Despite the fact it had been raining all morning, and we had to run to the car in the middle of a heavy downpour, we still decided to go climbing. It was a good decision, even without the yummy Malmsford bakery it would have been a good day – and dry too.
The attempts to find Wabbit Wocks were in vain, so we just headed to Dog Rocks – we had the place to ourselves all day, except for the man who wandered past just before sunset and told us he ‘admired our spirit’.
A weekend of no climbing at Arapiles… the Pines Plaza is back in operation though
Dawn just outside of Natimuk
Juergen solos Trapeze (11)
Bouldering in the shade, spotters are go
Vicious scorpion
Kangaroo lazing at the bottom of Tiger Wall
A hot weekend at Arapiles saw us baking in dry 40oC heat in the Pines.
Swimming in the fire dam, somehow avoiding death by rope swing, and not catching any fish
And hiding in nice cool caves (well I did anyway).
In conclusion: lying on cool shady rock on a 40oC is much cooler than sitting in my un-airconditioned apartment on a 40oC day. Climbing in the sun is not the coolest option.
Commencing trepanning in 4 seconds….
First time on rock in over five months (aside from a brief flirtation with the You Yangs for the sake of some advertising material; however, as that involved nothing more than standing around and looking like climbers, it doesn’t really count for much). It was a weekend of nearly full moon, no night climbing, but some night photography. Time spent lazing in the sun, climbing rock, watching other people climbing rock, and getting hungry due to the impact of the global shellite shortage on the Wimmera area supermarkets.
The photo below of the Plaque and view out to the south of Arapiles; taken around midnight on Friday with a camera so fancy it’s a wonder I even managed to work out which button to press to make the photo in the first place.
A long (long) Easter weekend was spent at Blackheath, in the Blue Mountains. The weather and climbing were both lovely, and the old house we rented for a week was interesting, particularly with 15 people staying in it. A sample of our adventures in the photos below. As per usual, when the most climbing was being done, there was no photographic evidence. Conclusion from the trip – Sydney climbers have it pretty good when it comes to quality rock nearby (also some other conclusions about Sydney being warmer, but Melbourne being a nicer city to live in, or something like that).
Helen manages the reachy crux on the appropriately named Pommy Filth (19), Mount York
Samantha belays Dave on Noodle (15), Mount York
Hannah slabs it up at Porters Pass
More blue skies as Ness does the first ascent of a newly bolted 18 at Mt Piddington
Jackie contemplates the crimpy crux of Cutopia (23) at Porters Pass
Jesse laughs in the face of those who climb without class
