I finished up work about a week before Christmas, which gave me plenty of time to move all my stuff down from Armidale to Sydney. The next few weeks were spent enjoying the festive season. After the family Christmas celebrations I headed down to the Falls Festival (Lorne, Victoria) for 3 days of general unhealthiness and good times.
This was all good training for a climbing trip to New Zealand. In mid January Iain and I flew over to Christchurch and after a couple of buses and an enormous shopping bill, found ourselves in a helicopter flying from Franz Josef to Centennial Hut, an alpine hut in the Westland NP.
We spent the first 6 nights based in Centennial Hut, then after moving to Pioneer Hut spent another 4 nights there. The snow conditions were rather average. All the warm weather had melted a lot of the access routes to peaks in the region. We still got quite a few pleasurable climbs in though. We finished the trip with a 16+ hour day climbing Mt Lendenfeld, one of the 3000+m peaks on the Main Divide, the first of such (in NZ) for both Iain and I.
Despite not climbing some of the peaks we would have liked to, just being up 'in the hills' is pleasure enough. Staying in the huts, at NZ$15 a night, is to me better than any 5 star hotel could be. And then there's the food. Always a highlight! Even the bad weather days are worthwhile. We spent one day in Pioneer Hut with gale force winds and heavy rain, the hut was shaking on its foundations every now and then. We even had to use a piss bucket in the vestibule as outside wasn't an option! What I like about this though is the simplicity that life boils down to, eat, sleep, read, cuppa tea, cards, eat, sleep etc etc. Taking away all the external factors that shape our everyday lives (which I learn all about being in Sydney) things become so simple.
After leaving the hills, we grabbed a ride with Harrison and Jerome, two American's that we met in Pioneer Hut. On the way to Christchurch, we spent a day at Castle Hill, an amazing limestone bouldering/climbing area between Arthurs Pass and Chch. The shape of the rocks are amazing, like something that has come from outer space and landed on earth. It's an experience just to walk amongst all the rocks. There was also some great climbing, and it was a perfect way to wind down in the sun after 10 days in the hills.
After this Iain and I parted ways until the end of the trip, and I hitched down to Wanaka with Harrison. Wanaka was another perfect 'wind down' place, a relaxed spot in a beautiful setting. I spent 3 nights here: got out climbing on two days at the local crags, then got a bus back to Chch to meet up with Iain and jump on a flight back to Sydney.
Which brings us to now. I won't bore you with the kind of things I'm doing to organise the 'big' trip, which is also what I'll be doing for most of the time that I do have left in Sydney. I'm heading down to Tasmania next week for 10 days, for an 8 day (hopefully not longer - as the return flight is booked!) walk across the Eldon Range in Lake St Clair NP. After that I'll have two more weeks before I depart for France, on March 14th.
This was all good training for a climbing trip to New Zealand. In mid January Iain and I flew over to Christchurch and after a couple of buses and an enormous shopping bill, found ourselves in a helicopter flying from Franz Josef to Centennial Hut, an alpine hut in the Westland NP.
We spent the first 6 nights based in Centennial Hut, then after moving to Pioneer Hut spent another 4 nights there. The snow conditions were rather average. All the warm weather had melted a lot of the access routes to peaks in the region. We still got quite a few pleasurable climbs in though. We finished the trip with a 16+ hour day climbing Mt Lendenfeld, one of the 3000+m peaks on the Main Divide, the first of such (in NZ) for both Iain and I.
Despite not climbing some of the peaks we would have liked to, just being up 'in the hills' is pleasure enough. Staying in the huts, at NZ$15 a night, is to me better than any 5 star hotel could be. And then there's the food. Always a highlight! Even the bad weather days are worthwhile. We spent one day in Pioneer Hut with gale force winds and heavy rain, the hut was shaking on its foundations every now and then. We even had to use a piss bucket in the vestibule as outside wasn't an option! What I like about this though is the simplicity that life boils down to, eat, sleep, read, cuppa tea, cards, eat, sleep etc etc. Taking away all the external factors that shape our everyday lives (which I learn all about being in Sydney) things become so simple.
After leaving the hills, we grabbed a ride with Harrison and Jerome, two American's that we met in Pioneer Hut. On the way to Christchurch, we spent a day at Castle Hill, an amazing limestone bouldering/climbing area between Arthurs Pass and Chch. The shape of the rocks are amazing, like something that has come from outer space and landed on earth. It's an experience just to walk amongst all the rocks. There was also some great climbing, and it was a perfect way to wind down in the sun after 10 days in the hills.
After this Iain and I parted ways until the end of the trip, and I hitched down to Wanaka with Harrison. Wanaka was another perfect 'wind down' place, a relaxed spot in a beautiful setting. I spent 3 nights here: got out climbing on two days at the local crags, then got a bus back to Chch to meet up with Iain and jump on a flight back to Sydney.
Which brings us to now. I won't bore you with the kind of things I'm doing to organise the 'big' trip, which is also what I'll be doing for most of the time that I do have left in Sydney. I'm heading down to Tasmania next week for 10 days, for an 8 day (hopefully not longer - as the return flight is booked!) walk across the Eldon Range in Lake St Clair NP. After that I'll have two more weeks before I depart for France, on March 14th.
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