Down Under

In just over 2 weeks in Australia, Maria and I visited family & friends in Melbourne, explored the spectacular Great Ocean Road and Wilson's Promontory, saw amazing wildlife (including kangaroos, koalas, wombats, possums, eastern brown & eastern tiger snakes), but as this is a mountaineering club website, I'll focus on the few days we spent climbing at Arapiles and hillwalking in the Grampians.

"God created Arapiles first, then threw what was left to the rest of the world... "

...Or so the locals say. I'm not sure if God had anything to do with it, but after climbing a few brilliant routes there, I'm inclined to agree with its reputation for being one of the best cliffs in the world. Although Mount Arapiles is only a hill really (370m above sea level), the cliffs are incredible, with perfect rock and a huge variety of climbs ranging from single pitch through to 170m multi-pitch routes. As a bonus, the weather's great and you can see kangaroos at the foot of the crag and wedge-tailed eagles soaring above the cliffs.

We found the Australian grading system quite interesting, and very difficult to translate into UK grades. It seems to be almost entirely based on the technical difficulty, with steepness, strenuousness and exposure having little or no influence. The cliffs at Arapiles are generally pretty steep, and even on the relatively low grade stuff we were climbing, overhangs were not uncommon.

On our first day, we started out with Tiptoe Ridge (120m grade 5), which involved great quality climbing at around Diff standard, and a short abseil off the pinnacle at the top of the second pitch.

We then climbed the first two pitches of Siren (145m grade 9), but having caught up a guided party of 5, decided to continue up the third and fourth pitches of Xena (110m grade 10) instead of waiting in a queue. The crux pitch of Xena was a good indication of Arapiles grading - grade 10 should in theory translate to around Severe 4a, but this pitch involved strenuous moves through an overhang and we thought it would probably get at least HS at any UK crag. The climbing was brilliant throughout, with the second pitch of Siren in particular being a real classic.

The next day we went walking in the 'Wonderland' area of the Grampians. The paths are all very well-made and signposted, which detracts from the wilderness feel, but the scenery is nevertheless spectacular, with a mixture of wooded hillsides and rocky outcrops.

 

It was back to Arapiles the next day, where we started with Arachnus (105m grade 9). This was probably our favourite route of the holiday, taking a direct line up the 'Watchtower', with continuously interesting climbing on perfect rock in a stunning position.

Having climbed in the full glare of the afternoon sun on the main cliff two days earlier, we learnt our lesson and went to do something in the shade after finishing Arachnus. We went over to Mitre Rock, a separate outcrop about a km away from the main cliff, and climbed yet another brilliant route - Serpent (43m grade 11).

Our third and final day of climbing at Arapiles started with Eskimo Nell (109m grade 10), a really varied route that began with a wonderful undercut flake, followed by some slabby climbing, a chimney, a step across a small chasm onto a steep face, then a little cave/tunnel and the final steep pitch finishing up an awkward chimney.

Seeking the shade again in the afternoon, we went back to Mitre Rock and climbed The Nude Balloon Dance (30m grade 8) to finish.

Before heading back to Melbourne and onward to non-mountaineering-based-things, we had a morning wandering up Hollow Mountain and Mount Zero, and taking a look at the Aboriginal rock art in the Golgurn Manja shelter.

 

For those interested in some of the other things we did while in Australia, I've included a few more pictures.