We are back. South Africa was amazing. The country was very different than I expected it to be, much greener and cooler and quite western in a way.
Over the two weeks we stayed in the Rocklands we saw quite a bit of wildlife; baboons, anteaters, snakes, strange rodents, lots of beautiful birds and of course Nalle the dog. The flora was amazing as well (although I must admit the nature impressed me much more than it did the boys. It must have been the biologist inside me). The only thing I didn't really like was the 'split' between 'black' and 'white'. I obviously don't have a lot of reference. We only saw a really small part of South-Africa and stayed there for a very short period of time, but my first impression is that there definitely still is a 'split' between 'black and white' people. Anyways, this is a climbing blog, so I should probably stop writing about 'nature' and 'politics' and start writing about climbing.

Finding our way

In general: The Rocklands is definitely as nice as people say it is. Most of the climbing is powerful (reachy moves on often bad footholds). So it is an advantage if you are strong and-/or tall ;). I felt quite short on problems. And it is fair to say that being the smallest person on the trip frustrated me more than once (sorry guys for being a pain about it every now and again ;)). The climbing involves some funk, but not as much as I expected. A lot of the problems are quite high, the landings are generally perfect and the top-outs are mainly easy (the only thing you have to worry about while topping out is that the jugs you are holding don't snap).
Although a lot of topo's of the Rocklands are published on the Internet, it is definitely worth having a person showing you around in the area (not all area's/ problems are easy to find). We were lucky enough Micky, Tom and Liam were willing to guide us every now and again. Thanks guys.

Above: f.l.t.r Micky, Smith, Tom, Liam and Andy

Below: me on 'Rhino'

More personal: The first week we maily spend on exploring the area. Climbing wise, Andy was much more prepared for this trip than I was. He knew exactly which problems he wanted to see and try and do. Whereas I was mainly pottered around the first week, trying whatever Andy and Smith warmed up on. After a week Andy had already cruised a lot of hard problems whereas I had the feeling I had done nothing. I must admit that Andy looked very very strong during the whole trip, both physical and mental. He was always the first to do the hard problems and the first to do the highball problems.
In a way it is strange though that I felt I had done nothing the first week, as I had done lots of 7a/+,7b/+'s and a 7c. But when you climb with 5 guys who all climb 8a(+)/8b(+) on a regular basis a 7a/b or c feels like nothing really.
After about a week I somehow decided that I wanted to try the sit start of 'Tea with Elmarie' on the Campground Area. I'm not sure who I was kidding. I had never tried an 8a+ in my life, even better, I only climbed a couple of 7c/+'s in my life. I had done the standing start of 'Tea with Elmarie' and the sit start didn't look to bad.

Working the standing start of 'Tea with Elmarie'

The first couple of moves of the sistart are easy. It is the link between the sit -and standing start that I find tricky. You have to hold a swing on two tiny tiny crimps (at least if you do the problem the ('original') way, the way it is was opened by Toni Lamiche). The first day I tried the sistart I could not hold the swing at all, so I assumed I could never do the problem and left it. Two days later Liam told me they did not use the two small crimps but used a bigger crimp further left. So new hope arise. However, due to a colony of baboons staying at the Campground area, it took me another 4 days before I could go back on the problem and try the new sequence. Unfortunately, the reach to the better crimp was far too long for me, so I really had to use the two small crimps to hold the swing. And somehow, I all of a sudden could hold the swing, which meant that I had done all the moves on the problem! I asked the guys if I could try the problem after a rest day. I could.
The day after my rest day it was very cloudy and it rained (drizzled) a little. This meant I had to decide if I wanted to try the link-up in the morning (normally you can only do the problem in the afternoon as it gets the sun in the morning), or if I wanted to wait till the afternoon. With the risk of it poring down in the afternoon. I decided to try it that morning.

You can't see the crimp you are going to (not even with your eyes open ;)). The crux move is holding a swing on the 'big' crimp I have with my left hand and the small crimp for your right hand (right of it the big crimp)

On my second go I did the crux, but my foot slipped. The fact that I could do the crux from the sitter gave me a lot of confidence. But than, on my 5th go that day, I split. No way I was ever going to do it with tape on my left index finger. I had to leave the problem empty handed (and with only a couple of days left before we had to go home to England, I did not really believe anymore I would be able to do the problem on this trip).
On that same morning Smith did do his project 'Armed Response' (8b), a problem Andy did a couple of days earlier. And on that afternoon Andy did his project 'Green Mamba' (8b). Instead of solely being happy for them, I also felt sad for myself. Why didn't I do my problem that morning? It seemed so unfair. I really felt sorry for myself and I was a proper pain to the guys.
Andy offered to spot me if I wanted to try the link up again. This meant he gave up trying his own project for me.

Andy on 'Armed Response' (8b)

I don't really mind climbing with tape on, I do however dislike the pain of a a fresh split. But I really wanted to try the problem one more time. So I went back on it the next day. Again, it rained that morning (much harder than the day before). But the sun came out in the afternoon which meant the bloc was dry enough to be climbed.
The tape on my left index finger made the crux move so much harder. Especially because by the time I got to the crux, the blood started to run through the tape, which made holding the swing so much harder. After a couple of goes, the pain in my finger also really started to get to me. Holding the starting jugs even hurt my finger, so I didn't really wanted to try the problem any longer. All the time Andy stayed really positive. He said he was happy to spot me again another day. I decided to give it one more go that day. I even said something like 'this is going to be my last go and I am going to do it this go'. And I did.
I did the crux move and almost dropped the top. Instead of being happy, excited, relieved etc. I felt really sad and scared when I sat on the top. It almost felt as if I didn't do it.
I have never tried a problem 5 times on a trip. I never felt so empty and sad after doing a problem. And I have been such a pain to the guys because of the problem. But I probably also never learned so much from a problem and I probably never felt so glad I finished a problem in the end. Respect to people who can work problems endlessly. I'm not sure I will do it again.
All in all, the trip to the Rocklands was a success. We all did problems we wanted to do. And we all want to come back.

Me in front of the 'Teapot' bloc

Thanks for all the beater guys, and thanks for all the support.