Fifty Nine

I turned 59 yesterday. For about 5.9 weeks, I had been mulling over what I would do to mark 59. In my dreams, I would be like Chris Kalous and climb 59 pitches (Kalous of the Enormocast climbed 50 pitches when he turned 50) but I had not climbed in months, could not find 59 unique pitches in close proximity that I could climb even if I was in shape, and climbing the same pitch 59 times would hardly fit the sentiment of the challenge. I also considered walking 59 kilometres, but was pretty sure that would take two days not one, and, while I could have struggled through 59 kilometres in the kayak, I had already achieved such a goal on the Bass Strait crossing – and frankly, didn’t really want to do that again.

In the end, I decided to go for a bushwalk through Murramarang National Park. Looking back at my blog, I have not done the full Durras Mountain, Clear Point, Merry Beach circuit since 2016, although I have been thinking about running the track for the last several rainy weeks. NPWS is working on the track between Pebbly Beach and Dawsons Beach, so the circuit cannot actually be closed at this time, but an out and back walk is still a good trip.

We started from Kioloa and walked rock platforms and boulders around to Merry Beach, and then along a water-logged track past Snapper Point to the campground at Pretty Beach where it took us a little time to find the track. Then it is a straight forward uphill walk to the top of Durras Mountain. There is a very old picnic bench, which somehow survived incineration and a trig station and distant views to the east and west. The best water views are actually obtained when you walk north from Durras Mountain. The rainy weather had finally broken and it was delightful to be out in our local area enjoying nature.

On our return trip we walked from Pretty Beach as far south as O’Hara Island to see how it would be landing a kayak today. Not too bad on the southern side, but a tad messy to the north. Despite many campers at the local caravan parks there was hardly anyone out on the beaches and only one other party on the track.

I actually had a kind of three day birthday celebration because the day before I had gone down to Bingie Bingie Point to do some bouldering. My first real session (not on my home wall) for a long, long time, and I felt clunky, stiff and weak. Getting back into climbing shape after a long, enforced hiatus gets harder each year, but I never seem to lose the determination to at least try. Today, the rock was finally dry and we went out to one of our local crags and managed to lurch our way up a few climbs. Things can only get better from here.