Coast Track Round 2

An adventurous month for us indeed! To kill two birds with one stone, the next bit of adventuring we had was climbing at Bangor with some workmates. It was all kinds of fun, and climbing regularly lets me improve slowly but surely. I am starting to feel more comfortable and confident, which should come in handy for the trip we have planned from 1-7 of February for ARAPILES!

For those of us who are not aware of Australian climbing lore, Mount Arapiles is a big hunk of knobbly rock poking up out of a plain in Victoria. It used to be a sea cliff, in fact a few sea stacks still jut skyward as if defying the waves below from eons past. Since then, the sea has receded and left Mount Arapiles for rock climbers from around the world to enjoy. There are some seriously famous (and notoriously hard) climbs there, none of which I am even close to being able to do, but maybe one day.... There are climbs well within our reach too, so don't worry. We are going there to hammer trad placement and anchoring skills into our brains and soak up the climber-dirtbag lifestyle for one short week of smelly bliss. Ah, can't wait.

Also on the climbing front, Tom and I tackled Sweet Dreams on Sublime Point in the Blue Mountains. Sweet Dreams is one of those ultra-classic climbs that everybody has to do, apparently. It was Tom's 3rd time but my first, and also my first BIG climb. It was 177 meters, 5 pitches (we combined 2, normally it is 6 pitches, a pitch being the number of times the belayer catches up with the lead climber due to the limited length of the rope).  I was feeling totally, indeed utterly confident on 4/5 pitches, and all the pitches were well within my ability as a climber, but the 5th pitch was just SO HIGH and SO EXPOSED that I couldn't stop myself from wigging out a little bit. I wasn't piss-my-pants scared, but I did have to consciously make an effort to take slow, deep, even breaths to calm myself. I was 100% focussed on what I was doing, and such laser-like concentration is so rare and so rewarding that even being totally wigged out to achieve such as state was well worth it. And getting to the top, WOOT! What a feeling!

In between Bangor and Sweet Dreams we also ventured from Bundeena to Otford via the Coast Track, which is actually the second time I've ventured along that track (just in the reverse direction). The walk is actually surprisingly tough on the feet, mainly because most of it is along sandstone escarpments looking out over the ocean. A hat is absolutely required, and at times the wind was strong enough to make me miss my footing. My little monkey toes are still recovering from the hammering they got, and all the climbing we've been doing probably hasn't helped, but oh well. There wasn't much gain in elevation, although what climbs and descents cropped up were short and steep and left me a little bit puffed. But it was totally worth it! Seaside walks are always nice and cool because of the breeze, and there are always cool creatures and plants and geological features to ponder. We had a very luck trip in terms of fauna and spotted heaps of skinks, dragons, birds, bugs, crabs, and even an echidna! I love echidnas, such an unlikely animal, but so cute at the same time. Did you know that a baby echidna is called a puggle? Even better.

So next up is about 6 more days of work, then 7 days of holiday. I am being shifted from the city store to the Bondi store, which adds some extra time to my commute. I guess on the upside I will have more time to read on the train, and the hours are such that it will be easier for me to get a morning session in at the gym or getting sweaty in the park with our new boxing pads and mitts. Until next time!

Nowra trip

Since I last wrote, Tom and I have driven down to Nowra, about twice as far from Sydney as Wollongong is, for a climbing trip. The drive was pretty and the sun was shining- the makings for a good trip!

We arrived at the Shoalhaven zoo, which rents out its spare parking lot as a campground to people like us. It was kind of interesting setting up a tent with peacocks strutting about.

After we set up the tent, we headed off across the Shoalhaven to the sportsclimbing mecca of Australia- Nowra! We wandered up to an area called Thompson's Sunrise and climbed a few of the easier grades there, wondering the whole time why nobody was sharing this delightful place with us- we had it all to ourselves! It was pretty nice climbing, and I had fun. I honestly can't remember the climbs we did, but Tom might if I asked him. I was just glad to be out in the sunshine enjoying a bit of fresh air.

After Thompson's Sunrise we headed around the point to an area called Thompson's Point. This was not so nice as Thompson's Sunrise because the sun had been beating on the cliffs all day, resulting in some pretty quick climbing on my part to keep my hands a little less molten. The sweat was running off of me like I had just stepped out of the river sparkling so tantalizingly close down the slope. There was a point when the sun stopped being filtered by the trees and BAM! Suddenly it was like climbing in an oven. Tom and I figured out pretty quickly why nobody was there- this was definitely a place to climb in winter!

We finished up cooking ourselves and decided to go get some dinner at the local pub, which apparently becomes a nightclub after hours called "Slippery When Wet". Nice. The fish and chips was edible and Tom's chicken parmesan found an excellent home. We washed it down with some M&M's, and settled back into our campsite to watch the sun set on 2012. The mozzies were fierce and the fireworks were hidden behind a ridge down the river, but the startled peacocks crowing through the night was festive enough for us.

We woke up the next day and drove south towards Point Perpendicular, about 30 minutes down the road from our campsite. Point Perpendicular is a protected area, and is actually part of the ACT! I was so close to having visited another Australian state, but no! We were denied because it was so hot that there was a fire danger, and with only one way in and one way out the area was closed. Wah-wah. Instead of moping, we went to the beach and body surfed instead, then had an ice cream, some lunch, and then drove back to Sydney.

We called up our friend on the way and met for a nice afternoon session at Bluebell, where I took my first big lead fall! It sounds awful, but it was really good to get it out of the way and to learn to trust the rope. After that we bought a milkshake and had a swim, and then came home and unpacked all of our camping gear. Ah, a good trip.

Since then I've been working non-stop. My next days off are Friday and Saturday, and on Saturday night there's another night of climbing goodness planned at Bangor! Yaaaay! I'd better lap up all the fun I can before I start school again. Then I will look back on entries like this and think, one day, one day...