Birthday Party

Shortly after our last post we had to celebrate a double birthday party. Paula and Finja both turned 1 year old on friday, 11th July. It was a rainy day, so we spent quite some time in a nice cafe together with Manu and Marie. The two little ones got surprised by some boxed and colorful presents they had to unwrap.

Birthday Gift unwrapping

The cutting board and fruits

Paula got a ball to play with, a monkey dolly and a bird mobile. And Finja got a nice set of a cutting board and several wooden fruits while all fruits are separable in the middle by a velcro. Using a knife to seperate them in a pretty realistic manner means heap of fun! Thanks so much for this present Jochen and Miriam! She also got a dolly by Manu and Marie, one beeing called Wolly the Wombat which scared her in the beginning and now she loves it.

After some delicious pastries and cappuccini we did a quick internet session to communicate via Skype with our friends and family before we went to an awesome pizza place with two burning fireplaces and pizzas as good as you can imagine. What a nice day!

"Simplicity", V12

Climbing wise we had a lot of rainy days, but also dry days inbetween. Jochen did the second ascent of my "Simplicity" which is still awaiting it's full sitstart ascent by me. It is hard but eventually it will happen! Instead of this one I managed to climb the "Roobiks Cube", V12, but with the original, plastical and complex Roobiks Cube I'm still stuck trying to solve the last two corners of the last surface.

"Roobiks Cube", V12

Katinka and Miriam both climbed "Brian's", V6 and "The Ramp", V7 before Jochen, Miriam and Paula ended there Grampians time. They took the Great Ocean Road towards Melbourne where they still are, trying to sell their campervan. In a couple of days they will be back home in Germany. Good luck with the van sale mission!

Katinka in "I'm a Koala", V5

In the meanwhile my parents have decided to spent this years summerholiday in Australia rather then driving to Italy or other European countries. They will arrive in Melbourne in about three weeks, meet up with us to visit the Grampians and together we will drive north towards Sydney, where we want to spent some more time bouldering in the city and routeclimbing in the Blue Mountains.

Simplicity is born

The past week was full of rain. After one day in Buandik where I tried my steep project together with my brother Jochen I found a good solution for how to do the single moves. I've solved the puzzle of the rock and only need to link all the moves together another day.

Then we drove back towards the Campground Boulders where Jochen had his big project (see last post). After falling twice at the top moves (scary fall, but he didn't die ;)) the send it! In the Guidebook it is called the Scorpion King Project, but asking Google, we learned the First Ascent happened 12 years ago. Now it's the "Scorpion King", V13. Hard, scary and beautiful!

After a few days of bad conditions and rainshowers every now and then we had a really windy day yesterday. We were not quite sure if it's worth driving all the way from Horsham to Buandik (80km) or if it would be a better idea to climb in the Arapiles (30km) for an easy day of climbing classics. But we decided to give it a try and it payed of!

A double Kangaroo in Halls Gap, Grampians

After warming up, Katinka could climb "Hillary Step", V9 in her first Attempt of the day and so we continued to my project. It was absolutely dry and stunning conditions. The pads were about to fly away due to the strong wind, but fixed with heavy stones on the crashpads corners they stayed were they were supposed to stay. I warmed up and worked the moves again and again before starting to link them. Finally I fell twice at the last move, a dyno to a big jug where your feet swing out, before I did it.

Katinka in "Hillary Step", V9 - Buandik, Grampians

"Simplicity" i named it, but business is not over yet. I still have to return and try to climb the sitstart, as I started on the last move of the old V7 version, which makes it a obvious standstart. After beeing really tired I postphoned this mission to another day and tried "Roobik's Cube", V12 again. I managed to do the hardest move as a singlemove and almost sticked the move starting in the middle of the boulder.

Katinka on the last move of "Simplicity", V7 - the extended version might be V12

I think both boulders feel about same hard, but for a correct grading I have to wait for repetitors of "Simplicity" and for the full line to be completed. Due to the strong wind we had to postphone the photosession. It was impossible to leave Finja on the ground without watching her, since there was a lot of sand flying into her eyes. Hopefully next time up there, it's a bit more comfortable. ;)

Now it's only two days until Finja is one year old!

www.chalkonrock.com

Back to Australia

Last week we rearrived in Australia. Our little holiday ended with an exhausing overnight flight back to Melbourne, where the immigration officers took a real close look at us. They pulled us out of the line and asked, why we would return to austalia after an such short absence of only nine days. We had to proof the purchase of our ticket back to germany and they wanted to see our bank account.
Luckily they were happy with what we could show and let us in.

 After just 30km of driving we pulled over at a gas station and stopped for an two hours nap. We were so tired of the journey and couldn't make it any further. After that stop it went better and we finaly arrived at Buandik Campground just in time for dinner. We reunited with my brothers family and went up the hill again in the morning to see what boulders Jochen and Miriam had found in the past days.

Northern Grampians

My own project was still soaking wet, so we climbed other lines and the little girls where pretty psyched to plac again together in the mud. The day before it had rained a lot, so the conditions were not as good as you want them. But for bad luck it was the best day for a while ... The weather turned into really bad. Lots of wind, freezing cold and heavy showers at the same time. We jumped back into the van and drove north. We found a few problems in the northern grampians, that were accessible, even though most of the areas are still closed due to the bushfires.

Generally the weather is way drier up there. For every 10km you drive south, there is 25mm more rainfall per year in average. We got to climb a little the next few days. I repeated problems I had already climbed five years ago and Katinka managed to climb "Happy Camper", V7.

Jochen found a problem in his style, marked as a Project in the guidebook and really hard. After grabing a one finger pocket and pulling really hard on it the line tops out through a better-don't-fall zone. Scary and hard!

He almost did it, but destroyed the rubber on his shoes, which made him slip off. Next time might be sending time!

www.chalkonrock.com

Bali 2

The next four days in Bali did not pass in a boring way. Weather was stable as expected, but now we have had enough heat for a while, and motivation is high to return to australia, where the weather is more comfortable.

Looking for handmade scarfes.

We hired a taxi for one day and got to see more remote parts of the island. As a highlight our driver Ketut showed us a nice waving factory, where they produce carpets, scarves and other beautiful things by hand.

Coffee Plantation

After that he showed us a cocoa and coffee plantation, where we tasted the world famous Luwak Coffee. To produce this coffee, they select the very best coffee beans, feed them to an animal called Luwak and after he has turned them into poop, they will be cleaned again and are ready to be sold.

We visited several different evening markets and tried local dinner specialities. The absolut highlight was called Martabak. A big wrap filled with egg, chicken and spices. Even Finja enjoyed eating it and afterwards she was very happy to find herselfe sitting on her very first carousell (human powered, not electrical!)

Human powered carousell.

Bali

When we first booked our flights we decided to stay in Australia for 5,5 months. To be allowed for so long we had two choices: Either apply for a 12 extended month tourist visa, or leave the country after 3 months. Since the extended visa would have cost us 100 Euro each, we decided to spent this money on a flight instead. By booking a flight to Bali for a 9 days holiday we split our Australia time into two parts: 2 months Australia, 9 days Bali (Indonesia) and another 3 months Australia. After that our trip would end in September 19th.

View out of the living room

The last few days in Australia we spent bouldering in Arapiles Mountains (30km west of Horsham). Katinka proofed her ability to climb hard as she climbed a problem called "Crankshaft Right", V8. Since her pregnancy it's her hardest climb, which means she is in the very best way back to or even past her old shape!


We did the 300km drive to Melbourne where we did a little bit of seightseeing. Early in the morning, last friday we went to the airport. After a 6 hour flight we arrived in Denpasar where Ketut was already waiting for us. He had been sent by Katinka's friends Elke and Werner who are renting their villa to us for our time here. The bali climate is quiet different to the Australian winter climate. Temperatures are always around 30ºC and humitidy is pretty high as well. For other travellers interested, check out www.two-smiling-buddhas.com, the website of our friends place. The villas are well designed and come with a huge saltwaterpool for nice refreshment. It's a big difference living in such an apartment, then living in our Australian campervan 70km away from civilisation.

Manu and Marie did join our little trip to Bali. Last week they decided to book a last minute flight from Adelaide, which makes it even more fun to explore the Island, culture and food with our two Scooters.

Day 1:
We went to a basar in Amlapura. Marie and Katinka successfully searched for airy pants to defy heat, while Axel was running from one food booth to the next one, trying all different specialities: Nasi Goreng, Tebs, ...
In the evening we had a little walk in Ujung Water Palace.

balinese food

Day 2:
For breakfast we eat a great mix of fruit and yogurt.
Afterwards we start to explore the island. We want to see Padangbai, a harbour village about 20km away. While trying to navigate around we get lost and suddenly we have a flat back tire. Non of the balinese people understands any english, but by the help of hands and feet we managed to find a garage and for the price of 50.000 Ruphiah (~3 Euros) we got a new tube build in.
Back on the Scooters, we continued up the mountains until we found back on our planned path, next to the coast. Since it was already getting late, we eat some delicious lunch in Candidasa and returned to our villa with the last light of the day.

Ujung Water Palace

Day 3:
A Poolsession in the morning, afterwards fruity breakfast (Ananas, Orange, Mango, Papaya, Dragonfruit, Melon, Lemon, etc.). Finja takes a nap in the shade next to the pool.
In the afternoon we visit Tirtagangga's famous Water Palace with loads of fish and tourists.

Fixing our flat

Day 4:
For snorkling we drive 40km with our Scooters to Amed. Because i did the mistake to stop at a red light instead of following all the balinese people driving past the red light we get checked by the police. I drove 1m past the stopping line, so there was no way around some bribe money... 100.000 Ruphiah or 6 Euros later we are back on the road.

Breakfast (or Breakfeast?)

In Amed we went straight for a delicious fruit shake before we explored the coral riffs next to the beach. It was like a huge aquarium with many colorful fish.
Afterwards we have some lunch in a restaurant nearby before we take the costal route back to our villa (another 40km on very small roads).

One of many rice terraces

Now we have another 4 days, before flying back to Melbourne where our van is parked on the Airports Long Term Value Parkinglot. After to much heat we feel the psyche for touching rock again!

For more pictures check out our main blog: www.chalkonrock.com/bali

Rock climbing glossary

Every now and then I get asked, what is a V12? What is a "roof" and what are Crashpads?
To satisfy your thirst for knowledge I'll explain some of the climbing vocabulary in this post.

Bouldering:
Bouldering is a type of rock climbing where you do not use a rope. The climbing will usually happen in low heights (+/- 4meters bloc height).

Ascent, Flash and OnSight:
If you climb a boulderproblem without someone else pushing you, without touching (dabbing) the Crashpad or anything else besides the rock you did "send" it. The goal of bouldering is to figure out how to climb a problem and then work on it until you send it. :)

If sending a route or boulderproblem in your very first attempt (First Go) it increases our archivement. If someone told you what to do and helped you by shouting "around the corner, there is a hold you did not see!" or something similary the send is called a Flash. If, in the meanwhile, no one helped you, and you did not ever watch anybody climbing on it, it would have been an OnSight.

The very first person sending a boulderproblem gets it's First Ascent. Usully the First Ascentionist has invested more time then successive Repetitors, because he had to find a solution for the boulderproblem without knowing if it will even be possible. The First Ascentionist is the one who is allowed to name a boulderproblem and suggesting a Grade for it. Repetitors will add their input until the grade has setteled.

Crashpad:
A Crashpad is a bigger piece of foam, surrounded by a robust fabric and designed as an oversize backpack. On this trip we carry around two Evolv Maverick Crashpads (5kg each) plus two little Wingman Crashpads (1,5kg each). After carrying the Crashpads into an bouldering area, they are placed below the boulderproblem you are trying to climb and will save your back and your ancles when gravity is stronger then you.

Evolv Maverick and Evolv Wingman

Grading Systems:
If talking about boulderproblems you tried or you succeded to climb, there exist different grading systems. The most common one is the french grading system, which was invented in Fontainebleau (fb), France long ago. It uses a mix of numbers and letters as ..., fb7B+, fb7C, fb7C+, fb8A, fb8A+, fb8B ...
An other one is the Vermin (V) Scale. This system was first used in Hueco Tanks, Texas and is the most common one in the USA, Australia and other countries. It is possible to translate V-Grades into fb-Grades, but usually I talk about the current climbs in the local area grading system, which is the V-Scale for Australia.

V0: Usually inclined boulderproblem on big holds and with good feet. Beginners should be able to solve such a problem.

V3: either holds are smaller now, or the problem is steeper (more arm power required). Basic climbing tecnique required.

V5: out of range for most beginners. It starts to get really technical or powerful now.

V8: 1978 "Midnight Lightning" in Yosemite was the hardest boulderproblem in the world. To climb this grade you need to practise a lot

V11/fb8A: requires specific training and strong motivation.

V14/fb8B+: the hardest Flash Ascent.

V16/fb8C+: the hardest problems in the world. Only a few of those exist.

Katinka sending a nameless V6 at Mount Fox, Southern Grampians

Before beeing pregnant Katinka managed to climb a couple of V9 (fb7C) boulders and one V10 (fb7C+). I have climbed more then 20 V11 (fb8A) boulders and a couple of V12s (fb8A+) so far.

Others
A slab is inclined piece of rock. Most pressure will be on your feet, handholds might be really scarce and it involves a lot of balance to climb it.
A roof is a really steep piece of rock. Holds trend to be bigger and you usually need more power in your arms.
A hook is a technic for your feet. Using the back of the heel to apply pressure to a hold is called a heelhook. A toetook is securing the upper side of the toes on a hold.

Buandik Camp

Just after uploading our last blog update, we met up again with Manu and Marie. We had seperated in Canberra, as they wanted to drive the Great Ocean Road, while we were psyched for the Grampians bouldering and hurried down through the inland. We did buy a lot of groceries, since the climbing area is far away from civilisation, filled up our water and headed back to Buandik Campground where we spent the next five days.

Finja playing in the dirt, as usual.

The weather had cooled down, but sun still was a scarce gift. We managed to put up a few more first ascents. Katinka called one line "I'm a Koala", V5 and another scary one is now called the "Grave Yard". I myselfe started working on two harder boulders. One is an already established line "The Rubiks Cube", V12 - first climbed by Dave Graham - which feels possible to climb for me. The other line is a nameless, steep V7 roof. It ends on a big jug, where the big holds end and the rock blanks out. But I found a solution how to top it out. After climbing the existing boulder the real business starts with some really hard moves at the end of the roof.

Katinka climbs the nameless V7 roof

Manu and Marie are more into easy climbing. They enjoy the warmup boulders and both did a few First Ascents as well. In the evenings we make big fires at the campground to stay warm and not to get bored. And at some time in the next days we might bake our first pizza in a while. :)

Marie and Manu sitting at the evenings fire

Today it is a rainy day, and we decided to visit Hamilton. Its exactly the same distance as to Horsham, but driving south, not north. This town offers a few places with free showers and internet and we need to get rid of a major van problem ... we found some mould below the matress, where we had spit the 3 liters of orange juice a couple weeks ago. Not the very best weather to dry our stuff, but having bought new wood and some strong anti-mould-mixture we are confident, we will succeed!

read back soon,
www.chalkonrock.com