It ended up turning out all right, and when he put it up he was almost as tall as me.
For the rest of break, we just hung out and went up to Castle Hill a couple times.
It ended up snowing on us when we tried to camp there. It was a little cold for Brian. He wasn't used to the lack of hair yet.
The next couple weekends saw a lack of planning so we hung around Chch and went to Castle Hill a few more times. My friend Adrian brought his video camera one of the times and put together this little montage. As of right now, it's the clip of the week on Urban Climber Magazine's website.
Look Here
Two weeks ago Tuesday the University of Canterbury Climbing Club had its annual library climb. The library, being 12 stories, is one of the tallest buildings in Chch.
Monica and Sarah climbing next to each other.
Me.
Meanwhile, we got bored with Brian's hair so we gave it a trim.
It stayed like that for a few more days and then we shaved it completely.
Last weekend Monica, Sarah, Brit, Brian, and I drove to Nelson Lakes National Park on Friday night. We were trying to find another group of kids we know and camp with them for the night. We knew we were about an hour or two behind them and that they should beat us there. They didn't. They never showed up. It turns out that their van Tina (which they had obtained by trading their broken Subaru to a car mechanic) had broken down in the pass on the way to the Park. The cell service in the mountains is nearly non-existent so we didn't find this out until we drove to the West Coast the next day. We were counting on their group for a tent spot for Brit; we only had two two person tents between the five of us. So while we were sorting that out, Brian discovered that he had forgotten the pole for his tent. We now had one functional two person tent between the five of us. We found a couple sticks and rigged up Brian's rainfly so that it provided a bit of shelter. Thats where Brian slept. I squeezed into the working tent, and Brit took the backseat of the car.
Brian didn't sleep too well that night. Not because he was cold but because he was worried he would roll over, knock the sticks over, and have the wet fly on top of him. The rest of us were warm and comfortable, and we woke up to an amazing view of the lake.
That morning we headed towards the West Coast to do some climbing at the sea cliffs in Charleston. The cliffs were about 30m tall and dropped more or less straight into the sea. It is a trad climbing area, so there are not bolts in the wall aside from the anchors at the top. I do not have gear for this type of climbing so we just toproped.
Monica climbing.
Sarah belaying.
Brian and the blowhole.
Monica climbing again.
Me climbing.
That afternoon we heard from the people we were trying to meet. They had rented a house at the hot springs near where they had broken down. Brit and Brian wanted to go meet up with them. Sarah, Monica, and I wanted to climb more and see the Pancake rocks. So we gave Brit and Brian the car and they went off to the Hanmer hot springs. We camped about 10 mins from the cliffs and got an early start the next morning.
Look close: Monica climbing, Sarah belaying.
Again: Look Close.
Me climbing.
Me climbing Monica belaying.
Later that morning we got a ride with an off duty policeman to Punakaiki to see the Pancake rocks. He was from Nelson and was going to see his parents who owned a hotel in Punakaiki.
Success.
Pancake Rocks.
Trying to get to Greymouth.
It took us almost an hour to get a ride to Greymouth. Eventually a woman picked us up who lived in San Fransisco for most of her life. She was also from Nelson and worked as a chiropractor. She was on her way to Greymouth to fill in for the only chiropractor on the entire West Coast of the country. From there an art teacher/soccer coach from one of the local high schools was on his way home from a game and took us to Kumara Junction (effectively a roundabout in the middle of a field) where we could flag down people going over the pass to Chch. A lady with her son, daughter, and a dog squeezed us into her Subaru and took us to the town of Kumara 7km down the road. Then, right as the sun was setting, a couple hunters who had been hunting a type of mountain goat up in the glacial country gave us a ride to our flats... just in time to get some rest before class on Monday.
This weekend I went to Quail Island for a volunteer program. Quail Island is in Lyttelton Harbour just on the other side of the hills from Chch. We were supposed to be planting trees and doing conservation projects to help restore the island's natural vegetation, but due to inclement weather, we ended up not doing any of that. In fact we just hung out in the hut around the fire reading and playing cards all weekend.
After that relaxing weekend, I have a week full of essays to write. Three to be exact. Wish me luck.
Nick
