Been wanting to get to Australia since I was a kid, and I think things are finally falling into place to where I can get over there with my wife for a few weeks in September. Part of what I want to do is a couple days of climbing in the Grampians and Arapiles. It would seem my timing is terrible as temporary restrictions have been replaced with a permanent ban. I can't really make sense of the old bans vs new bans.
Where can I get information about the routes that would be suitable? Is there a guidebook available with the same names as the Parks Service is using? Everything I find online doesn't have names that match up.
I'm hoping to find something in the 5.8-5.9 range where I can set up a top rope in the Grampians, preferably with some hand crack. My wife isn't a very strong climber, so I'm liking the idea of taking her up Tiptoe Ridge on Mt Arapiles. That'll have me bringing some trad gear.
It seems that the political environment has turned hostile towards climbing in Victoria. It has me rethinking Australia all together. My money and vacation time would go a lot further in places with better coral reefs, and those are looking a lot more attractive if the legendary Australian climbing scene has become a thing of, well, legend.
I'm sure a lot of people used to come from Europe and other far away places to my home state of Texas to boulder at Hueco Tanks, only to find that the park had been so restricted in climbing that they many couldn't climb at all.