Just Another Day

Today is just another day for the Jones boys. After all getting up at 6am we had breakfast, said goodbye to mum as she had to go to work and then headed off to the park. Lachlan had a ball on his bike and playing on the slides and swings. Then we played hide and seek in the maze and went for a bushwalk - where we saw birds, ants, a butterfly and a rabbit. Oh and a crocodile - well Lachlan saw it at least, it must have disappeared in the 2 foot wide creek before dad could spot him. Ryan had a go on Lachies bike for the first time and enjoyed the bushwalk so much he feel asleep in the backpack/child-carrier. Fun, fun, fun.



Time now for afternoon nap for all before Granny visits this arvo and the daycare Christmas Party tonight.

Hot Ait Ballooning!

My friend, Fiona, and I went hot air ballooning yesterday! Something both of us have always been keen to do.

We met up at 5am and were driven out to a farmer's paddock in Richmond. While the balloon was being set up, we got to watch a beautiful sunrise. It really is such a gorgeous time of the day to be up.

It was such a peaceful experience floating around in the sky. Not scary at all. For take off, you just slowly start floating upwards and our landing was really, really soft.

We got up to 3,000 feet high, travelled 55kph and covered 28km in distance on our 1 hour flight. It was really interesting looking down at the World with a birds eye view. One thing that was consistent throughout our journey were the barking dogs! Really drives them nuts.

Baz was really keen to try and meet up and show Lachie the balloon landing. Not an easy thing to tee up though as the Pilot has a rough idea of where we'll end up but it's not an exact science. I sent a sms to Baz every now & then when our Pilot would give the ground crew an update and on limited instruction Baz managed to follow the balloon for the last part of the flight and saw us just after we landed on a private schools oval, complete with white picket fence around it.

Lachie was beside himself as he ran over to me and was so excited when he was allowed to have a little run around inside the balloon and "help" us to pack it up. Bless him.

I can definitely recommend it to anyone who is thinking about doing it - if you do however, remember to take a hat - the heat from those burners is intense!!

Here is the sunrise we were greeted with while waiting for the balloon to be set up


And here is the balloon slowly being filled up with air


Firing some heat into it to help it stand up


Almost there...


Our view from the basket


The balloon had a camera hanging from it's side which took this great pic


Here are 2 of Fiona and I


Once landed, with the balloon semi deflated and laying on its side, they let us go inside


Baz, Lachie & Ryan had just arrived after the above picture was taken
and was so excited to come in for a quick run around in the balloon

Santa

Santa has arrived already he seems to be everywhere we go.

Lachlan was very excited to see Santa and was quick to tell him that he "wanted a screw-driver for Christmas so I can make holes in my sandwich, please." Hope he is not to disappointed when he gets his first bike!

Ryan loved Santa's big beard and having his photo taken with Mr Claus.

Afternoon at the Dams Cliff

With temperatures reaching 42 degrees here yesterday it was a relief to get up to the mountains where it was only high 30s. Conditions weren't ideal for climbing but it was a great opportunity for me to check out a new area (the Dams cliff) and have a go at an old Dave James route called Siesta.

I had arranged to catch-up with Steve L, Adrain and another Steve in the afternoon as I had things to do in the morning. The boys were a little late arriving as they did some routes at Medlow Bath in the morning so I climbed with a German guy and did some easy warm ups. Then we moved onto a 22 and finally Siesta.

Siesta is an awesome line with something for everyone. The route is bouldery with a thin section down low, then some powerful underclinging and finally a long lock after a small roof (photos of the three sections below). We all had a go on at redpointing the route but without success. I look forward to getting down there and trying Siesta again once its cooler and I am a little fitter.

Daddy Daycare

40 degrees Celsius today so dad and the boys gave the backyard and the park a miss and went to an indoor kids playground. Luckily there weren't to many feral unsupervised kids so Ryan also got to have a crawl and play in the ball pit. Both boys had a great time though Ryan was a little upset when, hard as he tried he just couldn't eat any off the toys (lets see what nasty sickness he has next week).

More Routes at Planet Clare

We had a good afternoon in surprisingly cool conditions. Some nice climbing was done and I even took a nice size winger when a foot hold broke.

Steve and I started on the Pint Wall doing the three completed routes, two 16s and a 17. Steve onsighted both 16s and then proceeded to traverse terrifying far right on the 17. After that we moved onto the descent gully wall where we knocked over a nice little 18 and another new route that is graded somewhere between 16 and 20 - needs a few more ascents to decide the grade.

After that Gav and myself had a go at a new line on the Lust For Life Wall (photo above). A funny little climb requiring thrutching to the first bolt, bridging to the second, chimneying to the third, laybacking to the forth and then a nice few face moves to the top. After both having a dog on it - I had a go at redpointing the route. Reaching for the top of the crag a footer broke and I took a small lead fall, next time (still needs lower-offs anyway). Strange route should go at 21.

Next up Steve stole my prize line up the slab. I was going to call it Beefcake because you need to be a powerhouse to tick this little number - now we have to see what name Steve believes befits such a line. Anyway it is stitched up slab with 6 carrot bolts and a top out - it goes at solid grade 12. I bolted it to be the ideal first lead for newbies.

The day finished with some sieging by Gav and I on Rappers Delight 24 (below). This is on the same slab as Beefcake but a tad blanker. It is an awesome line with a hard crux pulling on to the slab at the first bolt, from there it is beautiful padding up a slab with nice ringbolts every 2-3m. I think it is a three star 24 route but even better as 19 with a batman start of the first bolt. Gav nabbed the first ascent just as rain threatened to fall, some quick lowering and fast belaying by Steve saw just enough time for me to get the second ascent, then badlight and rain bought a good days play to an end.

A Day At The Beach

The warmer weather has arrived so yesterday Dad and the boys escaped the heat with a day at Granny's. We had a great day down at Clareville Beach. Lachie enjoyed playing in the sand, swimming and watching the boats, he even got to see a big jellyfish.Ryan wasn't so keen on the water after Granny took him for a dip so he mostly just watched all the other kids while sucking on his spade and chewing sand.

Ryan Crawling!!

Ryan has been doing a shuffle for a few weeks but now he has mastered the art of crawling. He can move in any direction he wants and covers ground quickly often leaving the safety of the carpet and banging his two new teeth on steps and furniture. Hope you enjoy the video below of Ryan on the move.

New Climbs at Planet Clare

After weeks of bad weather Gav and I finally got down to the crag today and polished off a few new routes.

First up a trad line that is the obvious crack that Martyrdom starts up. The route starts with an awkward layback then an easy slab with a final thrutchy roof section. Bomber gear all the way but a little committing pulling the slab after the roof. A nice old style route (I think the route may have been climbed previously though I did have to remove a lot of chockstones and soil so I am claiming it as first ascent until proven otherwise). I have called the route 'The Fugly Friend' (19) because it is not the route I wanted to do (Martyrdom) but the next best thing. Photos below of Gav cleaning the The Fugly Friend.


Next we moved down to another trad line. This time Gav took the honours on a route that starts with some runners in a corner before a wild traverse right to an arete and then some delicate slabbing. There is solid gear though a lob of the crux would sending you crashing into the corner. It is a great little route at about grade 15 (yet to be named).

We packed away the racks and moved up the crag to the new routes Gav has bolted. I dogged my project and got the moves sorted only to have it start raining. I quickly lowered to the ground and had a rushed redpoint - taking a whipper of the crux. The holds got wet and we thought the day was gone. We moped around and checked out some new lines before the sun reappeared and dried out the crag. Gav had a play on his grade 30 slab and I had one last go on my route. Success! (for me at least) No-name yet - any suggestions? Grade - solid 24 I think.

Doesn't get much cuter...

Bit of a boring old day at home today with all this wet weather, although before the rain hit we had a swarm of bees hovering around our roof with 5 of the buggers getting inside through the airconditioning duct *shudder* - fortunately they took off when it started raining.

Managed to capture the below video this morning. Doesn't get much better than seeing your boys like this in my opinion. The boys just adore each other and Ryan already seems to look up to Lachie - he seems to watch every move Lachie makes and breaks out in smiles at pretty much everything Lachie does. It warms my heart to watch.



Also managed to capture the below photo's the other day! Do you think I could get Lachie to put the banana down?! I just couldn't possibly love these little boys more if I tried!

New Project at PC

Gav very kindly bolted me the a great line at Planet Clare. I had spied the line earlier this year but hadn't made any effort to clean or bolt the route so Gav got motivated did two routes for himself and one for moi. Thanks mate.

The route is awesome. Delicate footwork in shallow pockets, balancy sidepulls and two cruxes. The first crux is a cross through move into a shallow two finger pocket some tricky foot moves and a long reach to a sidepull. The second crux is an uncling into a crimpy sequence reminiscence of Paddington at Centennial Glen.

The route didn't go today as we only had an hour at the crag - not enough time to warm up, learn the moves and then redpoint - maybe next time. I did have one redpoint but fell at the top crux twice, then went to the top. I have edited the footage together to show what the route will look like and put the falls on at the end (some of the hard moves are well above the bolts). It is bad footage - sorry hard when there are only two at the crag and you have a stills camera with a grainy video function. I will try and get better footage when I tick the route.

No name yet and grade to be announced - around 25 I think


Gav's new routes are a blank slab and an extension to great little 23, both look very hard maybe 26 and 24 respectively. Plenty more new routes to come aswell on natural gear.

I See Red

We woke up to the most awesome red sunrise yesterday, the result of a sandstorm. Red dust from the heart of Australia had travelled thousands of kms to cover the East Coast in a blanket of fine red dust.

The people (and media) of Sydney carried on about this all day yesterday with some people saying ridiculous things. I heard one old man on the radio claim the seagulls were flying backwards to avoid getting dust in their eyes and Sharon from Bogansville was going to stock pile canned food for the Armageddon. Here in the Jones' house we just enjoyed natures best light show in 70 years.

Lachlan Climbing

Lachie is learning to climb, check out his moves on the video below. He says "when I older I climb rocks with Daddy" - let's hope so!!

How times have changed!

How times have changed! The other night on my way to the kitchen, I saw a huntsman! Once upon a time, not that long ago, it would have been sprayed with fly spray until it was all foam. But now that my little boy has a bug catcher, my first thought was, do I have the courage to catch it?! It was all up to me as everyone else was in bed! Anyway, I was very brave and this is the result Lachie found the next morning.


Ryan turned 6 months old last Thursday! He is growing so quickly. He's still an absolute delight and smiles pretty much most of the day. He has just started shuffling backwards and trying to get up on his knees, so I don't think it will be much longer before he's on the move - oh dear! Sprouting some cute fluffy hair now too. Still not a huge fan of food but we'll get there eventually I'm sure.

Lachie continues to be a gorgeous, fascinating and delightful little boy. His vocabulary has improved even more recently and his latest 'thing' is reading all 36 Mr Men characters from memory on the back of one of his Mr Men books. Baz & I are really quite over reading about Mr Nonsence these days though! Toilet training has been put on the back burner for the moment - he just didn't seem too phased about not using the potty / toilet even though he knew when he should etc. So in a few months we'll bite the bullet again.

Lachie still loves his little brother and now Ryan follows Lachie around the room with his eyes and lights up with a big gummy smile when his bigger brother comes near him. It's really lovely to watch. This morning I captured the following video which pretty much sums it up between the 2. Lachie was stroking Ryan's head absentmindedly while watching a cartoon.




Also, this one shows Ryan starting to try and move around...




Lastly, here is a recent photo of our beautiful boys

Work & Working Routes With Gav

I have done some work with Gavin for his new business Eurosafe. This a company that installs the best and latest roof and fall arrest systems from Europe. I have done a few jobs this year and hope to do plenty more as the business grows, below is photo of a job we did in 44 degree heat last January!Yesterday we looked at another job at a local TAFE and then found ourselves with a free afternoon so headed up to the Blue Mountains for a quick climb. The weather was looking like a change might push through so we headed for Centennial Glen.

We started with a warm up on a grade 20 -Dr Foopsickle (photo below), a newish route that we had never done before. It was a nice little number on sinker pockets a little sequency so I was happy to get the onsight. Next up was a bouldery little number called Horrace Herrod (25). I missed the onsight and then took a few goes to finally get the red point.
We traveresed the top off the crag and set up a top route on the mega classic Paddington. Both Gav and I got all the moves on first up so we pulled the rope and tried to redpoint the route but with no luck. I am sure with more time and better commitment this great line will go clean next time out.

With light fading fast we headed over to Wave Wall to try the technical and bizzare route Jaquiline Hyde (24). Gav but the draws in and I had a go at flashing the route. I got through the crux and the roof but feel on a monster jug above the last bolt after missing a huge side pull. I was dissapointed at missing the flash and falling ofa grade 18 move one move below the chains but that was all we had time for so it to will have to be on the list to finish off next time.

All in all a great way to spend 4 hours, now if I can only coerce some belays up there for a full day to finish off those routes and maybe try a few others.

Sydney Grit Project E8?

I went down to Planet Clare and Berowra last week to try and the Desire Factor and a few other routes. The Desire Factor didn't go but we got up Gavs Slab (was a 25 but possibly more like 23) and Glamapus at Berowra in the evening. But the big news was the discovery of a new hard grit style route Planet Clare. The route is so far unnamed but will be maybe called Martyrdom, Kamikaze or Hara-kiri (Japanese meaning death with honour) if it is ever done.

Below is a photo of the line. It is a twin arête that is about 10 degrees overhanging in the top half - vertical below that. The moves up the bottom section are blind slaps to shallow pockets or crimps around the arêtes. The crux is then turning the lip onto the slab at the top. This move requires a blind heel hook on a flat edge about foot below your left hand, right foot on a tiny edge on the face. From here you do a long lock off the right sloper on the lip to a sloping horrible two finger pocket on the slab. Then some fancy footwork and two more blind slaps with the right hand get you set for the crux mantle onto the slab. From there it is an easy pad on up the slab for a change of undies and my eternal respect.

The good news is there is some bomber gear at half height. On the photo you can see a lot of chalk in the crack on the right at mid height. Though this gear is solid and canbe placed from a hands free stance on the shelf a fall of the crux would see you swinging hard onto the slab at best (if you belayer jumps of a ledge to take in the slack), hitting the low roof (just out of shot) or the ground (which is a terrible landing).

We top roped the route and where surprised to see the moves come together but it is a way off going yet. We need to do lots of cleaning and unlock the perfect sequences. At the moment I believe the route is around grade 26 or 27, about V7ish. Gav who knows the grit scene says he believes the route will go at E8 6c. That is the same grade as some very famous grit routes including Gaia, End of the Affair and Renegade Master.

Any takers??

A couple of developments and about a trillion photo's!

Just thought I'd share our latest, most exciting news! Ryan rolled for the first time the other day. Unfortunately, he did it in his cot after a nap, so we missed it but nonetheless!

As for Lachie and our toilet training....just as I thought it wasn't really going anywhere, he asked last night to do a poo on the potty and he did!!

Doesn't take much for us to get excited these days! LOL

Now, for all the latest photo's. They're mainly of Ryan as he is the one changing so quickly at his age but I am starting to realise I've been so conscious of making sure we have loads of baby photo's of Ryan, like Lachie had, that poor Lachie isn't in many these days. Will have to change that :)

Awww

Hello, I don't believe we've met!

My darlings

Ryan loves his baths! Has from day 1.

Had to put this one in because he looks
so much like Lachie did!

Isn't he beautiful?!?!

And last but not least, check out
Ryan's cankles hehehehe