Just as it seemed as if it would never be cold again, the weather finally changed. It has been the hottest summer ever according to the records and it has certainly felt that way here too. Whilst I have entertained myself in various ways, including tree jumping (jumping out of increasingly high trees into a lake), kayaking and beer drinking, it's climbing that I have wanted to do all along. However, as you can imagine, when there is one day under 30degrees in a five week period it is fairly difficult to get motivated to pull on and harder still to get anything done. I have spent a bit of time shuttling between the Grampians and Mount Arapiles, getting in touch with my inner tradness, as well as ticking off a few mid-range sport routes and even putting up a new sport route at Arapiles, which is a rarity indeed. My friend Gordy had already drilled the holes, but was unable to do one of the moves, so he let me have it. All I had to do was put the bolts in and go for it. Which is exactly what I did. So, Mormon poultry was born, 7c+ I guess and a good addition to the gully. Cheers Gordy. Just in the last few days, the mornings have become crisp and I have shelved my harness in favor of my preferred crash pads. I've had my eye on a couple of really great lines in a newish area, but have been unable to really have a good go at either of them, mostly due to the stifling heat. The first is a pair of vertical seams that climbs with some really great slopey compression moves, with an unlikely dead point to finish. It took a few sessions to work out the crux, but when it came together, it felt pretty straight forward, symptomatic of first ascents I guess. It's called Twin Fin and is a grand line. The second is one of the coolest lines I have done in ages. 6 moves long, it has an awesome crux, a long dead point to a left hand crimp in a slot followed by a jump to a high side pull with the right. It's a total classic, called The Bakelight Concept and hopefully marks the beginning of a long, cold and dry bouldering season...