 A nice long October weekend, Mat’s birthday and Glenda’s visit to the Blue Mountains from New Zealand all coincided in a harmonious alignment including the availability of Will’s old place, which we now rented from Susan after the sale of the property. Even the weather played along and temperatures soared with spring heavily in the air. Most families left Sydney sometime on Friday to squeeze in a bit of extra time before the start of the actual weekend. The Rosenbaum’s headed up early to explore a new climbing area, enticingly called The Land of the Giants located on the Mount York road between Zap Crag and Barden’s Look Out. It is about 5 minutes walk from the notorious Way of the Flesh (26/28). We met Glenda, Richard and Frauka at the beautiful orange rock basking in the afternoon sun. It was time for the boy’s first lead climb and a perfect mix of slabs and roofs provided the perfect initiation for their first vertical adventure on the sharp end of life. There were just too many sublime orange rock faces to mention but here are some of the highlights.
- Funkytown (20)
- Bless its Pointed Little Head (21)
- Moving on Up (21)
- Statistical Scare Tactics (20)
After a slew of easy warm-ups, Glenda went back to have a quick lap on Way of the Flesh and then it was time to head back to the house for Mat’s Lasagne and some relaxation. The slackline came out late in the afternoon and the kids had fun bouncing along. Friday was over before it really began.
 Day two of our long weekend, Saturday morning, dawned early with daylight saving kicking in and after some strong coffee it was time for our first serious slacklining session. After breakfast we decided to head for the popular dam cliffs where Leo and Oliver got there first taste of climbing and Roman and Chris led The Sisters of Fatima (16*) and the cruxy Stormy Normin (17*). The cliffs were backed and we moves across the river to the Moss Monster area were Raphaela, Louise and Fibi climbed the popular Hesitation (10). The twins managed to climb Shadow the Goat (19) and Will styled up the classic Wet Feet (17**). The sun was strong and creek water was inviting with kids everywhere. After a quick lap on Wet Feet (19***) the final jump in the Dam cliffs above cleared our weary heads and it was time to head home for an early beer. But Mat, our birthday boy, had other plans and proposed to head down to the Megalong tearooms for a quick time trial. Will and Roman took up the challenge and basically had their buds wiped by the vernal birthday boy. One hour later it was time for one more slackline before Bryan and Nola served up a delightful mussel and salmon pasta dish. Glenda, Richard and Frauka joined us for a nice evening. There was still time for a bit of late night chocolate before sleep beckoned us gently.
 Sunday was riding time and after long deliberations two riders turned into four and Louise, Bryan, Mat and Roman headed down to Wentworth for the Anderson and possibly Oaks trail. Will dropped us off with Martha in toe on the way to the hospital to check out her inflamed ear. By the time we hit the trailhead down to the river the sun was burning strong on our backs and the back-burning revealed a scared landscape. As usual Mat’s rear wheel ceased up almost completely but he still managed to raise Louise up a little hill before releasing some oil out of the fluid disk brakes. After the river crossing and a quick snack (with the inevitable skinny dip) saw us tackle the step hill up to Woodford. Louise’s smooth city/country tires were taking their toll on Roman and after a little hissy fit gallant Mat took over and cruised up the hill as usual. By the time we hit Woodford, we decided that a little recreational shopping was a better option then the Oaks extension and we all headed back on the train.
Sunday night was grant final and despite the Manly loss, the lamp cutlets tastes never better. A few beers and one massive chocolate block later and sleep beckoned us ever so softly. It had been some time since we all enjoyed Will’s old place and it was nice to spend some time with all the kids enjoying each others company. We are all growing up much too fast and live is really quite like a loose slack line: cross gingerly but with lots of fun.
Roman 13 October 2013. |
