UKC

If you are considering a trip to Australia and the Mount Arapiles Destination Guide didn't provide you with enough reasons to go, then fear not as there is another world class climbing destination under an hour's drive away – the Grampians...

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6954

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great guide Rob!

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great write up Rob, only issue is that I'm now praying for redundancy

In reply to UKC Articles:

Might also be worth mentioning there's hostel accommodation in Hall's Gap, and the pizzas at the Black Panther Cafe in Hall's Gap are huge, and breakfast at the Livefast cafe is really nice.

And, if you're in Hall's Gap, look out for the kangaroos - they're everywhere in the evening.

We were there not long after the fires last year, but were less inconvenienced by the fires than we were a couple of years earlier when a lot of the roads and trails in the south half of the park were closed due to flood damage - if it's not fire, it's flood!

In reply to UKC Articles:

Just spotted how bad this looked on IE8, should be good now.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Ah! Makes me wish I was living in Melbourne again. Great article, thanks. A few comments:

Snakes, spiders and scorpions:
As the article says, it's definitely a good idea to wear shoes and trousers on crag approaches but remember that snakes are (in this area) more scared of you than you are of them. When I first moved to Oz, I was worried about pulling onto a ledge and being bitten on the nose; in fact, I never saw a snake on a route. Spiders are a hazard, and lifting or putting fingers under rocks with spiders' webs around them – especially ragged ones – is a definite No-No: they may conceal Redbacks and these deliver nasty bites. Scorpions are pretty common, so if you're camping and keep your shoes outside your tent, it's a good idea to shake them before putting them on in the morning.

Kangaroos, etc:
These are a definite and potentially serious hazard when driving at night, and especially at dusk and dawn. Aussie vehicles don't have bull-bars for nothing, as I learned to my cost early in my time there when our car was immobilized with a smashed radiator, fortunately in a not-too-remote part of the Grampians. The Southern Grampians (north of Dunkeld) are notorious.

Crags:
Summer Day Valley and adjacent crags provide an excellent range of single pitch routes at all grades, and shade can be found even on the hottest days.
Mt Difficult – Steve mentions this, and I concur: it has some really good multi-pitch routes at VS-E1 that are well worth seeking out.

In reply to Solaris:
Thanks Solaris, great to hear some extra thoughts, feelings and advice on visiting the area.

Working with Steve (Craddock) really made this article for me, great to hear someone else's stories other than my own - particularly as they had so much experience of the area as it was being developed.

I couldn't agree more about the Kangaroos. When we first arrived in Australia we were so excited to see one, but the first 50 we saw were all road-kill!!!

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKC:

Glad we share the enthusiasm, and Steve will be dead chuffed with your comment.

I met Steve and Greg by chance shortly after I'd moved to Oz and was looking for people to climb with. We had a lot of fun climbing together (and sitting round camp fires at "secret" locations in the Gramps), and I owe him a huge debt for opening my eyes to spotting new route potential - albeit at modest grades.

In reply to Solaris:


Most Aussie vehicles don't have them. But anyway the answer is simple: slow down when driving on country roads at night, and give the animals a chance.

In reply to Rob Parsons:

I don't know how much travelling you've done in the Australian bush, but whilst it's true in my experience that most city-based cars don't have bull bars, out in the country they are very common.

As you say, the answer is to slow down, and also to use driving lights if you can. It also helps to drive in the middle of the road (where it's safe to do so!). I managed to delete my first draft of my reply to Rob's post and one thing I decided not to put into the version I eventually did post is just how slow "slow" can be. On the dirt road up from Dunkeld to Hall's Gap that I mentioned, I remember there being so many 'roos leaping out that I was crawling along at about 30kph for miles.

In reply to Solaris:

A great deal.


Yes - you might have to go *very* slowly. But the crags aren't going anywhere, so kick back, and take it easy.

My reaction to your post was really the characterization of roos etc. as 'hazards.' No: they've always been there (and are having their habitats more and more marginalised by farming practices etc.) Cars are the hazards.

So: just take it easy, and make space for the wildlife.

(This goes in spades for anybody considering a climbing trip to Tasmania by the way: the carnage on the country roads there is terrible to see.)

In reply to Rob Parsons:
What neither of us has expressed is the way in which 'roos will literally leap straight out in front of you. That's what people often don't appreciate until it's too late: there just isn't time to see them and then react.

I take your point about humans being hazardous to them, but when I lived there they were so abundant that they were (or there was talk of them being) culled. Eating kangaroo steak was not an ethical problem from a conservation point of view, unlike eating whale meat. They are fine creatures and it's always sad to see (and smell) them beside the road, but it wasn't like they were an endangered species.

And if one smashed a radiator, as I experienced early on in my 5 years, then given remoteness and lack of water, you could be in serious trouble. And I certainly wouldn't want a Big Red through my windscreen: http://mbworld.org/forums/attachments/c36-amg-c43-amg-w202/243920d134811928...

...Or interrupting my quiet cycle ride home: http://www.smh.com.au/act-news/former-australian-cricketer-injured-in-colli...