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General Climbing Discussion

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Adelaide or Melbourne


ShinToe Warrior

3-Mar-2005
11:08:41 AM

On 3/03/2005 Eduardo Slabofvic wrote:
We Australians have a thing about people from other countries comming over here unannounced.

F*^&#n Onya Slabo, if RJC hasn't considered the immigration issues and consulted with the Oz embassy/
consulate that's his issue. His Wife's Aussie, sounds like it's all cool.

Hey, RJC, the government is not the People (thank HB!).

We can not allow ourselves to talk politics, we might actually think and get angry about the Di$#&@^~
errm, 'people', running the place :(

If you are going to live in Adelaide, it's probably more palatable to drink wine in preference to the water,
which can sometimes be brown out of the tap.

3-Mar-2005
12:33:23 PM

>If you are going to live in Adelaide, it's probably more palatable to
>drink wine in preference to the water,
>which can sometimes be brown out of the tap.

But it's not beer that comes out of the tap, :-( It is close to lots of wine growing areas however, Clare Valley, Barossa, McLaren Vale etc.

Melbourne and Adelaide are both on the coast. The cost of living is probably less in Adelaide, and the population is a lot smaller than Melbourne's 3+ million.

The guidebook to The Adelaide Hills has descriptions for over 1000 climbs ranging in size from 5m and upwards in length, and up to 80km from Adelaide. It covers all day trip areas and was produced in 1997 and should still be available from the shops in Adelaide.

Poppy

3-Mar-2005
1:59:38 PM

Since I have a Welsh father, a South Australian partner, relatives in Adelaide and I live in Melbourne I have a view on this one. I have never climbed in SA, so can't comment there. But I have been to Adelaide heaps of times and would never want to live there. It really is a big country town and a generally unattractive one too - flat and dry.

It does have some upsides though - consistently warmer weather, better traffic (but don't underestimate how big the city is - a 40 minute drive from outer suburbs into the city) and for a Welshman, a lot more compatriots. And there are some nice surrounding areas for day trips.

Some people know the term Taffy, but not many.


billk

3-Mar-2005
2:27:21 PM

Eduardo is not quite right. If you are not quite white and, you know, Muslim, you could be in trouble and wind up in Baxter. If you come from the UK and have plenty of wonga, you'll be just fine.

4-Mar-2005
2:04:47 PM

Hi Rob,

Being a climber that now lives in Adelaide but use to live in Melbourne I can tell you that if you don't like climbing gyms then Adelaide is the obvious choice as there are crags within 20min of the city. Also for a young family Adelaide is a bit cheaper to live in as housing prices are lower. Also the beaches in Adelaide are way better than the dirty excuse for sand they have in Melbourne as long as you don't mind the odd shark or two.

From Adelaide the travel time to Araps is about 4.5 hours and Gramps is about 5.5hours and Moonarie is about 6hours.

If your after night like then there are some good clubs to go to and Adelaide happens to be the city of festivals, so there is usually something going on.

The climbing community here is small but very dedicated with a very easy going vibe.

If you want to know more let me know.

Cheers.

DC

Wendy

8-Mar-2005
12:50:45 PM

Adelaide is responsible for my reprehensible lifestyle these days. Mind you, I ran away from there screaming about 10 years ago and now that I've had my 2nd head surgically removed, my decrepit beginnings are well hidden.

There's seems to be a popular trend amongst ex Adelaide people to be nostaigic about such gems as Morialta and Norton. I hold no such delusions! Morialta is a loose, grotty pile of choss! Having said that, it is outrageously close to town, with lots of short climbs and different crags, swimming in the creek at some of them and there's a good pub up the road. I visit Adelaide reasonably often still, but I have never felt tempted to renew my acquaintence with Morry. At Norton, the rock on the main cave is reasonably solid, you can bumble around in all sorts of crap weather but the routes at the edges get looser and wetter. The bouldering in the cave is convenient and good training (back when I was enthusiatic enough to contemplate training). It's all kind of small though.

The Hole is blight on the climbing careers of young men (not so young anymore ..) already renowned for establishing ugly, bodgy, bolted mank! A dark, dank, wet cave of drilled pockets and chipped holds. Don't bother.

Moonarie is a mindblowingly amazing crag, stunning location, stonker lines, I can't rave enough and you won't see the hoards you get around here. Buckaringa also has pleasant long single pitch steep slabby crack type things, and being in the southern Flinders, a little closer. You'll climb it out pretty quickly though. The Flinders certainly don't have the amount of climbing the Grampians do.

Adelaide has beautiful warm calm beaches on the bay and icy big surf straight off Antartica around the peninsula. It's easy to get around (and get out of! The road out to Araps is short and direct), I throw my bike on the bus and potter round on that whilst I'm there. I know everyone talks about driving times, but I'd love to encourage the strange possibility of public transport ... there is plenty of it between here and Melbourne or Adelaide, costs $25-50 depending on concessions and provides you with 5 or so hours to read a book, snooze, study and save some greenhouse gases ...

Adelaide is pretty quiet, but after the throngs of Natimuk, I can just about cope with it. It does have lots of great festivals - Womad, Adelaide Festival and Fringe, Writer's festival, festival of ideas ... and maybe it's just my circle of friends, but pretty nice people with interesting and alternative things going on. There are endless miles of suburbs that I try and ignore and the water is truly abysmal.

I've also heard Sydney climbers wax lyrical about Beronia or Narabeen, and Brisbane one's about Kangaroo Point, and Steve still loves Avon Gorge, whilst Mike insisted on taking me to la creme de la creme of Bristol climbing in their mank old quarries, so I have this theory that people like to make themselves feel better about the quality of their home crags. I have the big pile of dog shit known as Arapiles down the road, it's a shocker of a crag, people banging hexes around the camp at 6 am after Simey keeping you awake with all night parties (or all night sorties after the chicky babes, or trying to get you to play for the footy team). I wouldn't come here at all if I was you ...


RJC

9-Mar-2005
2:40:43 AM

It does make me wonder. The thought of leaving my local quarries with their graffitti and glass - and the magical names that promise so much... but only give back that which you already had. The Darren, Mountain Ash, The Gap, Trebanog, Llanbradach...I've eaten tuna fish in them all and chased the stupid little numbers like it matters to anyone. And Ogmore, my precious Ogmore…where the pixies play and call you upwards and onwards to escape the impending doom of normality. A narrow tidal window in a rush-rush world of 'I want'…and a spanking wet fish on the face of your ego for your troubles. The peg-rusted golden brown of a Wintour's Leap and the dead fox that is Shorn Cliff. And the sloping shelf that I call the Avon of Enlightenment...all twisting and pushing and smearing and 'what ifs' as you go for the check-mate. The Indigo verticality of Pembroke…friendly in-cuts, biting footholds, sun and washing machine sea…three star everything for your sore hands. Friendly, friendly, friendly…she's looked after me and killed some. And her little brother Gower where you can hide from anything and anyone but yourself if you know where to look.

All under 2 hours away. You know, you're right. I should stay. I mean, what happens to all your chalk marks too?

Question: What do people do to get by and live in Natimuk and is the lake dry?!

Dave C

9-Mar-2005
3:32:26 AM

Ogmore, Gower & Pembroke - Not a bad trio to have near home by UK standards but once you've sampled Moonarie, Arapiles & the Grampians you won't miss them so much.
DC


rjc

9-Mar-2005
7:57:29 AM

Yeah. I'm looking forward to being gobsmacked! I was just largin' up my local area, you know?! And after all, it's who you're with and enjoying it that's the meat of it.

Wendy

9-Mar-2005
11:04:13 AM

On 9/03/2005 RJC wrote:
>
>Question: What do people do to get by and live in Natimuk
To save the masses being subjected to another of my essays, try looking up the thread on nati locals are grumpy bastards ... actually I think it's we think we own the place ... anyway, somewehre in it I answered this question ...

and is the lake
>dry?!

I went swimming through the fairy grass just the other day ...


RJC

9-Mar-2005
8:05:44 PM

No worries. I just came accross http://www.arapiles.net/ so I guess this info is out of date. I'll look up the other thread and get a coffee...as I'm sure it will be a good read :-)

Well, it was an interesting thread! Stupid question really and I wasn't taking the piss. You do the same as the rest of us - and get by. You just do it on your own terms. Sounds like a place in North Wales called Llanberis. Loads of hippies live there too. I'll just get my hat and leave now.


Eduardo Slabofvic

9-Mar-2005
11:53:19 PM

Don't believe everything you read, we actually renovate houses, have babies and breed collies (and occasionally go out and climb when the sky is the right shade of blue).

BoaredOfTheRings

10-Mar-2005
7:58:38 AM

On 9/03/2005 Eduardo Slabofvic wrote:
> we actually renovate houses,

or pay other people to renovate houses?

>and breed collies

collies are so nineties, it's inbreed killer attack dogs.

There are 33 messages in this topic.