Knitting Injury

It seems that after 4 pairs of socks and five pairs of babies booties I have a serious pain between my shoulder blades that I'm attributing at this point to poor knitting posture. I've discovered that if I knit whilst lying face down on the couch with my arms and head hanging off the end I can still knit. But I can't knit and watch tele. Damnation!

Bouldering after The Sickness

Last Monday night the old Bruce Street crew came around for food at our place, it was a bring your own and share occasion and we all did just that. Friday morning I awoke with a HUGE hangover and a leaden stomach. I struggled into work for a meeting during which I tried not to throw up in, and then seemed to perk up a bit. After meeting with Jo for lunch and deciding that all I could stomach was a fruit frappe, I headed back to Jo's office for a nap, where I quickly realized that I may in fact be sick, and not just hungover (I didn't actually drink that much..)On the way back to my office I threw up 10 times, and only just managed to get my stuff and make it home. At home I deteriorated into a spewing shitting mess of hopelessness where I eventually fell asleep, empty and green. This went on for a few days where I couldn't really eat anything more substantial than a boiled potato.

On Wednesday I met Mikl's messy sister for the first time. She grated on my nerves, and I felt like a snob letting her habits irritate me, but Mikl pointed out that where I grew up everyone was always fucked up and I had spent my life from that starting point getting away from there, where she has spent her life moving from a very good upbringing migrating to that from which I had run away. This would explain the irritiation. I sat there, feeling green, at a "cook your own" steak place with Julia, her lovely daughter (Viv, who really is a sweetie) and her boyfriend (also a sweetie), her latest son from another father (a nice boy, hemipleigic, named Jack), Mikl, and Julia's worlds most obese person for a boyfriend. The worlds most obese person was actually very nice, which also irritated me. I sat there watching Julia, who was drunk before we even got there, order a boconcinni and basil bread, then take it over to the condiment table and add about three cups of sour cream, sweet chillie sauce, and some BBQ sauce for good measure. Then, when the bread was too hard at the edges to eat , she softened it up by pouring a bit of beer on it. Out of all the things that grated on my nerves, the total disrespect for eating as a pleasurous event was the most frustrating.

By Friday I had recovered mostly, but was eating relatively small meals and still not exercising.

Saturday was too good a day to waste. We went to the Spit, just north of Sydney (but still in Sydney) on Saturday for a spot of bouldering. I watched mostly, but pulled on a few things that didn't involve pulling really really hard with my fingers, including a juggy roof traverse and an evil mantle, which i didn't pull off but managed to scrape my arm repeatedly.

Went to work to try to make something with the fake lego bit. Mikl and I had dinner with George and Sally and the cats.

Sunday we headed to Lindfield rocks in North Sydney, where I ticked a few problems I was too scared to use my hands on last time, namely Kims arete and this traverse problem on a boulder. Very nice!

Both days the sun came out after a chilly start followed by a big blue sky. Went to North Head to admire the view and then to Manly for more sightseeing. Retired early for some knitting and Gosford Park on the tele.

The new route is actually a 20

Easter long weekend

Headed south to Point Perpendicular. Mikl and I had never been there, and our expectation of crappy rock based on our Sydney sea-cliffs experience was dashed by the bomber placements and consistently solid holds. Sweet!! Of the things I led, the highlight was Grey Mist, a gorgeous trad 17.

After a few days at the Point and meeting up with Kev and this dude Dave, we headed to Mollymook to play with George and Sally.









Back to Sydney on Sunday nightso we could go climbing in the blueies with Megan. Headed out to Mt Piddington (Megan had never been to the Blueies!). I climbed with Megan and Samantha, who had just started climbing. We actually climbed quite quickly as a party of 3. Mikl climbed with Kev but managed to bolt me a brand new spanking route, which I sent at 18,although it did have a mantle in it. Great day.

No shame in backing off

Saturday: Mikl and I went to Mt Piddington in the Blueies. It was cold, I jumped on Taurus, a trad "16" (5-8) near the walk down track. It was in the shade. The gear is tricky on this climb, and after placing a few mediocre pieces I got scared of taking out a just too small cam to replace with something better, and headed up through the crox to what i thought would be a better placement. Then I realized that I didn't have a ny hexex and my number 4 friend I wasn't happy with. So with frozen hands/fingers/arms I came down and sent Mikl up to get my gear. Then I climbed a 17 to redeem myself (5-8+).

In the glorious afternoon sun we headed out for a photo shoot of "Hotel California" with our friend climbing photographer Simon Carter. The sky couldn't have been bluer and the light was just magical, but we all could have done without the roaring wind. We rapped in two pitches and Mikl led the third last pitch, a few times, for the camera. I led the second last pitch just as the sun was setting (no great photos there I think) and we walked out in twilight. Aside from getting out ropes snagged in the horrible wind a few times, it was a very magical climb.

Picture of Mt Arapiles (from the Grampians)

Its the weekend

I've had one of those slow weeks when you do a lot of thinking but not much doing. Tonight I'm meetin gup with a friends I haven;t seen for a few years, her boyfriend, and another dear friend who's just back from living in Germany for the past 2 years. To celebrate, I'm roasting a dead chicken.

My Lego bit is a fake

I thought I'd found a big bottle of a ligand I needed to make a cool thing. I had ana analysis done yesterday, and the bottle is actually a mixture of the ligand, but there is a significant amount of something else in there that I don't known what it is. Bummerama dudes.

Back to my scratching post..

Charity

Offwidths at Mt Piddington

Ripped out the trad rack (as I have consistently been doing for the past short while) and headed up the hill Saturday morning with a Champagne hangover.

Climbed "The Spartan" a three pitch 5-8. I'd heard there was an offwidth section, but that it was easy and impossible to fall off, so I didn't bother gathering any big cams or other gear. We walked by some old blokes with a rack of number 4-5 cams, and Mikl suggested I borrow them. I started to worry a bit, and carried on about not wanting to do anything you needed anything bigger than a number 4 for, but caved in after they looked like I might die in response to my not wanting the gear but going off to climb the Spartan. Anyhoo - Mikl led the first easy pitch and I lead the crux pitch, which does indeed have a hefty offwidth start that I ver nearly did fall off after refusing point blamk to jam my foot into the section. Very nearly fell off, very very glad of cams, that were, if anything, slightly too small. Got to the jug at the top and destressed for about 20 mins. It was freezing with a howling wind, and I was pumped stupid as a result. The next bit of the pitch traversed out for 15m under a huge roof on underclimgs that I really wished I had hexes for (Mikl left them at home as we were planning on a doing a new route somewhere else but it was too cold). At the end of th etraverse you throw yourself up into a flaring chimney, get a good head /body jam, then grovel up and out onto a ledge. All this sounds grose, but it was actually OK. The next pitch was a hideous one move wonder chimney to the top which Mikl led, but I should have as I would have fitted through the chimney a lot better on lead.

Next route was a 5-8+ jam crack (Psychopath) that I absolutely hurtled up as I borrowed someones crack gloves for. Man - I am SO buying myself some of those beauties. The crack, BTW, is not considered 5-8+ by anyone normal, but more like 5-10 at least.

Last crack of the day - The Eternity - another 5-8+, except I had to give back the crack gloves and bruised the shit out of my hands as a result. Oh well

Sunday
After a night of Japanese food, wine, and watching Saturdau night fever followed by a U2 concert series at Moss and Cokes place, we headed to the Station to pick up our friend Rob to climb with.

Mikl went off bolting nearby and Rob belayed me up Tombstone Wall (5-7+) where I discovered that I was trashed from yesterday. I managed to wail my way through the crux and then decidede to drop a few grades.

Mikl came back and ran up Cafe Racer (5-8) which is not really 5-8, or even 5-9, or even 5-10 for that matter, and has no gear through the v1 roof move until you get up the wall a few metres. Quite mad. I happily seconded this.

After Rob and Mikl took off to climb some harder stuff, I ate lunch then had a well-deserved snooze. After lunch I decided top redeem my offwidthing skills by practising on Charity, a 5-5 offwidth corner with no holds on the walls either side to change your options with. I collected several large cams from nearby parties, and headed up. After desperately trying to find a better way, I accepted the obvious and stuck my foot in the crack which worked a treat. Satisfied that this technique would not have worked at all on Spartan the previous day due to the very soft shoes I was wearing, I topped out only to find that as typical for the area, the "tree" that one raps off in guide was nowhere in sigfht and I was forced to drop down around the arete at grade 5-10 to gain the rap anchors.

All in all a good weekend, and offwidthing lessons that were well learned. Perhaps I'll regain the use of my abdominal muscles by the end off the week.