Sunshine, Cheese and Slabs

The weather in Fontainebleau over the last week has been amazing. The rays of sun that explode in through the window each morning, beckon us from sleep with the promise of another amazing day in Paradise. We have taken advantage of the cool temperatures and our very comfortable Gite, enjoying sleep-ins each morning, hitting the blocks between 11 and 12 most day. Each day in Fontainebleau has been different from those before, new areas present new challenges and sometimes even new successes. As I sit here and begin this update, I am confronted with the knowledge that no combination of words could aptly summaries the beauty and charm of this place, nor the value of the experiences that being here has granted me...despite this I will try, hopefully the photos will say what I cannot.

Last Wednesday we headed to Bas Cuvier with Nick in search of something new, in all honesty, this area was the least impressive of those that we have been to thus far. Despite the lack of inspiring lines and the abundance of used condom packets both Josh and I were able to find boulders that tickled our fancy. Me a beautiful slab, all presses and smears and Josh a cool dyno and a slightly overhung arête. It is in the slabs that I am enjoying climbing that I am able to see the dramatic difference that our time in Fontainebleau has made to my climbing. Not to harp on about the same topics as I wrote about in my last blog, but before I got to Bleau, I would have walked passed the seemingly sheer faces of the slabs that I have so enjoyed here, dismissing them as impossible, 'not my style', or lacking anything that I could possibly hold onto. At home in the Gramps, it was only the climbs with obvious positive edges that I would try, here as I have learnt to trust my feet I have discovered that I really actually enjoy slab climbing.

Thursday, it was time for a rest...First stop Fontainebleau, it was time for new shoes for me, ones that would hurt my toes less. We went into Scape in search of tiny La Sportiva Solutions and to my absolute delight they were in my size and fit amazingly! After buying my new solutions I was a little disappointed that today was a rest day and I would have to wait until tomorrow to try them out! Nick had told us about a beautiful market in Milly-la-Foret that we were interested to see. The market was amazing, unlike anything that I have experienced before. Based in a medieval market hall built in 1479 in the centre of the town, the market sprawled into the street, row upon row of fishmongers, cheese-mongers, sweet stalls, fresh fruits and vegetables, the smells of hot fresh cooked crepes, buckets of olives, pallets of strawberries, chocolate, cheese and other such delights filled the air as the town sprung to life like something out of a storybook. Old women met in the aisles, catching up on the week's news as children brought toy cars and candy and couples chose cheese. Shoe stall after shoe stall, jackets, hats and dresses, it was all there - but if by chance you couldn't find what you were looking for, simply peruse the quaint shops that line the market square - Patisseries, grocery shops, chocolatiers. Josh and I left with bag after bag of treats. Needless to say, dinner that night was amazing!

Snoopy Boulder!

On Friday we met up with Heidi to head out to Cul de Chien. A quick coffee at the station while we waited for Heidi's train to arrive from Paris cost us a little more than expected. We parked in a blue zone you see...up until this point we believed, correctly, that blue zones offer time restricted free parking...what we had failed to realise is that in order to take advantage of this free parking one must first acquire, from where I am unsure, a blue card to sit in the window and on this blue card one must indicate the time that they arrived at the free park. Unfortunately, our lack of blue card caught the attention of the local policeman and the end result was a parking ticket....The system to pay for this ticket was more confusing than the ticket itself, thank goodness we had Heidi and her French speaking skills else we never would have understood that we were to take the ticked to the Tebac and pay the 17Euro fine, they would then give us a stamp indicating that we had paid, next it was over to the post office to buy a postage stamp to mail the proof of payment to the road commission and then into the letterbox it went....time to go climbing! The weather looked amazing, as we walked across the white sandy beach that leads you into the forest towards the boulders of Cul-de-Chien. Cul de Chien is amazing, in addition to having a beautiful mix of sand, forest and boulders there is a boulder in the centre that looks just like SNOOPY! So cool!

Boulders on a beach in the middle of the forest

We made a start, the climbing was great, my new solutions were AWESOME! Though as with all new climbing shoes, the did need breaking in, the hard rubber had soon rubbed the back of my heels raw and so it was time for me to sit back and enjoy taking some pictures. Soon the weather changed and we sought refuge from the hail and rain under an overhung boulder...a couple of damp climbs for Josh and Heidi and it was time to give up our battle against the rain and call it a day...more coffees at the station to finish a wonderful day!

Saturday we headed out to meet Nick at Buthiers, the furthest area from where we are staying. It was a lovely day, the sun was shinning and what this means in Fontainebleau on a weekend is that the crag will be CROWDED! We headed out to Buthiers in a bid to escape the crowds and our gamble paid off, hardly a person in sight! The boulders were MASSIVE! Many had belay bolts at the top! But the lines were inspiring. We were all able to find problems of an appropriate hight and grade that we loved and overall this was my favourite area that we have been to thus far! My shoes, hurt less today and I was able to smear better than before with my new shoes!

On Sunday it was time for another rest day, we lazed around the Gite for the morning and then headed into Fontainebleau for the markets. Unfortunately we were a little late and the stalls were all being packed up. Instead we decided to head to the Chateau and walk around the beautiful sculpted gardens for a couple of hours before we headed back to the main street for the best icecream I have ever eaten from Les Glaces and some people watching! After a bit of a debacle trying to get our car out of the car park when the ticket machine would only take correct change, our complete lack of coins made this a difficult task, we headed home (a quick stop at a closed supermarket on the way haha) for movie and a quiet night in.

Swans in one of the many ponds of the Chateau

Josh on the GIANT slab

Monday began with a familiar routine, we met Heidi again at the station, another morning of beautiful sunshine, another coffee by the train station, though this time we had wised up to the parking system and managed to avoid getting a ticket :). Today it was off to Isatis for us, we had been one time before and Josh and I were both pretty keen to get back. Into the maze of blocks we went, climbing each line we liked, skipping those that we didn't. I repeated the 6c that I had sent last week and Josh and Heidi showed off their cool heads on a VERY high slab, perhaps the highest boulder that either had climbed to date! Very impressive! As the warmth of the sun faded we made our way back to the station for more coffees, a perfect end to a perfect day! If you are ever in Fontainebleau I recommend you spend at least one day at Isatis, it is certainly my favourite area thus far!

Heidi at the top of the massive slab

Yesterday we headed back to Canon again, meeting Heidi in the carpark after a quick stop at our local patisserie. Last time we were there was a Sunday and as such it was very busy, Josh and I were excited to try the lines that we were not able to try the last time due to the crowds. With climbing, as with all things in life, you win some and you loose some...today was not my day! I struggled to find my feet, again concerned with the puf slicked feet and lack of hands. I found myself terrified and incapable of moving upwards many times. My body was tired and my head was not where I needed it to be! Climbing like this is little fun! The sun was shinning and the forest was beautiful, life was not so bad after all! Eventually Heidi had coerced me into trying to climb again and we were able to find a few pretty cool blocks to keep us entertained for a couple of hours....I found my feet again and slowly my head chilled out and I was able to enjoy the movement rather than stressing about the apparent dangers of a misstep. Soon after we set up the Slackline in the bottom of the forest before heading back into town for yet another stop at our local patisserie and another delicious coffee at the station!

As the end of our time here in Fontainebleau approaches I find myself excited for the next stage of our journey, but also quite sad to be leaving this beautiful place that in many ways has become homely. From the lady at the patisserie who remembers our faces, to the man at the coffee shop who speaks english to us because he knows we struggle with french; the familiarity that we have with this area grew quickly and it is easy to see oneself being sucked into this world permanently, but alas it is soon time to move on. Josh and I have one last day of climbing here tomorrow, before the rain will return and it will be time for us to head back to Paris to begin our journey to Magic Wood, Switzerland.

Still pretty happy!

Finding my toes in Bleau

Our first week in Fontainebleau went by really quickly, between my cold and the rain, most of our time was spent in our Gite (which is awesome by the way!). By the time that my cold had started to ease, the rain had really set in and looked to be staying around a while. Instead of staying indoors and dreaming of dry days, Josh and I decided that the dreary days would be better passed with the help of some wine. So with the aid of Tucker, our awesome new TomTom, and his world maps, we jumped in Hugo (our Opel Corsa) in search of wine. We programmed the destination - and in just over an hour of driving through the French countryside we arrived in the town of Chablis. Our first stop was the patisserie, because everyone knows the great wine is amazing, but great wine in conjunction with great food is out of this world.

A little stop at the Patisserie

After a tantalising treat it was time to get serious, we had set ourselves a task, and as burdensome as it was we had to complete it, it was time to get to tasting the wines so that we could select some wines to bring home to help us pass the rainy days. First stop Jean Marc Brocard- we had intended to get to as many houses as possible, but this all changed when we met Sebastian, the enthusiastic and knowledgeable Jean Marc Brocard employee. As we tasted through the range the time passed quickly, about two things we were absolutely certain, it is great to be in France and a trip to Chablis is much better than a day stuck in doors, rain or no rain!

 After Jean Marc Brocard, we only had time for one more house, plus Josh was driving so best not intoxicate him too much, to Laroche it was! Though we were in Chablis, we went to Laroche in search of a South African wine, a wine that I remembered fondly from my time at Malmaison - Vina Punto Alto Sauvignon Blanc - its a fabulous drop! After tasting through some of Laroche's wares, and with goody bags of bottles to take home from our Chablis adventure we made one last stop at the Chablis Bar for a coffee and a hot chocolate and then made our way back home for dinner.

Goody bags for home....

And then something marvellous happened...the rain stopped! It was time climb! On the first day we went to Rocher Saint-Germain in search of some easy circuits to help us get used to the new style of climbing that Bleau offers. I have to admit, this new style did not come easily to me! Having avoided slopers for as long as I have climbed, never climbing slabs and coming from a world in which I called a 1cm positive foot edge "a tiny footer" I had a LOT to learn! The first climb on my circuit completely shut me down - A V0- -, that I couldn't even work out how to get onto. Welcome to Fontainebleau - where if you don't know how to use your feet you don't know how to climb! I came to Font with terrible footwork! My biggest issue in my climbing was to date a lack of trust in my feet...this would need to change.

Starting to get my confidence with the new style

I shook my way up the second problem on my circuit, Elvis legs and sweaty palms, holding my breath all the way to the slopey top out. The third problem, though a little harder in grade, was easier, I was starting to learn to press my hands rather than looking for something to crimp. The fourth problem of the day helped me to locate my big right toe and ensured I wouldn't forget where it was for a few days....having never climbed slabs, nor used smears, I had not yet learned to keep my heels down, so instead I was heels up trying to toe into the smallest of features...needless to say this was not a successful tactic! I pulled onto the scoop at the bottom of the slab, managed to move each of my feet up once and then slipped, big toe first into the scooping rock...ouch! For those of you who haven't stubbed a toe that is crammed into a climbing shoe, let me tell you something...it really hurts! Not only does it hurt when you stub it, it then proceeds to hurt every time you 1. put on your now seemingly tiny shoes, 2. every time you stand on it in your tiny shoes. After a quick shoe break to recover, it was time for a second attempt. I pulled onto the scoop, moved both of my feet up, managed to get my left foot up one step higher and then...bang, again with the bloody right big toe straight into the bottom of the slab...damn it! One final try, this time my toes hurt too much to stand on, so out of self protection I didn't stand "on" them, instead I dropped my heels and used the bottoms of my shoes, and this time....I topped out! After six problems, I had learned to smear, I had learned to mantel, I had learned to trust my feet a little more, I had learned that I don't always need positive hand holds and I had toes that did not want to be jammed back into climbing shoes so I called it a day and settled myself to take photos and watch Josh crush like a champ - topping out more than 15 problems!!!!

Josh showing how its done!

The next day we headed to Rocher Canon. We met Nick in the carpark and then set out in search of awesome lines. Forgetting that I need to warm up before repeatedly throwing myself at three finger quarter pad crimps, I walked away from my first two climbs without topping out and with sore fingers, time for something different. A traversing slab. Again with the stupid right toe. My first try I was heels up, came off and smashed my toe into the wall, by this point my right toe felt like it had been subjected to torture by sledgehammer for the last two days and after a few tries more on the slab I was soooo close to the top out that I could taste it, but if I wanted to climb again that day I would have to find something a little less dependent upon my right big toe! Onto a cool highball it was...heel hooks and mantels... about two minutes was spent at the top having an internal debate about whether it would be safer to try the mantel for the top out, or if I could somehow manage to downclimb...the downclimb looked impossible, the only choice was to throw up a high heel and try somehow to get over it...yay! my first ever highball top out!!! After a couple more climbs I was spent, Josh moved onto an awesome V6 and topped it out in style and then we called it a day, getting back to the car just before the rain set in!

Learning to climb slabs...another stubbed toe on this one!

It was time for a rest day! It rained all night and far into the morning and everything was wet, perfect timing for a day off of the rocks. Josh and I decided to go for a walk around out little town Bois-le-Roi. As we walked the weaving paths along streams and streets with gorgeous homes, we realised how lucky we are to have time to just stop and watch the world, to appreciate how beautiful the little things are, an insect dancing across the petals of a flower, a train coming into a station...all of the things we so often miss or take for granted in our day to day lives. Another stop at a patisserie and it was time for some movies, dinner and a quiet night in.

Bois-le-Roi

Taking it all in...

Yesterday we headed to Franchard Isatis with Nick, James, Claire and Amy. It was a slow start for me, at first I felt very self conscious, being surrounded by so many climbers who are much stronger than me. It took me a few problems to even pull on and then even more to commit to enough moves to say that I honestly had tried. I spent most of the day making progress on climbs, learning to avoid the feet polished by puff and to trust my smears. Another scoopy slap, another stub for my right toe. I like to think that everything in life has a purpose and so after stubbing my toe five times in three days of climbing it was time to test what I had learnt. I found a little line near a problem that Claire, Josh and James were doing. A little slab with some tiny holds and a scary mantel on nothing at the top. It looked easy at first and then I pulled on and it seemed much harder than expected, the holds were tiny and not positive, the feet looked good, but the faced the wrong way forcing you to use the smaller parts of them, then the top....the top had nothing! After a couple of shots, the first two working out how to get to the top, the next deciding that the top was too scary, Josh gave me the encouragement that I needed and so up I went...heels down on the slab, bum out for balance, move your weight over your foot before you try to stand, move slowly - control it, at the top - hold onto whatever you can, throw up a heel, confirm with your spotter that they have you and you wont die if things go badly, and then commit...as my weight passed over my heel and my hands slapped up I knew I had it...this was my proudest send yet! I was stuck on top of a boulder with no idea how to get down and I was over the moon that I had committed to something that had terrified me so much only one try previous to this...when I got down we looked in the guide to see if the problem was in there...it was...and to my absolute astonishment it was graded 6c! I would never have tried it had I known the grade before I pulled on...from now on to hell with the grades, I am just going to climb the lines I like!!!

Life is pretty good :)

Oh yeah...and for those of you who are interested, I have heel hooked, mantelled and high stepped with my right leg and...it feels great!!!!

 

The journey to Fontainebleau

It has been a long time since my last post. I will try to cover all that has happened since; mostly a lot of sitting and (until recently) not very much sleep! Josh and I left the Grampians on Wed 27 Feb and drove back to Adelaide to drop off everything that we would not be taking away with us. Though we were only home for 2 days it was great to have the chance to spend some quality time with my beloved pooch Copper and say au revoir to the family. On Friday mum, Josh and I drove to Melbourne. Travelling from Adelaide to Melbourne on Good Friday was always going to be quite to ordeal, factor in a closure to main highway between the two cities and a stop in the Grampians to pick up Josh's GoPro and soon the nine hour trip became a 13hour journey. Our Easter in Melbourne was lovely, we had amazing food with even more amazing people and our farewell drinks was one of my best nights out in a very long time! On the Monday night Dad took Josh, Addy, Mum and I out for some amazing Indian food and then the countdown to our trip really began....

One last play with my pooch

After playing Yatzee with Josh for an hour or so Mum came to pick me up to take me to the apartment where we were staying (just around the corner from Josh's Granny's house - very convenient - nice find mum!), one last check over my luggage and a last minute decision to pack a beanie and second jumper into my carry on and it was time to call it a night. Off to bed for a good night's sleep before our long journey to London. The sleep I sought was however illusive, and instead of resting  I watched my clock with nervous anticipation for most of the night. At 4:00am the alarm went off, its time to go! Mum and I picked Josh and his Granny up at 5:00am to go to the airport - our plane was set to depart at 10:00am to Beijing via Shanghai. After taking a strange route to the airport courtesy of mum's satnav, we raced to the checkin area to check our flight. What? Its is not on the board?! Hmm...that's strange. But wait, there is a flight at 1:30pm to Beijing with the same flight number, surely that could not be ours? Yes, yes it was ours and so began our 52 hours in transit. We met up with Josh's parents and my Dad for breakfast and the time for farewells was soon upon us, waving off my Mum and Dad and Josh's Granny - a tear free farewell! We were doing well! Josh's parents stayed with us until after we chacked in our bags as both were overweight and we were not sure they would be allowed. Luck was on our side, not only were our heavy bags accepted they also gave us a two $12 meal tokens to spend due to the delay to our flight. Free of our checked luggage we said farewell to Jeanette and Lynton and went through customs. The time until our flight passed quickly - aided by phad thai and sushi courtesy of Air China and we were soon boarding. The first leg of our journey was 11.5hours to Shanghai, during this time Josh and I watched three movies and managed about 2 hours sleep each.

When we arrived in Shanghai it was a bit of shambles, whist the announcements on our flight were in both Mandarin and English, the English was a bit difficult to understand, and by this I mean we couldn't understand anything! All we knew is that we had to pass through security and get to another gate and re-board the same plane and that our plane was set to depart in 30 minutes. Okay so we only have 30 minutes how hard could it be?! Quite! Through customs, hand in your departure card...wait, what? a departure card I wasn't sure that we had actually entered at this point!...somehow we managed to determine that the lady in the corner speaking only Mandarin was handing out new boarding passes which we would need to re-board our flight. Through security again, this time we were following a guy who thought a massive (lets say 80cm) hookah was an acceptable carry on item...apparently it was, with exception to the water inside! Eventually we found our new gate, yet again the flight was delayed and we were among the first there. The flight to Beijing was short, Josh managed to sleep for most of it and soon we were in Beijing.

When we landed in Beijing it was crazy! There was another flight to London Gatwick that connected with our flight that was delayed due to our late departure from Melbourne. Three buses waited for us on the tarmac and again the attendants directed us all in Mandarin only. We jumped on the bus to the right, not sure if it was the bus for the first flight to London, the flight to Frankfurt, or the second flight to London. Once aboard we were relived to hear people talking about London, win, we were on the right bus! We had a 12.5hour lay over in Beijing starting at 12:30am. For the third time we passed through security and customs, this time less seamlessly, Josh with a lighter and a laptop he forgot to get out and me with a full drink bottle. Again with the exit cards...I dont actually think I handed in an entry card while we were in China haha. Forgetting where we were we decided to use the airport wifi to check our emails, facebooks and call home (our cells had no reception in China)...sounds easy right...not in China. Getting internet access involved scanning your passport at a self-serve kiosk, I was WAY too tired to figure out this process! Eventually Josh worked it out and we had internet, YAY! We found a quite place to use the internet and skyped mum (soon after I learnt that Skype is actually illegal in China oops!). Facebook and our blog sites were blocked due to China's internet censorship and so we soon gave up. The airport was freezing overnight, about 3degrees, but we were lucky that we had Josh's sleeping bag in our carry on :) win! I set up camp with Josh's sleeping bag and managed to get another 2hours sleep while Josh watch some movies soon we swapped out and Josh had about 1.5hours sleep. Breakfast time!!! We wandered through the airport exploring the duty free shops and found our departure gate for later on, then we found some breakfast! The food was AMAZING! Josh had a curry set and I had a chilli rice noodle set! We headed back to our departure gate for some Yatzee and people watching. I had another hour or so sleep and soon it was time to board our final flight....

Our final flight would be 11.5hours to London. Once boarded we noticed that this plane did not have individual TV screens, later we would work out that the only movies they would play would be in Mandarin and the tiny subtitles were illegible even for those who had not only had 8 hours sleep in the last three days haha. All was not lost though, we had a row of four seats to ourselves and I managed, thanks to Josh, to get about 3 hours sleep on the flight, Josh got about 1.5 hours. We were soon making our decent into London and our excitement that we would soon be at our destination gave us all the energy we needed. Off to security and customs for the fourth time. Another slight oversight, I had not written Helen's address anywhere and needed to get onto facebook to find it, the flat phone battery did not help either. No problem, I found a power outlet in the bathroom, completed our entry cards and we were on our way. On our way that is to a GIGANTIC line. Thankfully the line through customs moved quickly due to the large number of desks that were open and we soon found ourselves on the other side, in English territories and made our way to the baggage carousel. We were excited that because we had taken so long to get through customs we would not have to wait for our bags as they should have all been unloaded by this stage. We were correct, they had all been unloaded. We were incorrect that this would mean that we would not have to wait long for our bags. We walked up to the baggage carousel, by this point it had stopped moving and all of the remaining bags were on the ground, we searched for ours but could not find them - after a short chat to the baggage handlers we found out that our bags were in Gatwick, they had been sent with the first flight from Beijing to London and we would be without them until tomorrow when their courier dropped them to our chosen location. Thank goodness for the extra jumper and beanie I packed in my carry on at the last minute!

Oh well, we were in London and I was less than an hour away from seeing some of my very best friends, delayed receipt of my luggage would not dull my mood! We made our way into Leicester Sqr to meet Leanne and Helen for a drink! Words can not convey how great it was to see them! Helen being the amazing girl she is greeted us at her bar with food platters and Champagne and suddenly we were no longer tired! After a great couple of hours we called it a night and went back to Helens for a couple of bottles of wine. At 4:00am we turned in, Josh and I both excited by how perfect a start to our trip the night had been.

The next morning we were up at 9:00am to call the courier and arrange to have our bags dropped at Helen's bar so that we didnt need to spend the whole day waiting for our bags at home. While we were getting ready we looked outside the window and were delighted to see that it was snowing! We met up with Leanne early in the afternoon and went to pick up Josh's Moon Saturn crash pad and then headed back into the city to explore.

Josh navigating the London Tube with his crash pad!

After a quick stop at Trafalgar Sqr we decided that 1. It was too cold for sight seeing and 2. The pad was too massive to carry around central London whilst sightseeing haha! Leanne took us to an amazing Mexican restaurant for lunch and the spicy, hot, food was exactly what we needed. After lunch we made our way back to Helen's bar to wait for our packs. A couple of hours later and a small altercation between Josh and the douche courier it was 9:00pm and we had a packs and were making our way back to Helen's. I cooked pasta for Leanne, Helen and Josh and again the hours were passed eating, drinking and enjoying amazing company...ooops it was 3:40am again!!!

With my bestie!!!

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We decided that we would have a quite day at Helen's place on the Friday, our bus to Paris was leaving at 9:30pm. We woke up in time to say bye to Helen and then cooked a tasty breakfast, re-packed our bags ready to carry them around London and Paris and then made our way into the city again. Leanne the absolute legend helped us to carry our bags and MASSIVE pad throughout London and by 6pm we were at the bus station. After a little more time enjoying time together it was time to say c'ya to Leanne. (I cannot wait to get back to England again to spend more time with my fabulous friends there, thank you Leanne and Helen for making our first stop incredible!). We were soon on the bus and I think I was asleep before it left the station. We caught the bus to Dover and then boarded the ferry, it was quite amusing watching other passengers turning varying shades of grey and green from seasickness. Once back on board the bus it was only another 4 hours to Paris, Josh and I slept most of the way, and at 6:00am we arrived in Paris. We collected our bags and made our way to Gare de Lyon station, from where we would collect our hire car. Once we found Hertz we sat down to enjoy a couple of delicious coffees (or in my case hot chocolates).

Gare de Lyon - Paris

Soon, thanks to Josh's French speaking skills, we had the keys to our car and were making our way down to the car park. When we arrived at the car spot written on our Hertz package I had a minor panic attack as I looked upon the tiny, tiny, smart car that was in the spot!!! No surely I hadnt ordered us a SMART CAR!!! Not even one of our packs, let alone the pad will fit in that! With a quick check of the registration number our fears were ended and we found our perfectly sized car in the next spot over. We loaded up the car and Josh took the lead for the next stage of our adventure...driving on the right side of the road, shifting gears with the right hand and driving through Paris!!! Better him than me! He did an AMAZING job and within the hour we arrived at Fontainebleau.

After a quick stop at the grocery store we made our way to Bois-le-Roi, a neighbouring town where we would be staying. Finding our Gite was a little tricky, due to me writing the wrong address on our itinerary. But with the help of a lovely French family and their internet we soon had the right address and were at our beautiful little Gite! A quick call home and some dinner and it was time for bed. By this stage we had been travelling for almost 7 days and had had about 12 hours sleep each, I was full of a cold (that is an understatement for the last few days my body has become a snot factory...pretty gross actually). On our first full day in Fontainebleau, Sunday, Josh went out for a little climb to see the areas and test out his awesome new pad...I don't remember much from this day having slept most of it. For the past three days I have slept and taken cold and flu tablets and today for the first time I woke up feeling human!!! Suffering slight cabin fever we went on a little adventure to town and had a look at Chateau Fontainebleau, ate pastries and had a quick look at one of the climbing areas.

Josh pretty happy to be eating a Pain au Chocolat

Chateau Fontainebleau

Now I am feeling MUCH better and I feel finally that we have ARRIVED!!! Let the holiday begin!!!

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.

Chinese Whispers

Do you remember playing Chinese Whispers with your class in primary school? The teacher would arrange the 20-something eight-year-olds in your class into a circle and then one child would whisper a message into the next child's ear with the aim of the message travelling around the circle, one child at a time, and returning to the starting child. Theoretically the message should not change; the message at the end being an exact match for that at the beginning, though I cannot remember this outcome ever being achieved in reality. I wonder now, if I gathered a group of 20 intelligent and mature adults and played the same game whether the result would be any different? Surely the chances of a positive result would have to improve?

Let's say, for argument's sake, that this game could be played successfully with this group of intelligent and mature adults, the lines of communication still remain only as strong as the weakest link. Insert one child or incapacitated adult and everyone now thinks that Bob is a cross dresser because of his new dress, when in actual fact he was just trying to pass on the details of his new address. How very frustrating for Bob!

I have been thinking, and I have decided that our body's nervous system is just one never ending, highly important, game of Chinese Whispers. Unfortunately the game underway in my body currently involves a kid AND an incapacitated adult.

Let's start with the kid first. During the surgery I had on my knee last year a nerve was damaged and as such I am currently the (not-so) proud owner of a slowly regenerating nerve. The nerve end is lacking maturity and, similarly to the child in the game of Chinese Whispers, it is not exactly proficient at receiving and passing on messages. For the first six months after surgery this little nerve did not do much, an area of about 5cm^2 above my patella felt the same as your cheeks feel after a trip to the dentist, clumsy and numb. The kid would get the message and forget to pass it on, distracted by a ball to chase, the child would leave the game and the message would never make it to the intended end destination. Slowly my new never is gaining maturity and feeling is coming back to this area, the kid is now receiving the message and attempting to pass it on - it seems however that this child is not the world's best listener just yet. The message is distorted; a new dress instead of a new address. The nerve receives the message that my knee is in warm water and passes on that the knee is being stabbed. A message of scratching an itch is passed on as a burn. The good news is eventually this annoying little kid will be subbed out and a mature adult will fill the vacant spot...until then, like Bob, I just have to try to see the funny side of it all. 

Moving on to the incapacitated. Last week, when performing a not overly special gaston, I somehow managed to punch a nerve in my neck. One of the participants in my game of Chinese Whispers was smacked over the head and has now developed temporary dysphasia - you can see how this may cause issues in a game dependent upon selecting the right words to pass on. This incapacitated player cannot remember the words 'neck' or 'little' and as a result when the player receives the message that 'your neck is a little sore' he (yes, its a boy!) passes on 'your WRIST is VERY sore', no matter how many times the message is passed to this guy he just cannot get the words neck and little out! The good news here is that the dysphasia is only temporary and soon, with a couple more visits to the the Chiropractor and Acupuncturist, this guy will return to his old ways of passing on the message as it was passed to him. 

A friend for every climber

I made a new friend last year. We met in the back corner of my local gym. The first few times we met I walked away from our interaction feeling weak, deflated and mildly embarrassed, but the more time we spent together the more positive the outcomes of our interactions became...My friend helped me identify my weaknesses and provided me with the tools I needed to overcome these. My friend's name, I hear you ask...

...The Hangboard!

The first time I touched the hangboard in my local gym I had been climbing for about eight weeks and I had no idea what I was doing. I had seen others completing countless pull-ups, seemingly without effort and so I thought I would start there. I grabbed the jugs at the top and pulled upwards with ALL my might. My rapidly reddening face was the only evidence of my exertion, from behind my activity would have more closely resembled a squirmy dead hang than a pull up. After a few more tries I turned my back and walked away - friends we had not become!

The week after I injured my knee I once again turned to the hangboard, this time in an attempt to maintain some semblance of climbing conditioning while I was sidelined. I wasn't strong, but I was stronger than the time before. This time I could manage one pull up if I started with my arms slightly bent, a pull up from a dead hang, however, was still out of my grasp. Assisted pull ups were the flavor of the day, more of a lift from Claudia below than an upward pull from me, nevertheless eventually my muscles began to understand what I was asking them to do and slowly they came to the party.

Not long after I was at the gym 2-3 times a week becoming better acquainted with my new friend. I had identified my weaknesses, of these there were many, I decided to prioritize my pinch and my core strength and wrote programs to work these. In an unexpectedly short period of time my pinch was strong and I could complete eight pull ups on a large pinch. Feeling confident in my pinch strength I decided to move onto the next weakness, crimp strength, whist maintaining my core exercises - That's the brilliant thing about a hangboard routine, it can be continuously adapted to suit your desired training outcomes and level of strength.

Once I was back climbing again, I was surprised by the impact that these hangboard sessions had on the way that I climbed. There are many ways that we can train, but it is unusual that one, solitary, training system translates so effectively into improved performance. The extent of which was made clear to me one day at Morialta when my foot (my only foot in use at this time) began to feel unstable and I instinctively moved my hand from a jug to a pinch for added security. In a few short months I had transformed my greatest weakness into a strength. Similarly, while climbing with one leg, one must overcome a barn-door effect every time the arm on the same side as the unused leg is moved. Prior to beginning my hangboard routines there was absolutely no chance that I would have been able to overcome this barn-door, but because of the impact that my hangboard sessions had on my core strength I now found it quite easy to move my right arm with my right leg hanging, even on overhung routes.

I cannot speak highly enough of the benefits of hangboard training for climbers at any level. Obviously, as with any other training regime, the trick is not to over do it and listen to your body. Below is one of the programs that I completed each week. Have a go, modify it to suit you...who knows that 'bad' hold you always avoid on your project might become a rest in the future...

Go HARD!!!!

Fancy a hang?
- no rest between exercises separated by a '/'
- 60sec rest between dot points until you can do the entire routine without missing/failing any exercises, then reduce rests to 45s, 30s, 15s and then complete without any rests
- 10 crunches and 3 push ups per exercise missed/not performed correctly at the conclusion of the session
- exercises marked with a '*' do not involve the hangboard and are instead completed on the floor

Please be sure to adapt this routine to suit your current level of strength. The "small edge" refers to the smallest edge that you can hold with an open hand; if you need to use a closed crimp to hold the edge, then the edge is too small for you at the moment, use the next smallest one and slowly decrease the edge size as you get stronger. 

• 60s chair hang on jug
• 3 pull ups on good sloper / 45s chair hang on big edge
• 3 pull ups on medium edge / 2x60 plank* (15s rest between)
• 15s chair hang on two finger pocket/20s dead hang on bad sloper
• 3 pull ups on three finger pocket/15s L hang on jugs
• 10 slow controlled straight leg raises on jugs/15s dead hang on medium edge
• 10s dead hang on small edge/30s chair hang on jugs
• 3 chin ups on jugs/10 slow controlled straight leg raises on jugs
• Lock of (10s each: full up, 90deg, 45deg, 5deg) on jugs
• 50 cruches* (no rests)
• 2 x 10 push ups* (30s rest between)
• 3 chin ups on jugs/2x45s V sits* (15s rest between)
• 45s chair hang on big edge/20s dead hang on two finger pocket
• 8s lock offs on jugs (full up, 90deg, 45deg, dead hang)
• 30s left side plank*/30s right side plank*/30s plank*/10 push ups*
• 3 pull ups on large edge/15s dead hang on good sloper
• 15s lock off on jugs 90deg only/30s dead hang on large edge
• 8s lock offs on jugs (full up, 90deg, 45deg, dead hang)
• 2x10 push ups* (30s rest between sets)
• 2x15 v-sit to crunch (feet not to touch ground during)* (30s rest between sets)
• 100crunches* (no rests)

If you have any questions feel free to ask :)