Scottley in B-town
Thanks to Ant's generosity, I've got a comfy place to crash here in Brisbane.
Left Noosa on Sunday, busted down to south Brisbane to pick up Dan Roe, a good climber guy who volunteered to take me out for the day to some projects he's been working on. We drove down an hour and a half south of Brisbane to Mt. Greville, near Frog Buttress. Dan's been putting up some first ascents on the blocky cliffsides around the waterfall gorge. First, we warmed up at "Little Springfield" on a grade 14 sport route. 14 is about a moderate 5.8 in the YDS. Not having climbed in a few months, I was a bit leery about busting off onto a lead straight out, but I got the onsight, no problem. After that, we toproped an 18 next to it.
Then, we hiked up the canyon to check out Dan's route. He's climbed it once since he and his buddy set it a year ago, but I was probably the next to climb it. "Lobster Boy and the Purple Krabs" is a fun two-pitch trad ramble up the cliff side. I lead both pitches, I would have put it at about 5.6. There's heaps of rock out here-- it amazes me that even in the year 2006, there's actually decent climbs still awaiting their first ascent. After we scrambled out in typical Karl-would-be-proud-bush-surfing fashion we took the long way back to Brisbane.
The countryside around here is really lovely. If you replaced the stands of gum trees with Oaks, you could claim it as California. On our way back, we stopped at a cafe in the tidy country town of Boonah, had a milkshake and enjoyed the evening air in the hills. A lovely day.
Since then, I've been getting my act together here at Ant's. Went out on the town for dinner on Monday night. Afterwards, Ant took me downtown to see the famous "Down Under Bar," but it was early and not too busy. Mostly a backpackers crowd that I've been with the whole trip thus far. Still, I could see how things would get crazy later in the week, later in the evening. If I needed to recruit some rail meat, that would be my first stop. After the DUB, we went over to the big casino where I watched Ant loose $11 on roulette and keno in five minutes, then we left. On the way back to the car, we stopped for dessert at an old school real cool restaurant called "Pancakes Pancakes!" It's inside an old church. Tasty chocolate pancakes.
Yesterday, I borrowed Ant's bike and took a trip around the river. Rode from Toowong up to Kangaroo Point. KP is a large rock cliff right on the river's edge, facing downtown Brisbane. It's lit up at night and is best described as an outdoor climbing gym. The locals are very privileged to have such a "facility" right in the middle of their fair city. Met Brett and Andrew, chatted with them while they worked on a grade 21 sport climb that looked fun. Got some good info about the local scene and rolled on. I biked across the Story Bridge, dodged rush-hour traffic in Fortitude Valley and rolled back on the north side of the river to Toowong and Ant's house under a pink-grapefruit sky.
Brisbane is giving me a good feeling. I'm going out exploring again today, but first I'm headed to the UQ acquatics center for a swim. Have to keep those surfing muscles in shape....
Oh, the latest set of pictures is now up and captioned.
Left Noosa on Sunday, busted down to south Brisbane to pick up Dan Roe, a good climber guy who volunteered to take me out for the day to some projects he's been working on. We drove down an hour and a half south of Brisbane to Mt. Greville, near Frog Buttress. Dan's been putting up some first ascents on the blocky cliffsides around the waterfall gorge. First, we warmed up at "Little Springfield" on a grade 14 sport route. 14 is about a moderate 5.8 in the YDS. Not having climbed in a few months, I was a bit leery about busting off onto a lead straight out, but I got the onsight, no problem. After that, we toproped an 18 next to it.
Then, we hiked up the canyon to check out Dan's route. He's climbed it once since he and his buddy set it a year ago, but I was probably the next to climb it. "Lobster Boy and the Purple Krabs" is a fun two-pitch trad ramble up the cliff side. I lead both pitches, I would have put it at about 5.6. There's heaps of rock out here-- it amazes me that even in the year 2006, there's actually decent climbs still awaiting their first ascent. After we scrambled out in typical Karl-would-be-proud-bush-surfing fashion we took the long way back to Brisbane.
The countryside around here is really lovely. If you replaced the stands of gum trees with Oaks, you could claim it as California. On our way back, we stopped at a cafe in the tidy country town of Boonah, had a milkshake and enjoyed the evening air in the hills. A lovely day.
Since then, I've been getting my act together here at Ant's. Went out on the town for dinner on Monday night. Afterwards, Ant took me downtown to see the famous "Down Under Bar," but it was early and not too busy. Mostly a backpackers crowd that I've been with the whole trip thus far. Still, I could see how things would get crazy later in the week, later in the evening. If I needed to recruit some rail meat, that would be my first stop. After the DUB, we went over to the big casino where I watched Ant loose $11 on roulette and keno in five minutes, then we left. On the way back to the car, we stopped for dessert at an old school real cool restaurant called "Pancakes Pancakes!" It's inside an old church. Tasty chocolate pancakes.
Yesterday, I borrowed Ant's bike and took a trip around the river. Rode from Toowong up to Kangaroo Point. KP is a large rock cliff right on the river's edge, facing downtown Brisbane. It's lit up at night and is best described as an outdoor climbing gym. The locals are very privileged to have such a "facility" right in the middle of their fair city. Met Brett and Andrew, chatted with them while they worked on a grade 21 sport climb that looked fun. Got some good info about the local scene and rolled on. I biked across the Story Bridge, dodged rush-hour traffic in Fortitude Valley and rolled back on the north side of the river to Toowong and Ant's house under a pink-grapefruit sky.
Brisbane is giving me a good feeling. I'm going out exploring again today, but first I'm headed to the UQ acquatics center for a swim. Have to keep those surfing muscles in shape....
Oh, the latest set of pictures is now up and captioned.
posted by Scottley at 5:13 PM
1 Comments:
Bet you didn't think I'd read this! So when will our paths cross again? Considering any adventures in the Pacific Northwest?
Post a Comment
<< Home