Monday, March 28, 2011
Road to Nowhere - Ukulele Style!
This is the live version of the song that we saw performed by the Wellington Ukulele Orchestra in Melbourne. It's also an appropriate theme song for our trip! Enjoy the magic of the ukulele orchestra!
Climbing in the BLUE MOUNTAINS
Hi there everybody!
So we have been in the Sydney area for about two weeks and it has been raining for most of that time. We had set aside two weeks to climb in Nowra and the Blue Mountains, but most of that time has been spent walking around Sydney trying not to spend money on all the awesome things that are here. Sydney is a beautiful city; one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. It's composed of inlets and bays, so there is water everywhere and ferries are a common means of transportation to the city or to the surrounding suburbs. In general, Sydney is an extraordinary mix of old and contemporary architecture and feels much more like a modern city. We spent the many rainy days wandering the central cities diverse areas, poking around in galleries, visiting the botanical gardens, and walking a lot! On the first sunny day, we lounged on the famous Bondi Beach and did a free yoga class hosted by Lululemon in one of the most beautiful settings that I have ever practiced - right on the grass overlooking the beach and surfers at dusk.
We waited around for the rain to break before we headed up to the Blue Mountains. The people that we are staying with graciously hooked us up with a car and camping/cooking gear so we could have an easier time of it. We headed up Wednesday, and it was a very pleasant two hour drive from the city center. When we left the air was very warm and smelled like the sea, but by the time we got to Blackheath, the air was downright cold and windy! We found a stunning, free campsite at Perry's Lookdown that had a bathroom and an amazing view of the Blue Mountains. We had a huge dinner of chicken curry and vegetables and passed out (sort of given the cold wind). The next morning we climbed at Shiply Upper in 45km per hr winds. We did three climbs and decided to stop and take a nap before going back and finishing the day with a great 19 lead. The next day the sun was out and the wind was calmer but it was a little colder non the less. We climbed with a very outgoing Italian named David. We did some 19's and I lead a 22 called "These People Are Sandwiches." It was excellent!
The next day, we ran into our French Canadian friend Pascal, from Arapiles and we decided to climb with him and his friend Philip and Evelyn. We drove to Mt. Victoria and climbed at the Zap Crag. Dimity lead an excellent 18! I tried to lead a 24 but got all beat up on it and gave up about halfway. The Australian grading is harder than the US. We had dinner with Pascal and co that night and by next morning it was raining. We waited the whole day and decided to spend the night and see what the next day would bring, but it only brought more rain. So we left the soggy, cold Bule Mountains behind and drove back to sunny Sydney.
We are going to try and go back to climb a few more routes that we really wanted to get on, but the weather will decide that for us.
Pray for sun everyone. Nolan
So we have been in the Sydney area for about two weeks and it has been raining for most of that time. We had set aside two weeks to climb in Nowra and the Blue Mountains, but most of that time has been spent walking around Sydney trying not to spend money on all the awesome things that are here. Sydney is a beautiful city; one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. It's composed of inlets and bays, so there is water everywhere and ferries are a common means of transportation to the city or to the surrounding suburbs. In general, Sydney is an extraordinary mix of old and contemporary architecture and feels much more like a modern city. We spent the many rainy days wandering the central cities diverse areas, poking around in galleries, visiting the botanical gardens, and walking a lot! On the first sunny day, we lounged on the famous Bondi Beach and did a free yoga class hosted by Lululemon in one of the most beautiful settings that I have ever practiced - right on the grass overlooking the beach and surfers at dusk.
We waited around for the rain to break before we headed up to the Blue Mountains. The people that we are staying with graciously hooked us up with a car and camping/cooking gear so we could have an easier time of it. We headed up Wednesday, and it was a very pleasant two hour drive from the city center. When we left the air was very warm and smelled like the sea, but by the time we got to Blackheath, the air was downright cold and windy! We found a stunning, free campsite at Perry's Lookdown that had a bathroom and an amazing view of the Blue Mountains. We had a huge dinner of chicken curry and vegetables and passed out (sort of given the cold wind). The next morning we climbed at Shiply Upper in 45km per hr winds. We did three climbs and decided to stop and take a nap before going back and finishing the day with a great 19 lead. The next day the sun was out and the wind was calmer but it was a little colder non the less. We climbed with a very outgoing Italian named David. We did some 19's and I lead a 22 called "These People Are Sandwiches." It was excellent!
The next day, we ran into our French Canadian friend Pascal, from Arapiles and we decided to climb with him and his friend Philip and Evelyn. We drove to Mt. Victoria and climbed at the Zap Crag. Dimity lead an excellent 18! I tried to lead a 24 but got all beat up on it and gave up about halfway. The Australian grading is harder than the US. We had dinner with Pascal and co that night and by next morning it was raining. We waited the whole day and decided to spend the night and see what the next day would bring, but it only brought more rain. So we left the soggy, cold Bule Mountains behind and drove back to sunny Sydney.
We are going to try and go back to climb a few more routes that we really wanted to get on, but the weather will decide that for us.
Pray for sun everyone. Nolan
Saturday, March 19, 2011
The Great Ocean Road
(Backing up a bit...) Our last weekend in Melbourne, Rony drove us down to the Great Ocean Road to Lorne and Wye River. This is the road that travels West from Melbourne (pronounced "mel-BIN" if I didn't already tell you) along the coast-line. All along the road are beautiful golden sand beaches with their cold waters full of surfers. Although our drive began soaked in sunshine, our rain god powers prevailed and sent tumbling dark clouds after us producing cool winds and a slight drizzle on and off all day.
Despite the changing weather pattern, we made it to Lorne, a tiny town full of cafes and boutiques right on the water. We stopped for a healthy and hearty lunch, walked along the beach against strong winds (the kind that keep you from falling over if you lean into it!), and chilled out on the grass to immerse ourselves in our books and/or take a nap.
A few hours of relaxation, and we were on our way to meet Rony's friend Pip in Wye River, the next town on the coast that consists of a general store/cafe, and a pub. This endearing town is set on a tiny beach with houses dotting the hill. One of those houses was where Pip lives. As the head baker at the new cafe associated with the general store, Pip receives accommodation in a beautiful house overlooking the ocean. Next to his house there are tall trees that are home to a couple of koalas - one of which we saw the following morning!
Among Pip's many talents, including baking, guitar, painting (I'm sure there are many more), he is learning the piano specifically to play a few songs that he loves, including a Bach piece that I was familiar with. I got down to playing, and Rony and I spent a good deal of time playing a single piece together (one on the right hand and one on the left - with which we're both slightly lost!) after a satisfying meal at the pub.
The following morning we had a leisurely breakfast decidedly in no hurry to get back to the city. Although it was a long weekend, we assumed the traffic wouldn't be bad until the evening. I guess everyone had the same idea as us, leading to four hours of traffic (poor Rony drove through it all!). Despite the weather, it was lovely to see such a gorgeous area right near the city as well as Rony's "summer home" when she was growing up.
On the way back, we stopped at Bells Beach, renowned for its appearance in the movie "Point Break," with Keaneu Reeves and watched people parasailing over the mountains...not a bad way to spend a weekend!!
Despite the changing weather pattern, we made it to Lorne, a tiny town full of cafes and boutiques right on the water. We stopped for a healthy and hearty lunch, walked along the beach against strong winds (the kind that keep you from falling over if you lean into it!), and chilled out on the grass to immerse ourselves in our books and/or take a nap.
A few hours of relaxation, and we were on our way to meet Rony's friend Pip in Wye River, the next town on the coast that consists of a general store/cafe, and a pub. This endearing town is set on a tiny beach with houses dotting the hill. One of those houses was where Pip lives. As the head baker at the new cafe associated with the general store, Pip receives accommodation in a beautiful house overlooking the ocean. Next to his house there are tall trees that are home to a couple of koalas - one of which we saw the following morning!
Among Pip's many talents, including baking, guitar, painting (I'm sure there are many more), he is learning the piano specifically to play a few songs that he loves, including a Bach piece that I was familiar with. I got down to playing, and Rony and I spent a good deal of time playing a single piece together (one on the right hand and one on the left - with which we're both slightly lost!) after a satisfying meal at the pub.
The following morning we had a leisurely breakfast decidedly in no hurry to get back to the city. Although it was a long weekend, we assumed the traffic wouldn't be bad until the evening. I guess everyone had the same idea as us, leading to four hours of traffic (poor Rony drove through it all!). Despite the weather, it was lovely to see such a gorgeous area right near the city as well as Rony's "summer home" when she was growing up.
On the way back, we stopped at Bells Beach, renowned for its appearance in the movie "Point Break," with Keaneu Reeves and watched people parasailing over the mountains...not a bad way to spend a weekend!!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Ode to Mother Nature: We do NOT want to be rain gods!
Let me start by saying that in every city in which we've visited friends and family, our hosts continuously apologize for the bad weather and often say things like "this isn't normal," "you just missed a week of beautiful, hot weather," "I swear, it's never like this here!" "This isn't the [insert city] we like to show off."
Hence the epiphany that Nolan and I are, in fact, rain gods, a possibility we've been speculating since we brought two weeks of torrential downpour to the start of Costa Rica's dry season last fall.
Given our lack of employment, I'd like to follow-up this epiphany by doing the responsible thing, of course. I'd like to offer our services as rain gods to those of you in hot, dry climates who need a bit of cooling off. Perhaps some watering for your garden? A chance to refill those rivers and ponds you're depending on for your hot afternoon dip? Seriously, we'd be happy to help.
Lastly, I'd like to ask Mother Nature to please revoke our powers and give them back to whomever had them prior to Nolan and me. We certainly do not like our special powers, and we'd like to exchange them for something like...teletransport. This is the sort of power that would greatly facilitate our travels. You see, we're both active folks, and we especially like rock climbing.
Rock climbing in the rain can be dangerous and dirty business, and this special power of ours seems to be interfering with our primary interest during our trip - not to mention it floods our tent and sends all sorts of unfavorable creates seeking refuge under our tarp.
We'd like to thank you for that stint of sunshine in Castle Hill, and again for those four hot days in the Arapiles, but please, Mother Nature, we don't want to be rain gods any longer. We want to frolick on the cliffs of the Blue Mountains! We want to dance along the routes of Thompson's Point (which had a perfect weather forecast until we got within an hour of it!).
So please (and if you can all help send this request along), make that little rain cloud over our heads disappear and dissolve into endless sunshine!!
Your ever-grateful earth-dwellers,
Dimity & Nolan
Hence the epiphany that Nolan and I are, in fact, rain gods, a possibility we've been speculating since we brought two weeks of torrential downpour to the start of Costa Rica's dry season last fall.
Given our lack of employment, I'd like to follow-up this epiphany by doing the responsible thing, of course. I'd like to offer our services as rain gods to those of you in hot, dry climates who need a bit of cooling off. Perhaps some watering for your garden? A chance to refill those rivers and ponds you're depending on for your hot afternoon dip? Seriously, we'd be happy to help.
Lastly, I'd like to ask Mother Nature to please revoke our powers and give them back to whomever had them prior to Nolan and me. We certainly do not like our special powers, and we'd like to exchange them for something like...teletransport. This is the sort of power that would greatly facilitate our travels. You see, we're both active folks, and we especially like rock climbing.
Rock climbing in the rain can be dangerous and dirty business, and this special power of ours seems to be interfering with our primary interest during our trip - not to mention it floods our tent and sends all sorts of unfavorable creates seeking refuge under our tarp.
We'd like to thank you for that stint of sunshine in Castle Hill, and again for those four hot days in the Arapiles, but please, Mother Nature, we don't want to be rain gods any longer. We want to frolick on the cliffs of the Blue Mountains! We want to dance along the routes of Thompson's Point (which had a perfect weather forecast until we got within an hour of it!).
So please (and if you can all help send this request along), make that little rain cloud over our heads disappear and dissolve into endless sunshine!!
Your ever-grateful earth-dwellers,
Dimity & Nolan
Friday, March 11, 2011
Arapiles or Arachnides?
This past weekend, we ventured to Mt. Arapiles, a giant mountain of sandstone emerging from the flat plains of the surrounding area. No longer with plans to work and back on a mean daily budget, we posted on chockstone.org - the Victoria climbing forum - to hitch a ride to the mount. To our wonderful luck, Steve Toal, a local Melburnian and avid climber, offered to drive us up. We met him at his office, and drove up with his work friend Mae, a climber from Malaysia. On the way up, we stopped for delicious pizza in a smoky restaurant where waitresses rarely approach your table as well as groceries to keep us going for the week.
Around 10:45pm we arrived to The Pines campsite and easily set up our tiny tent while watching Steve erect a massive tarp equipped with table, stove-top, gas-run fridge, and other luxury camping amenities. Above us, there was thick sea of stars swirling in the black sky...clear skies - the first in a while! We woke up to a view of orange cliffs towering behind us. Swallowing down our usual camp breakfast of oatmeal and fixings, we racked up and headed off to the Organ Pipes to reacquaint ourselves with trad climbing (where you place your own gear in the rock). We scrambled up three beautiful, moderate one and two-pitch climbs (Piccolo, D Major, and Muldoon) and called it a day. During the climbs we watched black lizards shuttling over the rock and through the cracks; in fact, on my first one, a lizard emerged from a crack directly above my left hand!On our way back to the campsite the ground was alive with crickets jump out of our path, on us, and all throughout the air. Clearly, there was a lot more wildlife going on in Oz compared with the mundane wasps and sandflies of NZ.
Saturday night in the campsite consisted of our cooking a typical quinoa camp meal next to Steve who had whipped up a chicken korma curry follwed by a fig and date cake with butterscoth sauce for his friend Joe's birthday (another bloke who randomly offered us a ride up and happened to be Steve's buddy!). Feeling especially lucky that we were taken on by Steve, we enjoyed all of his delicacies including wine and champagne.
Over the next week we contended with gigantic (I mean GIGANTIC) spiders and webs as we bushwacked to various climbs, struggled to stay cool in the heat (finally!), tiptoed through the million milipedes in the campsite and up the bathroom walls (I generally opted for the woods), and spraying away the persistent mosquitoes that somehow decided to target my buttocks...through my pants. By Wednesday, a very rainy day, we were ready for a shower. Robbie, our newfound friend and campsite neighbor, drove us to the caravan park in town to disinfect our bodies. An old-timer to the Arapiles, Robbie has been climbing there for years and is now in his 60's; despite having battled prostate cancer last year, he is still lead-climbing anything up to a 5.8 on the Arapiles various walls. Back at camp, we had a new friend Bija, a fellow American who spends half of the year working in Antarctica as part of a team of 1,000 people supporting the scientists! We all shared a meal and some vino under Robbie's tent Wednesday night to escape the unrelenting rain that brought on an unwanted rest day.
Thursday morning we woke up to a cold and blustery day and decided to pack it in and head back to the city. Our tent was caked with dirt and debris inside and out and we had not been sleeping well due to weather and/or noisy campers bumping music throughout the night (appalling behavior for a campsite!).
My brain is faltering after a day of nonstop planning, walking, and watching devastating news from Japan...so I'll pass the pen to Nolan.
~ Dimity
Everything that Dimity said is the truth. For all my climber friends or anyone who is interested in climbing, the stone at Arapilies is AMAZING! There are over 2,000 climbs in less than a kilometer that is right on the campsite. It is a super solid sandstone that is different shades of yellow/gold, red and grey. Most climbs are multi-pitch routs with the longest being around 6-8 pitches. There are also very short routes and places to set up top rope on hard climbs. There is excellent protection on most of the climbs and the the routes eat up nut placements with bolt placements where the the pro gets thin. All in all it is some of the best climbing that I have ever done, and I highly recommend it to everyone who wants an epic climbing adventure.
Some of the other pro's to climbing there is the campground... The campsite is located at the base of the cliffs (the furthest spot to climb at is about a 20 min walk) and is heavily shaded by tall pine trees. It has running water and toilets that flush!!!! The local climbers are a tight knit crew and are all very friendly - most will offer you coffee or beer (depending on the time of day) just to sit and have a chat and give you some local knowledge. Most everyone we meet was either in the guidebook or knew someone who is in the guidebook.
Some of the things that make it a wildcard of a place to climb is that the weather is unpredictable and variable. One day you will be melting and only climbing in shade, then by night you can be freezing in your sleeping bag. Or vice a versa... Keep an eye out for spiders... Huge. No joke. Seriously. Big spiders. The other funky thing is that you have to bring your own bolt plates for the bolts and the bolts are only in the hardest parts of the climbs. But that makes it just that much more fun.
Now we are going to have some beach time and then more climbing in the Blue Mountains and Point Perpendicular closer to Sydney.
Till later, Nolan
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Coffee Culture Down Under
Kiwis and Aussies claim to be coffee snobs, for better or worse. Everywhere you go, you can only get an espresso (called a short or long black) or a cappuccino (called a flat white), which is great, but it is mostly milk and its gone in two seconds. One second if you are Dimity. We look high and low for a "drip coffee" and the only place where we found one was in Starbucks. I know it sounds lame to travel to the other side of the world and go to Starbucks, but it was sweet joy. We had big cups of coffee the way that we love and were able to walk around downtown Melbourne sipping on delicious black gold. We also came to the realization that being in a Starbucks felt like being back home in a way. It has the consistency around the globe like Indian restaurants or Chines food places - you can be anywhere in the world, but they are all the same (or similar).
Now we happily go back to our flat whites and long blacks and wait for the day when we can have regular coffee on a daily basis.
The pros of Australian Coffee:
1. Delicious (no one can argue that) like dessert coffee 24/7
2. Beautifully served with hearts or sweet designs drawn into the milky foam.
3. Cute (read: small).
4. Cafe culture means it's normal to drink coffee all day long while sitting and reading or chatting to friends
The CONS of Australian Coffee
1. Too small
2. Too expensive
3. Not enough caffeine to get you charging around like a mad bull
4. Too much milk or none at all.
5. Takes forever to make one
6. You only get one size (small or smaller)
7. Highly competitive
Now we happily go back to our flat whites and long blacks and wait for the day when we can have regular coffee on a daily basis.
The pros of Australian Coffee:
1. Delicious (no one can argue that) like dessert coffee 24/7
2. Beautifully served with hearts or sweet designs drawn into the milky foam.
3. Cute (read: small).
4. Cafe culture means it's normal to drink coffee all day long while sitting and reading or chatting to friends
The CONS of Australian Coffee
1. Too small
2. Too expensive
3. Not enough caffeine to get you charging around like a mad bull
4. Too much milk or none at all.
5. Takes forever to make one
6. You only get one size (small or smaller)
7. Highly competitive
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
It's a "Koala" not a "Koala-Bear."
Healesville Excursion:
Last weekend we spent a blissful Friday night chowing down on veggie food at a place called Veggie Bar on Brunswick St. The street itself is packed full of cafes, bars, restaurants, and funky boutiques that cater to the nearby Melbourne Uni students and travelers. Noticing the array of accents in the restaurant, we decided to come back and interview there on Tuesday night, one of the two interview sessions they conduct a week (yeah, not promising...).
On Saturday we were treated to a lovely excursion to Healesville with Susi and Rony. Healesville is a small town in the middle of the Yarra Valley (read: wine country). We headed first to Giant Steps, a winery restaurant, where we sampled wines before picking our favorite to accompany our delicious pizza that was smothered with garlic and fresh veggies (or in Nolan's case, spicy salami that made me sweat through the rest of my lunch). Feeling happily satiated, we headed to Healesville Sanctuary where we saw every typical Australian animal you could dream of...next to the walkway, Koala's snored away while daintily perched in the fork of tree branches (it's a wonder they don't fall off). Underneath the sleeping Koala's, echnidas, ant-eaters that look like porcupines and adorn the Australian dollar coin, scurried about seaching for god knows what! We saw Kangaroos lazing about (no they didn't respond to our commands of "jump!"), and we got to pet dingos that roamed the path with their trainers - they look uncannily like my dog Toby. A lot of the animals we saw were sleeping, but we did get some action from the Emu's - giant birds with tiny heads - which were grunting and clearly protecting their territories. At the end of our visit, we went into the flying arena, where we saw a lyrebird, a beautiful bird with magnificent feathers for a tail. Upon hearing us approach, the lyrebird went straight up to Nolan and had a stare-off with him while he snapped photos.
All in all it was a beautiful day. Full as a bull from our extravagant lunch, Nolan, Susi and I had some cheeses, dips, and meats from the market and then packed it in for an early night.
Week in Melbourne:
This week in Melbourne has been a bit of stressful time as our plans (get jobs asap and start raking in the cash) hasn't exactly gone according to plan. We spent most of the week passing our resumes to restaurants and stores, but everywhere told us that they had just done a big hiring (in sync with the start of the uni term), and were no longer looking for new people. The climbing gym, despite woes of being understaffed, still have not called us, which would have been the perfect job. Nolan scored two yoga classes at a gym, but isn't CPR/First Aid qualified here and the pay wouldn't exactly help us if I'm not working either.
On a positive note, karma or coincidence helped us find a place to stay. While discussing our options rent a hostel room for a lot of money or a dumpy share-house room with a bunch of uni students for a slightly lower price, a woman overehead us and said she had a spare room that we could rent for $170/w. So now we're about two blocks from Susi's place with our own bedroom/bathroom and free range to cook!
On a positive note, karma or coincidence helped us find a place to stay. While discussing our options rent a hostel room for a lot of money or a dumpy share-house room with a bunch of uni students for a slightly lower price, a woman overehead us and said she had a spare room that we could rent for $170/w. So now we're about two blocks from Susi's place with our own bedroom/bathroom and free range to cook!
In terms of work, we've reassessed our situation and decided that it might be best to move on. Tomorrow we head out to Mt. Arapiles to climb for a week, and then we're heading up the east coast via the Greyhound bus to Sydney where we'll look for more work. We're excited to explore the beautiful nature and beaches along the east coast!
In other news, we've got our walking legs back as we've traversed nearly the entire city by foot, including the beautiful waterfront beach area which was reminiscent of L.A., and our running regime is still going.
More next week when we return from climbing!
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