Kalymnos!

Good news: I got a new phone. Well, it's used, but it was cheap. I even got a data plan for 10 Euro. Traveling now is almost too easy, I feel like I'm cheating. 

I only spent 1 night in Athens but I feel like I saw most of what I would want to see. The old ruins strewn about the city were fascinating. Attempting to wrap my head around the idea that people were here constructing these magnificent structures out of massive marble blocks 2300 years ago was difficult to say the least. At the same time, I didn't care much for the modern city of Athens that has engulfed this beautiful landscape. But you know me, I don't care much for most cities. With that said, the squares and markets were still fun to explore. 

By time I settled into my hostel, Acropolis was closed for the day but it didn't stop me from finding a sweet lookout nearby and enjoying the citadel from a distance as it basked in the evening sun. 

Here's one of the many squares found around the city. Lots of energy and activity and insanely cheap fruits and veggies! 

My hostel was close enough to all the action that I was able to walk to everywhere I wanted to see but far enough away that it was quiet and included strolls down streets such as this one here.

The view from the roof wasn't too bad either.

The next morning I headed to Acropolis. The ticket booths and hoards of people immediately put me off but I resolved to look past it (although each selfie stick I encountered made me increasingly disappointed in my species... Why must you ruin every single picture of this glorious display of human achievement with your big ugly face?!?). 

For hours I walked around, trying to picture what it was like to build this place and subsequently live, pray, vote and be entertained here... I did my best to eavesdrop on passing tours as the placards strewn about lacked so much information. It was an incredible place nonetheless!

Later that day I made my way to the subway station and headed for the port. I boarded a ferry that would take me on a 10 hour journey to the island of Kalymnos. Bringing beer on board was easier than expected and before you know it I was having a jolly good time sitting on the outdoor deck watching Athens get farther and farther away. And before you know it I was out cold in the lounge area as my jet lag from Australia was still very much present. 

The ferry docked at Kalymnos at 1 AM. For a minute I considered making the 2 hour walk from port to my room. Then I considered trying to hitch a ride. The first car that drove by yelled at me to get a taxi. Greek islands are definitely not the place to be a cheap homeless dirtbag... I caved and paid the 15 Euro for a taxi. 

There are no hostels in Kalymnos and there's definitely no camping. The accommodation of choice here is studios. Per a recommendation from a friend in Arapiles (Thanks Nicole!), I setup a reservation with Rita's Studio in Massouri. She said she would leave the key in front of the door for me. Upon arrival at 1:30 AM I discovered there was no key. 20 minutes of searching the grounds revealed nothing. All of the windows were locked except for the small window in the bathroom. I ninja'd my way up the wall and squeezed my body through the tight opening, feet first. I was in! Trying to fall asleep was tough though, as my brain actively wondered whether I was at the right place and right room and whether someone would come knocking in the morning with police by their side. 

No police in the morning. I headed to the reception wondering whether or not I should mention that I essentially broke into the room. The owner's mother was there and was the sweetest person ever. She gave me some biscuits, made me sit down and began to tell me her entire life story as well as an update on all of the members of her family. In the end she gave me the key, no questions asked, and offered me a discount without me asking for one. I only need to pay 13 Euro per night and I can stay for as long as I desire (they're still in their off season which is apparently very difficult to get through each year. 

My God this place is great!! After sleeping on the ground or in dirty hostel dorms for the last 3 months, I feel like I'm now taking a vacation from my vacation. I get an entire studio complete with a kitchen and bathroom and seaside deck. I don't even know what to do with all this stuff but I'm thinking I might stay here longer than originally planned. 

Today has been spent getting groceries, unpacking and general settling in type stuff. 10 minutes ago I acquired some climbing partners. There's a group of 3 people staying in another studio above me. Tomorrow we'll be renting a car and going to some crags that are farther away from town (there's a ton of climbing that's only a 5-15 minute walk from here as well).

Goodbye Australia, Hello Europe

Bad news: Still without a phone

Good news: Australia was awesome!

I'm at the Melbourne library with 1 hour of internet use on their computers and way too much research to do on Greece, so I must be brief here. I spent most of my time climbing at Arapiles, with a few days climbing at the Grampians mixed in the middle. Climbed and hung out with some amazing people. Arapiles is definitely a spot I would love to come back to in the future.

I have some photos on my DSLR, but I won't be able to get those onto a computer until I get home in July. At least Seanne took a few shots of me working through the iconic roof of Kachoong [21], an epic trad route at Arapiles. 

Okay, running out of computer time! Tonight I fly to Athens! Tomorrow I shall go shopping for a cheap used phone. And then the next day I might take a ferry to Kalymnos!

Melbourne, Bell's Beach and Beyond!

The other day my phone decided to give up on life. No idea why, but these are the things that keep travelling interesting. Long story short, the blog might be silent for a little while given that I have no way of taking photos or uploading them. Maybe I'll get it looked at when I get back to Melbourne in 2 weeks.

Either way, I've been camping and climbing at Mt. Arapiles. It's been wonderful getting back into trad climbing and incredible doing so in such an iconic location. I met some awesome people that I've been climbing and camping with. Unfortunately they leave today but I reckon I'll find some other climbing partners soon enough. A few more days in Arapiles then I shall head to The Grampians for some sport and more trad climbing.

Fortunately for you wonderful viewers I had a draft saved of some additional photos of Melbourne and Bell's Beach. Check it out and hopefully talk to you all in the not-so-distant future!

Magical Melbourne

The flight from New Zealand to Australia went smoothly. Left the airport around 10 PM, grabbed a muffin for the morning at a nearby gas station and headed to my proposed sleeping area within some conservation land adjacent to the airport. 

Navigating at night proved difficult and I became increasingly nervous as I hiked past silos of jet fuel and other seemingly high security facilities owned by the airport. My end goal was finding a trail that was marked on Google maps. Unfortunately the road leading to the trail had a gate and several no trespassing signs. Several minutes of contemplation resulted in me skirting past the gate and hoping for the best. No one seemed to be around and my anxiety soon dropped. Before long the anxiety came back as I noticed large kangaroos walking about, just barely lit up by the moonlight. Welcome to Australia, mate. 

The only videos I've watched about kangaroos involved them punching and/or kicking other beings that were smaller or larger than them. I made sure to give them as much room as possible as I made my way around them. Luckily they were more afraid of me than I was of them. 

About 2 miles of hiking got me to a thin patch of woods that seemed suitable for a hammock. Before long I was laying down trying to sleep without thinking too much about the creatures around me or the potential for getting caught sleeping somewhere where I shouldn't be sleeping. Needless to say, the dreams I had that night were far from pleasant. 

I quickly packed up in the early morning and headed out, determined to get back to the airport without running into other humans. The constant stream of jets flying over my head was really cool. 

From the airport I took the skybus into town. A brief check of social media revealed that my friend Jason just so happened to be in Melbourne! I met him last year in Colorado through a mutual friend. He's staying at a friend's house in the city. Before I knew it, I had a place to crash and people to hang out with. 

After settling in, he took me to an awesome place nearby. The city invested in installing climbing walls beneath the highway next to the river. I was blown away at how nice the walls were and how much the city cared about providing recreational resources and infrastructure for its citizens. The problems and routes were well documented and the place was very clean. 

That night, Jason, his friend Rosemary and I went out for some rock and roll trivia. We didn't do so hot but it was a fun time and a local band performed afterwards. 

Today Jason and I walked around the city a bit. The botanical garden was incredibly beautiful and peaceful. 

Today was the first day of a 4 day festival in Melbourne. It includes a carnival, outdoor movies, live music, fireworks and a bunch of other events. As someone who doesn't care much for cities, Melbourne is alright in my book. 

Oh and I also filed my taxes today. Feels good to get that nonsense out of the way.

Not sure how long I'll be in Melbourne, but it's a great opportunity to look at outgoing flights (once I figure out which country is next) and look into potentially buying a car while I'm here (it's a huge country and potentially cheaper than a rental or buses)  

Last Days In New Zealand

Caution: lots of pictures of me (doesn't happen too often so bear with me).

Finally got some photos from Tantiana's camera. Here's a couple shots of me nabbing the onsight of 1080 [23/5.11b]. The first is the amazing no hands body jam in a hole in the cliff. The second is the brutal process of cleaning the route on the lower (cleaning was at least a grade harder than the actual climb).

Credit: Tantiana 

Credit: Tantiana 

This here is the most proper way to clean yourself on a budget. 

Credit: Tantiana 

Motivation to hike to a crag and climb routes was low, so why not work on some power and wrestle some boulders near the parking lot. 

Credit: Tantiana 

Another shot from Tantiana of me on a beautiful 22 called Falcon Steep. A super fun and technical route on slightly overhung schist. 

Credit: Tantiana 

Another wonderful route in Wanaka.

Credit: Tantiana 

Credit: Tantiana 

Last sunset in Wanaka proved to be mind blowing! Mike performed at an open mic night and we had a jolly good time. 

Needed to leave Wanaka and head to Christchurch in order to catch my flight to Melbourne. The 5.5 hour bus ride costs $260! No way José. I decided to risk it a little bit and attempt to hitchhike there the day before my flight. Made a little sign to make it easier for drivers to know where I needed to go. Because of this, 2 different people picked me up in order to get me a little ways down the road to better locations for finding cars heading to Christchurch. The people of NZ are seriously friendly and generous. Once I was in a good spot, I waited almost 10 minutes before I was picked up by a kid heading directly to Christchurch. I've either been getting lucky or people really are that generous here. My new friend is from LA and also studied computer science in college. He's here on working holiday. We passed the time with great conversation and made it to Christchurch without any issues. I bought him dinner and a beer as a thank you and parted ways. 

Found an awesome English style pub with 31 beers on tap. It was my first time drinking a sour in a long while!

I found an awesome little hostel in town that is basically a house converted into a hostel. The old owner was very friendly and the place was void of young Europeans looking to get drunk abroad. The only other people in my dorm were a girl from Austria and a girl from France. Today we passed the time walking around the city and taking in the sights and sounds. The park was really nice. 

Check out how huge this tree is!

I'm now in the airport waiting for my flight to Melbourne. I'm excited for a new chapter! New Zealand was a blast and I'm so grateful to have met so many amazing people and seen so many breathtaking places. Will definitely be coming back here in the future for hopefully a longer period of time. 

 Tonight I shall attempt to sleep in a conservation area next to the Melbourne airport and head into the city in the morning. 

West Coast To Wanaka

Long story short, our trip down the west coast was a blast. We saw so many beautiful lakes, beaches, mountains and even a couple tourist traps. The sand flies made breakfast, lunch and dinner out of our legs but we got good at ignoring the swelling and itchy bumps. 

This lake here (I can't even remember the name of it, we've seen too many) had the worst sand flies of all. Made it impossible to fully enjoy the beauty but it was still a worthy stop. 

Made a quick stop in Murchison for groceries. Also bought a deck of cards which proved to be very worthwhile.  

Percy the '89 Toyota Hiace in all of its glory. 

Found free van camping by a nice beach. There was a large group of travelers enjoying a bonfire on the beach. 

Stopped at pancake rocks in Punakaiki which turned out to be a bit of a tourist trap. Just some rocks that have somewhat interesting horizontal folds in it. The Blowholes were pretty cool though. Either way we found a nice rock to sit on and enjoy the coastline views. 

It's hard to drive 10 miles without seeing a perfect blue river fed by nearby glaciers. 

Each night was spent playing cards, drinking cheap red wine and listening to Mike play guitar. 

One night I decided to sleep on the sand by a river. The morning sand flies were avoided by cocooning deep in my sleeping bag. Worth it. 

We hiked a nice 5 hour trek to see the Franz Joseph Glacier. The hike was beautiful with plenty of lush forest and swinging bridges. The clouds were low in the sky but just high enough to see the bottom of the Glacier. 

Lake Matheson is popular for its mirror-like reflection of the mountains behind it. Unfortunately any slight breeze will ruin it. Regardless is was a fun little hike around the lake. Mt Cook and Mt Tasman are in the background hiding. Behind the clouds. 

More ugly New Zealand coastline. 

The Blue Pools was another worthy stop. Jumping off of the bridge into the frigid glacial water was worth every ounce of water that ended up in my brain. 

Another breaktaking and free spot for van camping (even though I found some nice trees to setup my hammock between in the woods).

We fully enjoyed every second of the sunset that night. 

After a few days we made it to our next big destination: Wanaka. Not only is it a fun and beautiful town, but it also has an amazing valley just outside of town full of rock climbing. 

The rock is mainly comprised of schist, which gave me flashbacks of climbing back home at Rumney Rocks. Lots of different styles of climbing with incredible views in every direction. 

Today we drove almost to the end of the valley and spent some time climbing a wall right next to a waterfall. Doesn't even matter if the rock is all black and you're baking in the summer sun because there's a waterfall and a pool 20 feet away. 

Unfortunately my flight out of NZ is in a few days but I'm incredibly grateful that I was able to see this beautiful country. I've got plenty of new friends here to visit next time I come around.