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.
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| 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.
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| 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...
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| 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.
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| Josh looking strong on Winterkirch (V8) |
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| 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.
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| Boris |
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| 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...
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| Mantels at the park |
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| Josh and I at the summit of Hollow Mountain |
Sooo exciting to see you! Have a awesome trip and puhlease, blog more!
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