A new chapter

Our three weeks in the Grampians has almost finished and as excited I am for the next chapter in our adventure I am also sad to leave. For me the time we have spent in the Grampians has been a massive learning experience; having only camped for the first time just over a year ago there was much about life in a tent that I was yet to discover and as such the last few weeks have been a steep learning curve. Though at times I found myself frustrated the experience as a whole has been more outstanding than I can covey in words. Three of the stranger things I have learnt over the last week are; 1. An ant can survive fore more than 7minutes on high in the microwave and will even attempt to eat your food while its heating, 2. Kylie the Kangaroo will eat ANYTHING, no but actually, toilet paper and climbing guides are gourmet in her eyes, 3. Stringy bark is great for making an awesome fire.

Beware - Toilet paper eater!

Since my last post great things have happened, the most notable of these is that the weather has cooled down making for a much happier holiday. Over the long weekend Josh's parents and my mum came to visit. It was awesome to spend time with the family before we leave. It was great to be able to show mum around and I found myself in awe at how fit she is. Mum came out to Andersons and watch us climb on real rock for the first time. The weather was still disgustingly hot for her visit so most of our time was spent either in the pool/lake or in the air-conditioned cabin.

Mum comes to visit

Mum, Josh and I headed up Mount Zero during her visit, it was a fantastic walk with great views over Mt Stapylton and Hollow Mountain - this was my first official summit as I have never walked from bottom to top of any mountain before (its a tiny one, but its still a summit haha). On the Monday I enjoyed my first total rest day in a while and breakfast with mum before she headed back to Adelaide, while Josh smashed Haribo Boulder (V9) at Kindy. Mum was super generous and gave us an extra night in the cabins and so Tuesday was spent lazing by the pool and enjoying the air-conditioning, it was still well over 35 at this stage but the weather was soon to change...

View from Mt Zero Summit

By the weekend we had enjoyed our first taste of cooler temperatures and made new friends; Bruno and Frazie a couple of young climbers who were psyched to check out what Grampians bouldering had to offer - they will be in Araps over Easter and the Blueys later next month, their Stockbrott is highly recommended if you're lucky enough to bump in to them. Josh and I were smashing ourselves, forgoing rest days, climbing five days in a row, we had waited SO long for these cooler temperatures to come and now that they were here we did not want to waste a minute. Unfortunately after five days of climbing each our body's were exhausted and so rest days were forced upon us.

Josh looking strong on Winterkirch (V8)

Pinchy and the Brain (V4)

Each weekend has brought more friends to Stapylton and it has been awesome to catch up with so many friends before we head off.  Although we have not climbed as much as planned and I haven't ticked any of my projects (though tomorrow is a another day) I have thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Gramps. I have had the opportunity to immerse myself in a world free from the distractions and stresses of my life in the city; Wallabies, Kangaroos and Emus greet me in the morning and play with me at night and Josh and I have had the chance to unwind from our day to day lives and really enjoy each other's company. We have had countless fires with countless friends and every day I am learning to relax a little more than the last.

Boris

Boris and I

Our days have been spent climbing in some outrageously beautiful settings, enjoying time with great friends, swimming in isolated lakes, walking to summits that offer spectacular views, acting like children in playgrounds here and there, eating pizza by a wood fire place in Napoleons, playing minigolf in forests, enjoying time alone with each other or hanging out with the animals that we share our home with - life is pretty damn good. It is now only one week until we fly over to Europe and I cannot wait to see what the next chapter of this adventure has in stall for us...

Mini Golf at Grampians Adventure Golf if you are in the area check them out. The golf was crazy fun and the setting was stunning! www.grampiansadventuregolf.com.au

Mantels at the park

Josh and I at the summit of Hollow Mountain

The Grampians: The Start of an Adeventure!

We have arrived. This is it. The culmination of our hard work and saving is now here before us waiting to be enjoyed, and enjoy we shall. Late in the afternoon on Friday we arrived at Stapylton campground and set up camp in what would become our first of many homes for the year. Upon arriving we were quite disappointed to find that our favourite camp site now had no shade bearing trees, thank you Parks Vic, and we were now tasked to find a new spot. It turns out that this was a blessing in disguise as our new camp is awesome. Double story hammocks, trees spaced perfectly for a slackline, our new tent somehow manages to be enveloped by morning shade despite an obvious lack of trees around the camp.

Our New Home

On Saturday we made our way out to Ados and Josh began working David Jones Traverse (V9). It was hot, but he managed to sort out most of the beta for it and he is looking super strong - I think this will go next time we are out there. Sunday it was back to Andos again, I had another shot on Thumbs Up (V3) and I managed to make progress before my wrist told me it wanted a break. I am slowly learning to listen to my body to prevent injuring myself, though this has proven to be pretty frustrating. Last year was tough on my body and I now understand that it will take time for it to heal, its a happy coincidence that the one thing I have a lot of this year is time. After leaving Thumbs Up we moved on to a couple of V1s and V0s on the J.S. Memorial boulder and near by. By early afternoon it was time to head back to camp and get ready to set off for Melbourne. 

Josh on The Ramp (V0)

Monday morning we had our US VISA interview, the process was a tad stressful but we are now the proud owners of 5 year, multiple entry tourist VISAs, meaning we can head back to the States again without the stress of reapplying. After our interview we went to meet Addy for a coffee; near where we parked we found an awesome park featuring a boulder complete with brand new gym holds and a sketch top out. Josh and I have made a pact that we must stop and play at any playground that one of us likes the look of - so far this has put us on swings, boulders and an awesome train/bobsled, I am liking this pact already! I think we are going to find some pretty awesome playgrounds over the year! After meeting Addy we enjoyed some time at Vic Roads, the Bank and the Post Office, all institutions that are super fun to deal with :) (insert sarcastic tone here). Now we have almost all of the planning and organising of our trip finished and are free to relax and enjoy ourselves. A little celebratory dinner with friends and another night in Melbourne and it was back home to the Gramps on Tuesday.

A proud send...

Wednesday and today have been super hot. We tried to climb yesterday, taking our pads down to the campground boulders, but everything felt horribly scary and so we gave up after a very short time and headed back to camp. I am loving the animals that hang around our camp, thus far we have befriended a Kangaroo (though Josh isn't too happy with Kylie after she tried to trash our camp last night), three Wallabies and a magpie (I'm still not sure I want to be friends with a bird, but now she is following us around camp) and yesterday and today we have even been lucky enough to see an emu and her little chick running around camp - they are all really cool. Yesterday we headed to Taylors Lake for a swim, it was amazing. There was no one else there and the water was extremely refreshing - it was exactly what we both needed. On the way back from Taylors Lake we found an Echidna (Eric) who was much less shy than the other Echidnas I have seen before and so finally I was able to see an Echidna's face! I think about all of the things that I have learnt and experienced over the last few days and it allows me to begin to comprehend all of the first experiences that lay in wait for me this year, it is hard not to be excited! I think the immensity of this journey is beginning to dawn on me. This year is about so much more than having the opportunity to climb in some of the most beautiful places in the world and catch up with friends and loved ones;  it is bigger than that. This year presents the opportunity for us to grow as people and for me to experience the world that we live in on a deeper and less materialistic level than I have ever comprehended before and that is potentially life changing. I hope to never loose sight of how blessed I am to be able to have this opportunity.

Meet Boris (he is my favourite)

This is Eric

Esme and Ella - we think it is a good omen to see an Emu and her chick at camp

I hope the weather cools down soon as we would like to get some climbing in. Its funny though, as much as I thought that this year would primarily be a climbing trip and everything else would be a bonus I am now realising that it is the climbing that is the bonus. Despite the small amount of climbing that we have done so far, we are having a great time and really enjoying just hanging out with each other in such an amazing place. I am slowly unwinding and learning to relax. Life is good and we are happy.