the grampians- part 2

peak of mt hollow

2010 and 2011 couldn't have been any different... we spent the 31st sweating, sun beating down and tried to sleep but we were hot. we woke on the 1st to clouds, light rain and cool winds. we spent the evening in long pants, hoodies and sat near the fire with hot drinks to keep us warm. amazing how things can change from one year to the next ;)

we started new years with a lazy sleep in, a nice lunch and sitting around reading books before we ventured off for our hike at mt hollow. it was a short-ish drive on poorly marked roads from our campsite to the mountain, which lies in the north of the grampians. the rain clouds loomed but held off while we did the short but steep hike. the views from the top were awesome. in fact, we were sort of hoping for a rain storm (in the distance of course) because it would have been a great vantage point.

me at the top of our first climb

john scaling the rocks

our drive back to the campsite became a bit of an adventure. you see, the map we purchased had mistakes. many mistakes. and not small ones either. mistakes like claiming a road to be sealed when, in fact, it's not. or having a road named on the map but using a different name on the street sign.  or having a road on the map that doesn't exist in the real world (or vice-versa). we made it back to our campsite eventually but we definitely took a round-about way to get there.

for our last day in the grampians, we decided to do something we'd never done before: rock climb! when we booked, the guy at the desk suggested we might like a "more challenging" start then the other group who'd booked in (a small family apparently). so when we arrived on the 2nd, it ended up being just the 2 of us with our guide (given the price we paid, this was a super awesome deal). we drove only a few minutes out of halls gap to our start point. we hiked a hundred metres up to the base of the climb.

australia grades its climbs from 1-35, based on the most difficult part of the climb. we started on a level 12 and progressed to a level 15. they sure felt a bit more challenging then that but apparently not. i'd love/hate to see what a 35 might look like!

so, tim (our guide) got us geared up, set up the ropes and said "who's firs?". eep! i clipped myself in and started scrambling up the rocks. tim and john were very encouraging as i made my way up, stopping occasionally to assess the situation. once i reached the top (some 20+ metres up), i stopped to take in the views before preparing to get down. getting down is a serious exercise in trust in the person belaying you (tim, in this case).  you have to centre yourself with the ropes, lean back as much as possible and place your feet against the rock. then they slowly let the rope out and you walk/jump down the rock. the whole time you're thinking "oh god i hope this rope is strong".

we were both able to do 2 climbs at the first stop (level 12) and tim taught me how to belay john. he laughed and said "how much do you trust each other?". belaying is surprisingly fatiguing because you're constantly pulling up the slack and keeping a solid deathgrip on the rope because you'd hate to slacken up (well, more accurately, john would hate me if i slackened up...) . john got his turn to belay me on the next climb- which felt significantly more difficult (level 15). tim said we must be a pretty "solid" couple because there was no hesitation with the climbing or abseiling back down. apparently a lot of people don't trust their partner enough, or the partner belaying likes to "scare them" a bit and leaves the slack. how nice.

we finished our climbs feeling both exhilarated and exhausted. and hooked. looks like we may have found a new hobby!
xo