Wanaka CLIMBING Trip

All 34 members of our group went on a rock climbing trip to Wanaka this week! We spent Monday through Wednesday based out of Glendahu Bay holiday park and went climbing each day. Here is a run down of how things rolled out:

Monday March 10

We met at SIT at 9am but didn’t leave until about 10:30. Meanwhile, I played hand games with people and threw around my Moshi pillow. Boy is that popular. Well, the car ride there was really fun! It was longer than I thought, but it was fun to be sandwiched by Ben and Haree in the back back. We got to the camp site and set up around 3 pm and immediately went to our first crag. A smaller group of us went exploring in a river until the climbs were set up. We ended up lunging up a cliff bordering the river and then Lisa had to jump in the water to help us down. Bless her. The climbing wall was good- it was kind of hard, but fun. Climbing isn’t by favorite thing but it went okay. I think I just need to remember that it is okay to fall! There are belayers below ready to catch you- so just go for it! We got back to Glendhu Bay holiday Park around 8pm and I had pasta for dinner, prepared on the stoves accessible to all campers. I made friends with about 5 other campers (all age 50+) from England who were here on holiday. I played Nertz with Marci in her tent, but it was too small and cramped so I went to the beach and sang hymns to myself instead. We learned from Curtis about the stars in the southern hemisphere. That night was EXTREMELY cold and even more windy! I wore 3 pair of ski socks and woke up at least 5 times in the night which I am NOT accustomed to.

Tuesday March 11

We left camp at 9am after a nice breakfast of oatmeal and fruit. The climbing site was only about 5 minutes away. My first climb of the day didn’t go very well, so I was sort of scared the rest of the day which is a real shame. I did two abseils, one with a prussic and the other with a bottom belay and I learned new knots including the: clove hitch, italian hitch, alpine Butterfly, figure of 8 (one handed), double figure of 8, rethreaded figure of 8, handcuffs, tape knot/water knot, half hitch, whole hitch, and I learned to professionally coil a rope.

We took the written test after climbing all day and I did pretty well :) We attempted to play kick the can and ultimate spoons, but it was kind of a flop. We ended up eating cookies on the beach with us four, and Lisa and Maggie. Then I joined Taylor’s tent and we told stories until about 1 am. I didn’t care that it was late because I knew I would be too cold to sleep anyway.

Wednesday March 12

This climb is called "Tombstone." It's that big rock that looks like a tombstone. It's pretty hard to climb. I had to wedge my body in the crack like so:

We left camp at 8 am this morning, which meant 7 am wake up to pack up, put away the tent, eat pasta for breakfast, and get mentally ready to rock climb. At first, I spent some time on the top of the rock and just enjoyed being in New Zealand. I did a couple easy climbs in the morning, and then attempted the lead climb! That's where you hook yourself into the wall and have a much greater potential to fall :) I had a lot of fun looking for the next bolts and hooking my screwgate karabiners into the wall. Lead climbing was fun and challenging because you fell a lot farther and your life was more in your hands/legs instead of your belayer. It was so fulfilling to reach the top of the climb and just know you made it. I liked Wednesday's climbing a lot more! The tombstone crack climb was SO fun! There were parts when I didn’t think I was going to make it, but I just never gave up. On parts of the wall it seriously feels like there is just nowhere to put your feet and no handholds! Incredibly frustrating! Well, I eventually made it to the top and was rewarded with time to sit on the top of the rock and just look out and enjoy. I liked staying at the top for a while and feeling that sense of accomplishment. I can see myself getting into climbing for the photography. Once I reach the top what a better view of the landscape, and more importantly of the other climbers coming up! Abseiling down was actually the scariest part because you just have to fall backward and trust yourself and your gear. Here is an artistic pic of abseiling: (Which do you like better? The very topp pic or this one?)Bob was doing things to scare me on purpose- he had so much fun taking advantage of a dramatic person… I like Bob a lot and Nathan was just great! I totally scored with my instructors! We left back for Invercargill around half past one and got to SIT at 6. I slept/rolled in dirt on the floor of the van on the way home- it was surprisingly comfortable! Luckily Ken hadn’t left his office yet, so we showed up and just asked for a lift home. Mags was excited to greet us and we had chicken legs, rice and salad for tea. I was glad to shower off and put my things away. For future reference: It's always easier to put stufff away right when you get home.