Grampians

We're just back to civilisation from the Grampians National Park. The closest town is Horsham which is about a hour drive away. 70km on a paved road plus 10km on a really bad dirtroad. On the campground where all the climbers stay there are restrooms, a rainwatertank and fireplaces, but that's it. You can't grab a shower, you won't find drinkable water and there's no chance to get rid of your rubbish without driving back to Horsham.

Katinka in "Cold Hands, Cold Hearth", V7 - The Cave of Man Hand

On the campground we met other climbers (partly friends known from previous trips, partly new made friends) and since there is not really a guidebook pubished yet, it was a good chance to get a tour through the areas. The bouldering in the southern Grampians Nationalpark is still in development. While some good looking lines have been cleaned and climbed there's plenty a chance to find a new line noone has ever looked at, or even tried to climb yet.

The red marked area is closed due to bushfires in january.
We are at Buandik (bottom left) Campground now

Since the weather was not really good we did quiet some walking to get acquainted the the area. It was mostly either really humid, or slightly drizzling or sweltering and windless. But we got to climb a little anyways. I could almost Flash "The Sound of One Man Hand Clapping" in the Cave of Man Hands Area. Apparently graded as a V11 i decided to call it a V8 after climbing it in ease in my second attempt. Also I could do a first ascent of a new steep and slopy line, nothing for small people, as the only feetholds are far away from the handholds. I called it "Northern Fire", since this is the reason why we are climbing in the south and not in the established and famous north of Grampians Nationalpark.

"Northern Fire", V10?! - Buandik

 read back soon,
www.chalkonrock.com

Blue Mountains, Sydney and Canberra

We finished our time in the Blue Mountains with some nice last climbs up to 27. I was able to Flash "Wrong Movement", 27 while Jochen had big success on his longterm project "Alpa Leather", 32. He had tried it a lot on his last trip to the Blue Mountains about seven years ago, and now it took him another 4 days to complete. This day ended with a delicious dinner at the Blackheath Tai Restaurant.

Jochen in "Alpha Leather", 32 - Blue Mountains

After those last days we went back to Sydney to check out the southern bouldering areas around Sutherland. We wanted to see The Wing Cave and The Villas and we wanted to meet up with our friends Manu and Marie from Germany. Both happened and Katinka was able to climb "Weak Ape Test Zone", V7 the only boulder she had seen on a photo before and she really wanted to climb. Great job! We had a fun day out there with James and even though it was really hot, i could climb most the boulders up to V8 in both areas.

James in "Weak Ape Test Zone", V7 - The Wing Cave, Sydney

Then it was time to hit the road. We went to Wollongong, where Manu and Marie had spent their first week in Australia. A nice little town just next to the ocean. We went to a junk yard where we found another pair of roof racks which makes it way faster and safer to store our crashpads on the vans roof for longer drives. We spent a few days driving down the coast in slow motion. Dinner at the beach, breakfast at the beach. We saw Kangaroos and Dolphins and enjoyed the salty water.

Dolphins

Around Canberra we stopped for a day to climb at the Black Range Bouldering Area. It's nice granit and you have to drive 10km on a rough dirt road to get to the area. Now we are on our way towards the Grampian Nationalpark. A big bush fire happened here in January, so most of the northern Grampians are shut down. Nobody is allowed to walk in there or even climb...

Axel in a nameless V9 - Black Range Bouldering, Canberra

So now it's time to grab a brush and help developing the southern areas, which are way younger and less developed then the world famous northern Grampians with Taipan Wall and Hollow Mountain Cave.

read back in a few days.
www.chalkonrock.com

Sydney

The trip to Sydney was awesome! We had a beautiful and cool climbing day in The Balkans, one of Sydney's bigger and older Bouldering Areas. We met up with our friends Steve, Joe and their daugther Tara, which we had met a few weeks ago in the Blue Mountains.

I had visited this area 5 years ago, but only did one climb: "Sloper-Dan Milosevic", V5 since it was a 33ºC day with 95% humidity and the rock is facing the sun .. not the best crag for a warm summerday. This time it was different, we got to climb a lot and I could get a quick ascent of "L'homme Obu", V11 the hardest climb in the area. Katinka and Miriam spent some time on "Paratroopin", V8 - finally sending it, while Joe was getting really close.

"L'homme Obu", V11 - The Balkans, Sydney

We spent the evening together with our friends, enjoying some showers, homemade Spätzle and wine. We arrange a meetup with another old friend, James Alexander, for the next day. Sydney has a lot to offer for bouldering, as it has a huge amount of little bouldering areas spread over the whole city. No matter where you live, it's never more then 15min drive to the next boulders!

Katinka in "Paratroopin", V8

James took us to "Crumply", a dirty cave that Finja enjoyed a lot! Katinka decided to take a restday to save some skin and power while I could snap some quick ascents of "Sushi Train", V8 and "Chaos and Disorder", V10. Before we hiked to the cave, we realized we spit 3 liters of orange juice on our van's matress. What a mess ... we decided to take care of it after the climbing day, not psyched to waste any of the remaining day light.

In the night we cleaned everything as good as possible, but it was an uncomfortable night with lots of orange smell in the car. The next morning we drove straight to James parents, to start the laundry mission. It took 3 overloaded laundry circles to get everything clean again and 30h of drying time.

We went to another bouldering spot next to James house, the Black Cave. Jochen could manage an ascent of "Plunge", V10 tried to send "Deep Blue Sea", V12 while Katinka did a nameless V6.

The Instructor (James) and his students (Jochen and Katinka) at the Black Cave

Now after some days in the City we are back to the Blue Mountains where we had left some gear at the cliff as we left in the cold and nasty weather. Time to finish some last climbs before heading down south to the Grampians next week!

www.chalkonrock.com

Blue Mountains

A few days ago Jochen, Miri and Paula arrived in Blackheath. Hey had flewn into Sydney on April 24th and spend a couple days in Sydney in search for a van as well. After final success they are proud owners of a Kia Pregio, 2004, 270000km with was a little cheaper then ours but in need for a garage repair as well. It also has a nice camping setup and is a little longer than ours. But our car has the better electical setup with LEDs, sparebattery and the solarpanel. :)

Jochen and Miriam next to our vans.

 It is running great now, after the broken Gas Converter beeing replaced last week and Jochen Van has an appointment in our garage for next week. They need to replace some clutch or transmission cylinder. Besides that their car seems to run great as well!

It's a nice situation for Paula and Finja, as they then play together. They are really good in making chaos everywhere, as there most favorite hobby is to work through the kitchen and remove every pan and every pack of cereals to another, random place. While rockclimbing they sometimes are distracted by each other, so all four of us can climb at the same time, while is a big improvement. But usually it's one person climbing, one person belaying, one person babysitting and one person doing nothing or taking pictures.

Welcome Party

 Katinka managed to tick one of her projects as she sent "Tricks Roughly", 26 a few days ago. I myselfe climbed up all the way to the last move of "August 1914", 29 three times now, but couldn't finish it. I always get pulled down by gravity and my cold and numb fingertips, so i stopped trying it now. Better climb more and easier things at first and then return in better shape and send the project with a free mind but later.

Axel in "August 1914", 29 - Centenial Glen, Main Wall

Jochen is complaining about loosing all his strength while eating to much and moving to less on their Newzealand Roadtrip. But he is regaining strength fast and making good progress in his old project "Alpha Leather", 32 which he couldn't finish on his last trip to the Blue Mountains seven years ago.

Now we are looking forward for some cold next days. If it will be to cold, we might just leave the mountains and head back to Sydney. The weather there is usually 8-10ºC warmer. But as you want cold conditions for bouldering this might indicate to warm conditions for this type of climbing again ...

Jochen in "Ruddy Norry", 22 - Centenial Glen, Main Wall

But we'll see. We might just give it a try, do some Sightseeing and meet up with our german friends Manu and Marie. They are flying in on Monday, they are going to buy an other van and they are going to join our trip though Australia!

www.chalkonrock.com