Last weekend offered me up ANOTHER 4 day weekend due to a paid holiday on a Tuesday and a slight case of "goddaclimbitis" on Monday. A 2 car caravan of us went back up to the Whaepapa South region, north of Taupo. We stayed at "Castle Rock Adventure" lodge, which is a very flash hostel/ retreat/ get-away place literally across the street from one of the ignimbrite climbing areas. The place had a full living room, full kitchen,5 bunk houses, a tennis court, a pool and a HOT TUB!!!! Perhaps a bit to flashy for a bunch of dirtbag climbers.... but we were able to make do!
To be honest, as different as the ignimbrite climbing is, my main crew (Claydon and Jenna) were pretty sick of pulling on sharp volcanic pockets after the first day (although we did manage to squeeze in a new route or 2 at Froggert), so we made the 45 minute drive to go bouldering at the limestone boulders of the Airstrtip (my favorite bouldering spot in the whole North island). The pictures we took that day were so good that the whole group came on day 3. Tuesday was a rain day, so on the way home we stopped at the free natural hot pools in Taupo for a god 2 hour soak.... ahh, nothing like an almost boiling sulfer river an a few COLD beers to cure what ails you after a weekend of climbing!
The week was mostly unproductive, but only 3 days long, which I must admit I quite like! This past weekend I was scheduled to lead an advanced trad climbing course with MUAC, but thankfully no one signed up and it rained.... so Claydon and I went up to Maganapopo (a cool mtn LOADED with good cliffs 2 hours north of Palmy) and did a bit of aid climbing and a bit of exploring. Aid climbing (again, for the masses) is not rock climbing per say, it is climbing up a rock by means of small rope or webbing ladders hung of pieces of gear stuffed into fractures in the rock. It offers a much mor mental challange than free climbing does, and it CAN be done on wet rock. Man, I really do love this stuff, eh?