Ok, HI.... sorry I've been so negligent. This is a post to let everyone know I am alive and well. Let's se....I have recently: suffered from a MAJOR tooth ache, got a rotten wisdom ripped out of my head, entered a bouldering comp (still don't know how I placed... not in the top 5, but I was there to beat myself not anyone else), explored 2 new climbing areas rich in (unclimbed) multi-pitch limestone, did the usual work week thing along with the occasional beer and dinner out.
Cristin and I have been spending some time together again now that she is back on the North Island. I am not sure where it is going to go... but seeing her again made me realise how much I missed her. We spent a week (the final week of my climbing vacation) together up in Whanganui Bay (again!) climbing with a group of friends. Towards the end of the week evryone else headed out and Cris and I got to spend some quality climb time together.... just like the good old days. I have been really exited about trad climbinmg as of late, so I dragged poor Cris up some pretty nasty little crack climbs. Some where to tight for fingers, some you could stuff your whole body into.... most of them where pretty dirty so we ended up wearing a lot of moss and mud. It was fun to hear the old familiar battle cry of Cristin the Truck driver mouth as she bulled her way up a few of the real test pieces!
We were going to leave that Friday, but do to a minor incedent involving her car and some mud, we were forced (oh well) to stay an extra day and catch a lift with some other climbers back to Palmy. The big downer to the weekend was we were miles away from civilisation and THAT was when my tooth really started to act up... figures!
So back for a week of work, and then this past weekend a group of us went up to the first of the NZ national boulder comp series at a spot called the airstrip near Waiatomo (a limestone wonderland). I managed to get up a V6, 2 V5's 3 V4's and a heap of V2's and 3's. Again, for non-climbers.... all that really means is I REALLY pushed myself and was properly sore all over at the end of the day! Thankfully, the $10 entry fee for the comp included a post climb BBQ complete with beer and a free bouldering guide to boot!
As that it was a long weekend, a group from the comp hooked up with my group (Cristin, Johanna and Me aka "team Palmerston") and we went to check out 2 local climbing spots over the next couple of days. Again... tons of fun on tons of good rock with really cool people. This place ROCKS!