The Cliff Fall

[wazatherfisherman]

Wednesday's evening forecast showed the big high pressure system hovering over the state, great!- Westerly winds and the sea would flatten from the moderate swell. The weekend trip to the Mattens was on.

Thursday night shopping for food supplies, going to need more than the Vegemite sandwiches usually in the fishing lunch kit. as this was a BIG trip. We were even taking a mini gas stove down. More Gar's needed too, the home made "block" of them and the blocks of Pilly's wouldn't nearly be enough, as two more guys were now coming, making the group of us now seven. Off to Campsie in Sydney's inner-west to grab more bait.

Campsie, with a big multicultural community, has always been a great place to source bait. Checking the many fish markets, you could buy all manner of different sea creatures, from tiny Whitefish to the prized Sauries- which were often marketed as "Korean Garfish" and there are always a good variety of interesting things to get for bait. The usual Sea Gars, with their blueish colouration were usually found in at least one of the five big markets, but if they weren't available, then their greenish cousins, the River Gar, with fatter bodies, were usually there instead. River Gar, although nowhere near as good as Sea Gar, would do for Tailor fishing.

In our early rock fishing trips, Tailor were one of our main targeted species, due to them being readily available, good fighters and not too bad on the plate if they were handled properly. Also, in the early days, it was equally important to get a decent bag of fish to take home, to show a result for the effort and display "credibility" as a fisherman- a nice bag of 2-3 lb Tailor ticked all the boxes.

Two of the main night fishing spots at the Mattens were really reliable in terms of Tailor. Big moon nights they would often hang around for hours, biting in different patterns at different tide stages. Small moon and they would generally be around dawn and dusk. The advantage of having a few guys fishing for them, is by having plenty of baits going out in a small area, there's either bait or burley- from "hit" baits- constantly in the water. Add to this, the splashes and struggles of hooked fish seem to add to the Tailor's excitement/aggressiveness, so more fishermen meant more chance of keeping the school around for extended periods and more fish caught. No bag limits back then.

Bait obtained, food organised, gear sorted and packed. One more sleep, then off for our longest trip to date.

The rest of the guys all lived in the Chester Hill- Bass Hill area and would pick me up from Croydon on the way through to the Dover Heights cliff about 8 pm Friday night, planning on arriving at the cliff top around 9-9.30 pm, but due to one of the guys getting caught up at work, we arrived at the cliff just after 11.45 pm.

First part of the climb- the "goat track" was easily navigated, as the moon was up in the east, lighting up the track nicely.. Within about twenty minutes, we were all assembled at the pulley, where all the gear was readied for lowering to the ledge below. 

At 16, I was the youngest, but as I'd already been down about ten times, I was first to climb down the big rope climb, in order to untie the first load of lowered gear. I remember being really excited at the prospect of a long trip and also the near perfect conditions of a slight sea on a low swell, barely coming over one of the lowest ledges below.

Prayers secretly said to yourself at the top, then methodically down the ropes in the moonlight, leaving the up top crew with the pulley loading. A bit over 3 minutes climbing and down at the bottom, phew! First thing you did was to "un-clench" your fists from the rope, followed by a good look at where you'd just climbed- there was always a sense of both relief and achievement after reaching the bottom. The first load was already dangling from the pulley rope, about two feet off the bottom, so I moved down a couple of stepped levels to reach it, pull it over to a higher level and untie it. Job done and the rope was going back up for the next load.

As only four of the guys were needed for pulley duty, the other two had started the descent. Once you'd got under the dreaded "white foot hole" overhang on the first stage, where you had to reach both down and under to a small bit of ledge to get your feet on, you were then unseen to those above, and only one person was ever on each section of ropes at a time. Each subsequent climber would wait until the ropes were clear before taking hold. To check on the movement below, whoever was next just placed their fingers on the ropes and you could tell when the strain relaxed and movement ceased, indicating the one below, had made it to the "halfway" ledge, shuffled gingerly across the wall to the next set of "pegs" and taken up the next ropes for the final stage. 

 At this point, I'll underline the prerequisites of coming on a trip down.

Firstly, a reasonable degree of both strength and fitness was needed, so you had to be able to do six chin-ups with full arm extension and hold each one for 3 seconds- might sound easy, but it isn't, if in doubt, try it!  This test was vital due to the need for being able to hold your own weight, while feeling for a toe hold/foot hold. It was the only physical test you HAD to pass if you wanted to come.

The other requirements were rock plates affixed to good quality footwear, joggers with a soft enough toe to feel the footing of the cliff and of course you had to agree to follow any instructions on the goat track, cliff and the fishing areas. Any joking around was to be reserved for rest periods up in the camp at the cave, well away from danger.

The creed of never turning your back on the sea- even in the calmest conditions, was also strictly adhered to and newbie's watched closely, as this was a common mistake on the rocks. NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON THE SEA!

Mark was second coming down and although he'd come down once before, it had been in daylight, not in the dark.

Usually, until you'd climbed it at least three times, a "safety rope" was tied around the chest and under your arms, fixed with a bowline non-slip knot and wrapped in a figure eight pattern around the four metal posts that the climb ropes were tied to. As the new climber moved down, rope was played out, leaving only around a foot of slack, which was just enough to ensure movement, yet let the climber actually climb independently- no lowering or free rides allowed. The rope was just as much a reassuring confidence builder as an actual safety device. On the way back up however, the strain was kept on by whoever was working the rope, as the tightness helped with the climber's nerves!

I had no idea, that Mark had refused the safety rope, regardless of only having been down once. I later learned that due to he being two years older than myself, he didn't want to seem "phased" by the climb or someone younger going down without it before him. Male "bravado"? -Bad idea.

After untying the pulley load, whoever is at the bottom then moves back to the cliff wall, so you aren't directly underneath the goings-on above, just in case either rocks or a loose piece of gear falls- you would never know in the dark, as you wouldn't see it come down. Over the years, several things fell and there were some very close calls experienced by those below the pulley.

So after untying the first load and moving back to the cliff wall, I look up to see Mark stretching down a flat section of wall about 25-30 feet above the bottom of the ropes. It's the one section on the bottom part that's a bit tricky, with the only two cut foot-holes on the bottom section, one directly below the other. His arms are at full stretch instead of being around the ideal climbing distance of about chest-to-shoulder height and he can't find the hole, which is only about 4 inches square and an inch or so deep into the wall.

He yells "HELP ME" and I know he's not mucking around, there's panic in the yell, so I say go back up a foot and I'll direct you from here. He goes back up about a foot and is now tight against the wall, but at least he has both feet on a ledge big enough to put 3/4 of each foot on and stand there. He then says he can't move, up or down- I later found out he was totally out of arm strength- so I grab the two ropes hanging next to him- there are four going down each section of climb- and climb up next to him, making sure my ropes don't knock him off the wall as I go up to him. I got to him and had my feet on the same narrow-inward ledge his were on. He said his hands and arms had just locked up- again discovering later, it was probably lactic acid build up- what to do now? 

Without letting go of my ropes, I put one arm around him, rope included, to help steady him, as he was shaking dreadfully, more from having clenched fists on the ropes and burning arms from exertion than fear- well, probably fear as well, we were standing side by side on a cliff wall about 30 feet up in the dark. By this stage Rob, climber three, had come down the wall and was watching from directly above at halfway, but unable to help. 

We stood there against the wall for about 2 or 3 minutes, while I described to Mark exactly where his feet had to go, there was no alternative, he was going to have to slide each foot, one first about 3 feet into the shallow cut hole, then the other about 3 foot directly below the first one, then 3 feet lower was another foot wide ledge. If he could just get into the two holes then down to the foot wide bit he could actually sit on that one facing outwards and give the arms and hands a rest. 

OK plan organised, I offered to go first and indicate the holes, but he said "no, I can do it" and I moved my arm back around him next to my side.

He attempted the top hole, but missed it and didn't have the strength to come back up under arm power, so he decided to keep hold of he ropes and just slide down the 9 or 10 feet, aiming for the wider bit below. Once he started sliding, he got "rope-burn" on his palms from the drop and couldn't grip, so kept on slipping down the wall.

Hitting the foot wide ledge below at speed, he then did what I can only describe as something like half a backward somersault, still with ropes in hand, but no longer able to close his fists enough to halt the downward motion using the ropes. Fortunately for him, although sliding/falling, he maintained contact with the ropes in hand, and in sort, they kept him almost against the cliff wall, regardless that he was falling. Next impact was about another 8 or 9 feet down and his legs buckled as he hit, legs first, the next protruding part of the cliff wall. From there, still ropes in hand, he tumbled about another 8 or so feet, at the bottom of the ropes, before rolling outwards, dropping another 4 feet and rolling again, this time going over the edge of the stepped ledges and falling about five more feet. 

He stopped rolling and lay motionless on the rock ledge, almost directly underneath the pulley up top. I raced back down the ropes and jumped down to where he was, just lying on the ledge. He was conscious and eyes open, but moaning almost silently. I told him not to move, as from my view, he must have been badly injured. 

Rob, about to come down the second lot of ropes and witness to what had happened, stayed at halfway, while I checked on Mark. Fearing a neck, back or spinal injury, I again told Mark not to move and yelled up to Rob that he was conscious, but not going to move anywhere.

 In the mean time, load number two was almost down on the pulley rope and the head of the "observer" appeared high above. I yelled as loudly as possible that Mark had fallen, but the reply from up top was "BULLS**T"- they knew him well and he was a known larrikin- nobody believed he'd fallen! On hearing this, Rob then climbed back up to the top, to raise the alarm. I moved to grab my backpack and get my torch out of an external side pocket, having the idea of shining the torch on the blood all over Mark's right side. Surely they'd believe the fall then.

Speaking of the blood, there was plenty, but it wasn't "flowing", more like visible, due to him scraping his right side from ankle to hip plus entire right arm on the wall. It was more like a gravel rash- but a severe one, with plenty of raw skin and redness and blood visible. His shorts were the old nylon footy shorts and they were scraped open almost all the way to the waist and he'd bumped his head several times, in different places during the fall.

To his credit though, he wasn't complaining, didn't seem disorientated and therefore hopefully not concussed. I was able to get him into the "coma position" (something I'd only just learned in Scouts) by gently moving his injured leg. He joked it wasn't much of a spot for a sleep, but I covered him with two sacks and propped his head up on a backpack. Not letting go of the ropes had prevented serious injury, even though he'd fallen then rolled around 40 feet in height.

Meanwhile, Rob had climbed back up and raised the alarm with the rest of the crew at the pulley. I'm not sure who went back up and rang the Police, or where they rang from, mobile phones were long from being invented in the 1970's. 

The time was now about 12.30 am and I sat next to Mark and waited. To my surprise, none of the guys came down the climb, instead, around 1 am, an ambulance crew arrived at the pulley and shone a really bright light down on us, before one of the Ambo's attempted to climb down the wall, but on reaching the dreaded white foot hole up on the top section and reaching underneath, he missed the ledge and went back up. I remember thinking at the time, he was pretty brave to even attempt coming down an unknown climb in the dark.

Then the pulley rope was going up again and it came back down with a medical tackle box attached, followed by another bag with blow-up body suit- including a foot pump. Instructions had been written in clay on the canvas bag using a stick, but I didn't understand what to do, just "winging it" with the suit. Before I got it half on Mark though, he said "no man, I don't want it on"- it would have stuck on the raw skin at any rate. 

He then asked me for his smokes from his backpack and although I didn't think it a good idea, I got them for him. All I was trying to do was keep him occupied and warm, hoping whatever help was coming next would hurry up. Then, about 2 am, there was a bright "glow" way up high on the cliff, we couldn't tell from the bottom what it was, other than it was really bright.

What was actually going on up top, was the Police Rescue Squad erecting a huge framework for lowering a rescuer, complete with steel crib, all the way to the bottom. There was a large set of lights, a pulley system and a whole range of different gear. A compressor for the power also hummed loud enough to wake up the neighbourhood as well. The commotion of noise, Police and other rescue vehicles had actually woken heaps of household's up and there were probably more than a hundred or so people in the park up the top, waiting to find out what was going on down below. The going's on up top, related to me later, as I remained with Mark, at the cliff base.

Around 3.20 am, the sound of a whistle alerted us to something moving, high above. The moon had now gone over the cliff, but as the whistle noise grew closer, a figure in white overalls could be seen, almost horizontal, coming down the cliff. He was being lowered from the very top and nowhere near our goat track, however he was on track to land only about 15 or so yards away from where we were. He was attached via a harness, to a steel crib stretcher, that had a thick, white rope connected to it. A few more whistle blasts and he was down.

He said "g'day fella's tonight, I'll be your rescuer" -I know that doesn't sound funny, but it's made me laugh for years. His name was Dave and he'd done plenty of rescues. He had a quick chat with us and decided we could safely get the crib underneath Mark, so we slid it under him sideways and then used the crib's belts- like car seat-belts- to secure him in. Then he took one side and I the other and he blew his whistle and the rope started moving upwards, dragging the crib and us to the cliff side. One whistle for stop, two for go.

As Dave was attached to the crib via a full harness, he was safe to go back up the same way he'd come down. I didn't have the harness and just hanging on to the thin bar of the crib wasn't going to be a safe option, so I had to get off my side and crawl across a narrow ledge to get back down. Dave re-positioned himself to the bottom of the crib and asked if I'd be OK getting back up without their (the rescue squad's) help and then blew the whistle again and up he went, slowly but constantly until out of my vision.

I climbed back down to make sure the gear was tied back on to the pulley and climbed back up the ropes. Only Rob stayed and waited for me and by the time we got back to the top, near 4.40 am, everyone bar one ABC reporter had gone. I had no idea of the scene at the top, until back in the car on the way home.

I was equally shocked to learn that after reaching the top in the crib, Mark was asked by one of the Ambo's if he thought he could walk, and he did! He walked about 15 yards to the waiting ambulance and off to St Vincent's hospital, where they kept him overnight. Not one broken bone. Almost unbelievable to me, after seeing the fall.

Mark never returned to the Mattens, but the rest of us fished there for many years and Rob is still one of my best mates.

 

 

 

[alexoklad]

Great story Waza. I came across your post about Mulloway and fishing the murk earlier today and found this video highlighting the dangerous situations im sure you and your mates have been in many times. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qd96r-T26E

 

 

[wazatherfisherman]

1 hour ago, alexoklad said:

Great story Waza. I came across your post about Mulloway and fishing the murk earlier today and found this video highlighting the dangerous situations im sure you and your mates have been in many times. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qd96r-T26E

 

 

Hi alexoklad the guy that did the video- Ben Buckler Barnacle- did a great study which he posted on FB  worth a look- called great rock fishing scrambles of Sydney.

Our only real danger was in the rope climbs

[Burger]

Another great read Wazza 👍

[Blackfish]

As Burger said Wazza. 👍

[masterfisho7]

You keep bringing top reports Wazza

[Green Hornet]

WOW Waza what a lucky young fella Mark was! I can totally understand why he never returned.

Over my time I had 2 mates suffer cliff falls. The first was actually the guy who photographed my the landbased marlin I posted elsewhere. His was rather a steep tumble down a ravine, that left him a paraplegic.

The second was my mate who I fished with mainly in winter, chasing luderick, pigs, trevally and bream. He fell accessing the ledge between Little and Big Beecroft, sadly dying on impact. Although I wasn't there that day, I've never returned to that spot.

You write a good yarn mate. Made me feel I was almost there with you that night.

[wazatherfisherman]

18 minutes ago, Green Hornet said:

WOW Waza what a lucky young fella Mark was! I can totally understand why he never returned.

Over my time I had 2 mates suffer cliff falls. The first was actually the guy who photographed my the landbased marlin I posted elsewhere. His was rather a steep tumble down a ravine, that left him a paraplegic.

The second was my mate who I fished with mainly in winter, chasing luderick, pigs, trevally and bream. He fell accessing the ledge between Little and Big Beecroft, sadly dying on impact. Although I wasn't there that day, I've never returned to that spot.

You write a good yarn mate. Made me feel I was almost there with you that night.

Hi Pete yes he was lucky, I still can't believe he didn't break a single bone, witnessing the fall, I thought he was seriously injured and was stunned they told me he walked to the ambulance.

Sorry to hear about both your mates, don't blame you for never going to those places again. 

Adventure is in rock fishermen's blood and it's all part of the experience, access included. "Lame" access in Sydney always meant overcrowded locations like the Murk's.

Am thinking of writing a book, just for the sake of recording all these yarns. Give me something to focus on and it's making my brain "work" in terms of spelling, paragraphing etc.

Glad you enjoyed the story, I can remember it like it was yesterday.

Regards Waza

[Burger]

Do it Wazza! I’ll be in the queue to buy it!!

[wazatherfisherman]

1 minute ago, Burger said:

Do it Wazza! I’ll be in the queue to buy it!!

Hi Burger thanks mate! I'm only a fisherman not a writer, but am enjoying simply remembering these events and putting them down. Hate to admit it, but some of my old notes in my own hand-writing are a bit hard to read!

[Rebel]

Another Epic story well told.

[JAKSShark]

Brilliant story waza...glad that he came through alright

Very sad about your mates greenhornet😞

Defo write a book and maybe you could get some old photos added as well just to add to the read👍

[wazatherfisherman]

24 minutes ago, JAKSShark said:

Brilliant story waza...glad that he came through alright

Very sad about your mates greenhornet😞

Defo write a book and maybe you could get some old photos added as well just to add to the read👍

Thanks JAKSShark currently I have almost all my stuff in storage, including photo's and as most are old I wouldn't have a clue how to put them on- no scanner/printer or smart phone just a laptop with a few saved pics

[61 crusher]

Wow Waza how’s your typing finger  after that epic chapter, another great read mate, good to here he walked away, the video that @alexoklad is the  perfect accompaniment to your story. Is that the Ben Buckler if so any chance of shedding a little bit of light about the man

[wazatherfisherman]

1 hour ago, 61 crusher said:

Wow Waza how’s your typing finger  after that epic chapter, another great read mate, good to here he walked away, the video that @alexoklad is the  perfect accompaniment to your story. Is that the Ben Buckler if so any chance of shedding a little bit of light about the man

Hi Dieter not the Ben Buckler the point is named after! BBBarnacle I've never met, but do know he's both a Bondi local and an old rock hopper like me. There is some great footage here on Raider that was posted by Fishraider Cossie in relation to the Mattens. It's in a reply to the post I did ages ago called "Reminiscing, Mulloway Kingfish and the Murk effect" if you scroll down in replies, Cossie posted two short movies, pretty old footage but the cliff is the same. In the first clip at 1.14 min in you can see the climb well and a few metres under the climber pictured is where the fall happened, albeit in the dark.

At 1.12 in the second clip if you look at bottom of the screen you can briefly see the foot hole Mark reached for and missed. The next one is directly under it

Edited May 7, 2020 by wazatherfisherman
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