Sandstone, Warships,
And Wombats An Australian Road Trip
After spending time at the iconic Aussie climbing spot Arapiles, camped beneath the rock in the international dirtbag climber campground, I wanted to have an adventure and explore more of the suntoasted, upside-down, uniquely surreal, Australian climbing scene. It was November, Australian spr ing, and wildlife and blossoming plants were abundant. The daytime temperatures were a climbing-perfect 22- degrees, but my Australian fr iend Joe found it a bit chilly and prefer red the heat of a 30- degree sunny day. After a week of frantic email and texting, I had convinced Joe that the weather was good for a road tr ip to Point Perpendicular and Nowra in New South Wales. “Point Perp” is about 800 km east of Melbourne, but only 200 km south of Sydney. Every Aussie that talked to me in Arapiles told me to go to Point Perpendicular. Point Perp has great sport and trad climbs that tower up to 100 metres over the sea. The possibility of seeing humpback whales from June to November was a plus. The whales give birth to their calves in Australian warm waters and then migrate south to their feeding grounds in the Antarctic. The neighbouring Nowra has br illiant sport climbing on extremely compact sandstone with a fine gr ippy texture.
Point Perpendicular is owned by the Australian Department of Defence and they refer to it as Beecroft Weapons Range. When it is closed to the general public, the navy and their mighty warships are shelling the shit out of the scrubland, kangaroos, wombats, the now-endangered bandicoot, kookaburras and the sea cliffs. So we had to find another place to climb until the weekend. The buzz in