We have been in Victoria, Australia for a month now living in Spring and Summer temps. We have been loving our life of living outdoors and rock climbing. We spent three weeks in the Arapiles climbing almost everyday. We soaked up most of their two and three star classic climbs from 1-3 pitches in length. The climbing was facey and steep, pocketed and ledgey, and always exciting! The atmosphere was very laid back...we would wake up in the morning, look at the rock from our doorstep and decide where to head for the day. Wildlife was at our doorstep too with visits from Stumpy tail lizards, noisy wakeup calls from the Magpies, and close encounters with jumping kanaroos. We have yet to see the Koala but we'll keep looking.
During our three week stay at the Araps we met some great "blokes" from Aussie that kept us well entertained. We will never forget Danny's, Oli's, Paz's, and Stu's antics and good humour. We learned how to kick and throw the footy from the boys as well as other campsite games (thankfully they all ended without anyone getting hurt).
We are sad to leave the Arapiles but can see us visiting this destination again sometime in our lifetime.
The Grampians was our next climbing destination, home of the famous Taipan Wall. We could see the glowing red Taipan Wall from the Arapiles and looked forward to our visit. We soon discovered that life in the Grampians was a little more remote, adventurous and tiring. We stayed at great campsites around the different climbing areas and found our way to each crag after some steep, bushbashing hikes. Each climbing area offered something new...sometimes trad, multi-pitch, steep, sport, or off roading fun! We once again enjoyed the three star climbs of each climbing area.
Our friends Brett and Jana joined us in the Gramps. They've quit their jobs for now and are taking to the road for travelling and rock climbing. We watch each other climb on neighbouring routes, get competitive in cards at night, and enjoy other little adventures or disasters everyday.
We have seen a little more wildlife in the Grampians.
The possums came out at night to eat what might have been left behind, a kookaburra paid us a visit every morning to enjoy big roaches we would find for him, and the kangaroos and wallabees came closer than ever.
Today we are off to the southern coast and travelling a few days to get to New South Wales. We will meet up with our friends and find some more rocks to climb.
Hopefully our next post won't take so long but we are in the bush out here!
Always safe, always having fun!
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment