About an hours drive inland from Christchurch, on the way to Arthur's Pass is a place called Castle Hill. It's an area of wierd limestone outcrops that have weathered away to create a pretty surreal landscape. Even if you're not into climbing, I'd say it would be worth a look in.
Naturally, for us, seeing wasn't quite enough and to the travelling rock climber, they are just crying out to be climbed. It took a while to get our heads around the guidebook and the complexities of the different areas, but we soon found ourselves on top of one of the pinacles, feeling rather pleased with ourselves. The climbing was a mixture of delicate moves, interspersed with water worn scoops and pockets.
Many of the climbs had had the bolts removed, which meant that we couldn't climb some of the routes we wanted to. After a long lunch in the shade of a big boulder, we went for a bit of an explore of the rest of the area, climbing over and through the shapes as we went.
We finished the day by climbing a few of the boulder problems, but only cautiously as we didn't have a mat and the top outs generally involved very slopey holds.
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