Sydney day 2: Rest day
Welcome
Yesterday we had the first of four days off before the next Laneway show.
The blackout curtains at our hotel are top notch. We all woke up feeling refreshed and ready to burst into the day. We met in the lobby and Tristan guided us to a nearby spot called he had researched called Double-Tap Coffee where I ordered a sandwich with rocket, pesto, tomato, mozzarella, and salami.
Liz had convinced us to join her for a morning of bouldering at a nearby facility. In my mind bouldering was a sport where you scrambled over a large field of boulders on all fours kind of like a chimpanzee or a large wild cat. I thought all my trail running might come in handy as I have clambered over many a large rock and even scrambled up the odd cliff face. Not really steep ones though.
In preparation Liz showed us videos of the professional boulderers competing in the Olympics so we would know what to expect. Now I knew that we would need a lot of chalk, and that we would have to stretch our arms and legs out very far to reach all the different coloured bits. You put the chalk on your hands to provide grip when your hands sweat. Then all you have to do is reach the top of the wall using only the bits that are the same colour. The different colours denote different difficulties. And you aren’t allowed to touch the ground, but you can use empty bits of the wall.
We began our session by practising falling off the wall and landing safely. Then we did a few easy climbs to warm up and learn about the different hand holds. Some of the pieces are easy to grab onto but some of them are deliberately made to make you fall down.
After a couple of hours taking part in this extreme sport our hands were very sore. It felt like the top few layers of the skin on my palms was beginning to detach and move around a bit. This was a great initiation to this sport and we are looking forward to many more great climbs in the coming weeks.
Back at the hotel we had an admin afternoon, getting firmly on top of blogging and cleaning email inboxes. Then in the early evening we headed to visit a friend of ours who was working at Slow Lane Brewery, a microbrewery that specialises in traditional styles. They are at the very crest, maybe even slightly ahead of the inevitable wave that will sweep Hazy IPAs from the Australasian craft beer scene and replace them with an invigorating surge of Lagers, Wheat Beers, and other distinct varieties that are all beautifully balanced and immaculately completed. In the background of the photo below you can see the rack wine barrels that are being used to age some of the brews.
Later in the evening we went to see Phoebe Bridgers headline show at the Hordern Pavillion. There was an impressive volume of screaming from the crowd at different points during the night which nearly drowned out the band but created a nice atmosphere.