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Grampians Access 2019 22-Jun-2019 At 11:04:40 AM johnpitcairn

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As a visitor and climber from NZ, I can tell you that many many regular visitors to Australia are watching, concerned, and sympathetic.

As a visitor from NZ, which suffers its own environmental and cultural pressures from untrammelled tourism and the rule of the dollar, I can only pass on my horror at how this may be playing out.

I can only imagine how Victorian climbers who have climbed at Djurite/Arapiles for 50+ years may be feeling. I can also only imagine how the local Aboriginal community who have been there for many thousands of years may be feeling.

If I step back from my love for the place as a visitor and climber, and relinquish any sense of entitlement or ownership my privileged position in the world brings me, and think about what this might mean for those whose place was undeniably stolen from them, and how its return might make them feel, and how I might feel if I were them, then what does my climbing there matter?

But still , after 150-odd days over the last 10 years, Djurite/Arapiles calls to my heart. I wonder if I may still be allowed to return as a guest, sit in a rocky place by myself, appreciate the flora and fauna, listen to the ancient land whisper to me, climb without damage, without bolts, anchors or chalk, and leave it as it was before I arrived.

I wonder if there might be a dialogue directly between climbers and traditional owners, without mediation or interference by obviously political and commercial entities who have a toxic and artificial struggle embedded in their nature.

I wonder if perhaps something like that might work? I can only hope so.