Trip Report: “Verdonified”

By Chris Hayes, with editing by Lucy Blackbourn It’s September, and Jason and I are in the Gorges Du Verdon with every intent of enjoying the fine French limestone. Of course, we want to jump on a classic Verdon multi pitch, so we look through the guidebook and find one; 160m, grades all inside our abilities, and relatively easy access. Sounds perfect. To get to the climb, we have to walk about 50m from the road to the gorge rim, find the rappel anchor, and rappel down to the starting ledge. It took us nearly two hours of wandering around […]

Trip Report: Bob’s Knob

Sat 22 April 2017 – (Not) Bobs Knob/Bluff via Ihaia Track With sunrise peeking above the horizon and a cloudy mountain ahead, ten of us set off from the end of Ihaia Road at 7.15am with our target set on Bob’s Knob (1,780m) and perhaps Bob’s Bluff (1,960m). The track was a tad muddy (to say the least) and with a few streams to cross, it was definitely a ‘gaiter day’! After a quick snack and obligatory loo stop at Waiaua Gorge Hut we continued the upwards slog through winding bush, past a few adjacent drop offs & slips, and a decent view of […]