During our four weeks stay on the North Island, we were eager to see some of the climbing spots near by.
After buying a 70 meter rope and a few more quickdraws in Auckland we were ready to go. There are quite a few climbing spots in New Zealand, but especially in the south island many require good knowledge and skill of “Traditional Climbing”; climbing on clean walls with no bolts at all. Since Louie and I are not very experienced outdoor climbers, we are looking for the bolted walls.
Our first trip took us to Tauranga (“Touranga”) and its famous Mount Maunganui. Hidden from the view of the many walkers, runners and visitors the side facing the open sea offers some really good climbs. The rock is also a favourite spot for the local pigeons and therefore some of the good grips are covered in… you know what.
But- the view from the tops- simply incredible!
The climbing levels in New Zealand are given in a very different scale from what we are used to from Switzerland. A 5c is here a 17 and a 6b+ a 21… Since the scales are all around 6 here on Mt. Manganui, we pick the easiest one to start with on our first day there. And wow- that one was a bitch. After completing it in joint effort after about 2 hours we meet a few other climbers who tell us, that a guy broke a leg just one week ago trying to clip the first bolt on that one. Phu, I am happy that we managed it in the end without any injuries…
We went to Mt Maunganui twice over the time and usually spent the night there to make most of the place and petrol. Louie took the chance and went surfing a couple of times, we could also visit our friends Zarna and James who moved (back) to Tauranga not long ago.
Then there was that other climbing spot: somewhere south from Tirau and we figured that we could go there on our way to Dunedin. We left our temporary home at Kathys place a few days earlier than necessary and we were excited to see some new rocks.
What a “shock” when we realised, that this climbing spot was much closer to where we stayed for the last few weeks than we thought! After a ridiculous 40 min drive (more likely 30 min) we reached Wharepapa. A nearby school offers to camp on their playground for a humble 4$ a night. Swimmingpool included! Damn it! We could have come here so often!! But too late is too late and all we could do at this stage was make the most out of the two days we planed to spend here. Of course: beautiful rock, beautiful landscape, a huge range of grades and rocks… Froggatt Edge- we enjoyed and we`ll be back sometime!
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