The Five Year Rains

It was a block of cheese and a packet of cumin that I found in the bottom of my shopping trolley unpaid for as I put the trolley back before leaving the store. When I went back through the self-checkout to paid for the two items, a couple of the Coles workers laughed as I told them what had happened. I could easily have walked out, but what you do when no-one is watching is who you are, both the good and the bad. Imagine if we really acted with true accountability for our actions. All the people talking about living on unceded land would have to find the rightful owner of their multi-million dollar property and give it back. It’s a fun thought experiment that will never happen because the mere mouthing of the “acknowledgement” platitude divests us of any need to actually make real restitution. Or, maybe we don’t really believe what we are saying.

I got up this morning and ran through the usual litany of what hurts today. Not because there is anything really wrong with me, but because I had three days of activities in a row. Paddling on Sunday, rock climbing on Monday and bouldering on Tuesday. We are in a rainy period, have been since 2020 really, which is also pretty funny if you think about it. A five year rainy period. With rain forecast every day but Sunday through Tuesday lunch time, I was keen to be out and about while I could. As it was, we had 24 mm of rain last night and showers off and on today. Another 30 mm forecast for tomorrow. Soon we’ll have to follow the expert advice to turn our taps on to prevent the dams spilling.

The most fun place I’ve ever been bouldering is the Happy Boulders near Bishop in southern California. There is a reason they are called the Happy Boulders because it is really hard not to have a lot of fun. Bowen, in north Queensland, also has fun bouldering, although Bowen is not a place you would expect to find good bouldering. Down here on the south coast we have a tremendous amount of extremely friable rock so you have to pick your locations carefully. There is lots and lots of sandstone to the north but not the Sydney (Hawkesbury) sandstone that is pretty strong. Our sandstone is friable and weak. We have solid granite along some of the beaches south of Moruya, but very crumbly granite scattered through the forest west of the beach side communities.

I used to try and boulder within walking distance of home, which was very limited. Now, I suck up the drive (takes about the same time as the walk but I’m driving not walking which is infinitely worse) to climb better boulders. South Nowra is getting a climbing gym, but I think it will be a long time until someone opens a gym further south. We have a climbing wall, but, we built it outside the house thinking it hardly ever rains and, as we’ve seen, in the years since, it’s done nothing but rain.