Cold finger climbing...

Australia had vanished into the mists this morning! Needed the headlights on to drive at 10am it was so thick... 

Nipped back up to the top of Mt Arapilles first thing, in the hope that it might be above the layer of mist and cloud. This was the view that we got yesterday: 

This was this morning!...

Unperturbed, we descended to the pines campground below the cliffs, got a coffee  brewing, pulled out the maps and settled down to planning the next stages of our time 'down under'. 

It's an unfathomably big place, Australia. Pouring over the map, it's really hard to get a sense of scale, or estimate how long it might take to get from place to place. And, of course, there are so many places to visit! How do we decide where to go next? While we're both keen to get up to the warmer 'Gold Coast', there is still much to see, do and climb down here in Victoria. Now it's just a question of fitting it all in! After a spot of lunch, the mist began to clear and the surrounding bush loomed into view..

We wrapped up, and set off up to the crags...

Back home, we are lucky enough to pick and choose when to climb; we'd have been drinking tea by the fireside instead of clawing our way up a rock in the bitter cold if we'd been in Wales. But we're not at home, and we don't have the luxury of waiting for a warmer day, so we togged up and took it on! In some ways, it made it more of an adventure..

Our first route (despite the lower grade) turned out to be quite a struggle. An icy wind was howling through the wide gap in the rocks that we were climbing up - with one foot on either side of the void! 'Atmospheric and memorable' the guidebook said. No kidding! The slight warmth from the faint sunshine felt great when we eventually re-emerged from the crevasse and out into the cliff top.

Handily, there was an abseil station at the top, so we got back down to the shelter of the bags quickly and easily. 

The next route was a real belter. It looked impossibly steep from the ground, but was well equipped with big hand holds - so all we had to do was be brave, keep pulling up and not look down too much! Brilliant stuff!

Daylight was running short after we had returned to the ground. We were both nice and warm from the buzz of the climbs, but there was no getting away from the fact that it was still pretty cold. 

Unfortunately, the Natimuk cafe was closed by the time we got there, so had to make do with some celebratory chips from the sparsely stocked village 'milk bar' (it was that or go back to the hotel bar!).

The sunset on the drive back to camp was a stunner. We're all snuggled in for the night now, with a curry bubbling away on the stove and the heater giving a comforting purring...

Collision Course Wall:

- Agamemnon 9***

Main Wall:

- Muldoon 13***