Southeastern Australia Roadtrip

Australia

Go back to Australia.

Resignation
Resignation at Arapiles.
New South Wales
A glowing sunset.

Five years after our first visit to Australia, we left the cold wetness of the Pacific Northwest winter and headed back in search of dry rock and sunny weather. The plan this time was to do a mid-sized road trip through the southeastern corner of the Australian mainland: fly into Brisbane and do a climb or two in the interesting looking Glass House Mountains of southeast Queensland; then head south to the Warrumbungles National Park in New South Wales with its large-ish spires and faces (some of the longer climbs of the continent) followed by a few days in the Blue Mountains; then round things out with a visit to Mount Buffalo National Park in Victoria and finally depart via Melbourne.

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Blabbermouth
Blabbermouth at Glass House Mtns.
Sultan
Sultan at Mt. Buffalo.
Things went to plan but only about 50% of the time. We expected and were prepared for the hot summer weather (brought a family sized tube of 100 SPF sunscreen and a big can of harden-the-fuck-up go-juice) but not the extensive and catastrophic wildfires. So what was supposed to be a somewhat off the beaten path adventure turned into a more or less bread and butter Australian climbing road trip with visits to the “standard” crags of Victoria: the holy trinity of Arapiles, Grampians, and Mount Buffalo, supplemented with a Queensland appetizer. Though we liked the Tasmanian climbing better overall, this trip gave us an opportunity to see a bit more of this vast and sparsely populated country. A quick, 2.5 day outing to central Java (the polar opposite of sparsely populated) for some family time and eating provided an end-cap to a good trip.

Chronological

Remains Of The Day
Remains Of The Day at Glass House Mtns.
Where Angels Fear To Tread
Where Angels Fear To Tread.
  • Glass House Mountains
  • Warrumbungles Failure
  • Arapiles Day 1
  • Arapiles Day 2
  • Grampians Day 1
  • Grampians Day 2
  • Mount Buffalo Day 1
  • Mount Buffalo Days 2 And 3
  • Yogyakarta

    • Videos

    Debutante
    Debutante at Grampians.
    New South Wales
    The sights.
  • Video 1: Shirley climbing pitch 2 of Resignation at Arapiles.
  • Video 2: Shirley cleaning a carrot bolt on pitch 3 of The Watchtower Crack at Arapiles.
  • Video 3: Shirley rapping off after our climb of The Watchtower Crack at Arapiles.
  • Video 4: Shirley cleaning the anchor on pitch 2 or 3 of The Frog at the Grampians.
  • Video 5: Summit of The Cathedral in Mount Buffalo.

    • Some Beta

    The Watchtower Crack
    Arapiles.
    Mount Buffalo
    Mount Buffalo.

    The three popular crags in Victoria are well documented in multiple guidebooks each. For the first time visitor, the Sublime Climbs: A Guide to the Best Rock Climbing Venues in Victoria, Australia book is good enough I think. Glass House Mountains routes are described in South East Queensland Climbing, which has a new edition (2018). Warrumbungles has an old and tiny guidebook but best information can be found online (including a pdf guidebook).

    The Roadtrip

    Australia
    Southeastern Australia Roadtrip. Click map for more details (Dec. 2019).

    Go to Glass House Mountains.
    Go back to Australia.