We all need Coffee...

Portland was an early start. 8am, rucksack in hand I jumped into the car with Ana and Dux from the train station. After being given an estiamated arrival time of 10am, due to being informed it would take 2 hours to get down, we pulled into the car park at 9:19am, followed shortly by Richard, Chris, Marc and Pareecha. We made our way round to the small cafe in the car park, which to the disappointment of all was closed as a morning dose of caffeine was needed.

After spending time flicking through the guide book, our numbers grew slowly as we all waited to grab a coffee. Chris talked me through the plan for the day, telling me about The Veranda and before long, coffee in hand, we hopped back into the car and drove up onto the cliffs, up small winding inclines and passed seaside homes we parked and walked down the costal paths looking for the crag. After a little bit of a trek, slopes and bum shuffling we made it down to The Veranda. The Veranda is a wave of smaller crags that are developing over Portland. The routes have taken a beating in recent years and even more so recently with the downpours we were having over the whole of the country. The exposure has made for the development of some expansive grassy areas that make for good chilling, socialising, onlooking and eating areas.

We spent the first 20 minutes watching as Marc, Luba, Marie, Simon, Richard, Chris, Melody and Frank set up top ropes. However, as soon as the chance came Pareecha and I jumped at the chanceto climb. We started on a 4 called 'Phils route' moving onto a 4+ called 'Days of Heaven'. I also sent 'Love on the Rocks' a 5 and attempted a pinchy 5+ that ripped my hands to pieces after throwing myself at it goodness knows how many times. Taped up and chalked up I sent the same routes over and over before finishing on what was meant to be a 4+ called 'Cat juggling', but after a read of the guidebook after it was labelled as a 6a and was a very height dependent route. Always finding the short jokes eh...

The feel of rock was so much better. I had better grip, more friction. I love that you just do you and crimp, hold and scramble onto what ever you can find or push on and it's intense. I adored it. It was such an awesome day and I can't wait to do it again.