Magic Arapiles

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Hey Friends,

I just got back from Araps last night. I sure know what 'travel weary' means now. Or maybe I don't, I haven't been gone that long and haven't travelled that far from Natimak to get back to Melbourne. I was pretty glad to check into this hotel off a park in Melbourne though, have a real shower and sleep in a real bed. Three weeks in a tent with varying amounts of sleeping mattress (I went through 3 sleeping mats, sortof) and infrequent showers combined with physical activity in the sun everday and then add on top of that the stress and relief of rock climbing. I'm proud to say I never got the shakes while climbing while I was there though. Just intense sweating of the hands and then lots of chalk.

Anyways, I loved my stint at Araps. Lots of good climbing. My hardest bouldering ticks as well, up to V4 without a crashpad. Highlights other than the climbing include getting a taste of dirtbagging, hitching a ride into Horsham to buy fresh food and check the internet, and pies. Saturday night at the Royal in Horsham, chasing kangaroos, driving on the left side of the road, and scrambling off the ledges at the top of climbs.

Tomorrow morning I head to Tasmania. A friend from Brisbane organized a trip to do the overland trek, 7-days from Cradle Mountain to Lake St. Clair. Kind of like our West Coast Trail. I'm super excited to get back outside and for a break from climbing. The walking sounds really nice, with lots of great side trips possible.

Here's some more second best pictures too.

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Comments

[matt]

hey dude! looks like ur having a good time!! make sure you remember to kick back a little too!! keep us updated! m

[Matt & Kiyomi]

Hey Andrew, that's a great picture ("Topping Out")....very cool. Hope you are having a good time...do you need us to send you anything? A Sealy Posturepedic mattress? Matt misses you and send you a punch in the arm. be safe!

[Kelly]

Wow, that is an amazing picture of the elusive invisible Kangaroo. It's especially impressive how there is absolutely no sign that there is a kangaroo at all. Some nature photographers wait years to get such a spectacular shot....