After completing the Queensland guidebook we packed the car to the rafters and headed to ‘The Mount’ (Mount Arapiles) to stay for while. We set up camp in the gums and went climbing…as you do. Araps is flooded with climbing history, it whispers in your ear when you’re climbing, it rustles the leaves in the trees and oozes out of the gullies. I tried some classics, succeeded on some and failed on others…as you do. I felt compelled to get back to the times, get back into lycra. And so I found Gloria who fitted me out with neon tights that I am sure gave me super powers. This idealistic situation lasted for two weeks, long enough for me to send Ethiopia, but as the temps reached the ridiculous we retreated to Natimuk (Nati).

Nati is a community in for the long haul, a hive of enthusiasm buzzing to the beat of one drum…positivity, creativity, longevity, sustainability. In Nati if you don’t have solar panels on your roof, water tanks and a vege patch the you’d better hurry to keep up with the Jones’. We stayed with Louise Shepherd and admired all her efforts to live a low impact life. Thanks Louise. The Nati Cafe was our savior from the heat with thank god air-con, coffee infusions and free wi-fi. Friday night at the cafe is the night to catch up with old friends and enjoy a great meal. If your feeling energetic then early Saturday mornings limber up at Marissa’s yoga class or join the pedaling peloton for a ride up the Mount.

All too soon or time was up. But this time I’m not waiting another six years for a return visit. We have already planned some Mount time for this year….hope to see you there!

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Our Queensland trip got extended a bit… things changed, we loved exploring a new place without the long haul flight. Here’s a roundup, don’t mind my blabbering.

At Frog we found bombproof rhyolite crack lines divine

Stuff any body part, or gear in them, and you will be fine

Down your eyes as you push through grass trees

If someone yells ‘ROCK’ run for cover, put your head between your knees

A little further north, The Glasshouse Mountains we found

Celestial and Clemency walls had it all, multi-pitch trad routes abound

They are on Mt Tibrogargan, Tibro for short

Whilst you are there do visit the caves and Slider, if you seek sport

Just up from the beach, Mt Coolum sits proud

Here knee bars, butt scums and body tetris is the way around

You’ll either love it or hate it, I had a ball

Be sure to savour Screaming Insanity, Wholly Calamity, Spoonman, Chevy and The Call

Up, up, further north to Brooyar we went

there Coco Pops, The Great Devoid, Little Wednesday were sent

The  sandstone is coarse, gritty at best

Toby Saunders rates the Black Stump and Eagles Nest

Whilst at Cooroora we ogled at rubble brought down by the rain

We sampled two routes, a lichenous slab, an airy arête, both awesomely insane

Up the road from Cooroy, round the back of beyond, just near JJ’s freehold

Poignantly sits, Mt Tinbeerwah, slabs kitted with rap stations and bolts, I am told

Last there is Serpent a trudge up the hill

Be sure to climb Minotaur (17) a crag classic if you will

Do turn around to savour the scenery

Susy G says watch out for snakes that hide in the greenery

Then we were gone….Goodbye to Sir Coolum you kept to your name

I worked out some semantics (thanks JJ) of how to play your body contorting game

Goodbye Tassie Dave who elbow jammed the Smoked Banana in a white shirt

And likewise to crust eating Joel, Mary, Babsi, Tash, Gemma, Leon and Geiske in her sexy skirt

I’m pointing my finger in search of a conviction

Its JJ and Rob who are to blame for re-igniting my chilli addition

Coco had fun camping, making new friends and stringing bead necklaces

At Noosa she met up with her uncles and she put a big smile on their faces

But mostly she wants to say thank you to Sandra, a big hug and a kiss go to you

For making her a Red Phoenix Emporium silk dress, complete with green buttons and a pink bow too

Also huge thanks go to Donna who made Coco a doll and rescued her ballet tights from a whopping great hole

There is so much left to do so next when I’m back I’ll have a new tick list

The Trousers, Devils Dihedral, Child in Time, Evil and The Beast from the East

So now sunny Queensland I bid you adieu

thanks for the memories, blue skies, custard tarts and also the flu.

I had been warned, or let’s say even deterred, to visit Coolum crag, mainly due to the knee bar, knee pad shenanigans to be found there, basically anything goes. I love trying new things and felt compelled to give it a go. To my surprise I very much enjoyed this style of climbing. The entry level is grade 20, but the 23/24 is a far more enjoyable warm up. I discovered that the way to become ‘at one’ with the routes at Coolum is not to fight and muscle your way through the moves, but instead,  use body positioning to optimise the holds available. Think of the climbing at Coolum like playing a 3D game of Tetris, a metropolis of skyscraper buildings turned 90 degrees. Now imagine that you are the falling piece, imagine morphing and molding yourself into the rock slotting in sideways into the fissures. Cool hey!

Coolum is funky and John (aka JJ) O’Brien is the master of funk and a Coolum groover from way back. He has all the moves and has done some of the routes here over 100 times. For a warm up he’ll easily romp up Holey Calamity (26) or even Call of Duty (28) in his Volley’s, putting me to shame. I may be left floundering, but I’m loving this new beat and besides with JJ as my guide I’m in very good hands.

Coolum Send Fest weekend (28th and 29th July) was busy and to escape the queues we (JJ and I) spent most of our time on the upper tier, left side. Wafts of freshly brewed coffee kept our minds buzzing and our boodies boogying. We managed a few crag classics before coming back to earth.

Coco getting into the swing of things.

preferred warm-up, Has It Got a Chevy Motor (24)

JJ O’Brien cruising up Call of Duty (28), this time not in his Volleys’.

Tetris climbing style. Photo: Phil Box

Gasoline Rainbow (28)

JJ and me on the belay of Gasoline Rainbow Photo: JJ O’Brien

One of the crag classics is Screaming Insanity (26). But a few more bolts will give you Wholly Calamity (26).

Stepping up to the Call of Duty (28).

Following on from my previous post, here’s an update of my progress on Fish Eye. For some background, Fish Eye is a 50-metre, steadily over-hanging, stella line which blasts up the centre of the cliff and was established by Chris Sharma. It gets its name from the ‘fisheye’ perspective, bowing of the cliff, when you stand beneath it; unlike my theory that it was named after the ‘fisheye-like’ pocket at the top crux. After 28 meters of physical punchy climbing you reach the first crux; made up of 13 hand moves through the blue rock which take in a series of under clings, long spans and a deadpoint throw to reach the rail, where you need to work hard to gain a rest if you’re to get anything back. Following a solid move off the rail its sustained running between pockets until you gain the final open hand grapefruit rest. From there its 14 hand moves to the anchors, skipping one clip along the way, the first four moves off the rest are the critical ones.

The most frustrating thing about this route, or even Oliana for that matter, is that it has a very short red pointing window. It’s in the sun all day until about 4pm and only recently have the days been getting longer, till about 7pm now. Unfortunately this translates to one red point burn per day if you get high up on the route or possibly two burns if you fall at the lower crux. For me it’s not a given that I will get through the lower crux and so many days I don’t even get a look in at the top crux.

After four days of working Fish Eye (this trip) I reached my high point, or the upper crux, for the first time. I was very surprised to say the least. I pretty much knew all the way up that I didn’t have the fitness to see this thing through to the chains. But I was climbing it, I was in with a chance, slim but I was there, not for long enough. The second time I reached the upper crux was again a surprise. In fact it was my warm-up burn and I felt so good on the bottom crux that I just decided to keep going. I was carrying a cold pump all the way, but the whole cliff was yelling ‘Venga’ and it motivated me to keep pushing. When I left the last rest I felt pretty fresh but I guess I was so blasted and dehydrated that when I went to crimp my fingers just didn’t work. The brain was sending a signal but I stared in disbelief at my dumb digits that did not follow the command. I did not try this tactic again.

I cannot recall anything special about the third time up at the last crux, only that I fell off, again. After some more dogging I was convinced that I had unlocked the puzzle, and so I was psyched again, charged with new hope that I could send the route with my newly cut key. So on I plugged and this is how it goes. The fourth go up at the last crux I rushed the moves, didn’t seat my fingers in the shallow pocket properly, the tape slipped and so I fell off screaming, again. The fifth go up at the last crux I held the pocket, got my hips in, reached up tall for the crimp, got it, but got it badly, then my next foot placement was out, my arse sagged and so I fell off, screaming, again. The sixth go up at the last crux I had three fingers (instead of one) heavily taped with deep splits underneath. It was just ‘a see what happens burn’ and surprisingly I was staring at the high crux again. I could smell the rain in the air, the wind picked up and then the rain started, I could hear it coming. I rushed from the rest before I was ready. Again I came off screaming in disbelief as a flood of bitter disappointment hit me like a brick.

And so the rains came, they threw everything they had down on Oliana for three repugnant days. Then as quickly as they came, they stopped and the sun reappeared. And so my saga continues. The seventh go up at the last crux I was sick but fresh. I thought this time for sure. But it was not to be. I don’t know for the life of me what I did or didn’t do wrong, but I had already decided to walk away and try other routes, and so I did. When I came back to Fish Eye a few days later I was psyched again. The eighth go up at the last crux everything went perfectly. I adjusted my foot placement only slightly (as planned), drilled into the shallow pocket, grew three inches, crushed the next crimp, squeezed the life out of the right pinch and continued to the top in what seemed like slow motion. Eventually my day had come. Wow what a journey. In the end it took me 20 days in total, over two trips. Thank you Simon, and I’m sure Simon thanks that belay slave god out there once again. Thanks to Chris for establishing such an amazing line and to Daila for your inspiration and kind encouragement. Thank you Rosemary & Keith and my mother, Diane, for giving me the opportunity to return to Spain and attempt my dreams. Thanks also to Allie and Tamara for your wonderful support.

Some things have changed but many are the same; there are no leaves, the sky is clear and brighter, the air still smells of shit (fertilizer), the resident kitten is now a cat, in the park a new donkey statue now stands, my running shoes are more worn and thankfully the circuit around the lake is certainly much easier. Coco still fits the same swimming costume but she is much heavier. Cell still greets us every day with her happy smile and the merry-go-round still goes around and around and around to the same tune for one euro.

We’ve headed back to Spain partly to escape the torrential rain which still continues to hammer the Blue Mountains but more so just to be climbing the incredible limestone on offer here in Catalunya. The atmosphere is electric and super inspiring with big names dispatching Oliana’s test pieces in rapid fire. Daila Ojeda sent Mind Control (8c+) just before our arrival. Her ascent has smashed the aura of the route and paved the way for other women to think it possible to also climb it. Already it has seen two more female ascents and there are others waiting in the wings to give it a shot. Daila has also sent her nemesis El Gran Blau (8b/+) and Joe Kinder has bolted a direct start which should weigh in at 8c+. Colette McInerney smashed her project Mon Dieu (8a+) in slick style after vowing to try harder, you go girl! Add Adam Ondra et al to the mix and things are really spicy and just when you’d think the line-up complete, enter; Sam Elias, hot chickee babe Sasha DiGiulian, Keith Ladzinski and Andrew Mann. With such a colossal scene and super superb conditions I’m itching to see what unfolds.

As for me, first up, I’m throwing myself at Fish Eye (8c), trying to wrap up some unfinished business from last year. I’m psyched. I reached a highpoint a few days ago, so that’s progress indeed. Unfortunately I’ve gone backwards since then as the dryness has caused my fingers to explode along fault lines like sausages in a frying pan. It’s been a mixed blessing getting back on such a hard route. On the one hand it’s been encouraging doing moves which I struggled with previously, but on the other hand, despite all of my training, it’s been tough regaining the route fitness which I had over three months ago.

Hola again. Oh my goodness, the climbing can’t get much better than this, can it? I am in love with the routes here in Oliana. For the last three weeks I have been throwing myself whole heartedly at a route called Fish Eye (8c). It’s the hardest route I have tried to date and I am completely immersed in the process of gradually working out the individual moves and lately linking long sections. I knew from the start that the probability of sending this route in the time that I had would be slim, take out rainy days, seepage etc and that narrows the odds even further. But it didn’t matter, if we did everything based on the outcome well, why would we bother sometimes? It’s the process that counts. All I hoped to achieve by attempting something so hard was to see what it was like to get on an 8c. What I learnt is simply that 8c is somewhat harder than an 8b+, funny that, what else should I expect? But also that going up a grade doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s an impassable barrier, quite the opposite, now with renewed energy and belief in my climbing, 8c seems even more possible than ever.

Fish Eye is not one of the distinctive tufa lines here at Oliana but what it lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in the action. It climbs incredibly well and its 60-metres take in very steep ground and finishes off with a super sustained headwall. I was inspired to try this route after seeing a video of Daila Ojeda making the first female ascent. And for me, on my second last day of the trip I got through the harder cruxes down low and climbed within a few moves from the end. Oh well it was not to be this time, I tried my hardest , I learnt a lot, my climbing has progressed in leaps and bounds and above all I am so psyched about taking my climbing to the next level.

Here are some photos that Simon just sent to me. They are a sneak peak of the photo shoot that we did on the super spectacular Tom et je Ris (8b+) in the Verdon Gorge. They are not his best shots, but that’s all he will give for the moment as he is sending the killer shots out to some magazines.

A view of Tom et je Ris from the opposite side of the Verdon Gorge. It takes the proud orange tufa line up the impressive cliff.

After 15-metres or so of strenuous climbing up the flattened tufa (below and right) you gain a rest. From there you step across to the knobbly orange tufa which you climb for most of the route.

Here I am just getting established on the main orange tufa. From there it’s enjoyable bridging up between the tufa’s. The run-outs maybe scary but the fun factor is huge.

Another view of Tom et je Ris from across the gorge. Nice drop-knee action.

And for the rest of the route (and photos) you’ll have to wait.

I did it! It was a fight to the very end. In the high crux I was certain that I was off. I even screamed out, Noooo, as I came up short with my left hand. I dug deep; slammed a right heel against the tufa, managed a quick shake for my left hand only and then I just kept to my sequence and kept going through the motions, screaming with each move. To my amazement I arrived at the last cave and took a very long rest.

So needless to say that I am on cloud nine, I have achieved something that I have been dreaming about for several years now. It almost feels unreal. For photos.