Sitting at a Wellington Section committee meeting I volunteered to organise a section rock climbing trip to Wharepapa South in my spare weekend in December. I really hoped the weather was going to co-operate. Having never organised a section trip before it took a bit of emailing back and forth to the other committee members to find out what paperwork was involved. There are trip form templates and so it was relatively straight-forward once I knew what I had to do — fill in the appropriate trip details and information and email it out.
After what seemed like an endless stream of emails in the weeks and days leading up to the actual trip, three car-loads left from Wellington on the Friday night, about an hour apart. A good food stop was had in Taihape, with a petrol refill in Taupo. My carload arrived at Bryce’s around 8.30pm and we set up in the bunkroom. Car number two arrived about 9.30pm. At 10.30pm I was getting a little worried that “little red” car hadn’t arrived. Sharon and I went for a drive (as the cell phone reception is somewhat patchy) and when we returned at 11pm, all had arrived. Phew! Lesson number one — when driving to Wharepapa South for the first time ensure you have a good map and clear instructions as things look different in the dark!
Saturday morning dawned fine and beautiful. When ShiChang arrived from Auckland, Sharon and I did a refresher on putting on harnesses, tying into the rope, belaying and climbing calls in the bouldering cave at Bryce’s, as there was a diverse range of experience and I wanted to ensure we were all on the same page. We headed off to Froggatt Edge to explore the rock. Sharon and I set up several top ropes throughout the morning on Honeycomb Wall, The Moon Boulder and The Bits. Those that were inclined got into some leading as well.
It was nice and relaxed and once people had worked their fingers, feet and forearms and the temperature was climbing we moved around to the right hand side of Slug Wall. A gentle breeze kept some of the sweat at bay, but many sought shade when they weren’t climbing or belaying.
A contented and tired lot headed back to Bryce’s to create dinner — pasta, burritos, blue cheese & walnut salad, followed by chocolate cake. We watched a few climbing DVDs and hit the sack around 10pm.
Sunday brought another fine day, and after indulging on a decent caffeine fix we headed off to Sheridan Hills. Sharon checked in with the farmer for permission and he said, “You’ve got a great day for it — enjoy.” Although it can seem like an annoyance at times, just taking those few extra minutes to check in and get permission from the landowner is essential to ensure continued access to wonderful climbing sites.
Sharon and I set up a couple of top ropes and then got on with some lead climbing for ourselves. For those of you who haven’t been to Sheridan’s — it is a little gem. We had an enjoyable time with climbs on Crow’s Nest Pinnacle, Flying Cove Buttress and Chunderosa Buttress 1. There is a good range of grades and while many of the original routes have been re-bolted, keep a few bolt-hangers in your chalk bag as there are still a few carrot/naked bolts on some of the routes.
A few “firsts” were recorded during the weekend — ShiChang’s first lead fall, Katy’s first climbing in New Zealand, Shna’s first lead in New Zealand, Rob’s first time climbing at Wharepapa, Kim and Rini’s first lead climbs at Sheridan’s, and Bridget’s first flat tyre.
A good weekend was had by all. When’s the next one?