Frog Buttress

Up at 4 AM to try and get some crack climbing in before the heat gets unbearable. It was so humid even before dawn that I was sweating while packing my climbing gear, not a good sign of things to come.

We left Brisbane for Mt French while it was still dark, the day already hot and humid by the time we arrived at the top of Frog Buttress.

Joe lead 'Piranha' (20) and Tony, Shaoxing and I seconded. The climbing was hard but good, I still struggled at the chimney and a section of crack climbing, but I made the ascent dripping with sweat.

Joe and Tony left to climb a different route while I lead the first pitch of 'Witches Cauldron' (12). A nice easy climb to practice leading on trad. I had climbed that route before, but this was my first time placing my own protection.

That was climbed without any problems, so we decided to end the day on 'Clockwork Orange Climb' (14). I started leading and was going well until the crux, an awkward move up a short crack section. I couldn't commit through this section, so I lowered to the ground in shame while the others easily climbed it.

As penance I lugged all the climbing packs to the top of the cliff, not a very long distance but the combination of the heat, my hike from the previous day, and a bout of insomnia the night before caused it to be a struggle.

We packed up and after a quick stop at Boonah for a cold drink we started back to Brisbane.

It is very frustrating being terrible at crack climbing, hopefully it will click sooner rather than later and I can start to tick off a few more climbs there.

Still, it was a fun, if exhausting day, and placing my own gear felt good. With the onset of cooler weather I'll have no excuse to visit Frog Buttress more often and start climbing better!

More photos here 

Attempting Mt Superbus

I was feeling restless after the previous weekend of doing nothing, so at short notice I decided to head back to the Main Range National Park, the location of my previous adventures to 'The Steamers' rock formations. This time my goal was to hike to the plane wreck of an old Lincoln bomber which crashed on Mt Superbus in the 1950's.

The old forestry trail was in much better condition than the last time I drove the road, the small creek crossing posing no problem due to the recent lack of rain. I had to stop and clear some fallen trees blocking the road but as the wood was very rotten it didn't take too long.

I came to the end of the road and started up the trail. I had some co-ordinates plugged into my GPS, but decided to follow the obvious trail, marked with spray paint and surveyors tape, and began my traverse around the mountain slope.

The ground was so dry that clumps of grass and dirt on the steep slopes would disintegrate beneath my feet, but I kept following the obvious markers across the loose terrain. It wasn't long before I slightly sprained my ankle, but I decided to keep going even though the markers were taking me on a slightly different course than my GPS way-points.

The markers vanished, so I scrambled up the slope to make the summit of the ridge to get my bearings. This took me further away from my path, so as soon as I had reached the summit I had to plunge down into the rain-forest below and back down the slopes.

It was slow going through the dense ferns, vines and soft undergrowth, but I eventually made my way to a small creek running through the forest. I followed this upstream until I could contour back up to where I needed to be.

Three hours after setting off I was finally on the right track! Given that I had spent too much time wandering through the scrub I decided to head back to the car as I didn't want to run out of daylight. The heat and humidity was draining but the path back was well marked and it took me less than an hour to return. As I came out at the end of the track it was obvious where I had made my mistake, I should have turned off the path earlier in the day.

Dirty, sweaty, scratched to pieces and skin tingling from wading through stinging nettles, I returned to my car for a cold drink and a change of clothes. A pair of hikers had earlier returned from the same trek, they had set off very early in the morning and were just leaving when I arrived back to my car.

It was great timing as their car wouldn't start (and we were a long way from help), so I gave them a jump start and set back off home.

I stopped at a nearby stream to sit in the cold water for a while, before heading back over the range at dusk and home. I was exhausted and knowing I had an early start the next morning it wasn't long before I was in bed.

I definitely need to plan a little better next time, but the next trip out there should be a lot more straight forward.

More photos here

Snorkeling on the Brunswick River

Another weekend by the water, this time heading down to Brunswick Heads in northern New South Wales. It was quite windy and the rain constantly threatened but the snorkeling was fantastic. The water was mild and a little hazy due to the wind, but it was amazing to swim through schools of fish, spotting turtles, stingrays and other wildlife as I casually made my way along the rock walls of the river.

It's great to see such a healthy waterway so close to home, and plenty of people on kayaks and stand up paddle-boards enjoying it! A very enjoyable weekend all round.

More photos here

Double Island Point

Almost a year to the day Naz first took his Pajero up the beach, we were back for another weekend getaway. The forecast for the days ahead was for strong unrelenting winds and a high chance of rain, but wet and windy camping is better than no camping at all!

We left Brisbane on Friday night and had set up camp at our favourite spot by 11 PM. We drove through showers on the trip north but they had abated by the time we arrived so we were able to set up our tents in the dry.

We were enjoying a cold beer on the sand dunes looking out to sea when a short storm rolled through, we retired to our tents to call it a night.

I awoke early on Saturday morning, a stiff onshore breeze was blowing that wouldn't let up the whole weekend. The seas were very rough, as I was walking the dunes another quick squall came through so I returned to my tent to see it through.

Up a short time later when the skies had cleared a little, we decided to put up a tarp for a small amount of protection but as the rain was coming in at 45 degrees it was a token effort at best.

The tide was on the way out so we drove up the beach before cutting across to the northern facing beaches. Here we were protected from the south-easterly winds, Naz went fishing while I went snorkeling / spear fishing. Due to the rough seas visibility was low, but the water temperature was nice which made for a pleasant swim. Naz caught a couple of small fish, no keepers, so we made our way back to camp before the tide encroached too high up the beach.

Back at camp we wandered down to the ocean and spent some time digging up pipis in the hard sand. Naz tried his luck fishing once again, while I struggled to start the fire high on the dunes. It was roaring by dusk, we spent the evening drinking red wine around the flames, eating fresh pipis roasted over the hot coals. When the last of the embers died down we turned in for the night.

With Sunday morning came nicer weather, we packed up the majority of our camp while the tide receded. Once again we drove to the northern facing beaches for another chance at taking home sof fish. The water was clearer due to the easing winds the night before, but I didn't see any fish during my time in the water. Naz caught a few small flathead using soft plastics, and we returned to finish packing up camp while the sun was still out.

The last of the gear had been stowed away when the rain came, and we drove back down the beach to the ferry through intermittent heavy showers. A quick stop at the car wash and we were on our way back to Brisbane,

Another short and sweet camping trip, its always a pleasure to wake to the sounds of the ocean and smell the salt in the air and the time away is always relaxing. I'll continue to return.

More photos here

Climbing Mt Flinders

Another weekend where the weather threatened to disrupt any outdoor activities, to hedge our bets Tony and I decided that our best bet in staying out of the rain (but not dry) would be climbing in a cave somewhere.

We had heard that Mt Flinders had been unofficially re-opened to climbing and has been going through a period of development, so we decided to check it out.

After a short detour around a washed out bridge we arrived at the start of the track, and met with a crew of climbers heading the same way. They have been developing the crag so we followed their lead and soon arrived at an impressive cave on the south-western side.

I was already dripping with sweat from the hike in, the humidity was intense! We decided to attempt 'Grandma Aragog's Boob' (24) as a short warm up, but I couldn't make it past the crux move after the third bolt. It was incredibly steep and no matter how much chalk I used I couldn't keep my hands dry for more than a few seconds. I didn't have it in me to pull through the last section so had to admit defeat.

We decided something easier was in order so we tried 'Never Ask the Moon' (22). My arms were wrecked from the previous climb, and the combo of the heat and humidity was sucking my strength away, not to mention I was dripping with sweat. I dogged my way to the top, lowered down for a much needed drink.

That was enough for the day, I was spent! The hike back down was a little dodgy due to the brief shower while we climbed, just enough to make the rocks and paths slick without bringing any relief from the heat. We made it back to the car, mercifully I had a spare change of dry clothes to change into, slumped in the car and drove back to Brisbane.

I'm definitely looking forward to winter!

Some photos here