Yangshuo Update...

11.04.10

Ok. So I have been excessively lazy when it comes to blogging lately. Sorry about that! But it is for a few reasons. Firstly because I have been so rediculously busy here in Yangshuo with work, climbing and everything else and secondly because now that I have settled into a place it sort of feels like I would just be writing about the same old stuff over and over. I thought about it though and while it may seem a bit 'same-y' to me it is all new and exciting to all of you so it's high time I got off my ass and posted something!
So how's life in Yangshuo..? It's really turning out to be an amazing experience. Living in the midst of a new culture permenantly is such an exciting experience. Getting to know another culture well is amazing and learning a new language in a place where I am using what I know on a daily basis is just so rewarding. My Mandarin Chinese is getting better every day and I am now at a point where I can talk a little bit about a few different subjects and understand alot of basic conversation. I am putting in the effort of learning as much as I can so that I can finally say that I speak another language properly... I'm really excited about it.
Climbing is going great too. I am climbing at least a few times each week and feeling really solid on stuff up to about 512d (or 7c, or 27, or whatever grades you speak in) and I have some harder stuff in store too, including my epic project at Fuli. So I have mentioned before that I really wanted to bolt a really long super pitch project... well I did it. Its about 65 metres of non stop action... 30 metres of really steep angles and roof climbing out a massive cave followed by 35 metres of overhanging face climbing.. its EPIC! The super steep bottom half is about 5.13a followed by the face which is about 5.12b so altogether maybe 5.13c? Who knows, whatever it is it will be my hardest climb for sure, but I can do it! I nearly sent the bottom half last week so it will go soon and it will be time to try linking it all together... Cant wait!!!
And work... well work is very challenging. I work really hard and do loooong hours but it's worth it for the mental challenge it is providing. On top of my project management roles I now also manage our bar, the 'Lizard Lounge'. So it's all go, but it's great none the less!

Here are a few pics of some stuff I get up to around Yangshuo... enjoy!

Chinese New Year Fireworks

Mike & Mick in front of one of my photos at the Lizard Lounge

Xiao Ming, Duke and Liang Meng getting the Lizard Lounge ready to open

The China Climb gang having dinner at the Riverside Retreat... nice view hey?

Eddie and little Max at Wine Bottle crag

Eva, one of my favourite portraits I have taken here

Tony, the ruler of Fuli

Bodo, our Fuli mascot

Andy slacklining at Fuli

Lanterns at the park during Chinese New Year

Mike and some nice girls cruising the Li Jiang on a bamboo boat... all in a days work ;)

11.02.10

Yanshuo. I'm back for a second time and its just as good as the first time round. It's lost none of
it's appeal to me... in fact the appeal is even higher than the first time round. The first time I
was here it was a new country, a new adventure, a new language, a new culture but this time all
those things were known factors and it sort of makes me see more of the place than the first time round. Also being here to work for a well known guiding company opens more doors and opportunities than being here last time as a climber tourist.

To give you an idea of my life here and what I have in store for the next year or more I will tell
you some of the things I have gotten up to since I arrived...

I arrived and was promptly moved into the China Climb (my employers) apartments, a 6 storey
converted hotel where most of the staff live. We live here and get cooked for by our chef every day. I was introduced to the staff that are here at the moment and basically hung around for a few days doing not much, just the hum drum stuff like bank accounts and phones, etc. Then I was put to work.

At the moment we arent guiding much as it is the middle of winter and there isnt much on till March but we are building a camp at a place called Fuli so I have had to join in on a few days digging trenches and moving bamboo building materials but aside from that my job is to develop the adventure sports around the camp. So I have to bolt new climbing areas, explore and develop the cave systems there, bolt and set up a rope swing, a tyrolean traverse, a huuuuuge zip line and to top it off build China's first ever Via Ferrata system across the karst towers there... lots of work to do but damn, I love my job! A few of the guys here have dubbed my job title "Minister of Fun" hahaha, but thats pretty much right... setting up adventure activities for a living? Hell yeah it's fun!

Aside from that I have been out kayaking and tubing (despite the cold we have had a few hot days to get in the river) and of course climbing quite a few days.The crew I work with are a really fun and eclectic mix of folk from around the world as well as all the great Chinese staff too. We have a bar called the Lizard Lounge which is basically our lounge room with free beer and a big screen with a Nintendo Wii so we have plenty of nights of crazyness which is always good :)
I have also been working on getting into the stock photo market and have set myself up with several stock photo agencies so I am working away at that with my new toys (new flashes, reflectors, etc) and on top of that am learning to speak Mandarin Chinese which is actually going alot better than I thought it would! I can speak a little already and I'm pretty psyched to actually get the chance to learn another language properly (beyond my basic French, Nepali, Spanish and Hindi).

So thats it's folks. Im here in Yangshuo, things are great, I'm loving life and psyched on spending
the next 12 - 18 months here while I am saving up for our epic Americas tour starting mid next year (check www.landoficetolandoffire.com if your not sure what that is yet...)...

Good times!!!

Our street

Our bar

My office

These pics below are for someone in particular... she know's who she is haha... much love babe

Back in the Yang!!!

So kids, I am finally back here in Yansghuo to live, work and climb for a year or so... got back a bit less than a week ago after a week orso in Guangzhou with my friends down there... lots is oing on so I will post a proper story about things soon :)

A year in the life...

08.01.10

A year in the life...

So, it has now been a year since I left the shores of Australia bound for fun and adventure in lands unknown so of course I feel somewhat obliged to reflect on what has been one of the most amazing years of my life and see what has made it such a great experience.
My journey saw me leave Australia and head straight for the brilliant white sand beaches of Thailand, then off to Vietnam to the breathtaking Ha Long Bay, then to Hong Kong and on to the endless karst towers of China's sublime Yangshuo, then I experienced the majesty of the Himalaya's in Nepal, then London in England for a touch of western civilisation, Glasgow in Scotland to see family and the rolling green country side, then to the pristine alps of Austria, Germany and Switzerland, on to the vinyards, alps and amazing forests of France, back to London then of course on to the chaos and contrast of India.
Each and every place I have been has had its ups and downs of course, with being robbed twice and injuring my shoulder being the worst of the downs. But there have been too many ups for anything to really keep me down. I have seen new cultures, seen amazing civilizations both old and new and seen the most beautiful landscapes. I have even kept my brain active with doing my TESOL Accreditation, becoming an Level 1 accredited Thai Massage Therapist, reading dozens and dozens of amazing books, learning how to play guitar alot better, improving my spoken French and learning reasonable amounts of Spanish, Nepali and Hindi and a little bit of Mandarin, Thai and Vietnamese.
But in the end the thing that has made this year what it has been is the people. From the locals to the tourists, the backpackers, climbers, guides, bar staff, chefs, guest house owners, porters, drivers, chai wallas, boat captains and everyone else I have met... but most importantly all the people I have spent considerable time with (there are many and you all know who you are)... the people I have climbed with, shared rooms with, endured trains, boats, rickshaws, buses and planes with... my friends. My year would not have been anywhere near as fulfilling without each and every one of you. My unending thanks and love to you all.
But of course what about the climbing? Well it has been a hard year for me on the climbing front with seemingly endless injuries from cutting my foot open to a minor A2 pulley problem to tearing my shoulder to an infection in my arm... but in between them I have had a blast on the rock.
I have climbed over 400 routes and boulder problems this year on granite, limestone and sandstone, seen climbing mecca's like Fontainebleau, Hampi, Yangshuo, the Swiss Alps, the Verdon Gorge and many more crags in between, gone sports climbing, deep water soloing, bouldering and trad climbing, single pitch, multi pitch and everything in between, bolted new routes and developed new boulder problems.
Have I climbed harder than I have in previous years? No. Am I a better climber because of this year? By a long shot, yes. I have learned alot about climbing this year including how to be patient with injuries and how to enjoy climbing even more than I already did.
So overall this year has been amazing for sooooo many reasons and it's hard to really express just how amazing, but it has without a doubt been one of the best and with my flight to China leaving India in 5 days time for me to move to Yangshuo to live and work as a adventure sports guide I am hoping it is going to be the first of many!
I miss all of you at home and I will see you all someday soon enough, until then Happy New Year and all my love :)


Here are a few more Hampi pics...

Yuli out at Cosmic Cave for Kevin's bday party

A trail of headlights winding their way to Cosmic Cave with the lights of Hampi behind

'This is Spartaaaaaa!!!!' - Vincent... Matt's hero and all round amazing caveman type guy

Tara climbing near the Rishmuk Plateau

Nic bouldering near the Rishmuk Plateau

Addi sending 'The Shield' 6C (or 'School Pen')

Nic sending 'The Shield'

More Hampi pics...

Some more Hampi photos for you all :)

Yours truley...

Luc bouldering a 7A at Access Denied area

Rich bouldering a 7A at Access Denied area

Luc bouldering 'Access Denied' 6C

Luc on 'Sun Sloper' 7A at Access Denied area

India update - Finally!

04.12.09

So it's been a while since I have written and I feel bad for being so lazy... but here it is, my last month in India.
Life in Hampi keeps rolling along nicely. Bouldering, yoga, relaxing, playing guitar... loads of fun with lots of great people. I have been plagued further with injuries though which is far from fun. My shoulder is much much better now and I started to climb well again but then I got a little drunk on Old Monk Rum, fell in a hole and cut my foot and toe open. So another 2 weeks off climbing for me to heal my foot. And to add to that I have a tweaked an A2 pulley in my right hand so I have to be careful of that too, but all that aside I am psyched and enjoying the climbing here.
While my foot was injured I decided to go on a little adventure with my friends Matt and Kristie and head up to Pune to visit the Osho Ashram there. Now the Ashram is hard to explain. It is a meditation Ashram but in a 5 star setting that is so amazing it is hard to explain. But, the actual workings and meditations in there... well... pisture a perfect blend of Zen Bhuddist Meditations and Jane Fonda workout tapes all located on the set of a Star Trek episode and with all the participants in matching Maroon or White cult style robes... interesting to say the least!
So now I am back in the Goan Corner in Hampi, relaxing and bouldering again with all my friends here. slowly but surely more and more friends are turning up ready for what is going to be an AMAZING Christmas and New Years... I cant wait!
Also, on the news front, I have locked in my new job for next year. I am psyched! Starting early February I will be working for China Climb based in Yangshuo in China! Guiding outdoor adventure sports all over China and living in a limestone sports climbing paradise for the year... its going to be amazing!
Psyched!!!

Highballing at Cosmic Cave

Baba Cafe

Luca at the Cosmic Cave

Wolfgang at the Cosmic Cave

Lewis at the Baba Cafe Boulders

The Rajastani Puppet Show

Bouldering at the Baba

Serious Chess time with Zoro

Einav b&w portrait

Nightime flash photography session

Some Halloween pics...

A couple of Halloween Photos...

James aka Darth Maul

The gang :)

Amanda and Tim aka Gypsy Girl and Lawrence of Arabia

Me and my local friend Moses from Sanapur

Bloody Baksheesh

So what a crazy day / night yesterday was...

Halloween... you know the drill. Get dressed up, go somewhere with a bunch of fun folk, get smashed, good times right? Wrong! Well, partially wrong. It was fun but wow what an epic.

Let me paint you a picture...

Crocodile Dundee (Me), The Incredible Hulk, Princess Leia, Darth Maul, 2 Wood Nymphs, William Wallace AKA Braveheart, Alex DeLarge (Clockwork Orange), Evil Indian Baba and a six foot tall Smurf all walked down the main street of Hampi getting stared at in disbelief by the locals then piled into a truck/taxi thing, drove through some small Indian villages to more disbelieving stares then arrived at our party destination some miles away.

We settled into the party with many other stangley dressed characters including Laurence Of Arabia, a Gypsy and a Playboy Bunny. Everything was set to be great fun... but it was not to be... Before dinner was even started the Police turned up. Now Indian Police can do whatever they like and make people pay 'baksheesh' or bribes. The took the lot. All the beer. The soft drinks. The food. The stereo. And 4 of the owners and staff. We were all stunned.

Long story short it cost the owners 86,000 Rupees (about 2000 CAD...) to bail out SOME of the staff and it still has to go to court. But wait. Why did this happen I hear you say? Well we got a friend to pick us up in a truck to drive us there and the Rickshaw Walla's (drivers) found out and were pissed about us not getting 2 rickshaws to take us so they called the cops on us, and if they call the cops in on a juicy 'baksheesh' they get a 20% cut on the action... pretty sh*t huh? So baksheesh was paid, party resumed... with a slight cautious edge to begin with the music started, dancing was had, bonfire was enjoyed... brilliant.

We slept in the resteraunt for a few hours at dawn and woke to find that lo a behond our 2 friends that organised the party had had their camera's, cash and phones stolen... YAY! I mean what the? Insult to injury huh? Luck was on their side though and later in the day our Indian friends found the kid that stole the stuff, returned it and are putting the thief on the first bus to his family in Calcutta.

Epic. Not really. This Is India.

Some Hampi Photos...

Me and some babas

Sharon and a rest day bhang lassie ;)

Matt bouldering

Tom bouldering

Kate practicing Poi on the boulders

Lewis bouldering

Me bouldering

Amanda

Evenings in the Goan Corner