It was that time of the year again when we stood amid the roar of a sun drenched surf-tormented shore, Mat's birthday provided the perfect opportunity to gather our Sushiclimber clan and escape the city for a weekend of relaxation, fun and adventure, not necessarily in that order. And as we held within our hands multitudes of golden sand, this was going to be our second Pearl Beach gathering after Will's Fiftieth Celebration. How few! yet how they creep through our fingers to the deep, while we weep. Coincidentally, after a bad rap sheet on our first stay, the house next door was our choice of accommodation and it did not disappoint:

http://www.pearlbeachrealestate.com.au/holiday_listing.php?prop_id=115

Will and Christoph	Kitchen mayhem	Bryan and Leo	Morning Crew
Evening kids	Chris catching a massive shoarie	Bryan and Leo - dancing on the beach	Cool boys
Martha and Raphaela	Sculptures by the sea	Roman in the shoaries	Future photographer

Life may truly turn out to be nothing but a dream within a dream, and with a bonus secret granny flat we managed to squeeze together what was probably a new record number of people. This time it was Adele’s turn to book after Mat has been blacklisted at Pearly. So here is an attempt at the list of attendees who gathered on Friday the 23 October 2015 to celebrate life in general and Mat’s birthday as a whimsical constant, since once we are over the hill at least we begin to pick up speed:

Mat, Larisa, Gabriel, Raphaela, Will, Christoph, Liam, Leo J., Bryan, Roman J., Chris, Louise, Roman S., Elka, Emma, Diane, Camron, Adele,

People who were there in spirit: Jason, Oliver, Nola.

I am counting 18 with a potential of 21 not bad for a record attempt?.

Needless to say this was also a trip that would have made the Guinness book proud. Several records were broken as the highlight of this trip: "the most expensive wine shopping list" courtesy of you guessed it Bryan! The most secret slacklining master: "Emma," who also managed to squeeze in her first outdoor rock climb, which incidentally was called (I am sorry but I am not making this up – it is actually true) Chocoholic (16**). As to the sequence of events, Friday saw most people arrive early with the Rosenbaum's squeezing in a trial waterline attempt late in the afternoon when the local Pearl Beach pool was empty. You can see some of the successful crossings here:

Waterline Youtube Videos.
Roman Junior Ascent

Group Climbing	Emma on Chocoholic	Louise Hell Twins	Mat on Rumba
Roman Beach Bouldering	Mat on the crux of Welcome to Ettalong	Di and Emma	Will on Welcome to Ettalong

Girl Power	Louise on Hell Twins	Emma on Chocoholic

The Cumming, Crockers, Adele, Emma and Camron all turned up late afternoon, topped off with Will and his mobile home, which was lucky because the house was quite full on day one. Salami, Cheese and crackers and Bryan's eclectic selection of wine's prepared us for the take-away Beagle Boys pizzas from Umina.

With Friday night taken care of we all rose to a lovely sunny morning at Pearl Beach and the slackline getting a serious workout in front of the veranda. Everyone had a go until the hidden talents of Emma the slacklining master were casually revealed. Mat cooked up a pancake marathon that fed all our youngsters and the coffee pots were working full throttle. With the beach only one hundred meters down the road, a swim was just a short stroll down the road, where the boys rode the explosive shoaries all morning. By early lunch it was time to join Jason and Dian who had already arrived at Blackwall climbing area near Ettalong. Louise, Emma, Bryan with Leo, Mat and Will all came along for some of the classic lines at Blackwall:

https://www.thecrag.com/climbing/australia/blackwall

All of the girls completed the customary warm-ups, with kudos to Emma (again) for here first ever outdoor climb (yeah)

- Chocoholic (14*) hard start with a little traverse, mantle to the nice head wall.
- Hell no its Twins (16***) the arete at Offspring Wall with the single carrot lower off, easy but very round holds requiring good footwork.
- Waffer Fingers (19**) Crimpy traverse start to hueco and nice wall above.
- Rumba (21***) hard start to slightly run-out slab with two ring bolts on the left side of the roof above. Kudos to Mat for a nice lead.
- Techtonic (23***) with the death by crimper finish. Roman took a nice wipper on the last move because he couldn't let go to clip the anchors.
- Welcome to Ettalong (21***) Jason's project with the bouldery start, cruisy middle and secret balancy move at the end, where Will finally met his master.

 

There was still some time left to head back to Pearl Beach for a quick swim before the barbecue lamp and sausages filled our bellies (thanks Cam and Adele for the scrumptious selection). The beers were opened early that afternoon and the wine never seemed to stop flowing. Mums and dads put children to bed and turned up for seconds – and then the chocolate appeared or more wine?
Before we knew it Sunday was here, with more pancakes and beach time for all the families. A to see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower, we hold infinity in the palm of our hand and eternity in an hour….

If you want to see more go HERE.

Roman 28 October 2015.