Mt. Cook National Park and Sebastopol Bluffs climbing

I've found the national parks in New Zealand to be spectacular...maybe it's because I finally have time and am able to visit them. It makes me wish I'd devoted more time in the States to camping and hiking over the weekends, though traffic makes it much more of a hefty endeavour and there are fewer youth hostels and such  to make it easy to do on your own.

That said, Mt. Cook National Park has been a great place to chill for a bit. Maybe not exactly chill, actually. I joined up with the NZ Alpine Club for some climbing Saturday morning. I learned about the trip the evening prior (bout 10 p.m.) and start time was for 7:30 a.m. the next day. I had a 30-40 minute hike out to meet them at Unwin Hut (where they were staying) before we all went out to the Sebastopol Bluffs to do the Red Arette. It was quite a hike and I hitched a short ride toward the Tasman Glacier area (still sore from my previous day of hiking/biking), and then walked the rest of the way. I hate walking flats because the objective is visible for kilometers and kilometers, yet you still have a ways to go...I much prefer the challenge of hills.

When I arrived, we jumped into the cars and zoomed to the Bluffs. The approach is a bit of a hike generally uphill for about 15 minutes through grassy, sharp-edged bushes, and then lots and lots of scree. It was my first time sport climbing outside and I think I freaked out my partner Tom. Anyway, I ended up doing an easy 14 and then a very easy 13. It's a strange feeling to be up 37 meters high. I was going to abseil down, but had never done it before. It's when you control your own descent. One of the guys, Brent, nervously told me that if I'd never done it before, and then hooked on wrong, I could just fly off the rock. It's basically all you and your gear. Well, I wasn't really nervous 'til then. When I got to the top of the first climb I still wanted to try abseiling. So I did -- it was just fine. Then, after we did the easy 13 climb, I decided I wanted to try to lead. It was my first lead climb in a long time. Leading the climb is really taking on the full burden because you have to puzzle out the route on sight, and most importantly hook up your quick draws and then rope in. The person coming up next then is simply belayed from the top, and it's not so scary. When you're leading, you also have to climb up ABOVE your hooks, and so if you fall, you fall pretty far -- to the next bolt -- assuming you hooked in properly. Leading that climb I felt a bit nervous, but focused on the rock and the here and now. I was fine then.

From there we went to the Freda du Faur special presentation at the Edmund Hillary theater at the Hermitage Hotel. I'd tried to get a ticket earlier, for this centenary celebration of her being the first female to climb Mt. cook...but, I'd not succeeded. I ended up lucking out and getting one of the last spare tickets someone had just given up. For $20 I got an awesome presentation by amazing women mountaineers, as well as afternoon tea at the Hermitage -- tuna sandwiches, tea, coffee, and yummmmmy cakes! I had way way too many cakes, but damn they were good. In general the hotel is so expensive that it costs about $500 a night there, so...yeah, afternoon tea for $20 is pretty damn good, especially since I got to celebrate awesome women mountaineers/climbers.

Sunday (today) morning I headed out to meet up with the climbing group again at the Bluffs at about 8:30 a.m. I ended up hitching a ride with a couple New Zealanders who dropped me off at the Bluffs. Then I ran up the side. I'd been unable to reach the head of the group all morning and so wasn't sure if he'd taken up an extra helmet for me or if they were even there. (They did have it, and they were there.) I'd worn shorts this time, because the day prior had been EXCEEDINGLY hot. Well, as luck would have it, today was very chilly with cold, gusting winds. Boy what a day of climbing. I joined Ray and Brent on Shark Attack. It's a 3-pitch climb that's rated 12, 15, and then 16/17. I ended up going last on the first pitch, and then second on the second pitch. Each one was about 30ish meters. By the end of the second pitch the wind was starting to gust and clouds were gathering like it was going to rain. I was pretty damn cold. On the final pitch Brent led up, but then, when he was gathering up rope I was talking with Raymond about knots and the last bit of rope went up without us noticing. I was going to tie into that rope...instead, it was stuck up high and especially because of the wind, we could not get it lower down.

Though Brent could have rappelled down and gathered up gear, I wanted to try going up -- so that meant I had to lead. Let me say that this was probably the scariest thing I have ever done. Up on the final pitch, at about 100 meters, with the wind gusting at more than 40 mph, I was hugging the rock, my knees suffering from multiple bumps and lots of abrasions. On some areas it looked like the slab had no holds whatsoever. Scary as hell. The wind was what made it bad though. Technicality wise, it was fine for me, but with the cold howling wind, it was crazy. I finally got up to the left over rope, after leading all the way past the crux (hardest bit of the climb) and more than 2/3 the way. I stopped on a pittance of foothold to tie myself into the other rope. I was balanced precariously on nearly nothing about 3-5 meters above my most recent bolted hook. That meant a 10-15 foot fall if something went wrong...and as long as the carabiner held up. I finally got the figure eight knot in, after tugging multiple times for more slack, and yelling up against the wind for the rope. I could barely feel my toes as they were numb from the cold and my shoes. After I was roped in at the top, it was less crazy of a climb not only mentally, but also physically -- I'd done the hard part already. I picked up the rest of the gear along the way and once I got up reveled in being safely on the ledge. I edged in so the wind wasn't biting into me so much, even so it was very cold and I was starting to shiver a bit. Raymond decided to stay on the second pitch ledge and not go up in the wind (his words later, "Respect! I was scared just standing on the ledge here in the wind.")

Of course that wasn't the end of it. Then it was time to abseil down more than 100 meters. Since I didn't know how to properly hook myself in, I had to rely on the knowledge of Brent. He was going to go first because the ropes had gotten tangled on bushes below us, but I didn't want to figure out my ropes up there on my own. I went down first. I had to abseil down without going past the bushes or I'd get screwed up on the ropes and could end up falling to my death. As I was going down I wondered if I'd been smart to go first. I had to stop and collect the ropes, while balanced on all my gear and absolutely nothing else on the wonderfully sheer rock face. Then I had to throw the ropes down. But first I had to go to the right and pick up gear that I was still technically roped into from the lead climb up...then traverse back and scoop up rope. I threw them back into bushes twice and had to redo them. I finally got it right and then continued to abseil down to meet Raymond. Brent then met up. Everyone was shaking a bit from the craziness of the day's climbing. We fixed the ropes again and then continued to abseil with Raymond going first. I went second. The last 75 meters or so was a straight abseil down and at the bottom I celebrated by switching into my tennis shoes. I could feel the heat off my ATC (belay device).

After everyone was done we packed our stuff up and headed to meet the rest of the group. They'd set up a 16 rated top rope just nearby. After another 15-minute or so hike down the scree, across grassy bushes and up more scree, we got to them. I ended up going up first. It was FAR easier than the other climbs, but still rather high at about 20ish meters. I was a bit shaken still from earlier, so trying to take it easy and relax. The previous climb I remembered doing some crazy climbing, really good stuff, but crazy so high up...stuff I might do on the boulder wall only a couple feet off the ground. My technical practice really came in handy though, especially relying on my feet. Anyway, back to that 16 top rope. I finished it off handily enough (on sight as well), and then belayed Brent up it. That was it for the day. I got dropped off at my hostel. I took a quick shower (burning knees), dressed my wounds, and did laundry, then ravenously ate some food. Now I'm just relaxing...oh what a day. I distinctly remember being on that rock in the wind and thinking of Tom's words the day prior -- "I should just take up stamp collecting."

The thing is, I wasn't really scared of any of the climbs, but everyone around me was so paranoid that I couldn't help beginning to worry myself. It's mostly a mental job in many cases, and if you believe in yourself and believe in your skill (that has come with good training), you will succeed.

Here and there...

8:13 p.m. 12/3/1: Mt. Cook Village

My neck and back are pretty much killing me right now, but this place, and my day was worth it. A quick backtrack to Dunedin. A very cool university town (Otago University) with about 110,000 people or so…it’s not too big, and not too small, and is very near the Otago Peninsula, where there is a ton of wildlife such as albatross, various other birds, and yellow-eyed penguin. The highlights of my trip to Dunedin included to Cadbury Chocolate Factory, which was huge and took up what looked like a couple city blocks. The 1.5-hour tour was pretty nice – especially considering the bag, which they filled up with chocolate whenever you answered some piece of trivia correctly. The only downside was that I was also on the tour with a bunch of teenage girls who were in town for a volleyball game. They screamed when the chocolate waterfall was dropped. Screamed.

The city is cool in that it has a lot of character, a central area called “The Octagon” off of which are a lot of other streets with cool bars and restaurants – lots of cafes, after all, it’s a university town. The other thing I did in Dunedin was the Elm Wildlife tour. It ended up being about 6.5 hours, including transport time. We saw amazing Northern Royal Albatross, with a 3-meter wingspan, and a 1.2-meter head to toe size. This is the only place where they breed on a landmass that is not an island. We saw five of them sitting on eggs; saw one take off to fly, and lots flying about. It’s not too common, unless wind conditions are right, so we very much lucked out. What I love about albatross are the anthropomorphic features of their relationships: they mate for life, so will take a few years to find a partner; they have a one-year get to know you time, then they separate for a while before returning to breed; when they see each other again they spend quality time bonding again; there are divorces and affairs, but these are relatively rare. Oh, and also, the men and women evenly split nearly all the duties (except laying the egg, of course). But watching it, etc…split. Female sea lions are not so lucky. They get the raw end of the deal in seemingly every way. Penguins too are similar to humans in their pairing. We saw these yellow-eyed penguins (and one very small blue penguin!) and it was so strange to see them without any ice or snow, and just in grass. We saw a couple of them walk right by us! One of them was feeling very social (and single), and hobbled over to say hello to another, tilting its head and chin all the way back – a biiiiig hello. Very cute. All in all, it was a pretty cool way to spend an evening. Oh, and last highlight of this town, nearly forgot. A very nice Asian market with rice balls and soups, and tofu! It was so nice to see…

The next morning it was back on the bus for Lake Tekapo. Of course the bus broke down and we ended up hanging out at a café for a couple hours. It was alright, I took the time to get a bit of work done, and also have ice cream. Later we would stop for ice cream again…and, well, later…Yeah, a triple ice cream day! It’s amazing how doing nothing builds upon itself so much so that you end up festering in the laziness of it all…and eating more ice cream.

That afternoon we arrived into Lake Tekapo pretty late. A big group of us had pitched in $10 each for a barbecue, and boy oh boy was it worth it. Well, first of all, let me describe the view. On the way into town we drove past a beautiful lake (can’t remember the name right now), behind which there was a perfectly cloudless view of Mount Cook. This is the tallest mountain in New Zealand, part of the Southern Alps, and also the training ground for Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to summit Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay. The white snowcapped mountains loomed up above a bright blue, radioactive-looking lake. Apparently it is that color because of the silt (minerals) from the glacial melt that drips into the water. It’s beautiful. Lake Tekapo is a bit of a deeper blue, situated with a backdrop of snowy-capped mountains, and forest around it. We had an amazing barbecue with burger patties, chicken, buns of course, sausage, homemade coleslaw and salad, potato salad, chips and dip, drinks, and more ice cream (hokey pokey, of course) for dessert. It was spectacular, and really fun to hang out with a cool group and relax right in front of such a spectacular scene. Afterward a small group of us headed into town (only a few hundred people live there) to here Mike King, a Maori comedian who is pretty famous in NZ, perform at a local bar/restaurant. We got a bit of a cheaper ticket in and a complimentary beer, which definitely made it worth it. The guy was good, though very rude (seriously)…though I knew enough not to take offense. He tried to pick on everyone in the place, though when he came to me I think I confused him a bit. He was trying to go off on Americans rushing through things, then he asked me how long I’d been traveling – “five weeks” I told him. Oh…that’s a long time… he said. Actually, I’ve been traveling for six weeks…Anyway, he said some other stuff, and I made fun of him back, which stopped him from bugging our table most the rest of the night. It was an interesting show though, and I’m glad I went. I crawled into bed way too late for my 8 a.m. departure to Mt. Cook National Park.

This morning I was making breakfast with a couple minutes to spare before pickup when I saw the van go by. I frantically called the phone number for the place and they got the guy back. I was the only person to pick up, and so it ended up being quite a pleasant 1.5-hour journey to the park with lots of photo stops whenever I liked. The hostel here is far FAR nicer than the one at Lake Tekapo that I was staying at. I forgot to mention that I met a couple Brits at the comedy show (they ended up giving us all a ride over and back) and one had a girlfriend who was headed up to the park this weekend to climb with the NZ Alpine Club. We exchanged info and he gave me a contact…and well, fingers crossed, I’ll be climbing with them tomorrow! But anyway, today I went on a beautiful hike through Hooker Valley, about four hours return, for wonderful views of Mt. Cook and the lake below it. I also stopped at the Alpine Memorial, which had small plaques memorializing the people who had died in the park (primarily trying to summit/return Mt. Cook or Mt. Tasman). It was very sad. Lots of people had left little rocks as markers that they had been there, and I did too. The little commentaries on the plaques were sad, but also uplifting in some cases. After I did the hike it was about 3/3:30 p.m. The sun was blazing and without much shade during the trail, I really felt the heat. I headed back to the hostel, glad I’d done the shorter of the walks I’d been agonizing between – after all, I’m going to climb tomorrow!

Well, back at the hostel I decided to rent a bike to see the Tasman Glacier. A bunch of people told me I could just bike there and it’d be lovely, and very worth it. And I didn’t know when else to do it. So…I did…12 kilometers each way on a gravel dirt road under the sun. At one point I had to stop and reapply sunblock because I could feel my arms burning. Cars would drive by and dirt and dust would fly up and cover me. I could tell who the empathetic ones were because they’d stop and let me pass, or drive slowly by me so as to avoid dust clouds. Others would just zoom by. Once I got to the trail head, I discovered I had a lovely 20-minute uphill climb to the glacier viewing. But, once I got there, it was worth it. I chilled out and thanked the Lord I’d horded food in my backpack, and then reapplied sunblock again and rode back, taking pictures along the way. The 2-kilometer hill on the way over was OK, but on the way back, it was far steeper. I ended up getting off my bike and walking with it for the hill part. When I got back to the hostel I took a LOVELY shower, made myself dinner and well, here I am. I was way too tired to checkout a local band playing very nearby here apparently…argh. I hope I’m good to climb tomorrow. Anyway, there we go, very very quick update. I’ll try and elaborate more on this place next time. I forget so many things when I finally do get the chance to blog…it’s a real pity.

**Just remembered -- the mountain bike I rented was AWESOME! Great shock absorbers...though the brakes are switched here, as are the sides of the road they drive on...I need to get myself a real mountain bike when I get home...and a road bike.