Australian Rock Climbing Adventure
After 12 days on a yacht crossing from New Zealand to Port Eden, New South Whales Sarah and I were so happy to see land. The passage was rough (video coming soon) and I was so sea sick for 2 days I couldn’t even get out of bed!
About 300m from the doc in Port Eden, New South Whales, we found a car for sale. After a test drive and $1500 AUD later we were on our way!
Sarah with our new car after loading our gear in to it off the boat.
The Blue Mountains
Over looking the three sisters in Katoomba, Blue Mountains
The Blue Mountains are situated about an hours drive West of Sydney and is a great rock climbing spot with its massive sandstone walls. We decided that this would be our first climbing destination. There was no rush, we were on holiday! The first stop was Jervis Bay. This spot is amazing and would highly recommend a visit. The National park there is lovely (although it costs) and over the other side of the bay is some fantastic climbing at Point Perpendicular. We were lucky a friend offered to have us to stay as the weather deteriorated that weekend. Being in a tent when it’s wet is not fun so we were super grateful.
After a weekend of wet we travelled on to the Blue Mountains to start our climbing adventures. The mountains were chilly and the climbing slow as we got back into the swing of things after so much time off. I hadn’t climbed for 6 years I think and Sarah a few months. On the third day we went and did a nice long (120 meter) six pitch climb called Sweet Dreams (grade 14).
Crossing the exposed section on the way to the bottom of the climb. In the distance you can see all the sand stone cliffs that are everywhere int he blue mountains.
Mid way up the wall
Spot Sarah if you can. Pitch 3 and 4.
Point Perpendicular
Point Perpendicular is one of the most amazing places I have ever climbed at. The exposure is unreal. If you are a trad climber and enjoy exposure I highly recommend this place. Just be aware that the gear placements can be a little funky and the rock quality is not great everywhere. Even if you are not a climber, this place is well worth a visit. Situated on the opposite side of the bay to the national park, the high cliffs offer amazing views and one of the best places to watch the whales during whale season. Unfortunately, it is within the military range so it is only open on weekends and school holidays. You can camp there at Honeymoon bay, which is gorgeous (it does cost though). We climbed here for a Sunday afternoon.
It really is a stunning spot to visit regardless of if you are a climber or not
Nowra
Nowra is known as a popular sports climbing area. It’s located a couple of hours South of Sydney near the coast. It is a good spot to hang and climb during the week while you wait for Point Perpendicular to be open. We camped a few days here at Mt York, one of the more popular crags. Our friend Q from McMurdo Station in Antarctica, joined us for a sunny days climbing.
Q climbing and Chris belaying
Down by the river
We thought we would finish our day with a swim, however there were hundreds perhaps thousands of jelly fish in the water. We looked them up on the internet and found them to be only “medium” stingy. Sarah and I still jumped in for a swim in a gap between jellies!
Mt Arapiles
There is so much rock here to climb!
Mt Arapiles is one of the ultimate trad climbing destination in Australia. It is located in Victoria a few hours from Melbourne. It is possible to get here without a car from Melbourne using the train and then a bus then hitchhike from Horsham. Camping is right at the bottom of the mountain and there are toilets, rubbish bins and a bore water station in the Pines. It is not recommended you drink the bore water but sometimes there’s some rain water in the other tanks near the toilet blocks but in late summer don’t count on there being water. I suggest buying a big drum from the supermarket in Horsham (20min drive away).
We started our climbing on some nice easy grades and then worked up to the 16’s. The grades here can be graded pretty steep so take it easy at the start and enjoy. You can find some pretty wild moves on a 13, no jokes.
The rock is so old and solid here that placing natural pro is really fun. And pretty much the only way to climb here as there are almost no bolts.
You can see the campground behind Sarah
Sarah halfway down a 35m abseil. Actually one of the coolest abseils I have ever done
Last pitch of Sundance (14)
Sarah at a belay station as I lead on up
The weather while we were here was pretty grey and cold unfortunately. Most days there was some kind of light shower so after a week we were pretty over the weather and decided to make our way back to Sydney.
Vivid in Sydney
The weather at Arapiles was really grey the whole time we were there so we headed back to Sydney. Our mate Q bough our car off us and we headed to Asia. Our flight was $245 AUD Sydney to Bangkok!
Lucky for us, Vivid, the lights festival was on at this time in Sydney. The festival happens every year around May/June and goes on for about a month. It is super cool and if you have the chance I definitely recommend it. If you want to avoid the crowds go mid week.
The Opera house is always a highlight and the gardens so don’t miss these. There are heaps of other things happening to you just have to check out there website! And that was the end of our Australian Rock Climbing trip!
Check out Sarah’s blog for more cool adventures including some from down in Antarctica.
