Play by Play

Hey there one and all!
So I thought I'd give you guys a run down of what's been shaking down here in the NZ.

So I've been in Castle Hill New Zealand about 45 days now. Climbing two days on one day off.
When I first got here I was amazed with the amount of rock I could see. It surrounds you as you sit in the center of the Castle Hill Valley. What I didn't know having never climbed on limestone before is that it doesn't make for a lot of holds. So there maybe 15000 boulders. But 90% of them are blank or short little mantles. But and this is a big but there all is a whole lot of world class problems as well. There just not as close to one another as one would hope for.

I landed here and my good buddy Pete picked me up at the airport and we drove the hour and half drive to the boulders. As we rolled into Spittle Hill the sun was setting and I was psyched! It's so beautiful it's crazy. It's like Lord of the Rings! But it was also to dark to go walk around so I had to save it for the next day.

The next day we headed into Spittle Hill the closest of all the areas. And got straight to work. What I learned right away that the rings and dips I'd been doing for the last 4 months didn't help with the slick feet. The wind or just the number of people climbing here has made for some scary polished feet. So no amount of upper body strength is going to help when you press up into a slab. But I managed a couple problems.
So the next day we picked up Tim.

I'm getting kicked off the computer right so I'll finish this later needless to say I am awesome and I climbed all my projects and had a wonderful time.

Another Blog!

What's up people! Or Person! You know who know who you are. So Another week another cold. Damnit! So We went down to the Hulk Hogan climbing area, Kind of cool but not enough to keep all the little Hulksters happy. We only spent one day there. Then back to Castle Hill.

I have been away now for a month. And only three weeks left. I'm having a good time though I don't know how I'll describe this place when I get back. Cool looking but the problems aren't that aesthetic. That and rumors of 15000 problems are way over exaggerated. I mean if you count every rock as a problem then maybe. But I'm guessing in the main area there is only 400 problems.

Flock Hill is very cool and the place with the best looking lines. Though it is an hour up hill hike everyday.

I'm climbing cool stuff. And hope top do a project or two before I go.

No Pictures today stupid internet. Sorry Next time.


Later.

New Zealand Pic's and Update.

Howdy All! Or my mom as she's the only one who looks at this.

So I've been in New Zealand about ten days now. Down in the South Island about an hour and half outside of Christchurch. In a place called Castle Hill.

I've been hanging out with a couple friends.

Pete and Tim.

We've been bouldering alot since we've got here. And let me tell you, the style here is hard. Mantles, Pockets, Sleek feet, and tall problems. So all and all it makes for a lot of fun with a couple of tears in between.

Well one of the funny things about Castle Hill is that it has mountain Parrots. Called Kai's. Smart little buggers. They work in teams and eat just about anything. Just ask Pete who got his thermarest eaten. So we learned fast not to leave food in our tents or say just outside our van.

Tim, Pete and myself bought a 1989 Toyota van. Quite the gem! But it runs good and if all works out well we can sell it when we leave and get back all our money... Yeah right! But it's a plan. The insurance here is so cheap. 12 dollars a month. Nice! But gas cost 1.84 a liter. so that's not cheap.
But Brad is showing up today and we'll make him pay for gas until he leaves. Or throws a fit and we agree to split it four ways.

Well I'm off to buy a bagel and maybe get a drink catch you all in a couple days.

Wedding Pictures

A Ride in the park.






A power house of a best man.

Australia Weddings

So a quick 15 hour flight and I'm down under. One strip search, and my friends picked me up and straight to a suit fitting and refit. Apparently everyone in Australia are Tyrannosauruses Rex's.

Short arm freaks!

After some quick fixes I was off to the rehearsal. A few dodged bullets and one angry ex. I've made out with only a seven year coma. Then out for pints and eats. Few! The next morning I got up super early and went surfing. Though I forgot sun screen on my legs. So third degree burns on my legs. And a evening of crying.

Garrett, Graham, Gerritt and myself all found ourselves some drinks and spent the evening trying to kill Garrett. Having Garrett jump off a forty cliff in the pitch dark where the ocean underneath was full of sea urchins.

Good times.

Another day and another wedding! Good times free drinks! Maybe too many drinks. I made the best man speech. Then the true best man made a better speech. So in the end it all worked out for the best.

Well tomorrow I head to New Zealand for the bouldering part of my trip.

Updating soon.