I am an avid rock climber (well I was - I haven't been in years) and when I was invited to go one Sunday, I jumped at the chance! I was eager to test my strength and see if I could still pull myself up the rock face.
Now, we are talking about indoor rock climbing here, and we ventured out to Pulse Climbing centre at Adamstown, a 15min drive from Newcastle, Australia.
I have climbed many times before and would frequent the indoor climbing centres at St Peters and St Leonards, however this was many years ago, and unfortunately I had lost a lot of my upper body strength - pair this with the wrong shoes for climbing and I found myself working harder than I should of been.
Still it was amazing fun and a great work out. I do need to mention however, that there was a small incident.
One of the rock walls requires you to hook your guide rope towards the top of the wall, this is to stop you from hitting your anchored belayer in the face in the event that you fall and swing out. So I would like to thank Dean (who went up the wall before me and then checked the ropes) for not re-hooking it, I am joking when I say that and in all fairness it was my responsibility to check all the ropes prior to shooting up the wall.
So, halfway up the wall, I went for a 'jump' to grab onto the next hand grip only after being told by my trusted belayer and Dean that they 'had me'.
"It's OK, we have you - the rope is locked - JUMP!"
So I did.... SPLAT. I didn't make the jump, my hand slipped, so naturally I just lent back assuming I would fall into the harness only to find myself flat on my back sprawled on the ground (I only fell about 2 meters and... it was pretty funny). But DOUBLE CHECK ALL YOUR ROPES! Out of guilt I was shouted lunch at Grill'd at The Junction.
'Hmmmmm, great' I thought... 'take a veg head to a grill bar to say sorry for dropping you off the rock wall...'
But they had the best Veggie burger (a massive mushroom for the 'pattie') with a gluten free bun! I double checked to make sure it was cooked away from all the other meat products - which they do, using a separate skillet for veggie options
What a great way to spend a day in Newcastle! (thank you to Dean for getting a photo of me heading up the wall!)
What will it cost you to climb?
Adults - $15
Concession - $13
Kids u/12 - $10
Harness Hire - $5
