Lots of Sun, Lots of Climbing

Things have certainly been pretty great during the last week. The sun does in fact shine on the South Island of New Zealand. There was a moment there when I didn't think we were gonna be climbing at all on this trip. I was actually woken up one night by rain only to look outside of my tent and see not one single cloud in the sky. It rains here with no clouds! WTF!

Most of our trip has been split between two areas here at Castle Hill; Spittle Hill and Quantum Field. A majority of the climbs are described in the guidebook as:

'Follow pocs [pockets] up face to encounter slopey mantle of death. Castle Hill classic!'

...yay.

Actually, they are quite fun and climbing here definitely makes you feel like you just started all over again. Basically, every climb ends in mantling two big ass slopey butt cheeks. What's kinda funny is that the outhouses at Spittle Hill and Quantum Field have locks on the inside and outside. This makes for some pretty fun pranks between friends...and strangers?

Our most recent adventure was to the much talked about Flock Hill. Eric and I braved the 45 minute hike out there one miserable rainy day last week. It resulted in taking refuge under overhangs hating life and a 45 minute 'don't talk to me' walk of shame back to the car. That freakin' sucked. My shoes are FINALLY dry 5 days later. A few sunny days later and a full day of climbing there, Flock Hill is now my favorite spot at Castle Hill. The features are super unique and less butt cheek topouts. A consistent theme at Flock Hill is a feature in the limestone that folks here are calling runnels. It's like a negative tufa that provides all sorts of different styles of climbing. Also, there is no guide for Flock Hill, making the boulder problems nameless and gradeless unless you're there with a local.


[The view from on top of Flock Hill. Caught in the distance during the last fading light of the day is the upper sector of Quantum Field.]


[A group of very enthusiastic tourists from Thailand jumping up and down on Eric's crashpad. They had never seen one before and were curious as to how soft a mat you're trusting your life with is.]


[Me climbing a super classic highball V1 slab at Quantum Field called 'Ode to Joy'.]


[Eric on 'Ode to Joy'.]


[Our Australian friend Allen on one of the reasons I was originally drawn to New Zealand bouldering. 'The Joker' V9.]


[Apparently, some time ago, the Dali Lama came to Castle Hill and dubbed this specific area 'The Center of the Universe'. Hippies hang out here and act weird together.]


[Upon topping out this limestone behemoth, Eric catches the last glimpse of sunlight and wonders to himself, 'When I die, will I dream?']


[On our way from camp to climbing one morning, we saw this car teetering on the edge of a cliff. Kinda like a movie, but f'real. Scary!]


[The car we've rented doesn't have an ipod friendly setup. These compact discs have been our wisest purchase yet. So far, so good.]

I've been trying to upload videos, but vimeo seems to not like me for the time being. I promise a mega-video when I get back, complete with music and super-bitchin' editing!

On a side note, a concern of mine prior to leaving for this trip was a native parrot called Kea. They are the only alpine parrots in the world and are heavily protected. If you mess with them you supposedly get fined $50,000. The trouble is, they rip open people's tents and cars. Instead of taking your food, they take your wallets and important stuff. No encounter with Kea have been made yet, but the concern is ever present. Firsthand Kea horror stories have been told to us by more than one person. On the Kea wikipedia page, under the 'Human Interaction' section, you can find:

The Kea's notorious urge to explore and manipulate, combined with strong neophilia, makes this bird a pest for residents and an attraction for tourists. Called "the clown of the mountains", it will investigate backpacks, boots or even cars, often causing damage or flying off with smaller items.

People commonly encounter wild Kea at South Island ski areas. The Kea are attracted by the prospect of food scraps. Their curiosity leads them to peck and carry away unguarded items of clothing or to pry apart rubber parts of cars—to the entertainment and annoyance of human observers. They are often described as "cheeky". A Kea has even been reported to have made off with a Scottish man's passport while he was visiting Fiordland National Park.

Here's some more Kea stuff for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMLpPoOeays
http://www.bears.co.nz/dyk/kea.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKWCz0YhmcY

Also, they eat people. Just kidding...or am I?