Crook down under

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Pics show euclyptus trees at Camel's Hump, three in a bed with Mikl Law in Sydney, the Three Sisters (Blue Mountains), bouldering at Lindfield, Sydney, the tome itself, Sydney opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

We were never supposed to go to Australia really, but then our ticket agency said we couldn't fly directly to NZ from Singapore. So,we hastily planned for a two week trip. I,(Liz) had never been before, but Greg had spent some time living and working there, so the plan was to arrive in Melbourne and then fly out via Sydney. We wanted to do a bit of tourism and a bit of climbing. Before we left, I had made contact with some local climbers via the Chockstone website (Victoria climber's site), just to see if anyone wanted to take us under their wings and play out with us. Aussies are so cool and generous. First we had Mike in Melbourne saying he'd play out for a day around Melbourne, and then Mike Law said he'd put us up in Sydney and loan us gear. You guys rock!
Melbourne is a really nice city - the place you could live in, but maybe not too exciting as a tourist. We went out to St Kilda (suburb)to see Greg's old house which had been knocked down. But, this place was like Lark Lane by the sea, or maybe Waterloo (only L.pool based readers will understand this bit) where you can see the sea and there's loads more to do - internantional gig circuit, multicultural restaurants, funfair etc. My nose was running all day, and boy did I feel proper rough the next day when we had planned to meet Mike for some climbing.An early start, Mike picked us up from the city centre and took us to a place out in the outskirts called Camel's Hump. It was so so cold, and I don't think we were expecting that level of cool. I was chilled to the bone, but did follow Mike up a little arete route. Then I bailed out ("not well")and let Greg have a go at some trad leading! I'll let him explain this when he's next on the blog. Mike was just brimming with enthusiasm and confidence. He was a really great person to hang out with. I even saw Hanging Rock from the top of the Hump - you know the setting for the film and book.
An overnight bus ride to Sydney (7pm - 7am) found us making our way across Sydney to Mike Law's house. Mike didn't know us from Adam, but had left us the keys, offered the spare bedroom, offered gear and guidebooks and was simply just lovely and generous. Oh yeah, and did I mention he is one of the leading protagonists in Sydney/Blue Mountains scene. His name is all over the Blue Mountains guidebook. We were getting very scared and humble. How do we mention that we don't really climb above 19 Aussie grade?
I was still not good, but dragged myself around Sydney on a sight-seeing mission. Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, Manly Ferry. How I slept that night! The next day, we (well Greg actually as I was still crook) went bouldering at a place called Lindfield, one of the northern Sydney suburbs. Evedently, Sydney itself has loads of urban rock including sea cliffs. The following day, we took the train up to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. This is the bit where Australia really does become upside down. You see, the Blue Mountains aren't really mountains at all, the towns/roads/trains etc are all on a plateau and this has an edge (cliffs) of about 200-400m (I need to check this)dropping down to lush green valley below. These valleys are the wilderness areas, whereas perched on top are regular streets, houses and shops. It's all very strange.
So now it's day 2 in Katoomba, and Greg is starting to come down with the lurgi. We set off for a walk to see The Three Sisiters, but only saw a lot of mist (it was raining). However, on encouragement, we returned in the evening and saw them in beautiful evening sunset, which captured the red glow of the rocks perfectly. The next day, Greg was really not well, so I went for a walk to the Wentworth Falls and then along the National Pass. The Pass is a trail cut into the cliff face at about half height. Below, you are aware of dense bush and vegetation with birds calling. Above, you can see people's houses. Strange. It's my big regret that we didn't do any climbing, as we had an area in mind and a few extra days might have seen us well enough to enjoy ourselves. We left the next day to go back to Sydney. We met up with my long distant cousin, Alison, and discussed the family's Japanese connections. Very interesting. Then back at Mike's we got taken on a tour around Sydney by night. What an amazing city. I love the older style houses, which remind me a little of the UK, but somehow cleaner and brighter. The waterfront suburbs were so "des res". Thanks Mike we really appreciated your time.
Such a short trip, we left the next morning to fly to Christchurch, NZ. My short trip made me realise that Oz is so big, it would require a whole visit just on it's own. The Northern Terroratories look amazing and I would still like to get to the Arapiles. So much climbing to do! Looking forward to better health in NZ.

Postscrip: I'm trying to get the pictures onto the Picasa gallery, but need to find how I can shrink them as they are currently too big and the uploading time is prohibitive.