 Sunday 5th Jan, and we found ourselves waking at my sister’s unit in Oatley while she is away on holidays. We’re checking out the little known Oatley crag today.
The previous day was spent baking in the sun at Wet n Wild from cashing-in Josh and Loz’s X’mas present from Ivy. Josh has inverted Cessnas doing 4G loops and Loz was still buzzing from the last trip at Empress Canyon, so this theme park had tough customers to impress. And so it was that we left at the end of the day grinning from ear to ear from watching Ivy grinning from ear to ear, being thrilled with the 10 second rides that come after an hour’s queue each. Yes, it was ‘FUN’… we should’ve picked a less busy time. We headed to Janice’s and after a meal of vegetarian pizza & seafood pizza (because everyone, except Ivy, is a vegetarian) crashed out on the floor for a rather average night’s sleep… waking to the usual moans of ‘he snored like a pig’, ‘she snored like a goat’, and sore backs. After a meat-free breakfast of scrambled eggs and tomatoes (the meat-free challenge is on its 5th day by now), we took a short drive to Oatley Park’s Christensen Circuit.
The first lookout that we came to on the left was not the correct one and Websters Lookout was a bit further down the road, and sign posted so. This lookout had views to the George’s River, with a bench and two car spaces. Looking towards the water’s direction, there is an area that can be accessed on the right of the lookout by walking or rapping down a single rusty bolt. On inspection, there is room to place a cam for backup, so the No. 6 big kahuna cam finally found a proper use for other than clubbing snakes. It’s a 4m rap down a route called A, graded 10 with another 4m climb next to it perhaps referred to as B in the guide. From this wide ledge, we rapped further down to the start of a route probably called C, which was a 6m grade 15. A and C could be linked to make one longer route either on top rope or for an enjoyable easy trad route. If doing a top belay from the tree above C, be sure to sling yourself around that tree.
 Next, we followed the ledge at the base of A and B, towards the right (when viewed facing the wall) and came to two more routes. Both routes are tagged – the left one with a white square with a directional arrow pointing up to the left, and the right one with just a white square. We attempted the right route first (calling it White Square) and it was a nice, juggy, 6m trad route (we graded it a 15) that comes out just beside the lookout. The tree further back could be used as an anchor for a top rope when appropriately slinged. Josh had no problems with this while Loz struggled a bit with reach and eventually got up by going out on the crux ledge towards the arête on the right, which made me nervous as a fall would mean that she pendulumed back to the left into the wall. That arête would have been a nice 6m route too (probably graded a 14) but we didn’t bother as it was quite chossy from lack of traffic.
Our next attempt was on White Square with Arrow using the top rope previously set up. Up near the crux is an old cord attached to two solid rusty pitons… I placed a quick-draw there and clipped in, then decided to also protect with a small cam a bit lower in case I fall. As I hung with both legs in the air contemplating the crux moves which involve a chin-up, and a right leg thrown up on to the top and pulling the body up to finish the route, the thought of falling was too much. If I fell and the protections didn’t hold, I would have swung directly right into the wall of WS. So with tail between my legs, I gingerly down-climbed WSWA after retrieving my quick-draw and cam. Josh attempted it next and he too felt very nervous about committing to the crux moves. With his height, he was able to feel around the top and said it was a bit dirty too, so I made a mental note to clean up the area ‘next time’ when topped out on WS.
Back at the lookout, we went over to the left side and saw two rusty bolts on the cliff edge and two shiny new ones further back. Only one of the shiny new bolts fitted our bolt plates, so we rigged up an anchor using the two rusty bolts, with the shiny bolt as a back-up with a cord. I was a bit nervous but nevertheless rapped down first and discovered a very nice route called F (also marked with a white square) which was 8m and graded a 16. Josh and I repeated F twice to get our money’s worth while Loz called it a day after her efforts on WS aggravated her wrist pains. There were further routes to the left and right of F but we didn’t bother with more as they all required trad gear and took a bit of time to work out whether there indeed were good anchors at the top.
All in all, it was a relaxing day for a bit of trad climbing, practicing anchor set-up and even rappelling. The bottom of the routes comes to a track frequented by walkers and runners, that leads to some nice boulders. And across the river, we can hear loud music pumping out from the expensive-looking motor yachts moored around, with jet-skis hooning nearby too. Of course, on sighting us two rock climbers perched up high coiling our rope, the bikini babes from the yachts waved for our attention to join them before diving into the water to cool off from the sweltering summer sun. Loz reckoned they were waving at the blokes in jet skis though… hah, silly silly girl…
We finished the weekend at a Chinese restaurant in Carlingford and… because we are all ‘vegetarians’ (except Ivy), ended up with a… vegetarian meal. Unbelievable… I am just glad red wine is plant derived…
Jason 5 January 2014.  |
