[SA Chris]

We are heading up to Wanaka to see some friends anyway, and hopefully get some boarding in, so will check out the area. Likewise heading up to the North end of South island to see friends and check out Abel Tasman NP anyway, so might see if I can still clip a bolt properly or not.

I think Hulk Hogan is out due to lambing season, but looks a bit steep and burly anyway. I suspect I have a better chance on the technical and footworky stuff at CH, but I suspect I will still have my butt soundly spanked by the place. Looking forward to it though.

[SA Chris]

http://www.tota.co.nz/castlehill/information.html
http://www.castlehill.net.nz/
http://flockhill.blogspot.com/

Some useful links courtesy of Simon on UKC.

[AndyR]

FWIW, Wanaka and the Abel Tasman were my favourite bits of NZ - fantastic sea kayaking around the AT, and Payne's Ford was great. Wanaka is a nice, laid-back mountainy kind of town - decent climbing and bouldering there as well - if you've never done it, I can recommend doing the tandem sky-dive - sounds a bit wanky and x1sportsplanetfeartreme, but actually amazing if you have a clear day.

[SA Chris]

We ended up with only a day and a half at Castle Hill. Amazing spot, you can get very lost! Got nowhere on Lung Dyno, due to funky start moves. Lung Arete was great though, some sketch smearing on polished holds. Flashed a V4, which is a first for me, and bagged several V2, 3 & 4s and a V5 first and second go. I found grades were a bit soft compared to US and font, or maybe probs just suit technical lankards who are used to poished footholds? Got a few routes done in Wanaka, best probably being Rusty Pins (bad name as it is now fully bolted) and Headbanger's Arete. Wasn't too crazy about the shist though, and the routes are a bit scattered.

Elephant Rocks were fun for an afternoon, setting is as spectacular. Charleston has some great trad routes, sadly our meagre rack prevented us doing the longer lines, and the weather crapped out. Did a day at Payne's Ford, while it was fun, it is a bit of generic sport climbing and not really up to scratch compared to euro stuff.

Sea Kayaking in Abel Tasman good fun, would have like to do a longer trip though, Jet Boating is ace and snowboarding around Wanaka was good fun even if the snow was pretty poor. Surfing at Kaikoura was good, even if water was cold and the boulder bottom was very disconcerting.

All in all I would recommend going, but not for a climbing only trip. Better places to go for one of those, and many things to do in NZ other than climb.

[hongkongstuey]

so far have managed two and a half days at Castle Hill and trips to Hospital Flats, Lakeside Boulder and Luggate Boulders in Wanaka plus Elephant Rocks and Hulk Hogan - off back to Castle Hill on Friday for one final fling (gotta finish off Ocean and Rocket Pants before coming home...)

all I can to say to those who haven't been here yet is book your tickets, it's awesome

photo's will come once I'm back in HK - have already filled up a 1GB memory card with just climbing pics!!!

[hongkongstuey]

[SA Chris]

Aside from some fine bloddering Stu, how did the rest of the trip go?

[hongkongstuey]

awesome (except for ignoring your advice and bagging a speeding ticket between Wanaka and Queenstown...)

Itenary was basically a few days in Christchurch, Castle Hill for a couple of days, down to Franz Josef via Hokitika etc, few days around Wanaka (including a flight over Mt Aspiring and into Milford Sound), getting EXTREEEEME in Queenstown for a bit, over to Dunedin (cold wet and miserable but with some nice looking surf and a pretty coast line), back up to Christchurch via elephant rocks / hulk hogan, some more time in CChurch (akaroa etc) and then one final fling with Castle Hill.

will sort out general holiday snaps and add them soon

[SA Chris]

Sounds like a good trip. Prospecting go well? Dunedin gets some seriously big surf; waves big enough to need tow ins. Unfortunately the sea is pretty damn cold.

Did I tell you we met Dom Joly (from Trigger Happy TV) in Kaikoura? He made some comment (as a joke) about going to the Franz Ferdinand Glacier an I (like a tit) corrected him and told him it was Franz Josef.

Sounds like you had a good trip though. In hindsight we should have flown to Milford Sound too, but we weren't sure how money was going to work out for the rest of the trip.

[andy_e]

ooooh... looks amazing. Goddammit, why can't i get a bus there?

[hongkongstuey]

In hindsight we should have flown to Milford Sound too, but we weren't sure how money was going to work out for the rest of the trip.

not a cheap thing to do (NZD370 each) but a pretty amazing trip - will upload the piccies soon

[Red Dwarf]

Oh bugger this...I'm off down south, I don't care how bad the pain is !!! (I can't believe that my sister lived less than an hour from Castle Hill & I didn't get there !!!)-how stupid does that make me?

Stu, good to see you enjoyed the trip...

[hongkongstuey]

Stu, good to see you enjoyed the trip...

cheers - was almost going to be tracking you down last Sunday - didn't realise it was Uni break up weekend and all flights would be completely full (not good for travelling on staff stand-by tickets)

ended up getting bumped off one flight and taking the crew fold down seat on the later one in order to escape (with the added bonus of having to use a cockpit seat for take off and landing)

[runt]

Coool pics stu, your hit list looks almost identical to mine! was like a trip down memory lane, am now fighting the urge to to bin it all here and head back!

[hongkongstuey]

seems they've sorted out the Flock Hill access issues for the time being:
http://flockhill.blogspot.com/

which means the timing of my trip was just plain damn unlucky - oh well, some you win, some you loose - another reason for a return visit now....

[hongkongstuey]

ok - been blown out by my climbing partner (Sparky) for a trip to Bishop in March so am cutting my losses and heading back down to NZ, this time for the northern bit of the south island (via Castle / Flock Hill of course)

so, what I'm after is suggestions for good bits to visit etc. up top of the island - climbing and non-climbing as it's another of those 'mixed holidays' (I've traded a few days at the hill for a few days hitting the wineries in order to keep the misses happy, think i get the better out of that deal...)

[SA Chris]

We skipped the wineries, but Kaikoura was a nice spot; seal colony (where we met Dom Joly), swimming with dolphins, whale watching and all that crap, plus one of the best surf spots in South Island (if you can remember any). Queen Charlotte sound looks good, but we ran out of time. Abel Tasman is a cool spot, loads of hikes, sea kayaking etc. Payne's Ford is up that way, good for a bit of bolt clipping too.

Pity about the Bishop trip, but if you were thinking about reconsidering, it's one of thos places where you can always hook up with other people, especially at this time of year. And Mammoth is having a superb snow season.

[hongkongstuey]

stacks more photos from three more days at the Hill here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96354628@N00/

including the following gems:

[SA Chris]

Looks like you are guaranteed to get a good mat surf if you fell off that one.

Captions are lacking from non-climbing pics, guess you spent a bit of time in Kaikoura, did you brave the surf? Your wildlife pics are good, some could do with a bit of cropping though.

[hongkongstuey]

Your wildlife pics are good, some could do with a bit of cropping though.

only got back yeaterday so they're all straight uploads - will crop them etc. when i find time

this time we headed over Castle Hill (2 1/2 days climbing only...), up to Nelson/Abel Tasman (top spot), up to Golden Bay, over to Blenheim (nice vino), down to Kaikoura (good whales and dolphins) and then back to Christchurch.

[uptown]

so, what I'm after is suggestions for good bits to visit etc. up top of the island - climbing and non-climbing as it's another of those 'mixed holidays'

An Abel Tasman sea Kayaking trip is to be highly recommended - We spent three days in a Tandem Kayak and hardly saw a soul bar the wildlife.
Not far from Paynes Ford which is pretty neat - My better half hates climbing (and climbers!), yet she really enjoyed the vibe around Takaka(?) and even the climbing. (some really easy bolted stuff)
You can also check Farewell spit out which has superb landscape, horse treks and free eco-festival partys if the timing is right.
You could hire ropes and stuff from the hang dog camp to cut down on luggage, and it's a great place to stay to explore the area, although I'm not sure of the present position as the fella who ran it died not long back. Anyone else know the sketch??

[G.K]

... I'm not sure of the present position as the fella who ran it died not long back. Anyone else know the sketch??

Hangdog still runs as  normal. Heres their website.

[unclesomebody]

What is the season like between October and February. I guess that's summer down under, so what would it be like to come on a climbing trip to NZ/OZ for those months?  Any advice is much appreciated... plus any tips on the cheapest possible flights!

[BenF]

What is the season like between October and February.

It's warm at Castle Hill in summer (very warm) but you'll still get plenty done if you climb in the mornings and evenings.  There's a lifetimes worth of easy stuff and highballs to keep you occupied.  Bouldering wise, to be honest winter is best by far, but that's not to say you won't have a great time.  However, everything feels about two grades harder (if not more) up at the Hill in summer.

The crag routes will be hot too, but certainly not too to get lots done if you choose the venue/aspect etc.  Obviously the mountain stuff is ripe during the summer if that's what you want to do. 

[unclesomebody]

Thanks Ben. What kind of temps are you talking about in the mornings and evenings? I'm going with my girlfriend so she can climb during the day quite happily but I won't be so keen to wreck my skin.  I'm really keen to see castle hill, flock hill, quantum field etc.