Not so early starts

Inspired by responses to my last email I took my camera along with us on the end of the working week before work climb. Bit of a mouthful, but as both Chris and I do not have as much potential to get out on weekends, as we may like, we have been going to Welly Dam before work usually on a Thursday or Friday. In summer this worked great as it was light by 4am so we could get three hours in and still be at work for 8am, but now we are in the thick of Autumn and first light is at 6:30 when it is not cloudy making it a tad harder. So yesterday I left home at 5am, while most of the world about us is still in dreamland. I was hoping for the usual mob of kangaroos that I see as I slowly and carefully make my way to the highway, but alas not one showed up:

It takes half an hour to get to Chris’s house and then another 45min to drive up the hill to Well Dam. For those doing their maths we get there at 6:15 and yes it is still dark. As we have been here so many times we have got into the routine of picking a warm up climb based not on grade but how well we know it. Finding those hand and foot holds in the non-existent morning light becomes more important than grade, this image was only possible due to the camera having a torch function on it:

Pocket Knife is a grade 19 (HVS 5a) climb that we have done, like so many others, countless times; and some may think we would get bored with repeating the same climbs. However, while writing the new climbing guide for this area we really struggled to decide which Welly Dam climbs to rate with stars. There are not many that do not deserve one if not two stars and many in our mind are worthy of three. So it is no wonder that we never get bored of the routes here, and added to that with our early morning sessions we climb them in many different conditions so the way you approach them also changes. As any warm up should, it didn’t present any difficulties and Chris was up and down before first light started to peek through:

Both sun rise and set seem to happen very quickly here, if you blink you’ll miss it. Years back I was on a travel show and they wanted to film the sunset as part of it, after which they commented it was so fast that they wouldn’t need to speed it up for the final show. As such by the time I had been up my chosen warm up, Shock Therapy a short but punchy grade 20 (HVS 5b) Chris had the luxury of being able to see all the holds. Interestingly we were not sure that was of help, as climbing in the dark you had to trust the holds more by feel and with the encroaching light there was more chance of your mind playing games with you about just how good they were. That said we both made short work of what used to be one of Chris’s nemesis:

The native tress in our part of the world are evergreen, but when they finished quarrying the granite for Welly Dam they planted this picnic area with deciduous trees. Being autumn this big sycamore tree was in the middle of shedding its leaves, giving us a great colourful canopy and mosaic leaf littered ground. When the wind picked up there would be a flurry of leaves floating down which was very pretty to watch:

Being autumn also meant that the grass was sopping wet, and wet climbing shoes are not a good thing. Being a quick before work climb we don’t have the time to much about with taking shoes on an off to move about. So with a bit of adaption my everyday footwear of sandals became a somehow climbing shoe cover. Fortunately the walls have enough warmth to avoid being (too) wet:

Enough about the season and conditions, Chris’s next mission was a great climb called Silverback (21 or E1/2 5b). It starts on big holds which you have to pull hard on to keep going, before a super thin and balancy crux move to gain a slabby section. Chris has managed clean ascents of all the 20s at Welly Dam, so has set himself the task of bagging all the 21s now. This one proved a little too tricky and try and try as he did the crux had him beat. Me thinks more finger board and core muscle training is needed before he is successful on this one:

The images may have given the indication that the morning was clear and bright, but it was in fact foggy. This is pretty common for our morning sessions with the place being so close to Wellington Reservoir, which used to be the drinking water supply for the area. The fog helps in that the mornings are generally a bit warmer, today it was ten degrees when we got there. But it can make for some of the more lichen covered climbs to be a tad damp. If you look carefully you might be able to see Chris on the wall on the right preparing to clean the last climb:

My turn next, and seeing I had been doing my finger board and core muscle training over the last few weeks decided on another grade 21, Taj Vs the World. This is a devious climb that makes you guess on every move and hold. It is thin, balancy, technical and a tad run out at the top; in truth it is probably under graded. It is also one that we do not often do as it is a little scary and has a reputation for being hard. On this occasion it beat me and I was only able to make my way up it with a couple of rests, one of which was due to a hold crumbling on me and hitting me square on the helmet. I’ll have to train a bit harder and will have another bash on it next week:

As Chris seconded and cleaned that route we heard the loud harsh cries or krar-raak. It may not seem particularly nice, but when you hear it for real it is quite beautiful. We looked up and sure enough there we a few red-tailed black cockatoos flying overhead. These birds remind me of our time in Alice Springs, where we would see flocks with as many as several hundred of them. In this instance it also drew our attention to the specks of blue sky starting to peak through as the sun was warming the world up:

So onto the next route Rock Therapy, another 21. One of the more recently established climbs it is not one we have jumped on too often. Most of it is great fun with big hidden holds that allow you to gain overlaps and small roofs with exposed moves. Then the final headwall looms and everything changes, with pumped forearms the small holds and smeary feet of the final crux section become a real challenge. Chris started well but was getting more wobbly as he got higher; he eventually managed to reach the final anchors but not in the style he had hoped:

He was pretty stuffed by the end of that one, but we had to even up the numbers so I jumped on Slay Away. It’s given 22 (E2 5c) but I reckon is a bit soft at the grade, and is less consistent than some of the other routes. The bottom section is a lot of fun with funky and unexpected moves, then it is time to trust a sloper on insecure feet under a bulge. This is where most people come unstuck and the images shows Chris attempting to try and snatch past this, but there was no way that was going to work with the good holds being a foot higher:

You may be wondering by now how many climbs we did and what the time might have been. We normally only bag 4 climbs and try to get to work between 8:30 and 9:00, but today we had agreed to stay for a bit longer and so it was now just after 9:30. With six awesome climbs under our belts, a few project in mind to try again next week and that satisfying achy feel after a great session; it really was time to pack up the handy crate and head to work:

Welly Dam is located in a basin that is up on a hill, which is one of the reasons it is often cloudy and foggy for our early morning sessions. This is the sight that usually greats us as we start to descend back down the hill. Clear skies and a view of Bunbury and the ocean beyond it. Another brilliant morning, and with luck we may be able to keep these session up all year:

Hope you are all finding some time to get your rock fix.

To go or not to go out that was the question……

It has been a long while since I have written a bit of an outdoor climbing email, so I thought it was about time I did and the only way to do that is to get out and climb. My last weekend climb was six weeks back and on that fateful trip I hit a roo, so I didn’t have the same keenness to document that trip.

So to remedy my long silence Lou and I decided to head out for an afternoon climb yesterday, and it was also to be the first time I would catch up with Glen. However, the forecast was looking a bit dicey and that morning the weather was on and off pants. As I drove to Busselton the rain came down hard and it was liking iffy. Lou pulled the pin so I went to see Glen, as we checked out his woody the rain was coming down hard on the roof and we almost resigned to having to boulder in the shed. That was until Kym sent me this text and we decided to go for it:

With a positive mind we drove down and while the rain came down here and there it certainly looked like we may be able to squeeze a climb or two in. Glen hasn’t done a huge amount of trad leading but is keen, has some gear and is heading to Arapiles in a week’s time to meet up with Leigh. So being possibly wet we plumped for Moses where the routes are a shorter but the friction and gear (on the lower grade routes) is more plentiful:

We were sand blasted as we walked along the beach all rugged up. With a strong northerly that made us lean forward as the trudged onwards. There were blue patches in the shy interwoven with dark looming clouds, and the ocean was pretty wild. Those who know the place will realise that with rough seas the rock can feel very greasy with the salt spray and that was a risk we took:

Due the northerly we started on the first buttress that was shielded from the wind. We had heard from Kym that it had rained down here almost every day last week and that had washed any remnants of salt from the rock, That with the strong wind provided us with the perfect conditions. To boot as Glen set off on his first lead at Moses rocks the sky above was a wonderful blue and the sun was out – it was T shirt weather!

I was keen to throw Glen on Hathersage a great grade 15 (VS 4c), but decided to start a bit slower and plumped for Stanage Youth at 13 (VS 4a/b). He did a fine job and soon learnt the great friction that Moses has to offer on these rare days of perfect conditions. The gear was a another story. While he found great placements, the outwardly flared nature of many of the cracks was a tad disconcerting and made him think long and hard at each placement:

It was a real weird day and as he was setting up the belay I took a peak to see what the northerly was brining, it didn’t look good. Basked in brilliant sunshine and watching the marching army of dark clouds making their hasty way towards us made me think we made the right choice with Moses, short routes and easy to make a run for it if we needed to:

Next up I decided to send Glen up a lower grade route that had more plentiful and probably slightly easier to find gear. So it was time for a bit of Easy Listening 8 (severe), he certainly chewed up the first half of the route until the ledge with well-spaced and solid gear. The T-shirts were still out but I was mindful of the clouds rolling in, that Glen was oblivious too:

The top of this climb which should go straight up had him baffled, as all the holds slope and the wrong way and the flared cracks made the placements seem less than secure. So he slowly drifted with the slope and ended up finishing up the fun chimney of Drop the Donk at the same grade:

Before leaving the northern end I couldn’t resist and jumped on Hathersage. This was the first climb in WA that I attempted, the only thing that held me back being that I was by myself and soloing and the top headwall is a tad thin and exposed. It’s a great climb full of character and is also named after a little village in the heart of the Peak District, the home of gritstone, where I have spent many weekends camping out and climbing. Glen had no problem on second and I think he will be back sometime to try his luck on lead:

We then decided to head to the main Hand’s Up Wall for some longer routes. As we walked along the cliff the wind hit us and we stared at the looming rain that was quickly approaching. So we doled up in a crevice and allowed it to pass, which didn’t take long. The best bit about the winds that day was a few minutes after the shower the rock was back to being bone dry, so with the next patch of blue sky we jumped onto one of the crag classics:

Wheely Things 15 (VS 4c) is an awesome jamming crack and if you don’t jam the grade goes up considerably. I was super impressed as Glen walked past the start which usually throws people off guard, but the next bulge had him worried so it took a bit of time and a rest before he finally managed to make progress and get over it. The only down side of the climb being that there is an escape at two thirds height to avoid the final steepening section, which is where he is at in the image below and he gladly took:

As we came back down a rainbow started to form over Wilyabrup, but I doubt there was anyone climbing there to get wet. Despite the temperature feeling like it was dropping we still seemed to have a fair amount of blue sky to make use of, so we went for one final line:

I decided on the roundest and most flared crack on the wall, Hands Up which is another 15 (VS 4c). Glen had not seen tri-cams before and so this was the perfect climb to show their true versatility, they can be used where no other gear will do such as on this climb. It’s normally a nervous lead but with all the saltiness washed away the friction was good and it was a fun walk in the park. Following up I think this may be another line that he’ll have his eye on for his next trip to Moses:

As we both topped out something was telling us that our time of dry conditions was running out so we packed up our still dry gear and wandered back out. This time with the wind on our back we didn’t have the strong of the sand and the slog through ‘the sand with a pack on seemed much more pleasant than it normally does after a climbing session:

As we reached the final dunes the rain caught up with us, not too hard but enough to let us know we had made the right decisions. It’s always great to catch those unexpected great days out on rock, which we wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for the local knowledge and encouragement of Kym, so thanks Kym and Lou we both reckon you lucked out:

While it was a fun climb we also spent a fait bit of time watching the sky, ocean and landscape rapidly changing with the unsettled weather. So much so that I took more images of the that than us climbing, so here to finish are a last couple that I particularly like:

Thanks for reading, and don’t be put off getting outdoor just because it feels like winter as hit.

More underwater wonders

This morning, as the girls were enjoying a bit of a Saturday morning lie, in I decided to wander down to beach for a snorkel. It was a bit cloudy so the light wasn’t that great but the beach was its usual (not) busy self and the sea was beautifully calm:

As I swam out I was greeted by many of the none stinging jelly fish that I have previously shared, if you look closely you’ll notice a mob of them in the picture below. I’ve been really surprised this year not to have encountered any stingers, and this is the first year I have not been stung while snorkelling. As I got to the weed I spotted a ray but before I could duck dive down he quickly swam off:

I was not put off and kept a close eye out and eventually found the little fella hidden in the weed, and have now identified him as a Bight Stingaree. I was lucky enough to then find two more during this snorkel, or maybe I had just accustomed my eyes to what to look for:

My next find had me very excited, I have seen nudibranchs once before many years ago when I didn’t have an underwater camera. Below finally is my first image of one, which is a harlequin nudibranchs of the Doridaceans suborder (there are four suborders in total). My coral reef book tells me it is a Chromodorididae. Funnily enough, and just like the Stingaree, I went on to find several more of these amazing fellas:

I had a good look round among the coral and many discarded shells and in one a small head poked out so I picked it up and kept hold of it until he showed himself. I know it is a Blenny but despite the very distinct spotted underside, colouration and yellow horns I haven’t been able to narrow it down. These fish often use empty shells for cover and as safe places to lay their eggs, with the males staying guard:

It was starting feel cold as I had been in the water for over half an hour, but then I saw a huge shoal of fish come my way. It was hard to gauge the number but I’d easily say in the thousands. I’ve seen a few shoals along Peppy Beach but never one this big, my first instinct was to pop my head out of the water to check for any fins that may have been following this mass of fish food, but the coast seemed clear:

I did a lot of duck diving through them and was able to get some great shots which allowed me to work out that they were Western Striped Trumpeters. It was awesome swimming through them, they didn’t seem to mind me but kept a safe enough distance so I was not able to reach out and touch them:

Watching them from above was also pretty cool, they seemed to cover the whole sea bed foraging for food like a swarm of locusts almost. As they looked for food in the weed and coral they seemed to be twisting their bodies to disturb the area to force any morsels of food to float out. As they writhed about what little light there was would reflect off their bodies making a pretty cool sight:

I was now getting too cold to stay in so I slowly worked my way back to shore but kept getting distracted with all the fish I kept spying. Mostly I just watched from above but here is one last snap I took of a fish I see every time I go out. These Truncate Coralfish have always been quick to hide and seem to stay close to nooks and crannies where they can escape too, but not this one:

Needless to say I am looking forward to my next snorkel and wonder what I’ll find next time.

The babies are growing up

I’ve been seeing so many shoals of baby fish and wondering what they are. The image doesn’t do the scene I saw justice, but at times there are hundreds if not thousands:

Then in recent times they started to become a bit more distinguishable, as they were getting bigger:

Finally on the weekend I came across an adult, so can safely say that they are Western Gobbleguts.  The only reason for sharing that was really because I thought the name was so cool:

Underwater world

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:

More snorkelling images

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

Whaleback Boulders

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

A swim with the fish

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,

Mikey’s Challenge

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:

Nyamdagva first 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: