A quick deviation from studying

I needed to write this otherwise it'd be January before I posted....

If you ever find yourself in Whanganui Bay on the western shores of Lake Taupo, you may just happen across a climbing area called The Plateau. Imagine your astonishment (no really. imagine it.) as you are gazing up at a featureless overhung 30 and you notice a dirty, weta infested hole in the ground between a detached column and the main wall. Choose your own adventure: do you a) keep walking and climb the gorgeous 18 crack further on, or do you b) willfully have a mate lower you into the spider web choked abyss and attempt to climb back out? My friend Andrew chose option B.

Surprisingly, the Whanganui Bay rock climbing guide identifies this hole as an actual climb, and Andrew had his heart set on it. Apparantly it goes down 40 meters and as we all later dubbed it..."is a physical 15" (5.6 or so). Andrew didn't have me lower him the whole 40 meters, but he gets major style points for just even attempting it. We wrapped a sling around a horn and I backed myself up by attaching my safety to a tree. Then, after some nervous jokes I lowered him not-so-quickly (we are talking tens of millimeters per minute here, so as not to dislodge anything from the ominous walls) into the hole. He chimneyed his way out in a timely fashion, with a giant grin on his face. Probably the funniest belay I've ever given in my life. Many "Predator" and "The Descent" movie quotes were uttered up at base camp while Andrew was down there fighting half-orcs (or something).

all photos courtesy of Andrew Baddeley