This weekend I went Rock climbing down South on the West side of Lake Taupo, at a place called Whanganui Bay. I think I've mentioned it before, but it is an old volcanic caldera that beheaded itself in a similar manner to Mt. Tehema in Lassen National Park or Crater Lake. Word has it is is deeper than Crater Lake, and like the deepest lake in the U.S. the waters are impossibly blue. It being a volcanic area, there is incredibly light pumice everywhere, so you can amuse yourself for a little while by chucking pieces into the water and watching them float.

Whanganui Bay (pronounced Fah-gun-ooee, Wh = F in Maori) is an old Maori settlement, and there are 500+ climbs. If you have the means and the time, one can take a boat out to the cliffs on the waterside and climb up from there if you want to. The rock is ignimbrite and it has lots of pockets and vertical columns. Great climbing in a beautiful area!

My friend Nicole from good old CA joined myself and some of the University Rock Climbing club members down there for the weekend. We had a blast, other than getting a rope stuck on a 3 pitch climb (called Tibia) just as the twilight was fading Sunday evening. It took climbers Marty, Owen and myself a while to get it down, but cracking jokes and snapping pictures during the night passed the time till Marty finally ascended and rebuilt the anchor. Got back just before 3 am this morning...ugh. Here are some pictures for y'all. Happy Mother's day Mom!

Taupo, looking north

One of the Climbing Areas, on the right side of the Big column is the 3 pitch route Tibia

Interesting gravel sorting by a small stream

On belay on an 18, Fun!