A lot of time has passed since the first highline was set up: NorthHead Highline 2017. This year parklining skills have improved rapidly and it was only a matter of time before highlining became the center of our focus once again.
Following our recent North Head Highline, where the first tentative steps were made after a rather long hiatus - I notice that the next generation is catching up with great speed. With regular parklines, improvements were swift and most regulars started to push the 50 meter boundary. Before I could catch up the next highline was already under way and this time a much more ambitious project - both in length and rigging complexity - was being planned. James organised Alex, Jarrah, Tullia, Roman and Chris to come along for a big day of highlining in one of the best locations in Sydney.
It was time to attempt the rather ambitious America Bay highline known as "WaterNoFall" which is located at the central lookout of the America Bay track. The line is at least 40 meters across an impressive rock ampitheatre with panoramic views of the bay below. While the height is only about 20 meters the ocean is approximately 100 meters below giving a nice atmospheric ambiance to the line. Incredibly you walk by the main tourist platform only meters from the rock edge and conversations with the highliner are very easy for encouragement and calming the nerves. So you are never truly alone on this line.
The rigging of this line represented the first big challenge. While the left hand side has a massive red gum with a perfect starting platform the right hand side only has a rather smallish gum tree in the main line of sight. With several large gums on a plaform about 10 meters behind, backing up the small gum with the big ones through dense bush was the main challenge. We put the main line on the smaller gum and backed it up with two independent lines to big trees behind. Then we tensioned the backup lines against the smaller tree to take some of the pressure of it. In the end it looked quite neat with several fail safes built into the system for peace of mind. (See images for both anchors below)
Once the rigging was complete hikers had already settled on the platform and the show was about to start. The first attempts on the line were tough as we started on the left hand side, which was a little lower so trying to stand uphill was more challenging with some great falls entertaining the peanut gallery. Once we started relocating to the higher right hand side things improved a little and we saw several great stands with a few great walks by James. Tullia probably got the highest number of attempts and the prize for perseverance, while Chris took the prize for most tricks performed by a newbie including the first perfect chest-role (You can find beginner tricks HERE). After a few tries we noticed that the web slippage from repeated bounces touched the top of the dead tree on the right hand side so this is something to watch out for and can be avoided with a little extra tension.
The sun was strong on the day and we kept at it all day until the heat late in the afternoon eventually got the better of us. It was probably one of the most dramatic settings for a highline in beautiful bush surroundings at a very remote location. For less attention this line is better during the week since the walks at Westhead are suprisingly popular during the weekend. We will be back for another attempt.....
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