misadventures of c & a

Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T21:46:00.000-07:00

We're in Canadia!!!

Top of the first summit of the Chief, Squamish

Easter weekend was spent hiking up the Chief, snowboarding in Whistler .....

and climbing in Squamish!!

Climbing Startrek with Kev Cooper, just outside Squamish

Akaroa, Christchurch, Auckland!!

2011-04-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

So our final few days on the South Island were spent between Akaroa and Christchurch. We headed up to Akaroa for a chilled out weekend, to not spend another day in the car driving, to park for two days, well needed!! Not a huge amount to report other as did pretty much nothing and what a great little place to do it. We spent the drinking coffee and went for a pleasent stroll up a the looming hill above the village. Great little 3 hour walk straight up and across the ridge and wound our way back down. We caught up with Patrick and Maaike - thank you so much for letting us crash with you for those couple of nights - it was great to see you both!

On the skyline summit circuit in Akaroa

We flew to Auckland for a quick stop to see Ele, Jigga, Coco and Shay. Had a lovely relaxing day in the park and on the beach with them before getting on the plane to Fiji for a week in the sun. It was a nice chilled out place, we read lots n lots of books and swam. Not much else to report really.

Hanging with Ele, Jigga, Coco and Shay in Auckland

On the road, again!!

2011-04-09T02:45:00.000-07:00

This time it has taken us through the Haast Pass, up the West Coast, past Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers through Hokitika and Greymouth, through the Buller Pass and upwards to the Abel Tasman, where we did a lovely walk out from Sandy Bay to Anchorage Lookout and back.

Along the Hasst Pass

Coffee in Greymounth

I was so excited driving up the West Coast to see the oneway road and rail bridges, wonderfully kiwi - these are bridges that are one way but used in boat directions by road and rail traffic, complete without barriers and with 100's of signs to warn you of the existence of something. But it looks like they are replacing these with new bridges, a separate one for the trains. I'm so dissappointed, but I suppose safety is paramount.

the dying breed of wonderful kiwi oneway road rail bridges

And what is the fasinication of stinging Carole I wonder!! First it was a jelly fish, now a wasp, grrr. Go after Andrew for once.

Wanaka

2011-04-09T02:29:00.000-07:00

After our big trek in a short time on Stewart Island, we slowly made our way back to Wanaka via Dunedin to spend the weekend with Orla and Ed and what a great weekend it was. But before that, I need to say one thing: "I saw penguins, I saw penguins, oh how cute they were, loved them, wanted to bring them home with me!" We saw blue penguins off the wharf in Oban on Stewart Island, but really that was not enough for me so we headed out the Otago peninsula by Dunedin to Sandfly bay in search of yellow eyed penguins and to my joy we saw 3, one of them was been chased (in slow motion) by a sea lion, so he dived back into the sea to save his skin. Not quite sure who would win that battle.

So onwards to Wanaka, we met up in Kai for a yummy coffee followed by a couple or was that three glasses of wine and a curry. Not a bad way to spend Friday night. Saturday was awesome and chilled out, we all had the best of intentions to get out on the lovely autumn - but the four of us were in the mood for chilling and spend the day in the house doing house stuff, it was a thrill for myself and Andrew - followed this by a leisurely walk into Wanaka and a trip to the cinema, a must do in Wanaka, the paradiso is a real treat in itself the movie is an added extra. Its an old-skool set up with comfy armchairs, the odd cinema seat, bus seats and VW beetle, complete with intermission, homemade cookies and ice-cream. What more could you want?

Sunday came and we decided two house days would be too much. So it was off to one of Wanaka's little crag, Roadside, and ticked a bunch of easy routes. As the clocks had changed, the evening was closing in, there was a chill in the air, we lit a fire and had a sunday roast, YOM.

if lonely planet say 3 we say 1 ...

2011-04-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

... or maybe I should rephrase that to Andrew says 1. After reading Lonely Planet's South Island guide to Stewart Island, Andrew decided that we would do the Rakiura Walk in a day. 32 km forest / coastal walk through some gorgeous remote NZ landscape. The only catch was we had to be back before the last ferry left at 6pm and in time to get tickets - hmmm - the challenge had been set!!! So at 6am we got home stuffed ourselves full of breakfast and were walking by 7am... 9 and a half hours later we trudge our way back into Oban with aching feet and tired legs, but pretty proud of ourselves, considering we not really hikers and have only done a handful of 10-15 km hikes over the last few weeks... happy tired campers!!!

before the sun was fully up!!

Beautiful Stewart Island Views

48 hours in NZ

2011-04-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

Our NZ transport - complete with dvd player!!

48 hours in New Zealand after picking up our little spaceship and I'd done my very first tandem para-glide and my very first ever Canyon. What a great way to start our few weeks in NZ and better still neither were comerical, it was just hanging out with some great friends. Thank you guys... you are making New Zealand memorable.

and take off - me on my tandem

Thanks to Ed, who brought is non-water proof camera in a dry bag :)

Australia

2011-04-01T04:54:00.000-07:00

Its been so busy these last few weeks - I haven't had time to set aside an hour or so to write anything. Not a bad excuse, must be having too much fun!!

We spent our first three weeks in Australia in Perth and Fremantle, hanging out with Zoe, Alma and Ali (some more of the Speer clan). It was a great to stop and have a base for the few weeks as we were tired and weary from the previous months of traveling and climbing. But not only that, it was great to be spending time with people that we knew. Its absolutely amazing being on the road meeting new and wonderful people but after a while it is hard work and sometimes you need a little recharging.

We explored north and south of Perth. First stop was south to Margaret River for a weekend with Zoe, quickly learning that you should always book ahead your accommodation in WA, particularly on a music festival weekend. None-the-less, after a night in the car, we found a campsite and it was a great weekend. A slightly failed attempt to bring Zoe climbing (damn aussie carot bolts on routes) and some great swims in the sea.

Next up was north to the Pinnacles. A very unusual landscape of limestone pinnacles, best I let the photos describe. It has to be said that the trip north epitomizes the vastness of Australia. We drove for three and a half hours to visit these rock formations, stay the night and slowly drive back the next day visiting whatever else there was to see on the way back. The nearest town Cervantes - well..., it had nothing. The next town on the way back had a hostel which we managed to camp at - but there was basically nothing there. However, if you were a kite surfer it was a good windy beach. The coast road back... well it was about a kilometer inland and was a desert drive. It wasn't until we got close to Perth again that we could see the coast. We did, however, make it to the Wildlife Sanctuary to see some koalas and kangaroos of all shapes and sizes and the AQWA aquarium - to learn how much of Australia sea-life can kill you!! The next day I got stung by a jelly fish - you can imagine the panic I was in. Luckily, no fatally dangerous jellies reside in Perth. Jelly fact: Box Jelly can kill you in under a minute, but there is an antidote (not quite sure how useful it would be)!!

The wonderful unsual landscape of the Pinnacles

Finally we headed west to Rottnest Island, the home of the quoaka (a little rat like marsupial) where we rented bikes and cycled 20 odd km around the island in blistering sunshine... stopping off at this beach and that cove for swims and lunch etc.

We had of course lots of great nights in and out with Ali and Alma, thank you both for everything!! We even managed a night out with a couple friends of mine, Matt and Gill, whom I'd met on my last world trip and live in Perth. It was great to see them both. And another night out in the brewery "Little Creatures" with some of Andrew's family friends Ray and Phil.

Next stop was Tasmania for Domhnall and Gill's wedding. We collected our little camper-van and Eoin from the airport (after a little confusion with the time of the flight) and we set off. A quick dip in the Tasmanian chilly waters to wash away the cobwebs and it was off to Domhnall and Gill's for a yummy coffee and a good catchup. From there we drove to Mt Field National Park and hiked one of the 6 hour Mt Field walks, a little taster of what Tassie has to offer.

In the mountains for Domhnall's Stag

It was then back for Domhnall's for his stag party. Me and 9 guys!! A climb in the "Waterworks" and then a night on Mt. Wellington. The main event took place that weekend. With a van full of kids toys and a giant sound system, we headed to the Tasman peninsula for the Cascade's Colonial accommodation (aka the penal center from way back when) - it was the perfect setting for a wedding. The wedding was every bit "Domhnall & Gill", a chilled out affair set in one of Tasmanias idyllic settings, with an international mix of outdoor loving friends and family. Perfect. And the weather lived up to its expectations too. It was a hot, cloudless, Tassie summer day. It was small bit of ex-trinners climbing club reunion too – we got to catch up with Patrick and Maaike, Glynn and Jayne, Nick and Carol, Neil and Mick. Great to see you all! With little persuasion from Eoin, I did my first run in more than five months and managed to keep going for 45 mins and repeated it again the next morning. I was pretty impressed with myself. My mountain-biking experience was not so impressive, confidence a little shattered and Gill's beautiful bike too big for me. However, the trails were great... We managed to squeeze in a couple of days in Freycinnet for a climb (first trad second in about 2 years - scary - I decided not to lead) and a walk in the hills.

And then it was goodbyes again and off to Brisbane for a week. We, again, hired a campervan, but this time one of the small cheap wicked campers and to be honest we're not so impressed. Its old and held together with blue tack. But I suppose that is why they are cheap. We headed down the coast road in the pouring rain through Surfers Paradise and the Gold Coast high rise beach resort and certainly in the rain we were not impressed. Onto Byron Bay, much more our style more chilled out but it was still raining. So after a very wet walk around the headland - we headed inland to another very wet hippie village of Nimbin. Not much to say about Nimbin really other than it resembles an old hippie commune, pretty cool, but unless your gonna get wasted - not much else there... so bright and early the next morning we headed north and followed what looked like potential sunshine ( a tiny stripe of blue) through the rainforests to Noosa and Noosa National Park. We spent the day, walked through the national park, swimming in the sea and to end the day, I decided to run the walk we did in the morning. Wow, running in humidity is hard work! - it was probably too long for a first humidity run, but sure there was no telling me that.

Our penultimate stop in Queensland was the Glass House Mountains. Three prominent volcanic plugs that you can hike around. We did a 3 km walk around Tibrogardarn and proceeded to do the "challenging" scramble for those "experienced climbers" up to the summit some 364m high. The scramble was actually great, we really didn't know what to expect from the description. A lot of the time when something in lonely planet is described as challenging or for experienced, they really mean you should be relatively fit and have your wits about you but in this instance it was probably justified, it was some 200m of scrambling with some areas of D and some short sections of VD (non climbers - its a grading system used in Ireland and UK) which made for an interesting descent, how I love to down-climb - hmmm. However, the time given for this round trip was 3 hours, we managed to do it in 1 hour 15 - so I turned around and ran the lap of the mountain (initial 3km hike) again while Andrew did some chin-ups. Then it was off to the coast for a quick dip. And so it is off to NZ - roll on some fun times catching up with folks there!!

Latest Flickr Photos

2011-02-24T00:17:00.000-08:00

I've popped a set of photos up on flickr from the month in Greece and the month in Thailand, if anyone fancies a wee look / see....

Greece and Thailand

Bali

2011-02-23T06:53:00.000-08:00

On the beach in Kuta, Bali

We left the hustle and bustle of India for a relaxing week on the beach in Bali, or so we thought!! After more than 36 hours of traveling we arrive in a very humid overcast blustery Denpansar and slowly make our way to Kuta, one of the closest beaches to the airport. We didn't feel like traipsing any further. Found ourselves a "nice" room, had some food and crashed out for the evening. Waking late the next morning we went for a wander around to acquaint ourselves and chill out on the beach. No further than 100 m from the hotel, we were approached by a man with "free" scratch cards and guess what - "we won the grand price!!" Both hungry and skeptical we told the man we'd come back in half an hour and he could drive us to collect our prise then but not before - he tried hard to get us to go then, but food was more important than winning a very "skeptical 500 US dollars or a week free hotel". We never went back - after breakfast we quickly google'ed and confirmed our suspicions that is was all a hoax, a scam to try and get unsuspecting tourists to buy time share apartments. Phew!!

The next couple of days went smoothly, nothing to strange, not so much sunshine, but pleasantly warm and the sea was wonderful. Day 3 ended sorta pear-shaped :( After dinner we came back to find our room had been broken into. We'd most of our valuables with us, but we'd left Andrew's Ipod behind charging, and someone (who obviously had access to a key - no forced entry) had taken the ipod, earphones, charger and case - bugger. In short, hotel staff were less than helpful, they're stories kept changing and they wouldn't let us speak to a manager and they wouldn't not call the police. After a lot of arguing they eventually took Andrew to the police station - where he was kindly (ahem) asked for money in exchange for a police report - a police report which if he had paid more for would still be valid when we get home, but this was goes out of date next month. The whole system is corrupt if you ask me... neither of us felt that we could stay in the hotel any longer, but we'd just paid of the following two nights. There wasn't a hope in hell of getting our money back and no sign of any management. We left lets say a little rattled. The rest of the stay though pleasant was not as relaxing as planned, we remained on edge, we'd to carry heavy day packs with everything valuable for fear of anything else going missing. So, unfortunately, that is our tale of Bali, I think I will have to go back and get a better impression.

It is a surfer's paradise!!

Closing Thoughts!!

2011-02-08T19:50:00.000-08:00

Our time in India has come to an end. I think I can safely speak for both of us when I say we are ready to leave and are looking forward to Australia – meeting up with friends and family and some creature comforts.... that is, of course after a short beach week in Bali :) Our final couple of days were spent touring the Keralan backwaters and an impending 36 hour journey from here (Fort Cochin) to Bali (encompassing all kinds of transport from planes to trains and automobiles). The Keralan backwaters are a series of natural and man made canals and lakes interconnecting the little land masses and villages. It has an almost tribal feeling, however, it is not tribes people but relatively poor group of both fisherman and traditional craftsmen and their families. We (along with 7 other tourists) spent about 5 hours on a large wooden covered in canoe with 2 boatman (one back and one front) slowly guiding us through the waterways using long bamboo poles to power the boat. We stopped midway for a traditional Keralan rice lunch served on a banana leaf. Of course Indian people in general don't use knives and forks and simply use their hands, but we were all given a spoon to aid us in our eating. The peace and tranquility of the backwaters was certainly a nice way to end our travel time in India.

We've had a wonderful time here but its definitely time to leave – I think there comes a time in ones travels in India that you have just had enough and need a break – it doesn't change the way I think about the country – I still think its an amazing place and a place that we both want to come back to in the not to distant future – the north has yet to be explored!

Of all the countries that I have traveled too in the past 10 years – I think this is the one that has affected me the most. It is a country that, from when I can remember, I have always wanted to travel too and even now I want to come back for more. Its hard to articulate exactly how and why? Every day something about the country surprises you!! Today, in Chennai, we got a taxi just a few short kilometers from the centre of town and wandered into a Cafe (Cafe Coffee Day) and it feels as if we've just walked into some European/American upmarket chain of coffee houses and the clientèle are just as fitting – just another little reminder that we are in a country of diversity – and the other half lives no differently or more lasciviously than we do at home. I think the big thing is the sheer size of the population and the wealth divide that comes with that – but its is so obviously inter-weaved. But its not just the population and poverty, it's the attitude and actions of the people you come into contact with that make it unique. There is one way of doing things: the classic example is ordering from a menu – I wanted a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch one day and on the menu was chilly cheese toast – so I asked for a cheese toast without the chilly – the waiter said “oh no you can't have that, its not on the menu”, so I asked him to check with the chef if maybe it was possible. He came back and said “no, it's not possible but you could have a cheese sandwich” – so I asked him if he could toast or grill the sandwich, and he said yes. Is that not chilly cheese toast without the chilly!! This happens over and over again – its amusing, but after a while frustrating. Its the little things that make you love and loathe the country simultaneously. The longer you are here your tolerance for nagging rickshaw drivers (its hard to walk 100 m down the road with out being asked if you want to go sightseeing, only 50 rupees, or where you going you need a lift, etc...) or persistent salesmen lessons (browsing in a shop for free really doesn't exist!) and your thrive for personal space increases (doesn't exist here).

What we'll miss about India:

The stunning and diverse scenery – from the mountains to the beaches and everything in between. Hampi – what a bouldering hot-spot, all the wonderful people we met, both climbers and locals. The hardworking ladies in their beautiful and colourful saris. All the wonderful arts and crafts – from wall hanging to bed covers, furniture to ornaments, clothing to jewelery – I wanted to buy it all !! Friendly locals. Strangers on the train who over you some cookies and genuinely want to chat and help you out. Smiling chatty kids, just wanting to say hi to you!! Food – tasty, tasty, tasty, colourful and spicy – curries from all over the south, flavors to tickle the taste buds (well that is when your remember to ask for it not too hot and your are not in tears by the end!) and differing with every new place we went. Blue skies. Ladies queues & quotas : in many (most) public places there's a separate queue for ladies, which is invariably faster and normally you can get 2 tickets for what ever you are queuing for. Indian Rail, well not sure if I will actually miss it, but its certainly a good system and services a huge part of the country.

What we won't miss about India:

The constant smell of open sewers and rubbish. Rubble / cracked and broken paving revealing the smelly drains. The lack of environmental awareness (rubbish rubbish everywhere – and there are street cleaners – I think its a case as long as its not on my front door step). The lack of personal space. The men and their attitudes towards women - western women in particular. Sometimes its as if I'm not there, but others they stop what they are doing to have a good look. But its not just that (and I am making sweeping general statements, as I've met some really nice hard working lovely and genuinely friendly Indian men) to me a lot of the men come across as lazy with the women taking on the brunt of the hard work and the men sit around and at most discuss things, whilst fixing their hair, retying their skirts (yes skirts – traditionally the men wear a sarong type skirt). The roads are in an awful state, but it was women I noticed with the pick axes with five or so men standing around looking and chatting as the woman did some backbreaking work. It's also the women who work the tea plantations doing all the pruning. Seeing the poverty all over the place, particularly the small children. Being asked by a random stranger while walking up the street minding your own business “With what country are you from?” for the fifth time that hour. Getting stared at. The Indian queuing system - barge forward and skip everyone, then smile and head bob. Pushy Indian sales men and rickshaw drivers. Car horns.

What we are looking forward to:

The refreshing thought of my own personal space - I think I might be agoraphobic. Friends and family. Hot water as the norm not a luxury. Girly products (ok, Andrew not so much on this one) - I'm not being picky some essential things just aren't available. Fresh fruit please, there is plenty of fruit but its hard work and that's when you trust it. A glass of tap water. Ice. Meat (ok this is Andrew). Bowl of cereal and ice cold milk (ok, that's for Andrew too - mine was slightly more specific, bowl of crunchy nut clusters and ice cold milk from LEINSTER – preferably Premier Daires, but Avonmore will do).

And its with mixed feelings we leave, a lump in my throat as I'm not done with the country – but I need a break!!

Whistle Stop Tour of South India (Hampi, Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty, Coimbatore, Munnar, Periyar, Fort Cochin)

2011-02-04T07:42:00.000-08:00

We've finally left Hampi and it was a happy/sad leaving. We'd met so many wonderful people, many of whom have become friends, who made our time in Goan Corner so memorable. We really hope to meet up with many of them again. But it was time to go and move on to new adventures. So, we caught the night train to Bangalore and onto Mysore. The trains in India cater for all budgets - and as it was our first night train we decided to go 2AC (the trains in India are divided into 5 classes, 1AC, 2AC, 3AC, Sleeper & Chair) which was surprisingly comfortable and we managed to get a fairly good nights sleep. We arrived in Mysore at about midday after a brief stop in Bangalore for breakfast and to say goodbye to the last of our Hampi friends. Mysore is the city of sandalwood and the main attraction is the palace. We were not overly impressed - the palace itself is very opulent (Andrew's fancy word!) and grand, but having spent some time wandering around the palace in Bangkok and having come from the ancient temples in Hampi, it really did not compare.

Mysore Palace

Happy Us in Mysore

Next stop was the hill station of Ooty. Dating from British rule, it was established in the early 19th century as the summer headquarters of the then Madras government. Andrew had picked out a very nice guest house to stay in but we learned that the scale on the Lonely Planet maps is really not to be trusted! After walking around for well over an hour and a half with the guts of 20 kg on my back and 10 kg on my front (damn climbing gear!), I put my foot down and suggested we get a rickshaw :) The guest house was worth the wait, it was perched at the top of the hill over looking Ooty, a nice clean room (it was actually clean – not Indian clean!) with its own private garden and had plenty hot water (I felt like I was in heaven). The main attraction of Ooty is the miniature train, which is romantic in itself and the scenic views of the mountain pass are stunning. Unfortunately, the train was only running half way and instead of getting it the whole way to Mettupalayam, it stopped in Coonor where we met a German diplomat and shared a taxi the remainder of the way down. This was good though as we had the opportunity to stop and take in some of the amazing views.

Looking out over Ooty Hills

Minature Train in Ooty Station

The journey down

The next part of the journey we did as local as possible, with local buses, which although are rickety and at best uncomfortable and crowded, they leave as soon as they fill (and with a country of population of around 1.2 billion, this happen rather quickly!). From Mettupalayam we got a bus to Coimbatore and a rickshaw across town where we stayed the night. The following morning we got a bus to Uddamalpet and from there a bus to Munnar. Munnar is a sea of luscious tea plantations, hill upon hill of rolling spongy carpet. We spent a good long morning just wandering around high up in the hills away from the hustle and bustle of the local town and sound of horns.

See spongy carpet :)

Spongy Munnar Tea Plantations

As our time in India was rapidly running out (more quickly than we'd realised... somewhere we lost a day thinking that Monday was Sunday! - but luckily figured that one out before trains and planes were missed!) we decided to get a taxi from Munnar to Periyar. In the grand scheme of things the taxi ride was reasonably cheap, only about 40 Euro, but considering the same journey on local buses would have cost no more than 2 Euro each it was a bit extravagant, but so much more comfortable and quicker. Periyar is a wildlife sanctuary in the Western Ghats. We found a quaint little castle like guest house to stay in that is furnished in antique furniture. In the hope of spotting some tigers (wishful thinking!) we got up early and joined a early morning nature walk. Unfortunately, no elephants or tigers, however we did see some bison, wild boar, mongoose, saba deer, monkeys, an array of birds (kingfisher, storks, herons and woodpeckers) and an awful lot of poo (very large very fresh elephant poo, porcupine poo, sloth bear poo... and a monkey almost poo'ed on us!). The highlight of the day, however, was on the boat trip later in the evening when we saw a herd of elephants grazing in the wild, it was beautiful!!

Early Morning Nature Walk

Beautiful Wild Elephants in Periyar Wildlife Reverse

We followed our day in nature with a day on the bike, my idea I will admit, though maybe not my best idea in the world, I will also admit. Indian bicycles are not by any means equal to either of our bikes at home (but at least they had brakes unlike our previous attempt at a bike ride in Hampi). The tires were so bald that the bike would slide even when I was standing still. They had extremely "weird" geometry, my feet could barely touch the ground, no gears and extremely heavy which made the uphills fun as we'd to push them. Anyway it allowed us get out of town on our and for a bit of “fresh air” and countryside.

Tea Plantation Pickers in Periyar

From Kumily we headed straight for Fort Cochin, which is a lovely little peninsular town just off the coast of Erunakulam. There is not much to see and do here, but its quiet and peaceful (relatively speaking) and has a few really good places to eat. The highlight, tourist wise, are the Chineese fishing nets along the waterfront and it is the gateway to the "backwaters" which hopefully we will experience tomorrow - todays attempt failed miserably when the tour we booked on failed to pick us up. Ready and posed for a fight to get our money back we were pleasantly surprised when the lady we booked with was so apologetic and gave us an immediate refund. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have a little more success!

Chinese Fishing Nets in Fort Cochin

the hampi saga continues ...

2011-01-15T03:06:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Hampi on December 17th with a plan of staying two weeks. Since then, when asked how long we'll be staying here we' always reply "Aww, I think we'll stay a couple more weeks". So, now a little more than four weeks here, we have booked our train ticket and leave on the 24th January. Much as we are sad, there are more places to see and more excitingly family and friends to see and catch up with.

Our hut - our room is the last on the right!!

Interestingly, our extended stay here (though unplanned!) has been something that in each of the other climbing destinations on this trip we have not had the luxury to do. Particularly, in both Kalymnos and Tonsai, after 3/3.5 weeks, we were both tired and needed a proper 3/4 day rest. However, at the same time, we're getting stronger and feeling more confident on the rock and wanted another 10 days of climbing to follow. Here, really by accident, we've done just that. About a week ago we both got sick (that was bound to happen somewhere on our trip) and were completely out of action for 2 days, this was followed by 2 bumbly days of climbing where neither of us had any power and we didn't push it. We just took it easy and took the following day as a food filled rest day. We got up the next morning feeling a little demotivated, so we went in search of a new boulder on which to play. We headed to the "Egg Boulder Area" and got on a problem behind the "Hot Slapper" boulder. A powerful 7a+ sit start problem. I was working it as a stand start and Andrew the sit start. Firstly it was great to have a problem that we could both work simultaneoulsy and secondly after 2 hours work, Andrew sent it in style. Not only was it his first 7a boulder problem to date, but it was also a 7a+. Unfortunately, I didn't get the stand start yet, but I think its something I can work and the stand start I think is probably a 6b/6b+. The evening session was up on the plateau and I planned to get back on the classic problem on "TV" boulder - one I have been working for days and just can't get the last move. It is a great little problem that is baffling a lot of people, particularly us shorter people who just can't reach through. There are so many variations that you just have to find the one that will suit you!! So, with the intention of warming my fingers up on the problem and just jumping off midway, I start. I easily get through the tenuous (for me) first couple of moves and feel strong, so I keep going. With great surprise to myself, I reach for the move that for me has been the crux and take it easily. I get my hands are on the top rail and somehow I keep going and top out. The top out was a bit of a flapper (alot), but somehow I held it together. I was so happy - I flashed my project on my warm up. I can't describe that feeling, but it was fantasic. What a great day for both of us!! We deserved the cold beer we had for dinner!!

Working a 6b/+ on the plateau - a short but powerful little problem!

Andrew on Cosmic Arete (7a)

So we have come to the conclusion that six weeks is the optimum minimum length for a climbing trip (if you've no other obligations, naturally!). It gives you enough to "warm up" to the rock type, get fit and then send some projects.

Sonia on Harri's Traverse (7a+)

Andrew on 7a+ behind Hot Slapper.. his first 7a!!

Me working Classic Problem on TV boulder, which I later sent (6b/6b+)

Andrew working 7a+ on Sandwich Boulder

Me working the 6b+ on Sandwich Boulder

Over the last couple of days, I've been working another problem on the "TV" boulder (6b+/6c) and one one the "Sandwich Roof" also about (6b+). I am making slow but gradual progress on both. Hopefully, I will have enough time left to send them. Andrew, unfortunately, has injured his finger whilst climbing yesterday. He was so close to getting his problem when we both heard a "pop". He was pulling on a very small flakey pocket, so we don't know whether it was the rock or something in his finger that made the noise, but simultaneously his finger hurt. Fortunately, it hasn't swollen, so unlikely to have a seriously damaged tendon or pully, but at the same time it is too painful for him to climb. In the interim, lots of chin-ups on the rings for him!!

the power is coming, she says unconvinced!!

2011-01-04T05:07:00.000-08:00

So, we are still in Hampi and still loving it. What can I say its a great place!! We are climbing 2 days on and 1 day off - with 3 session in those 2 days. We are both starting to rack up a stack of projects. Every day (usually) I manage to tick one problem and start a few new ones. Grades, who needs grades, right? The guidebook while is useful as a guide, only has a very small percentage of problems and the grades are very subjective!

To put it in perspective, I've been warming up on 5's usually, but this one problem on "Sandwich Boulder" in Little Cave (for those that might know) took two days worth of attempts before I finally sent it. It was a high and reachy, overhung to start and with a delicate finish. Very technical and powerful and for me certainly not a 5 in keeping with others I have done recently - perhaps if you were 6ft then it was a 5! Anyway, putting that aside it was a great problem to work and was a great sense of achievement when I finally got to the top.

Mac working the 5c in Sandwich boulder

Andrew, like when we sport climbing has yet to find his limit. He has flashed 6c's and has tried a number of 7a's and 7a+'s. It's now sending time. His current tick list looks something like this:

Torture Traverse 7a+
Cosmic Arrete 7a
Sandwich Roof 7a+
Airplane 7a
3 7a on the Plateau
7a at Double Tap

Matt on Kingfisher (7b?)

Alessandro on a 7a in Egg Boulders

Hopefully the list is a lot shorter next time I blog and a few 7b's will be featuring on it. For me I'm working a bunch of 6b/6b+s and a 6c. I would love to get the 6c before I leave, but I'm not too concerned about the grades and more about getting volume in and feeling confident about bouldering - something that I never have before and for now, I am most certainly ignoring any highballs....


The burning fireworks man

FIre Damage to the Hut

New Years Fire Fun

Climbing aside, its been an eventful Christmas and New Year. Both were spent relaxed and chilled out in our guest house, with a bunch of climbers, sitting around a campfire munching on yummy indian cuisine. New Years was slightly more eventful with a spectacular (ahem, a large straw scarecrow, packed full of fireworks (almost like dynamite!) and lite in an open field) fire works display - indian style - light the firecrackers and worry about consequences afterwards. And yes, there were consequences :) One fire cracker didn't quite take an upwards trajectory, more a sidewards one and landed on the roof of our cabin. Luckily it was noticed immediately and put out but we live in mud huts with thatched straw roofs, so two minutes later we'd have lost everything - down to our passports, visas and money. We were lucky - it must have been our night... and it was - it will be evening neither of us will forget because it was also the evening we got engaged :)

Hampi Island

2010-12-28T08:26:00.000-08:00

We are slowly adjusting to our new temporary life in Hampi. The plan was to stay 2 weeks, but after being here a week already, I don't think two will be enough. The area is beautiful and there are more boulders than you could climb in a lifetime. The guest house chilled out with a great bunch of climbers from all across the globe. Why would we leave?

The Hampi Friendly Gecko!

Boulder View from Goan Corner

We are staying in Goan Corner, a large guest house with plenty of mud huts to house quite a large bunch of avid climbers. Shamilla, the owner, is a wonderfully eccentric lady who bakes the best deserts. Even though, I try to be good and not eat them, by the time the desert comes, beautiful smells wafting from the kitchen it is just too hard to say no.

The Temples in the Background

Palm verged Paddy fields

Sunset from Hanuman Temple (Monkey Temple)

But why are we here? To climb no less and what a climbers paradise it is. Acres upon acres of granite boulders to tear our little fingers apart. Having be safely tied to the end of a rope for the past 4 months, it took a few days to really start to feel comfortable bouldering again. Our daily routine has fallen easily into an early rise (0630-0700) breakfast, walking to the boulders for (0800-0830), back for lunch (1200), chillout for the afternoon and head back for a second session late afternoon (1600). We are in India and once the sun hits the rocks its too hot to climb – but in the shade, with a gentle breeze, all is good. Pictures will probably say more than words for here.

Andrew bouldering!

Rest days are spent either crossing the river and spending the morning in Hampi village or chilling out in Goan Corner. Crossing the river gives you a little reminder of what real India is like – it is a flurry of sellers and traders. We tend to forget this in the more isolated chilled out atmosphere on our side of the river. Today, however, a little more adventurously we rented bicycles and cycled to the Lake. The bikes themselves were part of the adventure as they were without brakes, appeared to be welded together in parts and generally creaked and cranked. The lake another adventure. A place where we could chill out and go for a swim? Well that was the plan. Andrew and I and some of our international friends set off and arrived at the lake along with a bunch of starring Indian men (leering might be more accurate!). Most left briefly which allowed us jump in for a quick dip. But the remains of the afternoon was overshadowed by seeing different groups just out right staring from different corners of the lake. To me, it was quite unsettling and certainly not somewhere I would feel happy about going with only one or two girls. Anyway, it was just another side of India to experience.

Happy Christmas Everyone!!

2010-12-24T22:34:00.000-08:00

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and very festive holidays, we miss you all!! Hampi is wonderful, but it lacks the Christmas cheer of home - and from what I hear the snowy whiteness.....

None the less, we are having a fabulous time here in Hampi, it is a boulderers paradise. Like every new climbing destination, it takes a few days to get your head into the zone, and to harden your finger tips (it hurts to type). A proper update will follow. For now, here's the best of Spain, from our month in September. Enjoy!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolemcgloughlin/sets/72157625280341338/

Goa

2010-12-16T02:09:00.000-08:00

After a early rise (5.30am), haggling with a sleepy taxi-man, a fast spin across town to CST, a 12 hour (ish nothing ever runs to schedule, we're learning) train ride south and a taxi, we arrive in Goa, in Panaji (or Panjim, everything seems to have two names) at Casa Paradiso, Lonely Planets “Our Pick” accommodation – it was basic but adequate. It was late and we just wanted somewhere for the night. We were hungry, so after a short walk we found a local Indian restaurant and were immediately ushered into a chilly air con room past the hustle and bustle of the front room, strange I was thinking to myself. We sat and looked through the menu, which almost immediately I noticed was a different colour and had “A/C Menu” on it... I mentioned this to Andrew and we decided to sit out in the hustle and bustle and eat the same food at about 25% cheaper. The A/C room was too cold..

Quiet Morning in Panaji Streets

It was almost like a weight had been lifted off my head the next morning when I woke – we wandered the streets of Panjim and although there were still hundreds of people, it didn't have the same manic feeling as Mumbai did. You could breathe. There isn't a whole lot to see and do in Panaji, it is an old Portuguese town and the remnants of colonial buildings are still very evident if a little run down. So the following morning we decided to head north to Candolim, one of the northern Goan beaches where we decided to stay a little out of the village in Dona Florina's Guest house. This was a stone's throw from the beach, and the beach was beautiful. An endless sandy beach. I'd like to say a “a white sand beach” but it was more of an orangery hue with a gigantic ship wreck almost shading the beach. Our favourite spot on the beach was a shack called “Pete's Shack” which served wonderful food morning noon and night.

The view from just outside our room in Dona Florina

Petrol Station in Candolim

The beach in Candolim

The view of the ship wreck looming over the beach

After a few days there, we headed south to a place called Palolem, supposedly a quiet hidden gem. Unfortunately, this gem has been discovered but its still a wonderful beach, just far too many people. However, we're chilling out and enjoying the hassle free (well... if you consider come into my shop, take a look, looking for free, can I ask you a question, will you come to my shop, please just take a look, mine is different from her's, please take a look…. As hassle free – of course looking isn't for free and if you take a look you really are expected to buy... she says now the proud of two necklaces!! ok make that four necklaces, two bracelets and a pair of earrings!! ) I still feel bad that I didn't buy more, not because I want / need any more jewelery, but you do feel bad for them, its a hard life that many Indians have been born into. Talking with a couple of them it couldn't be more different from our Western society. From the smallest of things – like we see traditional beauty in darker tanned skin, whereas they look to the Western world and see pale skin as beauty and prosperity. Like at home in pharmacies you can buy self tanning, here all the creams are whitening, but they some do not stop there and use chemical such as bleach to attempt to whiten their skin to make it look milky as Westerns. This is not only true of Indian but a lot of the South East Asian countries too. Many of the girls will never see their parents and families again after marriage. For example, one seller when she travels back home to her husband and family, must keep her face covered at all times and may only show her face to her husband and children. None of his extended family or friends will ever see her face. She is almost liberated working in Goa because nobody knows her here so she does not need to keep her face covered. Families are traditionally large (not unlike Ireland of old) and the eldest children may never have formal education and are expected, from a early age, to move hundreds of miles from home to help earn a living for the family back home. The two jewelery seller sisters we met, 18 and 15 had been selling jewelery on the beach since the elder was 10. She'd no schooling but was sending money home so that here younger brothers and sisters might have the opportunity. Her family lived near Hampi and for 6 months of the year she lives some 600 miles west in Goa on the beaches, for the other 6 months - 3 are spent making jewelery the other 3 are spent in the paddy fields.

A quiet moment on the beach in Palolem

Beach Sellers

On Friday we head for Hampi..... roll on the bouldering !!

Mumbai

2010-12-08T02:59:00.000-08:00

Gateway of India, Mumbai

And so we arrive in Mumbai, India. A new country, a new timezone, a new sub-continent, a new city, a new way of life and an utterly mind blowing and overwhelming experience. I keep hearing Andrew whispering in my ear, relax, your making me tense, relax. But for some reason I can't and I can't actually put my finger on why? Its not that I don't feel safe, though I am clutching my camera, just in case – but it is the shear number of people, that makes me feel uneasy. Maybe I'm a bit agoraphobic. It feels like you are coming out of a large concert all the time. But its also the way people treat you here. The hotel we are staying in is lovely, complete with, lift-men, doormen and bell boys – but it is as if I don't exist. They look right past me and talk directly to Andrew. Every morning I get into the lift first, and its “Good Morning, Sir” “How are you today?” “What have you planned?” or something such similar, looking right through me at Andrew, I barely get a nod.

Local Cricket in Oval Maidan, Colaba, Mumbai

Its loud and noisy, its smelly, its wonderful colourful but at the same it dirty and grimy. You don't go to India to see things per say, you go to experience it. We walked around the Colaba and Fort areas, looking at the all the colonial building mixed through an array of modern, derelict and collapsing buildings and concrete jungle. But it's the people that make what it is, and more importantly, the sheer numbers. For example, yesterday was Sunday, which like much of Europe most businesses were closed and streets were quieter (only in the sense that there were not as many cars/taxis about, so less horns) but that did not make it feel less crowded - in fact maybe it was more crowded... Every quiet street had a local game of cricket, played with a tennis ball and most players running barefoot. Then there was Oval Maidan (the local park), about 4 times the size of St. Stephen's Green, it had a cricket oval at either end with a game playing in each and in between (the size of another 2 cricket ovals) there must have been 50 / 100 (too many to count!) cricket creases just full of people playing - kids, teenagers & adults. There were literally 1000's of people playing... it was hard to see where one game started and the other ended. To give a sense of scale to Mumbai, there are more than 16 million people living in the city. 2.5 million people pass through CST (the central railway station) daily. There are a mere 17 public toilets for every 1 million people and there are about 29,000 people per sq km.

Streets of Mumbai

Colaba, where we are staying, maybe epitomizes Mumbai and the class and wealth divide. The streets are lined, both with markets stalls (selling everything from cheap clothing to giant balloons) and up market high street, with everything from Nike, Nikon, Body Shop, to Louis Vuitton. Everyone from the clearly wealthy Indians to whole families living on the streets. This afternoon we walked passed a group of small semi naked children and their parents all asleep on the street at the entrance to a busy petrol station on a road junction. Poverty is obvious and a huge problem.

CST (Victoria) Central Train Station in Mumbai

And Onto Bangkok

2010-12-06T05:14:00.000-08:00

Our time in Tonsai has came to an end and we were sad to leave. We were finally getting into the swing of things. It took the first two weeks to really acclimatise to life and the climbing in Thailand. But for the final 10 days we found projects to work and we were feeling more confident and happy with our climbing. On the last day climbing Andrew sent his first ever 7b. It only took 4 attempts, so clearly he has not reached his limit. The route was Tiger Queen on the beach in Dum's Kitchen, a short but stiff little route. On day one, he wired all the moves and surprised himself by sending on the first attempt on day two. Needless to say he made the route look easy. I had found a number of other routes that I would have liked to redpoint, but we just ran out of time. Two routes in Wild Kingdom and a third route on Dum's Kitchen. We left Tonsai with an excuse to return one day, projects to tick, but we also left happy with the couple of routes we'd ticked there.

Andrew sending his project, Tiger Queen, 7b in Dum's Kitchen..

Me bouldering on the beach in Tonsai

And so on the 1st December we arrived into bustling Bangkok at the very early hour of 5.30a.m. after an overnight bus ride. We found our hotel, hoping that they would let us check in, but alas no – we had to come back at 10am :( but at least they let us leave our bags. So off we trot down Khao San Rd (I can tell you I've never seen it this quiet!) at 6am – a couple of laps of the area, a very long breakfast, and a trip to a coffee shop for coffee and Internet and it was finally 10am – and we were allowed to our room - a room with AC and a hot shower, oh the little joys... The next three days were spent sightseeing. First up the ultra modern, ultra large MBK shopping centre, Wat Pho and the magnificent Grand Palace, the obligatory walk down Khao San Road for a little shopping, and of course find the quiet coffee corner off the beaten track, to relax and get away from the bedlam.

Base jumping from the top of Tonsai Roof

One of the glorious buildings inside the grand palace

Andrew and the Grand Palace Bangkok

And then we were on a bus to the airport....if I wasn't awake before getting on the bus, I was as soon as he started driving. It was one of the most hair raising bus journeys I have ever been on! Next stop Mumbai.

Tonsai

2010-11-25T06:34:00.000-08:00

One things for sure, if nothing else, the weather here is predictable (at least for the last week). I'd like to say that the rain has stopped completely, but alas it hasn't. However, we wake up every morning to glorious sunshine. Not bad I'd say! The temperature in my mind has risen – reaching a balmy 30+ C by midday. Gradually as the day progresses the clouds build and by about 4 o'clock we have some very threatening skies. Any time after that you feel the first big drops and in a matter of minutes the down pour begins (again!!) and lasts anything from 2 to 3 hours through to the middle of the night. This is not ordinary rain! It some of the heaviest rain that I've ever experienced. Day after day its creating rivers of the the paths and lanes. Water is flowing around your ankles if you dare venture out and you are soaked through and through in a matter of seconds. Along with the rain are cracks of thunder so loud that they make our little bungalow shudder. Its quite unbelievable really. Don't get me wrong, the glorious morning sunshine makes up for it – I'm just amazed by the intensity and power of the rain and thunder. Like the uncharacteristic cold north winds and rain we had in Greece, the weather is not normally like this...

So, what have we been up do these last few days. One of our rest days we decided to take one of the island tours and see Phi Phi Islands. The tour was about 6 hours and blitzed around all of the hots spots around the two islands, Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh. Starting the glorious white sand beach of Bamboo Island, then onto Viking cave where birds nests are collected for birds nest soup (a delicacy over here, an industry worth millions, you could be shot if you were suspected of trying to steal the birds nest). Then snorkeling in Lohsamah Bay and into Maya bay (the famous beach from the film “The Beach”), lunch in Phi Phi Don and cumulating with a snorkel in Hin Klang (I found “Nemo”). Good day to spend one of our rest days. I don't think we could do too many of those types of tours, it was soooo commercial. Also it really annoyed me to see how little regard was given to the coral. Nobody was told how delicate it was and to avoid touching as much as possible (or at all costs). People were just jumping out of the boat onto it, standing on it to take photos of each other .... it really made me sad. It takes so long to grow and dies so easily but what can you expect from the punters when the local guides that were just as bad.

Climbing has come together for us. I found me a project, I worked my project, and today I sent my project. I am a HAPPY CAMPER. The route was called Lars and Lars, a 7a, the last route on Tyrolean Wall. It took 3 days and 5 attempts to send. Three of these attempts were on a top rope the previous two days, wiring the moves and building up the confidence to lead it. Then today I took the plunge, the first attempt, also my warm up, was a bolt to bolt attempt. It was more nerves holding me back than anything else. On the way down, I practiced some of the moves (and clipping positions) that were holding me back and switched out a short draw for a mid length one on a very reachy, tenuous third clip. Then lowered off and took about a 45 minute rest. There were a group of friendly Japanese climbers who were itching to have a go, so that worked out well. They were working it too and were finding the same moves tricky, so that was nice to see (in a strange way :) ). Then it was my turn again, butterfly in my tummy to say the least as I figured it was my last good attempt of the day. I wasn't sure I would get it, but I knew I wanted it!! Andrew thought if I got through the first section (crux) then would be mine but I wasn't sure. Although the top section was a little easier, there was still a couple of big powerful moves for me and it was pumpy and run out to the chains. He was right though, I held it together. I made the strenuous third bolt clip and the tentative but powerful move into the grove almost wobbling myself off, hearing somewhere in the background Andrew shouting breathe Carole, breathe, relax. Taking a few deep breaths I edged my self up to reach the next good hold, my foot slipped but some how I held on, yikes, make the clip I thought to myself, phew!!! Oh no, I haven't fallen yet, better keep going, two very high feet, long reach, got it... no don't make the clip yet, you'll fall, feet higher, now clip, ah still on haven't fallen yet, can't rest gotta keep going... slopers yuck, go on a little higher, where's that hold, ah there, feet high again, I could hear Andrew and the Japanese guys shouting encouragement – slap, ah, almost missed, feet right now clip... lots of deep breadths... quick look down, I'm at the last draw, I can't fall now – chains ahead, please don't fall, I just keep saying to myself as I quickly moved through the last section to the chains, clip, squeal, I'd done it!! HAPPY CAMPER!!

Andrew has attempted a couple of 7a+'s over the last couple of days and of course styled up my 7a today, kindly putting in the clips for me. Unfortunately, the 7a+ that he wants to attempt is seeping at the moment, with all the rain. Damn tufas!! Tomorrow, he's eyed a 7b to work...

Its not a hard life really – but some things I could without!

2010-11-19T06:05:00.000-08:00

So, we are half way through our time in Tonsai – I can't decide whether it feels like forever or not. A lot has happened in the two weeks - and then has it really? Maybe that is Thailand for you!!

Well one things for sure, we've had more rain than I suspect there has been in Ireland. Its rained almost every day since we arrived. About a week ago, it rained for about 8 hours stopped for an hour and then continued to rain for a further 18 hours … cabin fever started to kick in. Having said that, its warm rain, so who cares about getting a little wet and we are getting out and doing a few routes most mornings.

Both of us went to Thailand with not so much routes in mind but number and grades that we'd like to achieve. So far we are not close to getting those. A number of things are impacting us: Its taken far longer than expected to get used to the humidity and the style of climbing, Andrew is also carrying a finger injury and my back is not playing nice. It was quite disheartening in fact the first week, being spat off 6a/6b, literally slipping out of holds... I think the only route I flashed was a 5 the first few days. But slowly we are adjusting to the style, foot to hand and climb fast. We have eyed up lots of routes that we aim to try, whether we get them is another matter - we'll have fun trying!

I think we are seeing a break in the weather, we'd a gorgeous Thai day today – the sunny part of the day is getting longer and longer and rainy part less and less...

On another more annoying note, my camera is giving me a lot of unwanted pain :( Its a Nikon D300 – so if anyone has one / or knows – feel free to comment:

Basically, the CF led has started flashing on the the back of the camera when the camera is powered off. This is draining the battery over night if the battery is left in the camera. This happened a number of times when I started removing the battery. Then a few days later the camera would not turn on at all with a newly charged battery (it was as if the battery was still drained). I have two batteries, both were charged and tried.

I tried cleaning on the contacts on the lens, battery and camera, and also switching lenses and memory cards, with no joy.

Today, I tried again and miraculously the camera turned on!?! CF led still flashing if powered off.. so I took it out for a test – and it was very “temperamental”. Most of the time I could take a handful of photos before it would stop and act like the battery was dead. I would take the battery out for a while (20 minutes or so) and then it would work again. On occasion when you looked through the viewfinder, all possible focal points would fade in and out and the background become fuzzy, like a loose connection.

So, I am none the wiser. From my research on the interweb I've found that the flashing CF led could be a faulty clock battery. But some of the comments on this seems contradictory, some say that the camera will not work (like mine) and some say what does it matter if the clock battery is not charged only the dates will be wrong.... also the focal problem today does not help matters. On a plus note, it does appear that I might be able to get camera to slowly (very slowly) plod along (the very occasional photo) until we get to Bangkok.. the question is – is it going to be fixed easily or will it need to be properly serviced and how long will that take? …..... or is it time for a new camera?

Hello Thailand!

2010-11-13T06:39:00.000-08:00

And so the next part of our adventure begins! We left Dublin for Thailand last Thursday afternoon after what felt like a very short time back home. It was great to catch up with our families and friends. In fact, our time at home felt like a holiday unlike the usual coming back from a sports climbing trip and going straight back to work less than 12 hours later. We had time to chill out, relax and enjoy being home. It made me homesick being home ?!? (I suppose homesick at the prospect of being away for the next six months).

So a flying visit to Bangkok, quiet literally. We landed in Bangkok's Survanabhumi Airport still unsure of what our plans were , even going through customs and collecting our bags we thought we'd take a bus into Khao San Road, find somewhere to stay an d figure out getting a bus the next day. We were both tired and felt we would be prolonging the jet lag if we stopped in Ban gkok for a day. So seeing the signs for buses to South Terminal Bus Station (for buses to the South of the country) we decid ed to keep going, spending our first night in Thailand on a bus and getting into Tonsai earley the next morning. We plan to see Bangkok on our way out of Thailand. Unlike Bus Eireann, the buses are surprisingly comfortable and as soon as we pulled out of the bus terminal I was out like a light, only to wake about 10 hours later about 60 miles from Krabi. After one flight, two buses, one taxi and one long tail boat ride we splashed into Tonsai and all the fond memories of the idyllic spot came back. We hauled our bags up the hill and found a cheap cabin for the night. Really cheap!. In fact, cheaper than I remembered - 200 Baht (approx 5 Euro) for a very very basic bamboo cabin - where we crashed out for the day. We (or maybe I) must be getting soft in my old age, because after two night in our little cabin I wanted to move - it really was basic - no flushing toilet, no sink, a low pressure shower almost in the toilet, no light in the bathroom, the cabin itself was very dark (even with the lights on you needed a headtorch to see things), and the window was missing a pane of glass. So we went on the hunt for a new home and found one at Dream Valley, a brightly light wooden bungalow with a sink in the bathroom :) for a whopping 500 Baht ( approx 12.50 Euro ) including a buffet breakfast ( AS MUCH AS WE CAN POSSIBLY EAT :) happy Andrew! ) , so not bad at all... and although it is still basic, it is a hundred times better than the previous. I actually burst into tears once we decided to move there, so tired and happy not going back to the other place.

So now, here in Tonsai for our fifth night, we have not seen the sun yet. I think we are catching the tail end of the Monsoon sea son. Yesterday it must have rained heavily for about 12 hours solidly (and had been raining on and off before that since we arrived) but thank fully today it was dry (but overcast), positive thinking - tomorrow I'll see the sun!

Amongst the cabin hunt, recovering from jet lag, the rain and tummy troubles, we've had 2 days climbing, though it has to be said that neither of us are climbing well, still trying to come to terms with the humidity and jet lag. It is taking us time to find our feet again on the rock, but no doubt that will come.

Almost Final Days in Kalymnos

2010-10-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

The past three and a half weeks in Greece, or possibly it is an accumulation of the previous eight weeks in mainland France and Spain, is taking its toll. We are both tired and a single rest day does not seem to be enough to revitalize us. Unfortunately, time is not an luxury that we have left in Greece, so we are making the most of the time left and climbing as much as possible and taking as much rest as possible, hmmm, we've resorted to day on day off.

After a damp morning in Afternoon crag, we moved into a very crowded Grande Grotta. The boys (Barry and Andrew) got onto a short 7a+ "Aphrodite", which Barry onsighted nicely and unforunately Andrew fell at the crux, the difference being a couple of inches in height, I think. Unfortunately, they were climbing on someone else draws and I didn't get the opportunity to give it a try. However, the grande grotta is a haven for photography so I did get a couple of nice shots.

Next up was another 7a+ (downgraded in the new guide book to 7a) "DNA" which I did get an attempt to top rope (I know I should have just lead it but I was cold and didn't think I had a good attempt in me, I regret it now), what a great route). Andrew styled it, made good use of the rests and got it onsight.

Shortly afterwards, Juan and Eoin came along styling up a number of routes, including Aphrodite, DNA and Ivi.

And along came the tiredness.... we've been to Odyssey for the last couple of days for me to attempt a number of 6c's that I've been trying. I managed to redpoint a stiff short 6b+ "Why Not?", onsight a second 6b+ "Atena" and repdoint a 6c "Imia" in two attempts. Unfortunately, my other attempts at "Ciao Vecio" 6c, "Itaca" 6c+ and "Island Highways" 6c were not for me, I did lead them to the chains and get all the moves. It was simply a matter of not enough "green beans" to get me through the routes in one go.

Amidst all these climbing days, Andrew and I, rented a scooter for a day and drove around the island. We headed to Palionnisos (end of the road to Sikati cave) and had coffee in Paradise Taverna with Nikolas the friendly (oh so friendly owner who usshered us in, regardless of what we wanted). There we found a giggling bunch of Slovenians, Nikolas' life photo albums spanning the history of his taverna and his sponge diving career. Lets say it was an interesting hour, we left shortly after he brought out glasses of ouzo for fear of what might come next and time for our island view from a moped was slowly slipping away.

The rest of the day was spent lying on a small pebble beach, shivering as the clouds covered the sun, a quick dip, a spin to Vathi and Rino (the idylic fishing village on the other side of the island) and back through Pothia to Massouri.

Photo Update

2010-10-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

I'm slowly getting through my photos and editing them.... here's a selection on flickr that I took in France.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolemcgloughlin/sets/72157625036661623/with/5102896932/

We'll meet in that Greek place!!

2010-10-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the title is really unrelated to the rest of the post but it made me laugh. A text just now from Barry, “So, 730 Greek place suit yas?” It made me giggle!! Of course, I knew exactly what he meant and replied “Yup, sounds good”, but afterwards thinking, aren't we in Greece, aren't most places Greek??

Beautiful evening glow!!

After a very chilled out (slightly too chilled out - with all my books finished, not much else to do in Masouri when its too cold to go swimming) rest day we headed up to a newish sector called Kalydna. The routes were sharp and uncomfortable. I chose the first pitch of “Fragment” to start the day off. An easy 5c? Hmm, maybe it was easy moves, but it was fairly full on, sharp and very run out all the way to the top. This we followed with "Late Evening Light", a 6a+, actually had a really nice top section, sweet moves onto a short tufa to the chains, but it was hard to forget the pain of going through the sharp crozelly mush that was the bottom of the route.

With bad weather comes beautiful light afterwards

After we succeeded on these two routes, it was a fairly unanimous agreement to head to Panorama, where we got on a sweet 6c, Neptune KL, only one star in the book, but we both thought it was great! Andrew onsighted it in style, his first 6c onsight. I managed to get about two thirds of the way up on the onsight attempt, but got pumped out. I managed to finish the rest of the route, though taking a couple of rests. I had a second attempt on top rope to work the moves, but at that point I was tired and the sun was coming onto the crag.

Sunset over Telendos

We came back the next day with the intention of getting back on that route. We started with a warm up 6a Eureka, it was ok, but a little sharp (maybe my girly fingers are giving up on me). This we followed with a cracking 6b "Uncle Ernie" which we both got onsight. Since "Neptune KL" was occupied we decided to try our hand at "Gwundernase", a 6c described as an excellent wall climb with tufa blobs. That it is. Andrew held it together and got it onsight, 6c number two. I managed to get to the fourth clip, down climbed to the ground, had a rest and then headed up again, only to fall at the fourth clip anyway, bummer. It took me quite a while to work that section out, very thin crimps on crozzelly rock, up to an undercut and a sidepull. Eventually I worked it out, and continued to the chains, another route to come back too with some fresh energy. We finished the day on Lothar Scie, a sweet 6b+ that I should have onsighted but I just had no energy at that stage.

Eoin Kennedy in Panarama

So, I felt my energy levels were waning and it was midpoint in our time in Kalymnos, so we opted for a two day rest day. Heading to Kos town for the first and the second just chilling out in Massouri. Kos town is nice place to spend an afternoon, though after a few hours you've seen it all. Cool castle and old roman ruins though.

Sights of KOS

We woke Thursday to a very stormy, very wet morning. A cloud covered crag and not an end to the dismal weather in sight. A chilled out coffee for the morning, we thought we'd re-evaluate the situation in the afternoon. Still raining at about 3 o'clock, I'd given up for the day, but then the sun came out and all the boys were itching to go up. Hmmm, a stormy swim on the beach would have suited my just fine, but hey!! So at about 4pm we headed up to Panorama, the gods, they really must have been with me that day, as I hopped onto one of my 6c projects "Gwundernasse" as a warm up and managed to flash it. This also was the second attempt on the route. We then decided to go try our hand at "Cyclops", another supposedly 3-star 6c, but the spaced bolts on the upward trending traverse freaked me out a little, I did, however, managed to lead it, but I can't say either clean or graceful.

Barry O'Dwyer on Neptune KL in Panarama (6c)

Andrew on Uncle Ernie in Panarama (6b)

Back to Panorama the following morning, but my head wasn't in it - this was not helped by the rather large amount of red wine the night before or that all night the crag was sitting in a mist of cloud, and although it looked dry, the tufas were muggy and damp. I top-roped "Neptune KL" my other 6c project, and I was not a happy camper on it to say the least, slipping and sliding all over the place, I even managed to pull off a rather large hold. I somehow managed to keep hold of the piece of rock, but being 10 meters up I wasn't sure what to do it - I ended up chucking into a clearing and watched it bounce a good ways down the hill (don't worry we checked for random passersby - no one was in the firing line). That whole experience didn't do much for the confidence. I'm not even sure if I want to go back and redpoint it.

Unknown climber on Agealus in Granda Grotta

Odyssey was the choice of venue today, we warmed up on a route we'd done previously and then attempted a 6c, one that looked fairly vertical - bad choice for Carole as there was a horrendous reach 2 bolts from the chains, there was no way for me to do it with out dino'ing or something. My little arms just didn't have the strength for that on the ground let alone 20 meters up. From there we hit "Dionysos", a 7a I'd my eye on after watching a couple of people one. I managed to lead it all the way to the chain, with a number of rests. I then top-roped it again (need stamina for this one) and did it in fewer sections. Its a great route, I wonder will I have the stamina to do it though... it get rather steep at the finish. I'll definitely keep trying it a few more times.

Thanks to Barry, a couple of climbing shots of me, working Dionysos 7a in Odyssey

Sikati Cave

2010-10-09T04:56:00.000-07:00

So as a group and being Uruttia and Jenny's second last climbing day, we all decided to rent moped and head to Sikati cave. I can't say it was the best choice of day! When we woke up the wind was howling outside, the chair on the balcony was rocking noisily, however, there were blue skies. So we packed our gear (or repacked in reality to make it as small as possible) and walked up to the moped rental and picked up 4 bikes (3 doubles and 1 single) and the 7 of us headed off (after a quick coffee en route).

The boys - trying to figure out where we were and where we were going!!

Initially this was great fun, watching the beautiful sights whiz by (I was the passenger), however as we drove flat out (hitting a whopping 40KM at top speed) around the coast, gradually gaining height the wind felt like it was stronger and stronger, I began to feel more and more vunerable, almost getting to the point that I be let off the bike (almost)! The bikes are so light, you can feel the wind move / shake them as we drove.

The walk in

So, we arrived at a bend in the road, with about a dozen other bikes parked, parked the bikes and started to walk. It was about a 40 minutes walk across uneven ground to Sitcati Cave, though I'm not sure I'd actually call it a cave, more a hole in the ground, probably a sea cavern that's roof calapsed. It was unlike anything I've seen before.

Sikati Cave (Hole)

Unfortunately, there aren't a huge number of mid graded routes, in fact other than 2 5c's, everything was hard. I climbed the two 5s easily, though I must admit they were sparsely bolted and hard for the grade. I spent the rest of the taking photos of the guys working some of the 7's.

Images of Eoin Kennedy, Juan O'Raw, Barry O'Dwyer and Urritta climbing in Sikati Cave

2010-10-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

"Its not normally this cold in Kalymnos at this time", the english owner of Glaros told us. "There's a north wind blowing, but it should pass over us by the weekend". Of course thinking to ourselves, its still a good 15 degrees warmner than autumnal Ireland, I don't think we'll complain. To us, the weather is great! Mostly sunny days so far, a bit of wind, actually, a lot of wind, but for climbing the temperatures is good. But the wind's not such a good mix for the beach and book rest days. Ah well....

View of the sun setting over Telendos from our balcony

So, we're getting into the swing of things, slowly getting on harder routes, finding our feet and taking falls. Over the last couple of days we've been to Odyssey, Afternoon and Spartacus.

Barry O'Dwyer on a 7a in Odyssey

Things are coming together, definitely both feeling a lot more confident. Andrew had a success today on a 7a in "Odyssey" which he got in two attempts, and very close to a second 7a (Calipso), both routes were close to onsights, this will come with mileage.


Barry O'Dwyer on a 6b in Odyssey

Juan O'Raw on a 6b in Odyssey

I had a couple of 6b onsight successes, one in Spartacus and one in Odyssey. I've started to work a couple of 7a's in Odyssey, I haven't decided which will be my first project, both I think I am (or will be eventually) capable of them, however, I think the deciding factor will be stamina.

Eoin Kennedy climbing in Odyssey

Andrew working a 7a (Calipso) in Odyssey

We had a rest day in Pothia, not much to say really, lots of boats, lots of fish, a closed archeological museum and not a whole lot else.

Typical Greek Doors

The port in Pothia

From Dublin to Masouri

2010-10-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

After a week at home we are settling into our next adventure. The island of Kalymnos for the next month.

The view from our balcony - no complaints here

It was great to catch up with everyone, both family and friends, while we were at home in Carlow and in Dublin.   It even made us (well maybe just me, I don't know) a little sad to be home. In some respect, I feel we are missing out on what everyone is doing and what we would be doing if we were still living at home and I certainly miss people alot. However, this is something we both want to do, and once we stepped on the plane to Greece we knew this is where we wanted to be (at least for now). Who knows what next month will hold.

After a rather horrendous flight to Greece, horrendous, only due to the fact that we had a eight hour lay over in Gatwick airport, through the night. Really not the place I wanted to be, however, it did allow me get a good chunk of my book read (girls, the series is great - thoroughly enjoying it so far - twilight saga for those that are interested).   We arrived in Kos and spotted another Kalymnos bound climber and asked if he wanted to join us in our taxi to the ferry. The taxi man had obviously over heard the conversation with us and dropped us at the ferry then expressed his very displeased opinion that we were sharing taxis....and ended saying next time let me do my job (basically if he could he wanted us all in single taxi's spending as much money as possible ... oh well).

Absolutely exhausted we spent the next day wandering around the little town of Masouri familiarizing ourselves with the crag and where the hundreds of little paths go and to which area. We were just too tired to climb.   Ready and rearing to go the next day we headed up to an area called "Poets", with some lovely 25+ metre routes. We both ticked 6a, 6a+, 6a+ and a 6a+, a nice little introduction to Kalymnos, our only complaint was from our finger tips. The rock in this sector was so sharp, not a polish hold in sight... but not a bad complaint. The following day we met up with Barry, Juan and Eoin and headed up to "Afternoon Crag" and "Sparatacus" where we got on some more 5s and 6s. We were happy with our first two days. Nothing hard - but both feeling comfortable on everything...

Albarracin to Dublin

2010-09-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

3 days in Albarracin and we got our first proper spell of bad weather. We arrrived got the tent up and the heavens opened. We were hopeful, the forecast still looked good for the following 3 days.

On our way out of Rodellar we had saw this little guy trying to cross the road, I think this is possibly the first fox I've ever seen

Albarracin is situated between Madrid and Zaragoza and is Spain's answer to Fontainbleau. It is not on the same scale by any means as Font, but for what it is, it is very good sandstone bouldering.

We managed to get 3 half days climbing, dodging the rain drops. The last day however was blissful sunshine.

Bouldering in Albarracin

The village of Albarracin is a magnificent, if somewhat restored, walled medieval city with small, windy streets. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

On our way wandering through the village one of the evening we happened upon a bull fight. I have to admit it I was not impressed one little bit. To me it was one of the most barbaric cruel "sporting" (ha yeah right, nothing sporting about it at all) event I've been too. To me it was just wrong.....

On Sunday afternoon we left Albarracin embarking on our 2600 km drive back to Dublin. Over 4 days we traveled to Hossegor and spent the day roaming the little surf town, just missing the world championships, then onto Angers where we treated ourselves to an ETAP to prepare us for the long final day which started at 9am on Tuesday morning and which ended at 7pm on Wednesday evening hitting Epehy (to visit Andrew great uncle William Speer's grave who was killed in WWI), Calais (hmm not impressed), Dover, Llanberis (we had a bit of time to kill so we had lunch in Coed-y-Brenan the famous Welsh mountain bike park and then through the Llanberis pass to look at the rock and check out V12), Holyhead (well that's where the ferry was :) ) and finally arriving into Dublin Port on Wednesday evening to be greeted by a wonderful meal and lots of catchup banter at Viv & Beth's...

Last day in sunny France

last days in rodellar

2010-09-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

We are starting to fade. Monday was the first rest day that we didn't feel the need to go for a run or a long walk, or investigate some nearby piece of heritage. In fact, all we both wanted was proper rest day and a proper rest is what we had: we got up nice and late, had a leisurely coffee (well I did), a leisurely lunch, then a leisurely (you get my drift) stroll about 100m from the campsite to the river, where we sat/lay for the next few hours reading books, listening to music and going for icy dips in the river (well that is, I (Carole) went for a swim, it was "too cold" for Andrew, as he dipped his little finger in and thought he would lose it to frost bite!).

Chilled out walk around the lake

Fully rested we hit El Camino (one of the crags for all you non-climbers) with the intention of working a 6c I tried a few days prior, to find out we'd read the guide book wrong and in fact the route was 6b+, utter disappointment. However, I got my act together and we warmed up and took a look at a couple of other 6c's, the first although I got all the moves, the crux was a huge span that I wasn't confident in wiring in a day. The second, just suited...a polished slab to start (not the nicest of starts, but there was enough) leading to a short thin vertical with a slightly reachy move to a jug (the crux), upwards on steep overhanging terrain for about 12 meters to a bulge and then finally the chains. 3 attempts (one lead bolt to bolt, one top rope clean and my redpoint) and it was mine. After this Andrew got onto a 7a+ he'd been eyeing up for a few days. He got all the moves first go, but unfortunately ran out of skin, energy and green beans (ask Dave for the info on climbing green beans - for too technical to go into here!). A multiple rest day was needed.

Lying down after belaying Andrew, I must be getting tired

Today proved too much for our muscles.... too tired to climb, we both dogged our way up a 6b we'd done the day before and then gave up. We've no skin left on our finger tips, no energy in our muscles and my back is twinged and playing up. A multiple rest day is needed so we went home (home to our big tent - you know you are on the road when your tent becomes your home).

So we move on tomorrow, to Albarracin, to meet up with Dave and Caroline for a little bouldering before we embark on the long, long, long (did I mention) long, long, long, long journey home - +2500km!

Best Campsite Desert Recipe

2010-09-10T11:56:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Get preferred cracker or biscuit base. I've chosen a rice cake. (Bit boring on its own!!)

Step 2: With nutella and a spoon, lather the rice cake with nutella, quality tasting nutella as you go is a necessity. (Getting better but not there yet!!)

Step 3: Get a small camping stove, preferred choice the pocket rocket and a titanium spork (or other sharp pronged non-flammable object). TIP don't use a plastic spork!!

Step 4: Squish 2 marshmallows onto the fork, light the stove and carefully rotate the marshmallows until toasty. Again quality tasting a necessity.

Step 5: Remove from spork and place on chocolate covered rice cake. Refrain from quality testing here, its worth the wait!

Step 6: Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 as you need at least 4 marshmallows to make this really yummy.

Step 7: Enjoy the indulgence.

i think its time to start redpointing?!?

2010-09-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hermitage in Mascun

So, we've been on the road now for about 5 weeks, we are both comfortable with in our grades. Its time to start pushing that. We are now in red pointing mode... I hope this is a good thing. Today, I went back to a 6b I rested on a few days ago, and got it first attempt this time and easily. It was a steep juggy route which I needed stamina a days rest to complete. Happy out, I was!! Andrew attempted his first 7a in Rodellar - unfortunately didn't send it clean in his two attempts but has the moves wired so hopefully with a fresh mind it will be his.

Dawid on a 6a+ in El Camino

Unknown climber on some of the steeper routes in El Camino

Andrew on a 6a+ in El Camino

Unknown climber working (I think) a 6b/6c in El Camino

Dawid on a 6b in Criminal Tango

first few days in rodellar

2010-09-06T01:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday i was too tired to write, today after a rest I am still too tired, but I'll endeavour to put something down, least in my tiredness I forgot :)


Lunch on the Road

The long drive cross country from El Masnou to Rodellar

We drove to Rodellar last Wednesday and watched the clouds thicken over the mountains the closer we got. It was a fantastic thunder storm that night but unfortunately that meant no climbing for us on Thursday as we'd planned. After a few hours of musing in the tent drinking coffee we jumped in the car and headed for Heusca. Really there is not much to see or do there, a short walk around the old quarter and lunch in a cute little restaurante and we'd pretty much seen it all. Late afternoon it started to brighten so we headed back up the valley to see the clouds slowly lifting off the gorge. Hurray, we'd be climbing tomorrow.

Funky ceramic wall in Heusca

One of the crags in Rodellar

The next two days we our first experience with Rodellar, another different crag, another style of climbing to get used to. I found it hard these two days. I think after the 6 days rest, it will take a day or so get the head back into it. I certainly was having a bad head day. With Dawid here, I found the opportunity to get a couple of shots of us climbing (and Dawid kindly took my camera while I was climbing, so now I've proof I was actually on the rock).

Andrew climbing a 6b

Dawid on same route

Me climbing the same 6b (photo credit to Dawid)

Today was a rest day, and as all good rest days go, we went walking / hiking, down into the valley to the river, a swim before lunch, then wander aimlessly through the gorge for the next few hours and a little expedition to get home. Andrew suggests that its as quick to follow the river bed back to the campsite than go back to the village and by road, so off we trot... let's just say we had an introduction to canyon'ing, boulder hopping, tree hugging and water wading.... except from the fact that we'd run out of water a couple of hours earlier, we had a great time.

Roll on crag and climbing tomorrow. This is yet another beautiful climbing destination, in fact beautiful doesn't do it justice.

Leisurely Rest Daysssss...............

2010-09-01T15:14:00.000-07:00

Day 1: Sipping coffee, sipping more coffee ......

Andrew, Christian and Andrea chilling out by the River, its a long walk from the Coffee Shop to the Campsite you know!!

Day 2: Chilling out, reading, checking email, having lunch, watching the campsite empty, feeling tired (one rest day wasn't enough but this was meant to be a climbing day), when I thought - let's go kayaking instead. Much less energy involved there... great day but even more tired now, new muscles involved.... but still fun fun fun and another beautiful way to see the valley.

I thought kayaking was a safe sport (ha ha not with Andrew)!!

Day 3: Deserted the ghost town of Le Rozier!! Sunday was a usual quiet Sunday in Le Rozier. Places / shops open late and close early. Nothing strange here. But on Monday things were clearer, the place had shut down quite literally over night. The local shop (a spar) was now only open on Saturdays. All / most of the gift shops etc were closed. The local pottery shop (:( i'd picked some pottery ) was closed until next season... it was like a ghost town.

We left.

Drove to Barcelona. Well we have a car full of gear, so parking / staying is an issue so we are staying in El Masnou a quiet (season must be over here too - strange its still high 20's) little beach town about 15KM on the train-line into Barcelona.

On the beach in El Masnou

Day 4: Barcelona in Brief - First stop had to be the Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia. What a magnificant feat of engineering, or at least one day it will be when it is finished!

Sagrada Familia (Gaudi Cathedral)

A little bit of history: It was designed by the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. The cathedral was started in 1883 and Gaudi became the official architect. Unfortunately, Gaudi died in an accident in 1926 and at this point the cathedral remained unfinished, construction ceased and did not start again in 1979, much of the current work is based on Gaudi's original plans. The cathedral is unlike anything else from European architecture. It is said to be a mix of neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau influenced as well by Cubism and Surrealism.

From there we got the metro back into Gothic quarter and wandered the small narrow streets and browsed in trinket shops. We reached the harbour and gazed in awe at the gigantic boats, both sail and motor, of what could only be the prized possessions of the rich and famous.

Barcelona Cathedral in the Gothic Quarter

On our way back through the harbour and over the city's new "Rambla Del Mar", a brand new wooden pedestrian bridge, we were surprised to see what looked like from behind a "naked" man with his friend the "almost naked" man wearing only a pair of underpants... no wait a minute that would be two "naked" men, one with a tattoo of underpants, two completely and utterly, all hanging lose for the world to see. Naked men on the bridge, having a chit chat, chin wag (or what ever the Spanish equivalent would be). What was even funnier, once we'd passed them, watching the faces of people walking in the opposite direction: the look of confusion, is that? no it couldn't be, really? to almost embarrassment, nervous laughter and averted gaze.

Rambla Del Mar (sorry not the naked men)

We ended our day with dinner in one of Barcelona central plazas.... and home to our little tent (big tent got the night off) in El Masnou.

Day 5: Swim to start the day off as all good days should start. Then the long drive east to Rodellar ready for 3 more weeks of climbing (: (: (: (: :) :) :) :)

catch up

2010-08-28T04:58:00.000-07:00

After two days of climbing, myself and Andrew are particularly tired today. We've made a plan for the next few days, climbing tomorrow, this will be our last day climbing in the Gorge, we plan on taking one of the canoe / kayak trips down the river on Monday before driving into Spain on Tuesday and down to Rodellar to meet up with Dawid (at some ungodly hour).

View from Naivre

We climbed for two days in Naivre, it has to be one of my favourite crags in the Gorge, however, there are only a few easier graded routes. The first day we did a 6a and an extremely powerful 6b+ which I managed to somehow hang on and flash. It was a route that I had down years ago, so was happy to manage to hang on. The number of days climbing at this point is taking its tool as after both routes, we were exhausted.

The next day we went back up and warmed up again on the same 6a and had our eye on a 6c. Andrew got up with only a few rests, the crux is committing and run out but the route is amazing. I had three top rope attempts. I've most of the moves worked out - but hanging on is hard. It is a route that has been in the back of mind for a long while, trying it on both previous trip to the Tarn and to date no success on it... one day you will be mine.

Unfortunately, being just two its hard to get photos of us on routes, however, Naivre just crys out for you to take photos.. with its stepped appearance, there is always a good angle. The bottom two images are of Christian working a 7a+. The top two are unknown climbers (the first on a 6b, the second on a 7b/c).

On the last rest day we went searching for a good spot to take a photo of the impressive Millau Viaduc..... I haven't found the ideal spot, but at least these photos give and indication of the size and scale of the bridge. It is amazing.

Sports Climbing Harness??

2010-08-27T03:13:00.000-07:00

So I've got a question for anyone out there reading this with an opinion on it. I want to buy a light weight sports climbing harness and trying to figure out which one to get.

The choices are

Black Diamond Aura

Petzl Hirundos

Arc'teryx S240a

There are pros and cons of each.

The current Petzl harness (Andrew's old one) that I'm using is terribly uncomfortable - the hirundos is similar shape / style so I wonder would it have the same discomfort. Pros however, it is priced very reasonably and two friend are currently using them are very happy with it (I think).
I've yet to see the Black Diamond one in a shop to try on but I love my old trad climbing one. The aura is a similar shape to my old one, but in a lighter weight material. I didn't know one existed until it was mentioned to me a week or so ago. Price wise more expensive than the Petzl.
I've only come across the mens version this in shops so far (a320) of the Arc'teryx so far and it doesn't fit quite right, legs loops are not adjustable to save weight are slightly too small for me, it fits, but for comfort I'd rather it to be a little more roomy. The waist fits fine, a bigger size and the then the waist is swimming on me. So the mens one isn't a runner. Price wise about the same as Black Diamond. Recommendations, so far 3 of my friends have them and are happy with it.

So my questions are: are they any other lightweight harness people think I should consider and has anyone experience with the black diamond aura (or men's equivalent)??

(image credits: taken from the black diamond, petzl and arc'teryx websites)

learning curve

2010-08-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

The beautiful Gorge Du Tarn...

Gorge Du Tarn from Rocher de la Muse.

No Don't Jump

It was a mileage day yesterday! We thought we'd start on what looked like a sweet little 5a. What a bad decision, it was sweet, easy in fact, though in direct sunlight all the way, to the last move when you had to scramble from a ledge over a bulge trending leftward away from the last bolt.... I can categorically say that this is not the style of climbing I enjoy. Looking down at Andrew I plead with him to let me down.... I am annoyed but I hate that kind of route. I go up it again on top rope and run up it.... without issue. Arrghhh. So we move on to lovely vertical technical routes and tick 6a+, 6a, 6a+ all in short succession. In the end it was a good day !!

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of either myself or Andrew climbing yet, will have to try and sort that out!!

Christian and Andrea climbing in sector Figuel... in Gorge du Tarn

We found the perfect campsite desert... toasted marshmallows over a camping stove... one word YUM :D

See smiley happy climbers!!

All this of course while listening to a little live music!!

A short session by the legendary Mr Andrew Speer

mixed bag...

2010-08-24T03:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's climbing was a mixed bag of fruit... it certainly pointed out some weaknesses of mine. An easy 6a with a one move wonder over a roof completely stumped me, then onto a very similar style 6b+ and completely stumped at the same point. I don't have any pull up strength, something I need to work on. However, we moved on to an unknown route, which probably felt 6a+ with a 6b crux but this was vertical and although it took two attempts, it was all about the feet and fingers and I was so much more comfortable on it - great route...

Andrew on the other hand was cruising yesterday, a slow start, a tweak in one of his fingers taking a while to warm up, but once warm hoped on a 7a+ cruised it to the chains ( so so close to the onsight and yet so far :( ) but fumbled there and ended up grabbing the chains and not taking the fall.... he made the route look so easy to that point that i questioned whether we were at the right one ( but it was ). We'll definitely be back to that, the tick has to be in the bag.

its all about routine, isn't it ?!?

2010-08-23T04:58:00.000-07:00

We're gradually formulating a routine. The sun comes up and Carole wakes, Andrew sleeps.... Carole gets up for a run, Andrew sleeps, Carole stretches, Andrew sleeps, Carole starts to read her book in the morning sunshine, Andrew stirs..... Carole reads a little more, Andrew goes to the shop, Carole and Andrew have breakfast...the day begins...the slack line goes up, the books come out - leisurely lunch and finally we go to the crag... (mind you before I get in trouble its a short run and its long before Andrew gets up :D )

Rest days of course require more resting so instead of my short run and 5 or 6 climbs we go for a 2 hour hike up into the hills, hmmm, something a miss here, however, it was a stunning walk, next time we'll bring twice as much water that was our only downfall.

This is who you walk....... carole style

Our camp has two perfectly placed trees crying out for the slack line to be used. Its like re-learning to walk, you are so thrilled when you get more than two steps... I think my max is three so its still a learning curve.


Self Portrait of Me Slack lining, set up two external flashes, one camera left behind me and one camera right in front of me, I put the camera on a trip and used the self timer. Unfortunately my remote release battery ran out that would certainly have been an easier option.


Andrea, Christian and Andrew showing me how its done!!

Even all the animals had a go......

Climbing wise small steps, Andrew onsighted his first 6b of the trip and I redpointed it. Took me three attempts over 2 days and my first lead fall, so overall it was a success. Hopefully the fall will do wonders for confidence.

sad to say goodbye, but happy for next new adventures to begin

2010-08-20T02:00:00.000-07:00

We were sad to say goodbye to Ceuse and climbing with Dave, Caroline, Neal, Naomi and Kevin. It had been a great 2 weeks, but with all good things they must come to an end for new adventures to emerge.

We have a sort of half hatched plan!! Numbers and letters in the back of our minds, but the real aim of the trip to climb and love the climb and the grades and numbers and will take care of themselves. Things are slowly coming together for both of us and we started to realise this in Orpierre on Monday. I onsighted my first 6a+ of the trip and almost onsighted a 6b (so close and yet so far). Although a little dissappointed I'm happy that I'm making progress. Whilst I was on the 6b Andrew was on the 7a next to me and although he did not get it clean, he lead it all the way to the chains and got all the moves. It is only stamina (not strength) that is letting him down.

We said goodbye to Kevin on monday night and when we all got up on tuesday morning we were 6, soon to by 4 as Neal and Naomi were busy packing their belongings as we got ready for the short (ha ha) drive to Aillefroide. Under the impression it was a mere 50 minute drive, close to 2 hours later we pull into one of the car parks in Aillefroide. Almost immediately we bumped into Howard, Brigid and Niamh. Our bouldering buddies for the day. I always love meeting people on trips but when its random or unexpected its even better. We'd a lovely afternoon amongst the boulders in the valley of Aillefroide, each of us knowing if we'd anticipated the actual length of the journey we probably would have thought twice about going. We were so glad we did - what an amazing picturesque rock filled paradise. Yes, I must go back and actually do some of the spectacular routes.

On wednesday morning before embarking on dismantling our little home and packing it into the car Andrew and I hiked up Petit Ceuse which gives way to fantastic views of Ceuse and the surrounds valleys and mountains. After a leisurely breakfast and more goodbyes we were on our way to Gorge
Du Tarn.

We thought we knew best - we looked at a map and plotted the shortest route and off we trot. 2 hours later and less than 60 miles travelled we decided maybe the satnav was right and we should have taken the motorway. What we thought was going to be a 2/3 hour drive finally took us 6 hours, but we rolled into Le Rozier to meet up with Christian and Andrea who'd kindly saved us shady number 38, the plot for our new home :D

a little of where we

2010-08-16T01:58:00.000-07:00

I'm missing my daily 20+ KM cycle however, I'm loving the active lifestyle we are living at the moment. Ceuse for those who don't know it is one of the peaks near Gap. It sits at approximately 1900 m and we're camping at 1250, so our daily walk to the crag is 750 m rise over 2.5 miles, good to get the blood moving, about 45 - 60 minutes uphill. Coming back down is fun, point the feet down and run....

A view of Ceuse from the campsite:

Looking out from the campsite towards Gap.

The impending storm.

Camp Irish

sun, shine, rock and rain ...

2010-08-15T02:14:00.000-07:00

After 7 climbing days and 3 rest days we are slowly getting into the swing of things. I'm back on-sighting 6a (3 ticks), have red-pointed a 6a+ (more nerves than anything else here, I decided to top rope it before leading it.... come on head you can do it) and starting to work a few harder routes more to remember what hard moves are like, a lovely crux-y 6c that is definitely within reach at some point. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to go back to it.

Andrew red-pointed his first 6c in style. After he flashed it on a top rope, he was not allowed away from the crag without getting on the sharp end of the rope. He then top roped a sharp boulder-y 7a, made the crux look like a 6a+ and fell on the easy finish.... with a wee bit of stamina he'll be cruising the 7a and and looking for harder stuff...

We both are lacking in confidence, but that is slowly coming back, I'm lacking strength and Andrew's lacking stamina, but both will come...

We were very thankful of our real-estate move (into our giant tent) yesterday when torrential rain hit. The thoughts of crawling into our little tadpole came with a shiver, however the rain did make for an eventful fun run down from the crag, about 2 and a half mile single track rocky, root-y mudslide off the hill, woooo heeeee, some of the more sensible people chose to walk, but not I, though I didn't come off unscathed, my bag rubbed my back raw....

Still stuck on the photo front... anyone know of a good FREE raw converter that can be used on the old powerbook G4 (not an intel based machine - so most of the latest PS edition won't run on it)??? But here's a couple I took on jpg... hopefully more to follow soon!!

resurrect the blog .....

2010-08-10T01:36:00.000-07:00

..... and keep all you good folk up to date with our travels. We've arrived safely in the south of France. We are based in the South of France at the of Ceuse. 1060 miles of driving, 2 ferries, a night catching up with Al and Aoife, a night asleep on the motorway and we finally drove up the long windy road to the campsite.

after 2 nights in our little north face tapole (2 man, minute tent), we found a great deal on some real estate and have upgraded to a very nice large 4 man tent with a stand-up-able-in front...sweet.... 3 days climbing in Orpierre as a re-introduction to rock, today we are heading up the long slog to ceuse, a bit apprehensive about what's in store for us up there. We'll be whipped, but who cares so long as we're having fun.

Photos to follow when I finally manage to get a raw converter on my laptop. one of the many things I should have sorted before we left.

June July and August

2008-08-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm, from 9-5, Monday to Friday, from Oxegen to Switzerland, from Carlow to Lahinch, not having two minutes to myself- here's a few pic's that make up June, July and August.

Main stage in Oxegen

Ben Folds at the O2 stage on Friday eve of Oxegen

Andy bouldering in Cresciano, Switzerland

Beautiful butterfly I saw on the way to Leighlinbridge along the Barrow, whilst walking with Mum

This weird foam on the beach in Lahinch this weekend, kids playing in it - it reminded me of the foam on top of a creamy Latte

Radiohead

2008-06-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

Went to see Radiohead in Malahide Castle last weekend and they were brilliant. The concert went off to a great start - with rain in the interval. But this only enhanced the day - as the sun came out as Radiohead took the stage - and a full arc rainbow framed the crowd. How fitting ??

Myself, Andy and John

Siurana / Rodellar

2008-06-12T15:19:00.000-07:00

I've just put some climbing, scenic and people shots on my flickr website.

Watching the rain in Rodellar

8 of us left Ireland on Saturday 24th May aiming to climb for 10 days in Rodellar, where we met Al and Aoife. We left blissful sunshine in Ireland and arrived to much the same in Reus. This didn't last long, not long onto the road, the rain came tumbling down and stayed that way for the next 3 days. So much so that we opted out of the seaping tufas in Rodellar in favour of the blank fast drying faces of Siurana and Margalef.

Al falling in Siurana

Sean on ?? in Alquezar

Barry on 7b+ in Margalef, Eoin belaying

Rain and Roses

2008-06-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

Much as we complain about the rain - it brings out the beauty in nature!

Dublin Dockland's at Sunset

2008-05-14T14:51:00.000-07:00

Dinasaur Jnr

2008-05-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

A week ago I'd never heard of them, last weekend I was listening to their CD and on Tuesday I ventured to their concert :) Great concert - but oh my God it was loud, my ears were still ringing when I went to bed on Wednesday night!!

Crappy camera phone photo - if only I'd brought my nikon - next time :)

Life is like a Box of Chocs

2008-05-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

What with my not so new job (anymore) and a few other new things I have been staying away from my laptop in the evenings.. but I have been attempting to keep active since Montenejos. Most of which have been divided between trips to the Burren and trips to Wicklow!!

Viv bouldering at the back of Big Jim, Glendalough

The Girls - bouldering in Doolin (photo by Andrew Speer)

Andy bouldering in Doolin

Bouldering in Doolin, Andy climbing, Beth ahem - spotting :)

Montanejos

2008-03-29T04:21:00.000-07:00

I am just back from 10 days of Spanish sports climbing. Great trip - good company, good food & good climbs - what more could a girl ask for :)

Myself, Eoin, Andy and Claire headed to Valencia to make the most of the Paddy / Easter break - 3 days holidays for 10 days climbing. Paul & Beth came out to join us mid way. Kev Moroney joined us from Toulouse and we met up with Pierre and Katya for a couple of days. As the time got closer to the trip - we turned in typical cheapo climbers. With a lot of googling, I managed to find the cheapest car rental - rental from the Denia butterfly company. On arriving in the airport, we headed off in search of the rental agency - none to be found. Back the the info sheet and we realised that it came with directions. Top story of the car park - look for parking spot 496 - there you should find a portable office. Low and behold - they were right - a caravan... deguised as an office. We picked up our little Seat Leon and headed on our merry way - naturally getting lost and circling the airport two or three times, not to mention circling other roundabout - finding ourselves on road parallel to those we actually wanted - but with no way of getting onto them.. Hmmm - yes I was driving and no I still don't know my left from my right.

Montanejos is a little village about 150 KM northwest (I think) of Valencia. The climbing is scattered around a couple of little gorges, most of which is within walking distance from the refugio where we stayed.

When we weren't climbing we were chilling,

getting wet,

playing,

eating good food,

and of course climbing :)

Surprise Surprise !!

2008-03-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Maeve's fantastic and secret organisational skills, last weekend I had a surprise birthday celebration. As I headed into town to meet a few people for a quiet dinne - boy, did I get a surprise to walk into the restaurant - to see about 13 or 14 of my friends sitting around the table. It was fantastic - thanks guys you really made my birthday special...

Learning about Filters .... the digital way :)

2008-03-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

The Original Image

Using PS filter I generated these images :) My favourite is the infraread one!!

Left: Green Filter, Center: Infrared Filter and Right: Yellow Filter

Family Reunion

2008-03-06T12:48:00.001-08:00

The weekend before last I went to Norfolk for a family reunion, my uncle's 60th birthday - it was the first time in 8 years since the entire family got together - some photos from the festivities in true McGloughlin, Cumming & Goodbody style :)

The whole clan - brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, cousins, grandparents, nieces, nephews, 1st, 2nd and 3rd generations :) The question is: who belongs to who and do we all look alike ?

The cousins and new additions

The cousins in order of height, i'm the littlest now..

The cousins in order of age

As it was in 2000, now if only I could find the one from 1995 :) See I wasn't quite the smallest then!!

Snowboarding, Les Gets

2008-02-19T15:06:00.000-08:00

Just back from a long weekend snowboarding in Les Gets. What a great little (or not so little resort). After last winter in New Zealand - I had become accustomed to short runs & minimum lifts - but what a surprise to be back in the European Alps, long long long long runs and bucket loads of lift - I was in heaven.. well not quite, it hasn't snowed in a couple of weeks and there was no powder - so were were restricted to the pistes, which was a pity - there was so much potential.

As with all good trips - small disasters must occur - sure ya need a story to tell :) Snapped binding, ripped boot, salopettes and board bag (all mine) & a pulled muscle (not mine)!!

Photo & piste map from Les Gets official website

Beauty in Dublin !?!

2008-02-12T14:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, the sun came out. I got up early to reap the benefits the day had to offer. Sunrise on Sandymount beach served as a little reminder, don't have to look very far to see the beauty in the world. You can find it anywhere, you just have to look.

Like old times ...

2008-02-10T14:06:00.000-08:00

... and so it was "the Glendo Club Trip "

Thinking about old times and getting to know the new folk - it was a night of chit chat, drunken banter and lots of laughter. I think the photos speak for themselves - have a look :)

Night Shots

2008-01-14T15:28:00.000-08:00

I do like little challenges and I was lucky enough to recieve a tripod for Christmas. So on Sunday evening, me, my tripod & camera, piled ourselves onto my bike and headed for the river to photograph the Custom's House.

What do you think?

Active Times

2008-01-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

I feel revitalised after my active weekend. I got out of Dublin briefly on both Saturday and Sunday :) Up to Ballinastoe on Saturday for some mountainbiking on the tracks and a hill run on Sunday - a couple of laps of Howth head. I am happy to say on both days I came home head to toe covered in muck :) It was great !!

Silent Things

2008-01-12T12:15:00.000-08:00

I've been hibernating a bit over the last few weeks - time to chill out. New Year's was nice and chilled a few of us for dinner and drinks at Barry's & Eoin's.

Then much to my dismay, wires were crossed and my start date with my new job got pushed forward a week and a half :( but its all good. These things happen. Unforutnately though I did have to cancel my snowboarding trip to Briancon - I figured better to make a good impression. So my new job is Performance Engineer for Sun Microsystems. Its a steep learning curve but so far so good.

Lahinch

2007-12-26T16:47:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas I headed off to visit my brother in Lahinch. Twas a glorius day and got a couple of nice shots.

Reflections on Lough Derg - just passed Ballina and Killaloe on the way to Ennis from the Limerick road. It was a random spot just off the road which grabbed my eye.

Sun setting over Lahinch - taken somewhere between Doolin and Lahinch on the back road.

Cold Damp Glendo

2007-12-20T08:54:00.000-08:00

Very few of us braved the coldness of last Sunday of Glendalough. The day was most certainly short lived. Conditions weren't bad - but the sun never came out, the skies were dull and it just felt baltic.

Christmas Cheer

2007-12-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

I'm an attempt at being festive and joining the Christmas spirit - we drank lots of mulled wine and decorated the house... well the boys did - I laughed a lot and got my camera at the ready...

Funky psycho-dellic lights now line the stairway to the rest of the house...

Susan and Simon

2007-12-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

Congratulations Sue and Simon!! and what a lovely wedding. Great to see old and new friends gathering around to celebrate their marriage. In weather that has been typical of the last few weeks - it rained pretty much the entire day but that didn't put a dampener on things.

It gave a great start to Christmas celebrations - mince pies, mulled wine, christmas trees and carol singers.

Can't Believe its December...

2007-12-07T08:12:00.000-08:00

.... and only 18 days till Christmas. My time back in Ireland seems to be flying by. I am still not sure what to make of being back home - happy, sad or indifferent. Its certainly taking some getting used to.

Presently, I am working with SFI (Science Foundation Ireland) sources potential reviewers for various research grants in the Maths/Computational field. Its certainly filling my time and paying my bills and quite interesting. It has given me a little insight into what the Foundation does and how it works. Its a really nice work atmosphere.

I couldn't believe the Irish Times on Monday when I saw this photogragh. Is this an effect of global warming or a once off? None-the-less - a wave you might expect off the coast of Hawaii - but Ireland? At least they are shark infested waters :)

Photograph: Mickey Smith
South African Duncan Scott catching a wave that was estimated to tower eight times his height off Mullaghmore, Co Sligo, on Saturday morning

Eco-Dublin?

2007-11-24T14:32:00.000-08:00

Is Dublin turning eco? Since arriving back in Dublin I've noticed the mass of new eco-taxis cycling around. I think its great.

Back in Ireland

2007-11-13T15:28:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it, I have been back in Ireland now for 3 weeks. Time has flown. Somethings have changed, some stayed the same. The M50 / Red Cow / N7 eternal mess. Crazy Dublin traffic. Lots of people braking lights. New Buildings, old friends :)

Its good to be back - I've missed friends and family - but I won't deny it - its strange and unsettling. What is the way forward from here? Nothing feels quite right but then again I don't know what is right... the eternal battle that goes on in Carole's mind.

Onto more interesting things, I managed to get out to Glendo for a days bouldering last weekend and a trip out West this weekend, for a quick surf. The surf, however, really can't be actually constituted as surf. More swimmming with board in ripples. But so what, its November, its Ireland and we're were in the sea. Smiles all round.

Julie-ann was over from the UK and well seeing as we were over on the West - we had to take here to visit Ailladie - and what a treat, a glorius sunset.

Goodbye Wanaka, Goodbye New Zealand

2007-10-25T10:42:00.001-07:00

I went to New Zealand expecting a magical place and I certainly got that. However it was not in the way I anticipated. I expected Europe (great accessible snow and sport climbing) what I got was a remoteness, small ski fields and un-travelled climbs.

With a population of about a million (roughly) on the south island, an island much the same size as Ireland, it is soon evident how sparsely populated the island is and how remote you can get. While snowboarding in Europe, if you don't actually live underneath the lift station, then you make use of the (generally) free shuttle bus to the lift, which is maybe a 20 min drive. Whereas here in New Zealand, no one lives close to the lift. Everyday, we drove the 40km trip to get to Cardrona or Treble Cone our closest two ski resorts, half of which was on an unsealed road, the edges of which were barely marked with posts, twisting and turning its way up a mountain.

Will I miss Wanaka? Yes!! Will I come back to Wanaka and New Zealand? Definitely! But my reasons for returning wouldn't be solely for climbing and snowboarding as they were on this trip. I would come for the remoteness, the sense of adventure, the scenery, the mountains not for the fresh tracks or a new grade.

48 hours

2007-10-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

5am - Up, breakfast, drive to airport
6am - Check in
7am - Fly to Auckland
820am - Arrive in Auckland Airport
9am - Bus into Auckland City
1030am - Sort out Passport with General consulate of Ireland.
12noon - Meet a friend for Lunch
330pm - Bus back to airport
5pm - Check in
7pm - Fly to LA - Grrr no proper movies, the system was very dodgy, you settle back into a film only to get about 30 seconds in and it would start skipping and blacking out, this continued throughout the film and every subsequent film on the journey, it was very frustrating and made for a very long journey.
1030am (630am nztime) - Arrive in LA
1130noon (730am nztime) - Queueing in Customs
1230pm (830am nztime) - Still in Customs
130pm (930am nztime) - Queueing at Check in
2pm (10am nztime) - Queueing at Departures
3pm (11am nztime) - Queueing at the Gate
330pm (1130 nztime) - Fly to Heathrow - and the worst turbulance I have ever experienced.
9am (9pm nztime) - Getting close to Heathrow
930am (930pm nztime) - Circling Heathrow
930am (930pm nztime) - Still Circling Heathrow
1015am (1015pm nztime) - Landed Bump, Now Run, got a flight to catch and well its Heathrow.
1045am (1045pm nztime) - Queueing at Passport Control
1050am (1050pm nztime) - at check in - too late for flight - booked on to next one.
12 noon (12 nztime) - sitting waiting for flight
1pm (1am nztime) - still waiting
140pm (140am nztime) - finally boarding
250pm (250am nztime) - touch down in Ireland
3pm (3am nztime) - why won't they let us out of the plane
310pm (310am nztime) - ah the pilot came on to let us know - that (how typical) the walkway is a metre short of the plane and they can't work out what to do
315pm (315am nztime) - finally they decide to let us off the back of the plane - the old fashioned way using a staircase :) who'd have thought???
4pm (4am nztime) met my parents at arrivals:)
6pm (6am nztime) drove in the gate to Stoneacre (home sweet home)

48 hours of travelling door to door - 49 hours since I got up in New Zealand with probably only 3 hours sleep - I tired yesterday. I some how managed to stay up till about 1030. Thinking I'd sleep right through, I settled down into bed exhausted, but to my disgust I woke at 430am not to return to sleep. GRRRR... Jet lag has set in.

My little travel companions

2007-10-25T05:42:00.001-07:00

Hedgehog and Kiwi

What a final Week !

2007-10-25T05:02:00.000-07:00

Kaikoura

Two very sleepy girls headed north from Christchurch in search o the whale watching (apparently) paradise and cray fish heaven township of Kaikoura. But after a long week in Christchurch neither of us were up to much and chilled out for the evening in the campsite. The next day we went for a very pleasant walk along the peninsula, the rain only threatenly a number of times. But eventually we succumbed to getting wet and the sun came out. What luck?

Renwick Wine Tasting

From Kaikoura, we headed north again to Bleinheim in search on vine yards and great wines. We drove through the town of Bleimheim and were bitterly disappointed at the clinically manicured streets. The town had no character. We continued. In the guidebook, we noted a little campsite/hostel about 10 km away in a the town of Renwick, we'd try there. It was fantastic. Watson's Way was run by an elderly couple. It had charming surrounds set beneath the orange and lemon trees.
They even provided breakfast for the guests. Freshly made jams and perserves, what more could one ask for. The rented bikes, so we teamed up with another irish girl (Ciara) and her canadian friend (Kyra) and cycled around the vineyards sampling some of Marlboroughs finest wines, champagnes and spirits.

We landed our our feet in the last vineyards as one of the wine makers was there and a little bored. So after tasting 5 or 6 of his wines, he decided to bring us on a tour - for the next hour we wandered through the wine making rooms, sampling from the barrels. It was a great treat. After the tour we helped him finish off the remaining opened bottles of wine and as a parting gift he let us chose a bottle of wine to bring home. Naturally one of the best bottles (second best actually- the best was limited edition and well he wasn't going to give us that) of wine was in our minds the tastiest and so that was ours to keep. What an end to a fun filled day.

Paynes Ford

From Renick we headed north again, along the coast road to Picton, through Marlborough sounds, which was spectacular. We had beautiful homemade icecream in Picton. We drove through Nelson to Moteuka (what appeared to be a fantastically neon town) and on to Takaka where we pitched camp in Hang Dog for the next few days. Our aim was to walk and climb for the next few days. So up early the next morning (not really) and ready for a few nice easy climbs. Then the rain came, so into the Abel Tasman for some walking. We found a lovely walk along the coast.
Up bright and early again the next morning, ready to attack the world - when I decided to look for my passport. I hadn't seen in it a few days. Searched the car, no where to be found. Ooo oh. I rang the campsite Watsons Way and all the places i could think of between there and here. No one had seen it. Not good.

I went into the police station to report it missing and they kindly put me in touch with the irish consulate. Who said unless I can get to Auckland by 5om this evening, there was no was I was flying on Monday. Not good. More ringing and double checking. Took the car apart. Definitely not there. This is not good. Rang qantas to find out could they change my flights. The girl was great and sorted it out for me.. but laughed and yup you can't fly on Monday.

Murchism
Since there wasn't anything more I could do about passport. We drove down to Murchism to see Patrick before I left. He was down for the long weekend with a gang of paddlers. We chilled out, went for coffee and generally relaxed as they paddled and then drove to Silvia Flats to chill out (some more) in the natural hot springs with a case of wine. What a way to end a trip !

Henryetta the Hedgehog

2007-10-13T02:26:00.000-07:00

Poor little baby Henryetta was found lost in the garden. He was very tame but confused. Not phased in the slightest by my taking photographs...

Reflections in a Puddle

2007-10-13T02:09:00.000-07:00

You don't need grand lakes to get a nice reflections.. I found this small puddle.. and it turned out quite nice.

Daffodils in October

2007-10-13T02:01:00.000-07:00

It just doesn't seem right - but still beautiful.

Night Shift

2007-10-13T01:44:00.000-07:00

I worked (as far as I can remember) my first ever night shift last night. I am a zombie today. Three 12 hours days, two 8 hour days, a night shift, and one 3 hour day all in aid of the local election. All I can say is - what a week...

Work Work Work

2007-10-08T03:24:00.000-07:00

Up in Christchurch this week, working with local elections. Data entry, scanning, etc is the order of the day. It funny been back in front of a computer. I'd forgotten how tiring it is. It was a 12 hour day.

Bumper Stickers

2007-10-08T03:22:00.001-07:00

Heading West In a Nutshell, Rain, Rain, Rain, and guess what more Rain...

2007-10-08T02:53:00.000-07:00

Myself, Orla and Ruby (our car) accompanied by Mike and Bubbles (Mike's campervan) left Wanaka for a our little road trip out West and up to Coast. First stop was Makarora were we camped for the night in Cameron Flats. We did all the touristy things, Blue Pools, Haast Pass View Point, Davis Flat walk, Fantail Falls, Thunder Falls, Pleasant Flat, Roaring Billy, Neils Beach & Jacksons Bay. Ruby even bumped into Bubbles. Apparently the handbrake is a tad loose. When we came back from one of the walks we found her nicely nestled into the back of bubbles. Thanks goodness it was Mikes van and no one elses :) Jacksons Bay and Neil's beach was interesting to say the least. We decided to drive to the beach to see if it might be a nice camp spot and what a fridge we got. Its white bait season and what looked to be a trailer park of redneck white bait fishermen had taken up camp just before the beach - scary sight. They even had a scare crow - although I think it was ment to be a scare human not a scare crow. Quick turn around, foot to the floor and we were outta there.

On Tuesday we awoke to pouring rain, not just drizzel anymore. Properly raining. We drove to Haast and then on Moeraki Lake, where we hid out in the van. When eventually the rain seemed to brake we walked to Monro beach. Unfortunately, the rain didn't break and we got soaked. We searched for Penguins, none to be found. Just rain, lots of rain.

The forecast was sunshine on Wednesday so we headed to Fox Glacier and trekked around that for the morning, Lake Matterson in the afternoon, and finally down to Gillespie's beach for a glorious sunset and a great campsite. Guess what, I was awoken plenty of times during the night the sound of ... you guess it ... pouring rain.

Thursday was a bit of a wash out quite literally. It rained from morning to night - and rain like I haven't seen in a long time. It rained heavy, then lightened then got worse and worse and worse and then the wind picked up, then we had debris. Then we had to cross those one way bridges, the very special bridges that are not only one way but also have trains using the same one way bridge. Let me tell they are scary. But add gale for winds and then you are in for some interesting times.
We spent the night in Noah's Ark backpackers... we felt we needed to be in doors and away from the rain for just one night. On Friday it cleared into only occasional showers to we headed for a 11 KM walk along the sea front on the out skirts of Greymouth, from there we drove to Reefton, and did a lovely hike from their on Saturday morning (he he in the drizzel :) the sun did pop its head out for the second half of the walk, making it really spectacular. We drove to Mururia Springs to try out the natural (though commercial) springs. Very relaxing. It cleared into a lovely evening. We built a camp fire, baked potatoes over it & toasted marshmallows. An hour after going to bed, the skies opened and it poured all night long and into the morning. We packed up and headed to Christchurch... once we got over the Lewis passed it cleared.

Despite rain, we had a great week. I think the rain only enhanced the fun. Ooooo, arghhhh!! and everything was very pretty and green :)

Packing life into boxes

2007-09-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

Its that time of year again. I move out of Wanaka tomorrow. The season has ended, the snow on the way out. Spring is here, the flowers are blossoming. It is time to pack the car and get on the road again - where will the dusty road lead... first stop Haast.

Feeding the Ducks.

2007-09-25T15:29:00.000-07:00

The ducks swarm as you near the lake - in anticipation of break. Whilst sitting there watching the hundreds of ducks, two guys came down close to us with a whole sliced pan. They kindly gave us a couple of slices. It was a ducks Christmas.

Spring Boarding

2007-09-24T22:41:00.000-07:00

so to speak...

Crunch in the morning, slush in the evening. The snow is rapidly melting. But to our pleasant surprise we got a sprinkling of snow a couple of days ago. What a treat that was. The ski resorts were ever so happy. As the much of the brown coloured slopes were once again turned to a snowy white (funnily enough).

Day in TC !!

2007-09-19T22:02:00.000-07:00

I think I have had my last day in Treble Cone today. Maybe, I will squeeze one in next week. What a great day!! Loads of hiking to find some fresh lines and soft snow. It was great.

My time in Wanaka is rapidly coming to an end - 6 more working days left. Then it is on the road again, at least for a while. I wonder what I will get up to :)

Photos

2007-09-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

I've put up a bunch of photos up on my flickr website from the last couple of weeks/months in New Zealand.

Back to Work

2007-09-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

Back to work in Cardrona and I am down to my last 6 days of work. YAY :) The season is definitely on the way out. Snow is melting before our eyes. Punters are NOT arriving in droves anymore. The slopes are quiet. Its spring skiing - chunky crunchy slopes in the morning - slush in the evening. Boarding in tshirts.... time to have some fun :)

Carrot Juice is Murder

2007-09-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Just listen to it - its hilarious. Thanks Daire, I got a giggle from it.

Carrot Juice is Murder

Week in Christchurch

2007-09-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

So, I spent a week in Christchurch, completely unexpected, except for the circumstances, it was nice being in a city again and some where different. I spent the last 3 days catching up with Patrick Davey. It was great to finally spend some time with him. Had a few lovely evenings. Christchurch is in bloom at the moment. Its springtime and it certainly shows. Weeping willows line the quaint little river (however I've told that they are not actually weeping or willows, but they do look like them and I can't remember the correct name). Even the gorse is in bloom. It certainly is a pretty array of colours. I wandered around Christchurch in a bit of a daze. I couldn't understand how I was meant to go back to Wanaka and snowboard when I was wearing shorts and a tshirt. It just seemed wrong.

Funny Signposts

2007-09-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

They love their quirky signposts :)

Ok, so this one isn't terribly funny at first - but then I had to stop to take the photo :)

Cardrona Games

2007-09-14T01:40:00.000-07:00

Last week, the ski resort have been hosting the Cardrona Games. Competitions involving all types of skiing and boarding were held everyday, but by far the most eventful was the Skidoo and the motorbike jumping. It was amazing.

Sean's Little Accident

2007-09-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

I won't go into details as it is not my place. But just to let people at home know - Sean had a snowboarding accident on Friday. He smacked his head against a rock quite hard. Somehow he managed to snowboard down to ski patrol where he was given immediate first aid. They then sent him to Twizel for a check up, who sent him to Timaru for a CT scan, which showed a crack in his skull. They helicoptored him up to Christchurch where he was operated on on Saturday morning. Myself and Orla played a bit of a cat and mouse game trying to catch up with him, and finally found in the emergency room in Christchurch. The operation was successful and he is now the proud owner of 10 pieces of titanium in his head and a very fetching haircut.

On behalf of Sean, we like to thank ski patrol in Ohau and all the doctors and nurses in Twizel, Timaru and Christchurch, helicoptors and ambulances, who have taken wonderful care of him. He was given immediate and precautionary care and very quickly figured out the extent of his injury. Considering his family were on the other side of the world, they were very forthcoming with myself and Orla.

First Powder Day :)

2007-09-03T22:38:00.000-07:00

As we sat on the bus this morning in the rain listening to the radio, we hoped of good things at the mountain. It had rained down low all night long and was still raining. Cardrona was on hold. The staff vans were not moving. What will the mountain look like? Will the wild predictions be right - or will we have another 2cm of fresh powder.

After about half an hour we were on the way up the hill, smiles came across all faces, when we realised it had snowed down quite low. Walking out to the lift I was almost knee deep in powder. Now, I am not that tall but none the less there was about 20cm at least of powder at the base. We were in for a fun day. Lots of digging of ramps and shovelling of snow, raking, flipping chairs, sweeping magic carpets - we finally had the beginners slopes open. Time to get the other lifts open. Scottie skidooed me up to my station - the top of captains. All was not plain sailing though. Not sure how it happening - but one minute we're cruising along Sean's way. The next minute we're lying in the snow. The skidoo beside us on its side in the snow. No one was hurt - so we had a laugh - pushed it right again. The it was onwards and upwards to Captains.

I had a fairly cruisy day up there, the mountain was not at all packed - and we got lots of powder runs in at lunch.

My Goggles :(

2007-09-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

Let me remember for a just one second :( Its so sad - this is what my goggles used to look like - weren't they pretty.

I rode in a Heli bopper

2007-09-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

I will translate. A friend of ours, Sacha, works for a heli-copter repair company. He promised us, that when one comes in for repair he would get us a ride in it to Queenstown. That happened on Thursday. Let me tell it was amazing. Myself and Orla were a bunch of giggling girls. In true style, we laughed, squealed and giggled all the way to Queenstown. The sensation of hovering is odd. One minute we were staying in the hanger getting a pret talk on heli-coptor saftey, then next we are ducking under the propellors and boarding the craft. Safety belts locked, headset on and we were hovering above Wanaka airport. We flew out of Wanaka, through the crown range, over the Cardrona Saddle, into Arrowtown and down into Queenstown airport. It was amazing.

Back in Queenstown that evening, I met up with Glynn and Patrick for a couple of drinks. It was great to see them and catch up with them. Even though they are both living in different parts of New Zealand, I haven't managed to spend alot of time with them which is a shame. But it was great to see them. We met up again for a little while boarding in Cardrona the next day.

After a rather miserable day yesterday, myself and Orla headed up to TC today. It was a glorious day. Sun shining, blue skies and powder. Ok lets not get carried away, it was only pretend powder. At least it was one of the better days here.

My enthuasiasm is fading..

2007-09-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

Overcast, icy, slush and then more ice. No sun and yet no snow. Today my enthusiasm faded. Snowboarding across chunks of ice down towards the icy base of white star, I thought to myself, oh my god - this is going to be a long day and so it was. My two ride breaks were short lived and lunch was spent in the staff room and not ripping it up on the hill. My heart just wasn't in it today. However, a text from Patrick and Glynn soon cheered me up when I realised that one was here and the other on route. I can't wait to spend some of the weekend boarding with them and catching up on old times.

The joys of 630 :)

2007-08-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, so its a pain to get up at 630 in the morning for work, but when you get views and sunrises like this - it certainly makes things a whole lot nicer.

Woheeee - look at me!!

2007-08-26T15:44:00.001-07:00

See what happens when you drop your goggles down the stairs!!

2007-08-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

What a week?

2007-08-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

Two days on the bottom of Captains, one day at the bottom of Mc Dougals and a day at the bottom of Captains. Four 630 morning starts and four 530 evening finishes - by the end of the week I was shattered. Today myself and Orla spent the afternoon hanging out with Neal, Chris, Sean and Julie-ann at the Albert town lodge. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shinning - a gentle breeze. We spent the afternoon sitting on bean bags, reading, doddling, kicking a football, a rugby ball, a frisbee... it was a summers day. Hard to believe. The weather this week has been amazing. I was working in a t-shirt yesterday.

Met up with James and Michael yesterday. They came up to Cardrona for the day and found me on my lift station. It was great to see them. However, it was a bit surreal - meeting on a ski slope half across the work. The amount of irish climbers I have met on this trip is rather outrageous. Is there anyone at home?

Sunset at the Lake

2007-08-23T23:46:00.001-07:00

After a great day in Treble Cone we spent a while at the Glendhu boulders taking in the wonderful light as the sunset over Lake Wanaka.

People are strange!!

2007-08-23T23:37:00.001-07:00

Touch wood - I have never had a major issue with chair lift. Move forward, look behind you for moving object, bend at the knees, and sit. But you'd swear it was rocket science. I have no idea how people can make such a mess of it - but they do. Working on the lifts has certainly been an eye opener. 5 and 6 people trying to sit on a 4 person lift. The gates only allow for 4 and yet more pile through. It mostly occurs when the lift has slowed for some reason or another and that gives the extra one or two enough time to get out and cause havoc. Parents not making sure their kid is on the lift and a second later its dangling by the arms. Snowboarders turning their boards so they are no longer straight. People not looking and cutting the person beside them off so they can not sit down. People deciding to go and then changing their mind mid flight, stopping in line with lift. The list is endless and mind boggling - and basically results in the injured party getting whacked by the chair.

What a day?

2007-08-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

Some days things just don't go according to plan:

Found my goggles in a bucket of engine oil.
Broke the aerial of the side of my phone.

What's worse, a friend of mine fell skiing and ruptured ligaments in her knee. Not good at all....

Looking for camera tips ...

2007-08-23T23:31:00.000-07:00

I came across an article while searching for camera tips. I guess it was written 5+ years ago. I got a giggle from this paragraph .......

"Digital doesn't offer much for the climbing photographer. Good digital bodies are still extremely expensive as of 2002, they fear rain, they are heavier, they suck a huge amount of battery, image storage is expensive (a slide film holds 37 images for 4$, how many on a 100$ memory stick ?), you can't read their tiny screens in the sun, quality is is not up to a good lens with a 100 iso film, the trigger delay is annoying, but most important they do not have wide angle lenses available (that's a problem due to the smaller surface area of the CCDs that won't be solved cheaply)... A whole bunch of reasons why I stick to film and use a slide scanner at home; this way I get 20 MegaPixels for much less than $1000. And I can still use a disposable camera and make great scans off of it if I need to"