In March I found myself in Sydney, Australia. It was a completely unexpected and unplanned trip, booked on very short notice. The trip itself was hectic too... we landed at 9 am on Tuesday and were in meetings by noon that same day. Most of what I saw in Australia was either on an evening walk or from the back of a cab. Sunday was the exception.
As soon as I found out that I was headed to Australia, I started looking for someone to climb with while I was there. I tried Climbfind and found a couple of people to climb indoors with during the week but my weekday schedule didn't allow it. I had more luck with Twitter; Richard (@SoldierBeetle) and I chatted, and he made arrangements to hit the Blue Mountains on Sunday, weather-permitting. The weather threatened to stop us, but we got a dry window Saturday evening and Sunday morning... just long enough to get a few climbs in.
Richard picked me up at the hotel early Sunday morning (which was conveniently a block away from his other friend who was coming with us) and we hit the highway. On the way out we made a quick stop at Maccas (What Aussies call McDonalds). I had a Rosti Brekkie Wrap and sent a quick tweet with their free wifi. We made another stop to pick up some food... A loaf of bread, a couple packages of ham, and some Power Snakes (similar to gummy worms). Richard told me that Power Snakes are a tradition in the Blue Mountains... so much so that the grocer once put a sign out front indicating that they were sold out of Power Snakes they recommended climbing anyway).
The Dam Cliffs is a neat crag. The road in is pretty rough, and had a couple of giant hold-your-breath-and-cross-your-fingers-as-you-drive-through puddles. From the parking area, it's a short easy hike to the base of the cliffs. There's a really cool swimming hole with a couple of rope swings and a cliff on other side for free water soloing. It was definitely not warm enough for that though. The rock had a really interesting texture, and the foliage was unlike anything I've seen in North America. Read more »