was able to work the moves first and once the feet get onto the slab proper the game was all over but being as high as it was the top still required a cool head. It seems from checking out the mini-guide while I write this, that we took a more direct line to finish rather than the obvious crack to the left:
Kym was persistent and managed to bag another great line. Meanwhile I was really starting to appreciate how great a playground this place was if you get the right conditions:
The only bad thing today was when you got close to any of the shady cave like places in which thousands of bugs were keeping cool. If you looked closely it looked like the wall was alive, and if you go to close it exploded onto you which could be a bit off-putting. Fortunately very few lines got even close to these places:
After the glory moment on the slab I was all fired up to try that elusive slopey Slippery Crab and with a bit more understanding of the rock managed to get it. Better still I did it in great style all in a controlled way with no snatches, and it felt very good. I also tried to bag the unnamed one move wonder V4, but still kept falling short:
We still had some go in us so we finished off on a couple of V1s one called Holey Moley and the other is unnamed. They were great fun, and the unnamed one had us foxed for a quite some time but in the end we worked it out. As we were slipping off small slopers before bagging it, what was left of our fingertips were crying out in pain and advising us to call it a day:
So after a great and hugely successful morning we rock hoped back to the car ready for a short drive back to Kym’s. There we had a very welcome cup of tea and tasty cookies freshly baked by Kym’s girls just that morning:
Something tells me I will head back down to Whaleback again one day
On Elseya’s second day of the dance workshop we had already decided to head out for a snorkel somewhere. We aimed to head back to Castle Rock where we had gone a week or so before but didn’t manage much time in the water due to the shark alert. Our local Peppy Beach was flat as a pancake but at Castle Rock it was rough again, so we headed to Yallingup instead:
There is a pool which is protected from waves by a rocky bar and the place is a marine sanctuary, so in theory it was promising. We had never been here before on account of it being a very busy place. If you look closely in the image above and below you can see hordes of people on the beach in the background, all congregated at the southern end of the beach which is where it is most protected. We were however lucky and no one was not snorkelling so we had the place to ourselves:
Lisa was not so sure about going in yet, so I went first to check it out. The tide was very low and it looked very shallow, and as I worked my way out the first thing that hit me was the amount of seaweed, the colours were beautiful a very big change from the white sand of our local peppy Beach:
The first fish I was greeted with was a shoal of Western Pomfred, they yellow fins and tails merging in pretty well with the sea weed but they big black eye stood out really well. It was certainly deep enough to snorkel in but it was a bit hard to duck dive down to get in amongst the fish:
As I searched amongst the weed and various crevices I found so many fish but they were quick to hide and not being able to duck dive made it hard to get up close to them. A few did however creep out for a bit longer, and this is one of the nicer images I got. I’ve gone through our fish book and tried to identify the species and thin it may be a Tarwhine. I’m hoping our marine biologist friends Mikey and Helen reply this email and let me know if I am right:
There was one open sandy area that was deeper and in this there were hundreds of fish milling about and it felt like a huge aquarium. A couple of species I’ve identified are the Western Pomfred and Southern Silver Drummer but there are many others both in this image and not that I have not. There are simply too many species of fish in the sea(!):
While the place was alive with fish and exploding with colour from the weed, I did notice that there were a great many old shells. They looked to me like shell graveyards, with some sizable Campanilidae (the cone shaped ones) and Ninella whitleyi (the shorter stubby ones) shells:
I was starting to get cold but Lisa had decided not to miss out on the fun so was just about to join me. So we stayed out for a while longer and she too was mightily impressed with all the fish, not that this image shows many:
I kept heading into the shallower waters and found a big shoal of Old Wives, with a few Zebra Fish thrown in. These were by far my favourite fish of the snorkel, and I did first think they may have been Schooling Bannerfish but looking them up the distinct yellow eyes (as well as a few other features) gave them away:
Soon we were on our way out and I was shaking, I think next time a wetsuit may be a good. We had driven down in Lofty, and a trip in the camper makes even the shortest of trips feel like a holiday. The great thing is that we can quite literally bring the kitchen sink with us and so we made a well-deserved hot chocolate for me and coffee for Lisa:
As we supped our brews and warmed up both from the inside and outside we strolled along the rocks to watch the gentle waves and admire the coastline. That is code for Lisa finding the perfect rock armchair and me rock hoping about to see what I might find:
I was not to be disappointed and after much wandering about checking out rock pools I stumbled across this beautiful sea star. I’ve tried to find out which one this is and the best I can come up with is a possible a species of Fromia, but most of the ones I’ve found are either red’ish all over or more white spots on red. But after spending over an hour and half pouring over our fish and coral reef books and the website to write this email I give up. If Mikey and Helen can once again help me out that would be great!
Hope you are all keeping an eye out for all the hidden treasurers out there,
3:45 seemed a wee bit early to leave home, but I picked up Gav and Monica and we were off on the road to Wilyabrup. Passing Busselton at just after 4am and the police had pulled someone over, a timely reminder to stick to the limit. Then driving into Willyabrup on a gravel road to the beach at 4:30 two cars were on their way out. Maybe they had just had a night climb or surf?! As we walked to the cliff the moon was still up but there was enough light to get going:
So Gav needed a bit of practise leading on trad, and sure enough that was right as he got higher and higher Monica was very patiently waiting to become useful. Hint, hint – put some gear in Gav:
Sure enough he found some and so Minica then had to treally concentrate. The danw by now had truely broken and the earlty start was forgiven as we watched the world wake up:
As Gav topped out the next mob turned up, minus Ryan who called in sick at 3:30am. I had set Mikie a challenge if he was up for it and that was to bag 200-250m of climbing, but why you ask?! Well he has set himself a challenge to climb 10km of routes with the criteria it has to be on lead, must be a clean lead, and cannot be a climb he has claimed before. He still had to bag 307m in 2015. So we set off on an easy warm up slab and corner at grade 11:
Meanwhile Chris and Marnie jumped on the old favourite of Hope:
I hadn’t fully formed a list of climbs but was aiming for some of the better ones, with length and a mix of grade up to 19. So next up it was Glory a fun 13 that often gets overlooked and is right next to Hope:
To give Mikie a chance I was making sure I was ready to climb as soon as the rope went tight, and I didn’t waste time with stopping to get gear out instead doing it on the move. We were a well-oiled machine and as Marnie and Chris finished off on Hope we were already on our way back down (just look at the determination in Mikie’s face:
To speed thing up that bit more we had set up an ab rope which helped no end. So number three, The Unbolted and The Beautiful a feisty little 16 that is great value. I noticed the new guide only gave it 20m but I reckon 25 is fairer, it makes me thing that maybe I should have checked route lengths a bit more during the writing of the next guide:
Mikie was on fire, but I felt it was worth mixing up the grade so onto a 13 by the name of Verbosity. A name that has struck fear into many a budding leaders heart. It’s a fine line and one of the longest, but the lower section seems to freak so many people out. I thought for a moment he had lost 35m when his foot slipped as a limestone flake feel away but he held on:
The upper section of this climb is great, lots of fun and consistent climbing that keeps going and going and going:
Then for something different we went for Fishing With Dynamite a fully bolted 19. It’s a worthy climb, even if it is bolted, and there were no rules about the climbs needing to be trad:
Five routes in and going well, so next up we headed for a two pitch climb called Sirius, with both pitches going at 14. As Mikie was on the first traverse pitch someone was lowering a rope down the wall and low and behold Kym popped up. It seems Kym was jilted by young Tom who was instead heading out with Logan Barber later that day (bit of name dropping there if you didn’t notice, but also a little update on just how well Tom’s climbing is going):
Pitch 2, or should I say climb 7 was in the bag. A fine airy finish to the top of the iconic steel wall, which may well feature on the front cover the of the new guide. Around this time Lou turned up with Marie and Chris also came along with a couple of mates and it seemed that we had an explosion of people. Not only those invites but also a couple of adventure groups and several other climbers to:
As the crowds transformed the feel of the place and we were abseiling down Chris had decided to tackle (and did a great clean ascent) of the very awkward Top Gear 19. This got me thinking, as Mikie was wanting to slow down as Helen and Nadia had also turned up:
So for what I thought to be my last climb with Mikie (number 8) I threw him at the mercy of One for the Road and enjoyable climb with a tricky roof section going at 19. After 7 leads with no rests I wondered if he would make it, but after a few yo-yos at the roof he made it without a slip and the crowd went wild:
Then when we got down the tables turned and he asked me to lead something so I jumped on the very fine Dolphin Smiles. In view that Mikie got up it clean with no bother I still reckon now as I type this that he should have led it himself:
From he on the pace relaxed heaps and most of us were at the slabs near Steel Wall, long easy but fun pitches. Lou put her leading head on and Nadia had her first climb since giving birth to young Fergus. So everyone was having a good time and doing really well. Mikie finished up on one of the slabs called Peanut Crumble, a grade 10 that earned him another 30m and his tenth climb of the day:
The sun was starting to rise high in the sky and it had some bite to it. So us early birds all decided it was to head off and let the others work on their tans while trying not to slip off the holds. At the end of the day there was lots of climbing done, quite a bit of socialising for most (not so much Mikie or I), and an all-round great morning out not to mention Mikie’s remaining target for 2015 being slashed by 234m to a measly 73m. So it looks like it will be his lead (again) at Welly Dam next week when we hit that place at the crack of dawn for a pre-work climb:
Craig’s wife Oyukha is from Mongolia and while her dad, Nyamdagva, is over she wanted Craig to take him out for a climb. It was a chance for him to see what all the fuss was about and why Craig and I get so excited at the thought of playing on rock. So I picked them up at 5am, a later start than usual but it was nice not leaving in the darkness of night:
We had chosen a place call the Book Shelf, which is a short crag with climbs no taller than 6m and nothing too serious. It is included in the new guidebook that will soon be out for the area and I was a little worried that the shortness of the climbs would be a target for some negative feedback on the inclusion of this area. That aside it was however the perfect place to take Nyamdagva:
We walked along the path before passing the taller Northern cliffs, which for a first climb would be way too daunting and probably difficult. Then a stroll along the rocky shoreline to get to our destination:
The walk included a few scrambles so it is a good warm up and also allowed us to see how Nyamdagva went. No problems at all and he was happy traversing 6m up and also down climbing the blocky ledges:
There was no messing round and we got him straight into a harness and the first route was a relatively easy line so not as to scare him off. He wasn’t looking quite as comfortable at the thought of the climbing, as he was with the scrambling in but we persuaded him to give it a go:
After the initial slabby start the wall did steepen up. While the hand holds were pretty big, the footholds were a bit rounded and climbing in sandals did not help in making them feel all that secure. While Craig was busy taking images Nyamdagva was starting to protest and wanted to go back down:
So Craig climbed up alongside him to help him out and give him that little confidence boost, which was all that was needed to get him to the top. He was then very relieved and quite happy to go back down to solid and more level ground:
After his first every climb, it was time to watch us have a bit of fun and jump on some of the other climbs. He was certainly very intrigued and watched with great interest, so maybe we thought we hadn’t scared him off completely:
So while the iron was hot we got Nyamdagva onto his second climb, and it didn’t take much persuasion. He quite happily walked up this enjoyable flake line and once at the top Craig had another surprise for him. It was time to experience abseiling, so back down he went and once again he was looking a little nervous but he gritted his teeth and went along with it:
Then it was again time to kick back and watch us jump on a few climbs, and what better a spot to relax. Unfortunately we did not however get to see any dolphins or whales cruise past:
Ryan also joined us for a climb, his first in WA after his 4 plus months overseas climbing trip. It was good having him come along as he was able to guess the grades and we were pleased to hear that he guessed most of the grades bang on:
Also having the extra person meant I could occasionally spend a bit more time taking images, and playing with the settings to get all creative and arty:
It was a great session and we kept moving racking up the climbs, and we were pleasantly reminded of how good the lines were . While short they made up for this with their individual consistency and varied styles that each climb offered:
While we carried on Nyamdagva watched while quietly sipping on a cup of tea, but it was time to once again get him to have another bash. He didn’t seem too keen but we convinced him to suck it up:
So Craig set off for the last climb for his father in law to follow us up on. He watched the moves and must have been paying great attention as when it came to his turn he ambled up it quickly and easily:
After conquering his third climb it was time to abseil back down, and this time knowing what to expect it all went smoothly, and there was a great big smile on his face when he got down. I have to say I was mightily impressed with Nyamdagva and his first climbing and abseiling experience:
Of course we also tested not only the climbs for their worth, but Ryan’s prowess after globetrotting for so long with only one thing to do – climbing. So we sent him on the crags test pieces including this great roof, which he did remarkably well on. He was feeling a bit tired after the mornings 15 plus climbs so declined to take on the right hand variant. So I finished the day on that one – but not in the best style. Our morning out was a great success confirming the worth of having the Book Shelf included in the new guide, the quality of the climbs it has on offer but most of all allowing us the chance to give Nyamdagva a really enjoyable first climb experience:
Way back in March 2013 when we were still discovering the delights Lost Buttress had to offer, Kym did a couple of solo laps on what we called Scarred for Life (12). It looked so much fun that I followed up in the same style and promptly pulled off the hold that he has his right foot on. The 5kg block now sits in our garden, as a memento of when it unbalanced me and sent me falling onto the slippery wave washed boulders below. Someone was looking after me that day as I got away with compression damage and no broken bones. I’ve never been back on this route, so when Lou wanted to head down there for a bit of relaxed trad climbing I had already decided today was going to be the day to jump on this climb:
On the drive in there was a lovely carpet python on the track, so I couldn’t help but jump out and take a few photos. The track is quite incised so, as it was early morning and he hadn’t warmed up yet, he was having difficulty getting off the track and into the vegetation. So I was lucky enough to pick him up and help him on his way:
It was forecast to be in the high 20s today, but for now it was still cool. As the waves rolled in they left a mist in their wake, which was drifting towards the shore as the rock was wet. But not wet enough to dampen our spirits:
I sent Lou on first lead, seeing how eager she was to get out on trad again. The last time we climbed was at Welly Dam and much as she likes the place she simply doesn’t trust bolts and keep saying how she is more comfortable on trad. She plumped for St Patrick (12) and wove her way up the wall and into the corner before committing to the crack and face. It took her a few goes to get the confidence to commit to the last moves but she finally went for it:
I then jumped on Flashback 17, a fiery little face climb that is easier for the tall although that is probably true for all bar roof climbs. The fingery lower portion certainly requires a bit of oomph but the hold did get bigger and the holds more reasonably spaced:
Lou then had a bash at No Nuts Required (13) and her head was not quite in the game so worked her way up the wall from left to right to left avoiding all the tricky bits. Next we went up what I reckon is one of the best routes here, Jenga 14 and the top layback flake is simply brilliant:
Lou then regained her leading mojo and had fun on Baby Shower (13) before I ended our session on Scarred for Life (12). This time I opted for a rope and gear and thoroughly enjoyed the line:
As Lou followed me up she seemed more concerned about the crashing waves than the moves on wet rocks. It was a fine climb to end the days relaxed morning on trad:
Well after three months of my on-again off-again travel proposal for a conference in Brisbane it was definitely on, and only just in time with less than a week before my departure date. When the opportunity came up Lisa and I talked about me going over early to get a weekend of climbing in, so that is what I did. A Friday night red-eye flight and taxi ride later I was knocking on Mikie and Helens house in South Brisbane at 6am. They were in the throes of final packing and we were soon (after a very much needed two cups of tea) on the road to Moogerah Peaks National Park, in which Mount French is located and on which Frog Buttress, the holy mecca of Australian crack climbing can be found:
As the walk in above shows they have in recent times undertaken a controlled burn to manage the ever increasing fuel loads of the Australian bush. The path from the carpark was the dividing line between the starkly different burnt and unburnt sides. Due to the burns formerly relatively sound boulders and ground at the top of the buttress could have been made less stable. As such climbing was only permitted on the northern sector (well to be picky north east!):
As we descended the numerous steps I was getting a little light headed, but was not sure if it was a result of the 3hrs sleep or the thoughts of entering the holy grail of crack climbing. The steep decline made you concentrate on your feet rather than look round too much, but soon I noticed walls creeping higher and higher on either side:
Then finally after months of eyeing up the free cheap and nasty guide to Frog I was there. The walls towered above us with climbs up to 40m. Some faces were clean and straight with splitters ranging from fingertips to body widths, others were more broken but littered everywhere were cracks:
There was no mucking about and Mikie threw me onto a not so great named climb Shit Heap (14), my first real taste of a hand jamming crack – ever! I’ve been up some cracks but never one where you have no choice but to jam your way to glory. I brought with me my mid to large cams and hexes and with Mikie’s gear we had enough to stitch our way up:
Helen is not an avid climber, but does enjoy bagging a route or so a day, so she followed up second. While she was struggling and grunting her way up (sorry Helen) I enjoyed the view through the tree tops. This climb is not very long but it was a great introduction to what to expect:
Mikie came up third and with his taped up hands put my jamming techniques to shame. Maybe the tape helped him lessen some of those more painful jams but I still didn’t tape up, not that I’m calling you soft Mikie:
You’ll have to put up with a lot of climbing shots I couldn’t resist taking pictures just because the place was so different to what I have become used to. Mikie floated up this great corner with a fine narrow finger jamming crack called Winston Alley (16). I was certainly warming to the climbing style but was I ready for what was to come next:
Before that though the whole time we climbed there everywhere I looked I noticed these little ants. While Mikie was on Winston Alley I noticed one doing a yoga pose and it seemed to have a droplet on its head. It seemed to be stroking its antennae, head and bum but why I cannot even fathom:
So back to cracks, seeing I passed the test of the first two it was my turn to jump onto a 16 called Century. There was a tree at half height that was near on impossible to avoid but even with that it required full commitment to the crack and I start to relax and just trust myself. I surprised myself and was actually getting to like jamming:
It seemed like a good grade 16, giving me enough of a challenge but not sand bagging me. However, for Mikie he wanted to test himself a bit more so he jumped on Side Pocket Alley (17). He made short work of it and was certainly climbing very well:
After his lead Mikie was getting hungry but in my usual way I managed to convince him that 6 was a much better number of climbs to stop of lunch on. Seeing it was me up next I plumped for Electric Mud (13), just because it looked so fine. The rope belies the route and much as I did try to get up the blank low down corner on fierce and painful finger locks I ended up skirting round it:
It was a lovely climb and Helen was keen to give it a bash, she did it in great style but of course still left all the gear in to make Mikie work that bit harder:
So last one before lunch, this little number had shut down Mikie’s brother Chris when he came over. In fact he had taken a good fall on it, Erectile Kingpin going at 17 certainly was a test piece. Mikie got up to the crux flake in good style, and then it was time to committee to this crack that was too narrow for a fist and too wide for fingers:
He went in hard and almost bagged this feisty number but his foot slipped and the tape on his hands didn’t help his forearms and elbows from which he took some bark off. Undeterred he hit it again and made it up in good style, I wonder if I had allowed him to have a spot of lunch whether he would have got it clean. It was a great climb and I also slipped at the same spot but with the safety of the rope above me came away unscaved and ready for a nibble. Only to find Mikie had spied a high and exposed line for me that started off the top of his last triumph called Wizards Back (16). While it had some jamming it was more of a very delicate face climb which on an empty stomach made me feel nervous (was it Mikie’s revenge I wonder) :
The climbs were getting higher each time and the view from the top was great. The clouds which did give us a sprinkling of rain (but didn’t stop us) made for specky rays of sun that hit the leaves and made them sparkle, with a backdrop of a patch work quilt valley sewn together by rows of trees it was bloomin’ marvellous (damn I should have been a writer):
Refilled and energised I jumped onto an awesome climb called Materialistic Prostitution (16). It looked very daunting fist sized crack but I jammed my way to glory and thoroughly enjoyed it, even thinking it was too short. The line went up to the left of where Mikie is climbing and then where the crack ended joined the climb he is now on which is Electric Lead (14). Yes he was slowing down, or was I working him too hard:
I was keen for ‘just one more’ climb, so he humoured me and sent me up the very fun Horse Drawn Zepplin (16) in which I did the ultimate sin of over camming a cam! So I had to rap down and retrieve it and fortunately it was not too hard to get out. It was yet another great climb and the tenth of the day all of which had one of more stars and deservedly so, by which time Mikie looked exhausted so it was time to hit the long stairs out, which made our legs burn:
Time for sleep was coming fast so we pitch our tents and then headed down to the nearby town called Boonah, in which the infamous climbers meeting place of the Dugandan Hotel can be found. Locally called Doogs it offered fine ales and healthy portions of bar meals that went down a treat. Mikie confessed to be shattered, I had in fact worked him hard and we had bagged more lines that he would normally hit in a weekend at Frog:
Next morning Mikie was not sure how he would fair but we were there so why not give it a go. So we ambled down and agreed to start on something easy, so not even having got to the bottom of the stairs Mikie jumped on a very pleasant Parson’s Pleasure a fantastic 2 (out of four) star grade 11. Here is Helen following up on second it really was a great climb:
Seeing it was my lead Mikie was more than happy for me to jump on something a wee bit longer. So I picked out Theory (15) a corking and long corner with some interesting features. There was an epic looking 17 that was 40m which I liked the look of but we only had a single 70m rope so wouldn’t have got back down, noting that there are rap anchors all over the top of the crag. Mikie is coming back down after my climb, it was amazing and had some real funky moments that are still vivid in my mind including where I got my foot stuck – twice – and had to down climb and start again. I was on fire again:
Mikie too came off that last climb feeling fired up so he sought out Fat Mattress (17) which was recommended to us by another couple of climbers we saw down there. In fact it was a bit strange as the day before we only saw one other party and today also there was only one other party on the rock down our end. Mikie reckoned that it was normally much busier than this, maybe the closure of the southern end kept people away. That said we did see more pries at the carpark and walk in so they were probably risking the $300 on the spot fine for climbing down the southern end:
While Mikie made his way up I watched the little six legged critters again. What was so special was their glowing golden colour, the image doesn’t do it justice by it really looked like they were glowing when the sun hit them:
Back to Mikie who was slowing down, this next bit looked tricky and he was thinking and working hard. At one point he said he was going to rest and asked me to take. My response was non-committal and I told him he should at least give it a go before he rested. So he dug deep and went for it and managed to claw his way up in a very impressive situation. It was a very sustained climb and pretty tough at the grade, Mikie even felt it was the hardest trad route that he has led, so hats off:
While Mikie was catching his breath and setting up a belay I kept looking round, the lizards were too fast to capture on film so I focused on the rock itself. The colours were quite striking and so I couldn’t resist taking this image. After Mikie’s impressive and exhausting lead it was my turn and we were running out of decent length easy routes so I aimed for Sabrasucker (16), a finger crack that was said to have good feet to compensate for the barn door feeling the climb gave you. Well it certainly took everything I had to stay on maybe because I stitched it up so well but my forearms were burning when I got to the top. Mikie was in the same condition when he got up so we decided to call it a day:
Now you may have noticed that Helen only features in three climbs so you may wonder what she was up to all this time. Well she enjoyed the peace and quiet (except for Mikie and my occasional grunts and shouts) reading and knitting. Notice she also kept her helmet on, which was wise as at one time a few small stones did in fact rain down on us:
So with two days and great climbing under our belts we decided to take a short walk to look at some of the views from Mount French. It was getting overcast and a few drops of rain were falling so the light was not the best but the views were quite striking and had great contrast between the different belts of vegetation, distance hills and sky:
It was a lovely walk and good to stretch the legs before we got in the car but we were all completely bemused as to why they decided to build this pretty big platform out in the middle of nowhere just to put a bench on it that gave you no better view. No plaque or sign, so they must have realised it was overkill and didn’t want to be named and shamed. Still it deserved a photo with the happy couple:
So finally back in the turtle mobile and back to Brisbane, which was only a short one and quarter hours. How amazing to have such a great crag so close, and I only got to see a fraction of what it had to offer. Next time twin ropes are definitely needed to hit the longer climbs, but that said I have no complaints about any of the routes we jumped on every one was really good and my views of jamming have changed forever:
As light was fading I was at my hotel and having to sort my head out to focus on work. It started well when they gave me a room with someone already in it, oops. Luckily they were decent. Then they gave me the wrong room service order and promptly spilt apple juice all over the floor, but the people were great and friendly so none of that mattered and the view from my 16th floor room was awesome:
As morning came in the view changed significantly but was equally specky and so started the reason I was able to get to Frog, three days of workshops, meetings and a conference. Lots and lots of networking morning, noon and night, in fact so much that it was coming out of my ears and my brain was hurting from it all:
Then when the last meeting was over at 7pm on Wednesday (my earliest finish of the three days) Mikie came back and pick me up, and we travelled along to Kangaroo Point. The lights were blazing all over and it was certainly a sight to see. Mikie was sore after the weekend but had recovered sufficiently for another session, but it was not indoor climbing at this late hour that we were after:
This is Kangaroo Point, a 300m long floodlit wall of bolted and a few trad routes up to some 20m high. It is amazing, lit all night and free to climb even with free parking! It is right off the river and you can park just on the other side of the fence, what an amazing outdoor climbing gym:
We got there soon after 7 and stayed for two and half hours but we managed to squeeze in five climbs and I did the last one twice because it was sooooo good. Here Mikie is on the third lead of the night, I did the first two (18 and 20) and they were both great especially the second one. This one was a bit cheeky as the hold were well and truly hidden in part due to the night climbing with the mega bright spot lights blaring up at you from below. Mikie cruised up but I failed at the last moment not finding those elusive holds (one you may remember Chris), it was still a great climb and my ego was not dented in the least. It was after all a 21:
I then went up a fun 18 from which a block had recently fallen, but it kept the grade. It had me foxed for quite a while at one point but after that it was all good. We were keen for more and Mikie was generous enough to let me bag another lead. I spied this great upper wall and couldn’t stop looking at it, only problem being is that it went at 22. So seeing it was the last climb in Brisbane I jumped on lead and it was every bit as good as it looked and better, the only problem was I wasn’t good enough to get it clean. No harm done the super fingery upper wall kept going for some 6 to 8m and was superb, so good after Mikie had been up I went again on top rope. No good my body was wrecked and I again had to take a rest, with my fingers complaining:
It was time to head off and back to the hotel, as I had an early start to get to the airport. But not before I took in the grand sight of the awesome Kangaroo Point for one last time. The top looking like a hanging garden of Eden, how good is that place and right in the middle of town. So Mike dropped me off and after thanking him yet again it was time to pack and get ready for an early start:
So after leaving the hotel at 5:15 I got to the airport admittedly early, as I wanted a breakfast and had some work to sort out. Then 11 hours later I was rolling up the drive home to be greeted with this wonderful sign on the door. It was great to climb at Frog and Kangaroo Point and catch up with Mikie and Helen (and to travel with work) but the best part was coming home to Elseya and Lisa:
Today I headed out with Steve and Leanne to Moses Rocks for a relaxed climb. It’s the place that I first climbed in WA and has a gritstone feel to it, which I like. The routes are plentiful but many are short, so we headed to Hands Up wall which provide some of the longer lines. We weren’t chasing the numbers so aimed at the easy but fun cracks, and there is Steve getting the ball rolling Gothic Streak 15 (HS 4b). It was still a bit damp but there’s nothing like a slippery hold to focus the mind:
I had checked the tides and swell the day before to check our options of where to go. High tide was at 11’ish and the swell was a couple of meters so not too bad. The sea behind, as Steve mounts the hanging headwall, is deceiving and the conditions did limit our options as the other easier crags are that bit closer to the sea and there was more chance of getting a bit wet:
Without warning a wave or two would come in that would send a spray high in the sky. Fortunately with a light seaward breeze we were not coated in a salty sea spray, which happen quite often at Moses:
Most of my recent climbing trips have been to sport crags, so today we were all keen to get some trad gear in and to up-the-anti we decided we could only use tricams. On other days we say just wires, or wires and hexes but strangely we never have a day of just climbing on cams. It was Chris who put us onto these delightful bits of gear, they are very versatile and can be used as bot active and passive gear. They suits Moses really well, with the rounded and often flared cracks in which other gear can be hard to place:
Steve was so taken by these that he went out and bought himself the full range (and multiple thereof) including the big mama sizes. They can be a bit tricky to get out while on second at times, but today there was no problem probably because the cracks are all so open and don’t close in:
I took second lead on Hands Up, another 15 (HS 4b). This one has an even more rounded and flared crack and every time I lead this there are moments on it that make me stop and think. That might be because I tend to stick to the crack and avoid searching too far left or right for those occasional face holds that help the climb maintain the grade. It’s the first time I had used tricams on this climb and was pleasantly surprised at how much better the placement felt compared to using other passive and active gear:
Steve was like a kid in a candy shop loving not only placing the tricams but getting all excited about my placements too. They can look a little disconcerting in a crack that flares as much as this one did so he decided to test a few placements only to find they didn’t budge, and still popped out a treat with the simple tap of a nut key:
The rules of the day were not limited to using tricams to protecting the routes but also the belays. I was quite taken but this setup, so much so it deserved a photo:
While Steve and I had fun on the routes secretly Leanne was trying her had at placing these magical bits of gear. So when we got down it looked a bit like Christmas time with colours tinsel dotted there and there:
On the next climb Steve broke the rule of the day and not only did he use tricams but also two carrot bolts. There is a somehow cam placement near the first bolt but nothing above that until the headwall but the crack is too shallow to take a tricam (and why I know that is another story). So on the basis that without the bolts it would have been pretty well a solo all was forgiven on this sterling lead of Johnny Fartpants 18 (HVS 5a):
Here Leanne is following Steve and the prominent crack to the left is called Wheely Things 15 (HS 4b). This absolute pearler of a hand jam crack is a 3 star classic and was the climb I finished our morning out on. It does have crimps and edges but I tried my best to stick to jamming all the way up (failing at two locations), why you may ask – well I might be lucky enough to get to Frog Buttress in Queensland which is the home of jam cracks so I thought I would get a bit of practise in. Just to make myself work that little bit more I also well and truly stitched it up by placing 10 tricams:
Hope you are all placing some trad gear in and not just clipping bolts
Today we had a great sunny day forecast after some wet cold days so a few of us headed out to Bob’s Hollow for a bit of a climb. It’s a steep limestone cliff with some hard lines, but today we were not feeling that way inclined so headed for the very southern end to bag a mob 17 – 20 grade routes:
We had three ropes on the go so it looked a bit like a spaghetti junction at time, but we managed to stay on the right lines and not get confused. Here Kym and Steve are still working out their routes on lead, while Lou is following up the route I started on:
I jumped on the easiest of the lines (which explains Kym and Steve’s tardiness in the image above). Both Kym & Steve picked lines with exciting finishes, Steve’s in particular certainly tested him as the last stretch got steeper and quite runout. He kept his cool and having had the sense to drag up some tricams he managed to get through the scary bit with a bit of extra pro:
Leanne hadn’t climbed too much of late so did amazingly well getting up a couple of the lines. Even these lower grade routes are steep and sustained, as this image shows so when you are not fit they can be quick to spit you off:
There was one line I was were keen to jump on as it had given me some jip in relation to figuring out exactly where it went, which I need to know for the guide I am preparing. I went up first and teetered my way up past a half cut rope and some long runouts while unsuccessfully trying to find the three bolts. Leigh in the image below did a much better job, taking a sling to back up the dodgy rope and finding all the bolts:
On this climb I came across a beautiful baby Carpet Python curled up in a pocket while enjoying the morning sun. So when Leigh and then Steve went up I told them to watch out for it. As Leigh went up he put his hand on a hold and it felt wet, and then it felt like it was moving. He slowly pulled up and saw not a baby but full grown Carpet Python slithering along the horizontal break and right over his hand. Steve went up next with camera in hand only to realise there was no room left for any more images, so you’ll have to put up with an arty shot from me instead:
We were getting tired and it was time to head off, but not before Lou had a bash at an old favourite, Puk Puk Sen. She left it a little late in the day but managed to struggle up it despite having some wet and slimy feeling holds. With that Steve, Leanne, Lou and I headed off and left Leigh, Tom (who had been saving himself for silly hard stuff) and Kym to keep going:
On the walk out Steve and Leanne found out just how unfit they really were, due to lack of climbing and exercise in general, as on the short ten minute walk they got jelly legs. It’s a good job it wasn’t a longer walk out or we may have had to carry them out:
One of the things about Bob’s is that it is a bit of a mission to get there, it’s not quite the furthest crag but it takes the most time, as there is a 3km bush track to drive along. Most of this is OK but there are rocky sections that require care and at times there isn’t much room. Steve was very happy to drive in and as such while the climbing had stopped it wasn’t quite the end of the adventure for him:
I volunteered to take images of some of the sections as we drove out, but it was hard to capture what it was really like. It was the first time Steve had tackled any 4WDing like this and he did a great job managing to avoid any crunching sounds as he negotiated the rocks:
In some sections the bush is really closed in and you need to pull your wing mirrors in and close your windows, or a not so friendly branch might side swipe you. As you drive through these you can’t avoid the stretching sound as the branches scrap along the side of the car:
As photographer, and to avoid delaying the trip too much, I rode on the front bull bar. I simply couldn’t resist taking this selfie with a very happy Steve in the driving seat:
Below is the evidence of the what harsh Australian outback it will do to your 4WD if you use it as it was built for, i.e. 4WDing. Too many people have their big shiny 4WDs and never take them off road, that said Steve will be giving his car a well-deserved T-cut to polish it up a bit:
Sandbagged 