Sweatin' in Bangkok

Good morning from Bangkok! Robin and I have moved on from Sydney and are currently in Bangkok but only for one more day before we depart for Nepal where we will be doing both the Annapurna Circuit and the Everest trek (bodies permitting). We will be in Nepal until a few days before Christmas when we will return to Bangkok before heading down to Southern Thailand for a whole lotta climbing, diving and laying on beaches...

Just to wrap up our past couple of weeks. After Queenstown, we drove to the east coast of NZ to Dunedin and made our way up to Christchurch over a couple of days. As Robin mentioned, we did stop and see some penguins (or "Pen-goo-eens" as Robin says) which I'm pretty sure made her trip. We were also chased off of a beach by a rogue Sea Lion. The east coast is much quieter than the west coast which fine in order to rest up for our upcoming invasion of Castle Hill. We spent one day in Christchurch getting supplies and the necessary climbing gear (aka. a crashpad) and on the Friday morning we drove into the mountains and after an hour we spotted the boulders! Had I been driving I'm pretty sure I was have killed up both by driving off of the road into the river or ditch but Robin was nice enough to drive so I could gawk!

The bouldering at Castle Hill is magical. You don't even need to be climber to go and experience this area. The landscape is out of this world. Some parts of Lord of the Rings were filmed in the region (Flock Hill). There were tons of tourists walking among the hulking rocks of limestone but I wasn't there to gawk...I was there to crush (and be crushed). I quickly learned that whatever grade was in the guidebook was a bit of farce. Many of the "easier" problems are so polished and what was once a V0 is now closer to V4 (similar to No U-Turn in the glen). There few to no holds on the problems. Only pockets and the occasional edge. It's all about squeezing the life out of slopers and then the dreaded Castle Hill top-out. Pulling yourself over the top of a round bulge with 3-4 metres beneath your feet is quite the head-game. Took some getting used to. There are some crazy highballs if you're into that stuff...I was not as I only had one pad and Robin, and she was not happy about the possibility of me taking some HUGE falls.

Robin had not done any climbing since her spill in Payne's Ford but on the 2nd day at Castle Hill she strapped on some shoes and started crushing! She was able to send some pretty impressive mantle problems as she has amazing balance. She even had to show me how to top out a problem she flashed, yet I could not! I'm pretty sure she'll tell this to every person we climb with from now on!

We had a great 4 days of climbing, with a 1 day break in the middle relaxing in Arthur's Pass. While we were in Arthur's Pass, there was news of a guide who had gone missing in the mountains and we were witness to search helicopters flying through the surrounding mountains. The village is a very small community with about 50 full time residents who all service the area's tourist/guiding industry. Unfortunately, the bad news came that he had taken a fall on one of the peaks and didn't make it. It was a very sobering moment for everyone including us and definitely puts everything into perspective. Regardless of how good you are at something, it only takes one thing to go wrong and....Sorry for the downer moment...

We climbed 2 more days in Castle Hill where I was able to send two projects, 'The Classic' and 'Dominatrix'. Both were V5 but as I mentioned before, grades really mean nothing here. They were ridiculously hard and took quite a few goes and quite a lot of skin. Our last day I ended up trying the mantle test piece of the area, 'The Unrepeatable'. This is one move wonder; the mantle. Unfortunately I was another victim of the problem and it spit me off repeatedly while scraping skin from my forearms and ankles....NEXT TIME....

After Castle Hill, we went to the cottage town of Akaroa just an hour from Christchurch for a couple of days of chill before we went back to Christchurch and onto Sydney. The town a picturesque, bay-side town with great waterfront cafes and phenomenal views from our campsite. This was our last destination with Lucas (our van) so was were able to get a campsite which overlooked the town and bay...well worth it! After two days, we took the long way back to Christchurch. The road winds along the highest point of the peninsula overlooking the water from many different points. We did a couple of short hikes and enjoyed some oceanfront coffee before heading into Christchurch. Our last couple of days in Christchurch were spent packing, walking around the centre of town, and trying to best figure out how to deal with our upcoming confrontation with Emirates Airlines about our excess baggage fees. When we arrived at the airport to leave, we were lucky to deal with some very friendly people and they gave us quite a discount on our luggage fees. Instead of having to pay the full amount we only paid about $100 Cdn. The flight to Emirates was great. Our plane had all the amenities and the staff were super nice.

Once we arrived in Sydney, we took off to the hostel and upon our arrival, we pretty much called it a night. The next day we were up early as we only had 2 days to explore the city before leaving. We took the subway to where the ferries dock and walked around the area, had some breakfast and then took a ferry to Manly beach. I can see why so many people love the beaches in the city. The sand is so white and soft and the ocean is picture-perfect! We saw quite a few surfers getting abused by the surf but there were a couple who knew there stuff and it was pretty impressive to watch. After returning back on the ferry, we visited the Opera House. I guess that you have to see it on a sunny day, otherwise the "white" roof isn't so white. The architecture is pretty impressive though. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the park and then headed back into the core where we went to the rotating bar overlooking the city. I also have to add that the Melbourne Cup took place that day and it's pretty much a national holiday. Everyone gets dressed up and by 12pm, I'm pretty sure that there was not a soul at work. The bars and restaurants were full and we must have looked like bums to all the people in the rotating restaurant when we showed up! Ah well...they were happy to take our money anyways. For dinner we found a great (and quite tiny) Italian restaurant called Dolcetta. This "hole in the wall" restaurant served me some of the best Gnocchi I've ever had! Now i'm hungry...

The next day we went to Cooggee Beach and spent a good chunk of the day walking along the water. That evening was spent packing as we had to leave quite early the next morning.
I have to add that we found the BEST coffee spot in Sydney! If anyone is ever in the Surry Hills area and in need of a caffeine fix, visit Single Origin Roasters. This place makes some of the best espresso I've ever had and the staff are awesome (probably because they're all so hopped up on caffeine). They wouldn't even let us pay for our coffee the last day...

Our flight from Sydney to Melbourne to Bangkok was pretty uneventful although JetStar definitely gives new meaning to the term "flying bus". You have to pay for everything.
We are now staying in Bangkok at the Lamphu Tree Hotel and this place is fantastic. The room is a good size and clean, we have views of the downtown skyline and Grand Palace and the staff are great. That and it's a couple blocks off of Khao San road so it's not too noisy. We spent yesterday walking to the Grand Palace and Wat Po where we had our first (and definitely not our last) Thai massage. We chilled at the hotel in the afternoon to avoid the oppressive heat and luckily avoided the monsoon-like rain. The food is amazing and we've eaten at some great spots. That and the street food is perfect for a snack while browsing and being accosted by vendors on Khoa San Road. We're just chilling today and repacking for our trip to Nepal. There's not too much route climbing there so we are leaving quite a bit of stuff in Bangkok so not to incur more airline excess baggage charges.

I'm pretty psyched to see the Himalayas and can't wait to get there. I'm also lookin' forward to do some serious trekking as I've somehow added a couple of pounds...go figure...
That's pretty much everything in a nutshell. We probably won't be doing another entry until after the Annapurna Circuit so until then...l8r