The Last of the South Island

1-4-2014

     Hangdog is a climbers' campground just outside of Nelson, and it's where we spent the last couple days. It sits next to a long line of cliffs that overlook a small, twisting river next to the main road. It's a neat place, with some interesting features like a long-drop castle built on the side of a huge old tree stump with wooden shelves laid into the side to climb up it. There's also a slack-line set up among the tents, a stone baking oven, a large fire-pit and patio combo, two refrigerators, and one shower. 

     The shower was nice, but we weren't there for the amenities. We stayed for the climbing. We got a climber's guidebook and set out to use the equipment we brought with us: harnesses, climbing shoes, one rope, and six quick draws. Some of the climbs had more bolts than we had draws, but those tended to be above our climbing level anyway. We stuck to the 13's and 14's, which is the equivalent of a 5'6 or so. That's as easy as it gets, but personally, I think they were rated too high. Or maybe it's just been too long since I climbed last. Or, maybe it's because I hadn't done much lead climbing before, climbing the rope to the top instead of having it secured up there already. Lead climbing is a little more unsettling. If I fell, I would have fallen double the distance I was from my last clip-in, aka bolt. I didn't fall, though, and neither did Luke. We challenged ourselves, and we certainly improved, but we were cautious. Even so, we had so much fun the first day, and met so many cool people, we just had to stay another day. 

    The next day we climbed some more, even a little more challenging. I learned how to "clean a route", which means I learned how to climb up and come back down without leaving any gear behind. It was so fun, and it was a nice change of pace. I wanted to stay for a week, as most campers were doing, but we decided not to. We made plans for Saturday, and on the North Island, so we had to move on. We consoled ourselves with the thought that we could climb more around Lake Taupo. We'd be there in another week or so, no later. We only have three weeks left! They're going to fly by. 

      We left for Nelson the next day. I don't know what I was expecting but there wasn't much there except orchards and vineyards. We kept driving through, all the way to Picton. We left on the afternoon ferry and that was it. No more South Island. It felt a little strange, but it felt good too. One step closer to going home.