Below are a few pictures from yet another fabulous morning out at our most prominent climbing venue in the SW corner of Western Australia, Wilyabrup:
Last week it was blue skies and very warm at the crag and this week when we arrived at 7am it was damp but didn’t seem too cold:
After a tricky overhanging arête on the first lead of the day Chris reached the top of this grade 19 climb just as the mist started to rise off the sea in the background:
The mist got thicker and thicker giving an eerie feeling, but was spectacular to watch:
We then noticed the mist coming off the land to meet the mist off the water and found ourselves shrouded in whiteness for a short while making it feel bitterly cold:
After Steve and I struggled to follow Chris it was Steve’s turn and he slowed the pace down on the classic grade 14 of the crag – Hope:
Once the finger tips had warmed up sufficiently to be able to feel the rock Steve romped his way up in fine style:
Rob and Louise turned up unexpectedly and joined in the fun:
Chris was on fire today and cruised up a second 19, completely unaware of the damp conditions. Below Steve is following up and starting to feel his arms ache:
It was a short sharp session but very good, so suitable aching and satisfied we walked out as the rain began to fall feeling very lucky to have made the most of the morning:
Last year I went on a week long climbing trip to the south coast and it was so good that we decided to do it again. This year, however, we left it a bit late and the rains started to come in so we change the destination and decided on a remote 300m granite monolith approx 700km east of Bunbury and 100km north of Esperance called Peak Charles. I had been here before in 2007 with Craig, a great trip marred only by the fact he had forgotten to pack his climbing shoes. So this year I came armed with spare shoes and harness in case Ryan, Steve or Chris had forgotten theirs!
As we had a big journey ahead of us I left home at 6:30 in the morning to get to Bunbury, meet up with Steve and get an early start. After saying bye to my two girls I headed off while watching the full moon go down:
There is a track that would have cut out 200km of the journey, avoiding the need to head down to Esperance and then back north. However, the condition of this track was uncertain but the friendly people at the Lake King roadhouse said we should be OK. It was interesting that they were confident the first 100km would be fine, being in the Sire of Lake King, but after that the Shire of Esperance do not maintain their portion of the track so it can get dodgy. The reason being that they want people to drive via Esperance(!):
We took the gamble and Steve experienced some bush driving, and as we had been told the first 100km was great. After that the track was much worse but still passable in the vehicle we had. Steve enjoyed the rocky, sandy, rutted and at times washed out sections of the track and by 2pm the crag was in sight:
As soon as we arrived we pitched our tents and sorted through the gear. The campsite is small but good with great spots to hide tents in the trees and has fire pits a table and of course bush loo. It was a shame that for the first two nights the other (noisy) people who turned up after us decided to camp right next to us rather than take a spot further away, but you get that:
After getting camp in order we had a little wander, note Steve with his fly net on. Yes there were flies but they were not that bad! Here he is playing on Mushroom Rock with the impressive Peak Charles in the background. We also managed to get phone reception so I could text and call Lisa and Moo each day which was lovely:
Chris and Ryan couldn’t leave in the morning so they drove through the night and arrived in the wee hours. So the first morning at the camp Steve and I up ahead of them. The walk in was better than I remembered, a 45min sharp rise up rocky ridges and through bush:
Steve had not previously experienced multi-pitch climbing, and what a place to learn! He was up for the first lead of the trip and we had purposely decided on a easy climb picking the classic Badile (grade 11). As the crag is so big after getting to the top there is a long walk down. Therefore, we had to carry our packs while we climbed making for an even more interesting first multi-pitch experience:
Steve set off and he coped really well but found some of the run-outs a tad concerning. The climb was six rope stretching pitches and we combined the line with a few from another climb, as they looked so good. Unfortunately I don’t have Steve’s images so can’t show you the mega corner pitch (going at grade 15) but if you are keen let me know and when I get them I’ll send them through:
At the top Steve was exhausted but thoroughly enjoyed the amazing experience and was up for more – phew. We also bumped into Chris and Ryan at the top after they had spied a nice looking two pitch chimney and got up that pretty quickly and were walking about the top terraces the same time as us. An hour’ish walk down and it was time to get the fire and food underway. Here Steve is trying to light the fire with only one match – it was more than one but I’ll say no more:
Day two and we decided on a slightly different approach. We picked Kwelaman a great grade 16 slab climb that has belay anchors that would allow us to abseil back down so we only took one pack up for food and drink. We intended to do the first four pitches (the best) and I set off on the first loving the thin moves, steeper terrain and at time run-out sections. Steve followed up in great style but it messed with his head big time and he had to breathe deep to control his fears:
Despite his concerns he pushed through and led two of the pitches and did them well. Occasionally he would have a go at the lack of gear and the exposure but kept his cool and kept going. I have to be honest and think he enjoyed the experience of this climb more after we got back down to the ground:
Still he pushed through and even took time out to enjoy the scenery and other spectacular sights we were so privileged to have witnessed. We were particularly taken by the Wedge Tailed Eagles which circled high above us most days and at times we were almost level the them:
This image shows the track leading into the camp site well below us, Steve is getting ready to start up the crux (hardest) pitch, with a tricky sequence that he romped up. How can you not feel anything but great with such an outlook:
After we got back down all Steve wanted was food and a beer at the campsite, until he looked at this line and decided that he simply had to lead the classic first pitch of Beckoning Horizon (grade 19 – and very well protected). He ate the climb up smashing through the crux and revelling the whole way along it. The second pitch was equally awesome so I went up the next corner as well (again images are on Steve’s camera!):
After that deviation we again started back down to camp. As we went down we spied Ryan and Chris abseiling down another part of the crag. Watching them (and later we found we were right) it looked like the abseil rope got stuck. Fortunately they were able to free it without having to climb back up:
Day three and another time for Steve and I to head to the big walls, while Chris and Ryan went to find a small crag with some harder lines as they wanted a day without the big walk in and out. This time I was after a bit of self indulgence, as there is a climb called Juluka – grade 18 (which is the name of a south African band that I really like) that I didn’t manage to get on with Craig. To get there however there is an hour walk in followed by a traverse climb to get into the gully where the climb starts. Here Steve is setting off to access the gully:
Once in the gully the climb starts (and again Steve has more images) but to give you a taste here he is going up the first pitch. If you look hard you will see that sadly someone has retro-bolted this classic climb but we didn’t use the bolts. There are three pitches and each is brilliant and I took the middle pitch that traverses rightward underneath the rectangular roof directly above Steve which was brilliant:
Steve was smashed after this climb, not really surprising going up the big crag three days on the trot, so we decided to head back to camp. However, we were going to abseil back down into the gully to get our gear and then walk down but the abseil anchors were in a horrible spot that we really didn’t want to scramble down to them, so we had to walk round. It was in fact a much better thing to do as we got to look out at the great views of the salt lakes, surrounding land and see the magnificent wind sculptured rock formations:
We also managed to get a bit more walking in(!):
On the way down we found some beautiful natural rock art and I just had to take a picture or two:
There were also dwarf trees coming out of cracks and crevices these two being about a foot high at the most:
Rather than walk all the way down to the camp and back up we scrambled along the base of the crag which in most places was OK. In a few places the slab got a bit steep and in other places the bush was a bit thick, but it was a great experience. We also stopped at Spartacus Flake – an impressive flake stuck to the wall that looks like it will peel off at any moment. I had a whim to climb the left edge (a grade 12) and so we stopped and had a go. I got about 15m up before stopping as the next 20m or so required no.5 cams upward of which we had none so had to back off L:
When Chris and Ryan got back we heard how Chris had attempted a very tenuous looking seam with marginal RP protection, and had fallen from about 5m ripping all the gear and hitting the deck flat on his back. He was luck to land on the rope but did sprain a wrist, bruise his back and cut his elbow so Steve set up surgery and patched him up:
So with a big hole in his elbow, Chris was to be out of action. Steve also was pretty wiped out so they were to have a rest day and Ryan and I planned to head back up the big walls the next day:
The next day I did my usual routine of getting up at 5am to look at the sky, make a cuppa and get the others up. This morning was amazing, mostly a clear sky with a bright moon lighting up the cloud that hung over the crag like a crown. It is sights like these that make waking up early so worthwhile:
I took my time to get a few photos of the cloud formations before getting the cup of tea on the go, and had a strange sensation that maybe we would need to get Chris home today:
Then as went round to get them out of their tents and swags, Ryan said that he wouldn’t be up for going climbing as his eye was swollen up. He managed to spike his eye with a branch as they walked through the bush to get to the crag where Chris had fallen from and it had taken a turn for the worse overnight. Here he is looking none too good. On another note on cooking on the hot plate are two of Steve’s original and very tasty wrap with cheese and egg breakfast concoctions:
So as the day woke up we made the decision to head to Esperance and take the two walking wounded to the hospital to get checked out. So there is a lesson learnt, don’t take days out from the big walls to go cragging as it is detrimental to your health and the length of your climbing holiday! So we packed up and said goodbye to Robert and Saskia who also happened to be camping and climbing there while we were there (but their stories are another whole email – such as getting benighted on the big crag when the cloud and rain came in):
Once we got to the hospital Ryan and Chris decided that the 2 hour plus waiting time wasn’t worth it and we hit the road to get home before dark which we almost managed. The only stop we made of any great length was at Lake King to make some lunch:
If you look carefully you will notice that we shared this with the flies, and you will also see above that Steve had by now gotten used to the flies so the fly net became redundant. The good thing about having the trip cut in half was that I managed to get home to see Moo and Lisa earlier than expected and have more holiday time to spend with them J:
On Sunday morning three of us headed out for a climb, and seeing there were three of us we managed to take a few half decent shots that I thought you may like to see:
Chris got us started with a great warm up on the very fun Banana Split (14 – HS 4a), with Kym in a fine position to catch the action:
As you can see you couldn’t ask for a better hand jamming crack, and I was as happy as a pig in pooh:
Kym then upped the ante with a fine ascent of Digital Delecti (18 – HVS 5a),
although I reckon it was a tad harder with very fingery moves up a lovely steep wall:
The setting as this image shows was wonderful, a good swell giving great waves and we even saw a large pod of dolphins cruising about:
My turn next so I jumped on Use No SLCD (19 – HVS 5b) a great line done in keeping with the name with only wires being used:
Sorry Kym couldn’t resist this one which shows the crux move on the climb, which was a tad sketchy:
Next up Chris led in very fine style the pumpy overhanging Silver (19 – HVS 5b) a brilliant line which forces you to use the holds in all manner of ways:
Kym then decided to be silly and up things even more with Bearded Dolphin (21 – E1 5c), with lots of delicate moves on steep terrain – our arms were getting tired now:
So I felt it was time for me to knock it back a notch with a fun traditional line up Thrice Bitten (17 – VS 5a), so I decided to carry the entire rack and more up with me only to find it was a bit of a sand bag (thanks for suggesting it Kym) with no rests to speak of the whole way up – but damn good and a great way to end another wonderful morning climb at Willyabrup:
In the last few weeks I have been getting out for a snorkel, and over the last couple of days have been down at our local beach. My memory of the place was that there wasn’t that much to find but in two days and three snorkels I have changed my mind big time. The following images are from a snorkel with Elseya and her friend Chloe, the main attraction was to come and swim with the (non-stinging) Jellyfish. Elseya has one in her hand in the image below:
We soon got distracted by some of the many other seas creatures about, there is a lot of weed and the fish tend to hide in amongst it popping their heads out but being quick to withdraw if you get too close. I did however manage to get a good snap of this female Shaws Cowfish, by duck diving away from it and then sneaking up on it. It was also in my favour that these fish cannot swim very fast. Their slow speed has resulted in them hunting for prey in an unusual way, they blow a jet of water at the sand to expose prey hidden beneath:
It was not only the fish that attracted out attention but also the many types of weed, these bright almost fluorescent tubular weeds sway gently in the current and look like balloons. I think the scientific name for these is Gloiosaccion, which literally translates to ‘glue sacks’. The common name is Slimy Bags because they contain a thick slimy substance, and Elseya loves finding them on the beach. If you look closely there is another interesting fella just to the right of the weed, and I reckon it may be a little Surge Demoiselle, a fish I found in a few other places but escaped the lens:
We also found a few sea stars, which were much easier to get close, there is something wonderful about these and we have found a great variety of them over the years. This one I believe to be a Fromia indica, but lie the weed I’ve found them tricky to pin down:
There are also a heap of baby fish out there, and they usually stay in shoals and close to the weed for camouflage and somewhere to hide in if someone or something gets too close. I’m not even going to take a stab in the dark as to what these are, but I managed to creep up on them and catch them while they were still in the relative open:
There are some fish that are less afraid of being caught in the open water, such as this Western Smooth Boxfish. Probably because when threatened or stressed, they excrete a toxin from specialized skin cells into the water, poisoning marine life who get too close. With such an impressive defence system they make it into the top five most poisonous fish:
After a great half an hour or more of finding so much we were getting cold so it was time to warm up. My fingertips were tingling as the rest of me warmed up. But soon enough Elseya was back in the water this time encouraging the poodles to swim, rather forcefully by carrying them out and then making them swim back. For water dogs these two really don’t like the water as much as they should:
Still when they need to they have no problem swimming back to shore, and when we have had them in a kayak or on the paddleboard they have quite enjoyed being out there:
Soon it was time to get the dogs back home but getting the girls to head back too was the harder part. So I agreed to stay with them for just five more minutes while Lisa took the poodles home. We have to be careful with Nicka as she is fair skinned and she is likely to suffer if she gets too much sun time. While all that is very interesting the real reason for including this image was to show the amazing colours and lack of other people on the beach. We count our lucky stars at times like these:
As we were getting ready to go I spied a familiar dark shape in the water casually swimming parallel to the shoreline. We all three quickly grabbed our snorkel masks and heading out in search of the ray. I was the only one to see it in the water and it quickly detected us and promptly swam in the opposite direction and a less leisurely pace. It was an Eagle Ray, and got away:
But before we could head back in Elseya spotted a more impressive find. We thought it may have been a Cone Shell that can be dangerous, but having looked it up it was in fact a Bailer Shell and the home of a very large sea snail. We were very lucky as these creatures normally emerge at night to search for food. They are carnivores and smother their prey with their large muscular foot, as well as using a muscular rasping tongue and jaws to devour the prey. I’ve read the shells grow to a maximum size of 275mm and this one much have been close to that:
Just to give you an idea of the size we took the time to duck dive down to it a few times, being careful not to touch it in case it was a Cone Shell. After that we headed back in to shore and packed up to go home, and I’m secretly hoping that Elseya will be keen to head out for another snorkel soon:
Before I finish off this email I couldn’t resist putting in just a couple of images from my last two snorkels at Peppy Breach. While a couple of you will have seen these they help to show just how much there is too see at our local beach, starting with another sea star that I think is a Austrofromia polypora:
Next up is a Sand Gobbler, more commonly called a Sea Cucumber. I’m pretty sure this one is a Thelenota anax. It is a small one at only 30cm long and having done a bit more research it seems they can get up to 1m long, so this really is a baby:
Peppy is lucky to have some reef and you will often find a Strongylocentrotus purpuratus or two, Purple Sea Urchins. They have pale spines which is what gives them away and each time I see them they seem to have found the perfectly sized hidey hole:
People head here to go cray fishing, but they normally head out to at least 200m off shore. That is way past my comfort zone when snorkelling, but just this morning (yes I’ve been out twice today) I came across not one but three Western Rock Lobsters a short 20/30m off shore. I hope the cray fishers don’t find these so I can enjoy watching them again:
Finally the reason that Elseya went out with me today, the Comb Jellyfish that is part of the Ctenophores family. When you watch them you can see lights work their way up the ridges of the outer body, and the lights change colour as they go:
The light is in fact caused by the diffracting the light of the sun as tiny filaments, called combs, move. In the image below you can make these combs out and there can be thousands. They are used predominately for swimming, and propel the Jellyfish with the mouth (at the pointy end) facing forward, which is how it catches food without having tentacles:
One last image just because I found them to be such fascinating creatures. I hope you have enjoyed reading about and seeing the creatures, as much as I have enjoyed researching them:
Four of us were lucky enough to have a week long climbing trip down to the south coast of the South West of Western Australia. Below I have selected some of the better images and snippets of our trip……
It all started in the woods of Mount Franklin, we arrived there soon after midday and hit the rock even though the afternoon sun was hot and sweaty on our backs. The choice of dates was based on hitting good weather but nothing too serious, as it was this first afternoon hit 30 degrees which on a still afternoon certainly worked us hard:
Mount Franklin is a 100m plus high granite dome that provides some great slab experiences, thin hand and feet holds means that you can’t use strength to get up. The trees surrounding the place gave it an air of calm but also was a haven for the dreaded March flies that take out chunks if allowed:
The views were great, and the next morning we hit the crag this time in the shade, making it so much more comfortable – this day the temp rose again to the mid thirties and we may not have known it but it was starting to drain us. There are some great steeper lines including one awesome crack/layback flake line, I did have a bash but it humbled me and I backed off instead opting for one of the steep lines that was on a 50m high crystalline wall that promised to take no prisoners if you, feel off I clung on for dear life and saved my skin this time:
That afternoon we had a bite to eat nearer the coast in a place called Walpole, then hit the road and bush tracks to the next destination where we were to spend most of our time:
We narrowly missed the row of itchy caterpillars as they crossed the car park when we drove in, and that night they nestled in the cover from wind that the tyre of one of the cars gave:
The next morning we arose bright an early, 5:30’ish was the usually time I woke up and we were usually on the way to the crag within the hour. As this image shows the crag was all of a minutes walk away:
The mighty West Cape Howe is brilliant, as close as I will ever get to my favourite UK crag – Swanage, with its towering granite cliffs surging out of the ocean. It is just off vertical but has some very steep sections. For Andrew, Chris and Ryan this place opened their eyes and had a humbling effect:
The first full day was great, but we made a mistake of getting into the sun in the afternoon and with the mid thirties hitting us we were all exhausted that night:
Regardless of the sun we powered on, I was a happy as a pig in pooh. Whilst it took a bit of getting used to I was soon very happy to be back on real sea cliffs:
That evening we finished up as the sun went down and had a well deserved beer:
The next day we aimed to hit a few real classics, this line never gave up from start to finish and was one of the favourites of everyone. Two glorious pitches up a steepening wall with great positions, holds and gear to boot. My aim was to climb the wall immediately right of this one, but the energy and need to climb harder was ebbing away. This day we hit the big 40 degrees and I reckon everyone was getting a little tired now:
Still we climbed on into the afternoon and evening, again watching the sun dip down as we eased into anther night:
Evenings pretty well consisted of a few snacks, beers, some food (usually pasta and tuna with odd assortments thrown in) – and always tasting wonderful and then bed:
The next morning and our last at West Cape Howe, greeted us with a red sky. Rain was forecast, including thunder storms so we got going early. A classic at West Cape is ‘The Climb’ on the old man and everyone was keen to jump onto it:
We wandered off in the fist overcast day feeling distinctly cold, and hoping to get the climb under our belt before the rain came in:
It was a fun line, but at less than 30m we all felt that we had probably left it too late in the trip and after all those 50- 70m epics it felt a little too short and easy. Still the threatening rain and howling wind added a different atmosphere which made us keen fore one more climb:
So we jumped on Carousel Wall for had a bash at the last lines of the trip, back on a clear 50m wall felt a better way to end out time here:
Chris was the last to savour the big walls here, and his white trousers just give him away and show how immense this place is (compared to our local crags that is):
We headed out and on towards Albany for a very different campsite. This one had lawns and trees and waterfront view, as well as showers and toilets:
The rain never did come and the cool day revitalised us into checking out some local short climbs, driving in it seems these 7-10m crags would not be worth leading after the big walls but the grades stiffened and we were soon humbled again. Granite again but a different type and required different techniques that we do not get a chance to practices at our local crags:
Some of the lines worked us pretty hard and we all had a few slips and took some skin off, giving some of us a taste of things to come:
That night after a cool day we packed up our bags for the last full day of climbing for Chris as he had to leave a day before the rest of us, the lights of Albany light up the bay as we sat with a beer before the usual meal and early night:
The next day an early start as we had to walk into the next place, Peak Head, a huge granite dome that sticks out of the headland and is accessed by an hours walk up and down the sand dunes:
After the walk in (with some good old bush bashing due to me following roo trails) there was and abseil and then a delicate 40m traverse to access the base of the 120m climbs up the front face above the sea. An access like that certainly starts to set the scene, retreat would be difficult:
We choose two similar lines next to each other, many of the lower grade climbs here consisting of steep crack and chimney climbs. Again a technique none of us had practised much, not being present at our local crags. The climbing was slow and heady, and it took a long time to work our way up the lines, often disappearing deep into the cracks body jamming our way up:
Usually 120m climb would take a few hours, three at the most but these seemed to go on and on and took us five hours to ascend. What with the hour walk in, abseil and traverse this was turning into the biggest adventure of the trip:
Eventually, and to much relief, we all made it to the top and started the walk down the dome back to where we had dumped our gear. After fighting our way up this impressive piece of rock we felt a little lighted hearted as we wandered down, glad to have made it:
The hour walk out up and down the dunes was hard work and some nine hours after leaving the cars we arrived back, but as there was till daylight left I encouraged everyone we should head to one more crag. Again a short crag right by the ocean, we didn’t climb in pairs this time opting to have one lead each as we were feeling a bit beat after the big epic on Peak Head. This allowed time to kick back and really enjoy the scenery:
One climb each was just about enough and the week of non-stop action was taking it’s toll, so much so we decided that we would all head back at the same time. Four short but fun lines later and it was time to head off back to the camp ground for the last night:
Before we left the crag we sat and watched the sunset which with the clouds and headlands was very spectacular:
The next day and early start and back on the road heading to a lovely spot called William Bay which has a great sheltered swimming spot called Green Pools and a fun area called Elephant Rocks:
We wandered straight for Elephant Rocks to try a bit of bouldering, Chris decided to try what felt a far to hard line. What hurt more was the sharp crystals that felt like they would puncture our finger tips which were all feeling very thin after all the climbing we had done:
We soon tried some easier lines, with all the boulders littered about there was no end of options of things to try, many proving too hard but fun to have a go at:
Eventually we ended up back on the first line Chris had jumped on and a couple of us managed to get up it, having to endure some painful moves but also avoiding drawing blood from our fingers:
A dance of joy at the top, then a swim in the clear blue waters before we hit the road to head home:
I woke with a start at 3:20am when the alarm went off – after making a tea for my sippy mug I was in the car and on my way to Ryan’s house; 4:00am and Ryan, Paul and I were on the road to Wellington Dam and as the first light crept in we rolled into the quarry car park.
Ryan had to be at work for 9 so we had to be out by 8 giving us three hours to have some fun, which we did with all three of us having a crack at leading the three lines we chose. All too soon time was called and we drove back into town with the biggest smiles feeling like we had already had a great day, as most other people were just getting started.
So…… in the name of having fun and getting climbing fit we have committed to going up to the Quarry for an early morning climb every fortnight and the next trip will be Saturday 10th – anyone keen to join us?
We started on what looked like a walk in the park grade 15 called Block and Tackle:
It turned out to be a fun climb worthy of the grade and reminded us that holds at Wellington Dam quarry do not deliver the security they appear to from below:
The climbs are mostly 18 – 22, so we plumped for Barbie Q (19) just because it looked like a nice line:
Well graded and good bolt placements made it a good choice, and Ryan looked like a smooth well oiled machine:
Until the last crux sequence when it all went wrong:
There was still time for one more climb so Paul jumped (or was he pushed?) onto Welcome to Edges (18):
He too was in fine form eating up the moves without a second thought:
Until the last move, doh:
Oh well as Ryan said the rock will still be here next time……
After such a wonderful time in the Stirling Ranges last year – more particularly Mount Trio bush camp – we went back this year for a slightly longer stay and had just as wonderful a time. This year we have again had relatively late rains but they have been more prolonged than last year including a warm wet October. The result being the wildflowers were amazing and the camera got a real workout. We have tried to select some of the best images below so you can share our wonderful holiday experiences:
An early start meant brunch at our usual stop in Boyup Brook before the last leg to Mount Trio Bush Camp. With the annex to sort out the camp set up took a mere hour or so:
The camp ground hadn’t changes much (thankfully) remaining gimmick free as it only has a camp kitchen, toilet/shower block, communal fire place and a pong table:
The 1km’ish nature trail right off the camp ground was ablaze with flowers and many hours were spent searching for orchids:
On the first walk Moo spied a goanna, something we didn’t get to see last year:
The ground was full of paper daisies and button flowers, to Moo it felt like one big fairy garden:
All the outdoor activities had it’s down side, one being the cleaning of Moo’s feet:
On Lisa’s birthday we went off for our first hike, which Lisa chose Talyuberlup:
The walk was a bit of a slog until we reached the rocky peak:
From a ledge there was the final ramp to the top”
Lisa wasn’t too keen on that bit so stayed on the ledge (if you can spot her):
Moo and I went on up the last scramble and took in the view:
On the way down we appreciated even more so all the flowers that we didn’t really take notice off was we had trudged up with our heads down:
On the road home we helped a bobtail lizard off the road, but we wasn’t very happy about it:
Lisa spent the afternoon tucked into a book, happy as a pig in pooh:
She was so engrossed in her book that she didn’t even notice a goanna that was just a few meters in front of her:
The camp owners John and Margot kindly lent us some walk and climbing books so we could explore some of the lesser advertised walks (we also did a bit of kid share as their daughter Maddy came to play and Moo also went to their house to play):
One walk we plucked from their books was up Red Gum Hill, a short but very colourful walk and much more relaxing on the legs than Talyuberlup:
The top was more rounded with no rocks but no less beautiful, and abound with even more flowers:
Some of which were incredibly striking, and worthy of a prickly walk through thicker bush to get a closer look:
Back at camp we had brought games and books to keep us occupied during the wetter times and evenings, we were all tucked into various stages of Harry Potter books and for games Moo even started to learn crib:
In the second week some friends came to stay, and have a rock climb:
So for two days I managed to get out for a climb, and in usual style this meant getting up before the sun to make the most of the daylight:
To get to the base of the climbs involved a walk of an hour plus, mostly up steep bushy country. The big day was a 250m’ish climb up the front face of Bluff Knoll. The climbing is more like Alpine climbing with lots of blocks, ledges, loose stuff and interesting route finding:
The climb took five hours to reach the top, and we were ever bit as beat as Ryan looks in this image:
Part way down on the walk down we bumped into Lisa and Moo who had been watching us as we had finished off the last bit of the climb:
On the drive back Lisa had a close encounter with a Tiger Snake:
Having almost been run over he wasn’t too happy, his flattened head told me to stay well back. After a while is calmed down and slithers back into the verge:
On our last day we fancied a more relaxed walk so went to the nearby Porongurup Range to walk up Castle Rock, being a wetter area the flowers seemed even thicker:
The hour’ish stroll through amazing colours led us to the rocky top:
The last bit was up a ladder to a glass sided, see through floored look out. Lisa breathed in deep and also went up but only briefly:
Then Moo, Ryan and myself went for an explore, mostly we followed Moo through narrow gaps and caves:
It was great fun but some were so ridiculously narrow only Moo could get through:
After our play we found Lisa and had a nibble under the balancing rock before the walk down:
That night we watched the sun set on our last day:
In the morning Lisa got her last holiday fix of Harry Potter (she got through two books and started a third while we were away!), and I went for a last look at the flowers:
When I got back Moo was just getting up and was very excited to be heading home to see her rats:
We managed to pack up most things before the drizzle came, then a stop at John and Margot’s for a cuppa and chat before we hit the road home:
For those that haven’t had their photo fix yet here are a few of the orchid (many I didn’t see last year), flower and fungi images I took round the camp site:
Not sure but this may be an orchid cross between a white spider and zebra orchid:
This being a zebra orchid:
And this being a white spider orchid:
There were also tiny Leek Orchids:
Moo particularly liked the pink dwarf orchids:
Having a mix of weather allowed me to get a great variety of images:
The paper daises were prolific creating blankets of pink, closed in the morning:
Then magically opening up every day:
The pink carpet was interspersed with many other flowers:
If you looked even deeper there was another ‘layer’ of flowers underneath:
Lisa made a passing comment about how amazing the fungi were as they forced there way out of the ground, and that got me taking images of these to, I have no idea what were all are so will leave you to enjoy the images:
If you have made it this far down and are still concentrating we will now enlighten you as to why we chose the email title we did: John rightly so corrected us by telling us we are no longer going on camping holidays as what with our pop up caravan, side annex power and water site we are really glamping (or glamour camping for those that didn’t quite make the connection).
Since being in WA I have wanted to get back onto some proper big multi-pitch climbing. While I have climbed at Peak Charles and the Porongurup’s which are both a couple of hundred meter as the climbs I have done there have generally been on clean faces and bolted. West Cape Howe got closer but only being two pitch it didn’t give that true out there experience. The place to get that here is the Stirling Ranges, I’d attempted a climb on the big wall of Bluff Knoll in 2006 but route finding at the base of this 250m’ish wall is pretty hard and we were not confident enough to go any further than the first pitch. However, a few weeks back I got a second chance to attempt this real big wall which was reputed to give you that alpine experience.
Lisa, Elseya and I were on a ten day camping trip at the Strilings and part way through Ryan, Rhys, Chris and Steve came down to meet us and take me out climbing:
The first day Chris and Steve headed out to Bluff Knoll to try the classic Hell Fire Gully grade 14 (VS 4b) and 250m long, as they had to leave the next day. As Ryan and myself also wanted to hit this climb on Bluff Knoll we wandered off for the day to Tallyubarup to sample some shorter two pitch routes and get acclimatised (with camera man Rhys in tow. After a hour slog up a shaly path the towering walls with meandering routes certainly looked good:
Um the name of the first climb escapes me now, graded 12 (S) it was fun and had a good middle section and an exposed section straight off on the second pitch:
The next climb however was worthy of it’s three stars, Nail Bite (15 – VS 4c). Up flakes and a towering corner with a steep and exposed finish to a ledge under the capping roof in the image below:
The next day Chris and Steve (again with Rhys snapping away) went to the same place and did the same two lines, here they are up on the second pitch of Nail Bite:
The two climbs didn’t take us too long but we wanted to save some energy for the next bigger day, so we tramped down stopping for a play on a boulder. As we were heading back we decided to have a look at huge boulder at the base of Mount Trio that has had four bolted lines created. We played on two of them, a 17 (HVS 5a) and 22 (E2 5c) and while they were fun they were pretty fingery and hard. The rock was pretty good but the occasional hold did have a habit of crumbling and sending you flying making us think the grades of the routes probably increase with age:
We got back to camp early at just gone 4, and by 5:30 we though we better check on the other guys as there had been no word. As we got there the evening cloud had covered the top and was starting to fall down the gullies. We got out the binoculars and watched them top out on the last pitch at gone 6 as dusk was coming in and 12.5hrs after they had left camp. They got back to camp at 8:30 and told us of a wet and scrubby climb that they were not to impressed with, they also had no phone reception on the face and only got some when they topped out:
Armed with this information Ryan and I still set off at 5 the next morning to Bluff Knoll but chose a line called Right Anti-Climax still going at grade 15 and being 240m long. This climb followed faces rather than gullies so should have been drier. Strangely we were the only ones at the car park:
The hour plus walk in was through scrub with patches of thick bush but on the whole not too bad, the morning light cast its shadows and slowly woke the world below us up
As we approached again route finding was hard, but Ryan spotted a wall that looked clean and not to bad to climb:
We set off but the first pitch took a long time a as gear was hard to find and the rock in places was a suspect. The first three pitches were like this and we were in the sun the whole time, after these we hit Prickle Traverse, a massive ledge system that is just under half way’ish up the big wall. It had taken a long time to get there and it was already 12 by the time we were ready to move on. Both tired from the day before and the sun but food and water gave us the strength to carry on with the next six pitches (which we did in four):
I was knackered but slogged on whinging about steepening terrain and not knowing where I was heading, but Ryan kept me going (thanks Ryan J). The first two pitches off Prickle Traverse were the most technical but the gear was far better than below. After that the climbing was described as a scramble but there was no way we would have done them unroped. The gear again grew sparse and the rock quality deteriorated and in some sections it was hard to find something good to pull up on:
We made good time and not sure how but managed to get up the four pitches in 2hrs, quick it may have seemed the end was a very welcome sight:
Up on top we had a quick celebratory snack and drink, packed up called Lisa and Elseya to say we were heading down at just after 2 and then headed down. The climb was as stated a true alpine experience, run outs, loose rock, hard route finding and we were always looking over our shoulders to check the weather which can change quickly here. We are certainly coming back – maybe in autumn so not too long to wait and we are hoping Hell Fire Gully will be in better condition so we can have a play on that:
When we phoned they said they had just watched us finish the last pitch, and were waiting at the car park. So as we walked down they walked up to meet us part way:
I was lucky enough to sample six quality climbs at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane (Queensland) last weekend. Sinead and my plans to head to Frog went amiss for a variety of reasons but at least we managed to have some fun on rock. I was told a lot of people bag Kangaroo Point but if I had the crag in my backyard I would be very grateful. Yeah some climbs are getting a little polished (nothing like Stanage or even worse Avon Gorge in the UK), but they were well equipped and a reasonable length so you can get stuck into them. The climb that will stick in my mind is ‘Idiot Wind’ which was my first lead there and very worthy of the two stars it gets; but not so sure I’d give it the 21 it gets as it felt more like a 19 compared to my local south-west WA crag of Willyabrup – that may however be as it was very much my style being a thin technical face climb.
Kangaroo Point has some 250 climbs and stands about 25m high:
We have just got back from a superb week long break in the magnificent Striling Ranges, where we stayed at the Mount Trio Bush Camp a rustic and basic but brilliant get away from it spot that suited all three of us down to the ground. Every morning we woke up to the wonderful dawn chorus of a multitude of birds, the songs changed as the morning light moved into sunrise.
Something that attracted us to the place was the remote feel and the bush walking. Being spring time there were flowers abound and the area is known for its mass of orchids, which takes a sharp eye and patient person to find them. As the weather has been warming up we also got treated to an abundance of skinks and lizards and the occasional snake. While we were not out walking Moo was in heaven riding her bike, making new friends of all ages every day and building up an impressive nature collection that has of course followed us home.
Now sat here at our computer it feels like we have been away for months, we all loved the place and time away and even Moo who usually is keen to get back after a week wanted to stay on for longer. Below I have picked out some of the best photos to share some of our findings and experiences:
The camp spot was a great place for Moo to ride round, Lisa to relax in and me to hunt flowers and birds in:
The camper trailer was a big hit again, making life that little bit more comfy than being in a tent
Moo had a go on all the bikes, opting in the end for the big bikes:
The scarlet robin was one of the many birds that gave us wonderful dawn chorus:
An early morning treat of a red capped parrot swooping down with Toolbrunup Peak in the background:
One morning we were lucky to spy a family of emus passing through:
Moo isn’t one for enjoying walking preferring to ride a bike, however we gave her the choice of which peak to climb and she chose Toolbrunup Peak as it was rocky and in the clouds as we were driving towards it (it was also the most challenging!):
The trek was steep and unforgiving, the last trip here four years back Lisa climbed the only peak taller than this one (by 40m) and couldn’t walk for days afterwards so she was a little worried. Here she is a speck in the scree slope:
There was some fairly steep scrambles in the upper section, as the cloud rolled in:
On top we had to put our layers on as the wind rolled the clouds in:
Moo was in heaven, rocks to clamber up and walking in the clouds:
In-between the clouds Lisa spotted a wedge tailed eagle flying above us:
He gave us a bit of a show, but eventually we had to make our way down:
Five hours after we had started we were back down having a cuppa in the car park, with both Lisa and Moo having slightly wobbly legs:
Two days later, even though Lisa’s legs were still aching (Moo had made a rapid recovery, which she put down to all the bike riding after the first walk!) we headed off for the second walk, this time up Mount Hassell:
The photos do not do it justice but the flowers on this walk were amazing:
We also, with the help of Moo’s keen ears and eyes found heaps of lizards and skinks, this one being a king skink (approx 45cm from nose to tail):
We have no idea of what this one was and he wouldn’t come out from his hiding hole but he was wonderful:
From this point there was only the last rock scrambling left, and you can see the car park in the background of the road:
The final scramble made Lisa work her legs with some high steps, but the view from the top was well worth it:
Moo and Lisa on top with a good view of Toolbrunup Peak behind them:
In the last 20min of the decent the rain came in, slow to start but getting heavier so instead of a cuppa at the base we headed for a café:
The next day being Lisa’s birthday, and also as we deserved a rest we headed to one of our favourite coastal spots – William Bay. Here we didn’t do much but ate well and chilled out:
On the walk out we did come across a 1.7m (we guess it was as long as I am tall) what we thought was a dugite:
Then driving back we came across this wonderful view of Toolbrunup Peak:
The second to last day we headed off for the third walk, up Mount Trio:
Another contrasting walk with a huge effort required in the first third as the big steps just kept going up and up in a very steep fashion:
But after that the angles eased considerably and it was a lovely wander up to the peak, where we were treated to yet another good view of Toolbrunup Peak:
The walk down was not as bad as we thought is may have been, and Lisa’s had no problems at all even claiming her legs didn’t ache anymore:
Couldn’t resist putting a few flowers photos in, many of them were small but in big numbers covering the ground or hill side:
It took a bit of getting used to what to look for when searching for orchids, but it was worth the perseverance, I think this is one of the spider orchids:
I was very lucky to find this donkey orchid on the last walk round the campsite:
Other larger flowers were also in full bloom like this grevillea:
Also some very specky dryandras:
But eventually we had to pack up and head home, on the road out of the campground for the last time with Mount Trio, Mount Hassell and Toolbrunup Peak in the background (from left to right):
If you managed to get to the end of all these photos and would like to see some more let me know, as we have quite a few more!
Sandbagged 