Oh My God! One More Week!

Let's get one thing out of the way here. Yes, the climbing is world class and that is the reason I originally came to this magical place. However, it's the ice cream that really, really makes this place great. A New Zealand company called Tip Top makes the world's greatest sweet creamy goodness and it comes in flavors that don't exist in the states. There's nothing that stands between me and a single (double) scoop of Tip Top cookies and cream. Good god. Come for the climbing, stay for the ice cream. Sumo Ryan, here we come.

The sun has been out like you wouldn't believe and we have been climbing! Also, my arm injury thing is all healed up. See, I told ya things would get better. The temps have been unbelievable and the forecast is cold and sunny until we leave for the states. Freakin' rad!

Our crew of people that have been camping together before getting kicked out have remained a tight knit posse and have since migrated to a drier, sunnier, more beautiful, legitimately free site on a lake just down the road.

Keepin' the post short cuz Eric and I are about to hit the town of Nelson and show 'em how we do.


[Eric and I kept passing this weird RV-looking thing on the side of the road while driving to our climbing area every morning. We decided to pop on in and see exactly what it was. It seems that a very nice couple, Rowana and Russell, travel around as part of a caravan of gypsy hippies and go to gypsy conventions. We had no idea such conventions existed. They had no idea there was climbing at Castle Hill. Touche.]


[Rowana & Russell of 'Rowana & Russell's Roaming Rig' fame.]


[Me on one of our favorite lowball turds that we've been calling runnel cake. Boy, do we love the runnel puns.]


[Eric trying his luck on a classic Castle Hill mantle.]


[Even the Kiwis have a sense of humor.]

Quote of the day:
"How come I keep seeing hipster dudes that look like Boy George?"
-Eric Vergne