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General Climbing Discussion

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weather conditions in Victoria 12-Nov-2015 At 6:11:16 AM Wendy

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Hi Jonas, Damo (one day hero) is a whinging canberran and massive wuss who faints in double digit temperatures. I live in Natimuk, and the only time of the year I won't climb here is mid winter. Summer is mostly fine, it doesn't really get over 35 that much and there are shady gullies and high crags in the gramps like Bundaleer that are fine on hot days. The secret is to actually get up to the cliff. Both town and the campground are much hotter than the deep gullies or high, breezy cliffs. Extended days around 40 are a good excuse for the beach, which is only 2 hours away and 10 degrees cooler than here.

Tasmania suffers from the opposite problem. It is cold and wet. I have been snowed on there in Dec, Jan and feb. People tell me that March is the best month for not getting wet, but as march is too good at home, I've never tried it. I have this theory that you have to be really motivated to climb as a Tasmanian. Between the weather, the access and the rock, it is hard work. If you are travelling by yourself, you will also want to start looking for climbing partners there now. There is no central place to just rock up like Arapiles and meet climbers. Indeed, Arapiles is almost the only place in Australia where that is reliable. You will need a car to get to anything in Tas and lots of areas lack a convenient free camping area. So if you do decide to go there, I'd start planning now. You might get lucky and meet someone at Araps keen for Tasmania or Buffalo as well. NZ is another option for mid summer - Payne's Ford used to be easy to turn up at without a climbing partner but maybe not anywhere else. Having said that, the climbing in Australia is way better than NZ (and Victoria better than Tasmania). Both NZ and Tas do have a lot of beautiful walking, but i have been cold, wet and snowed on in NZ mid summer as well.

Another thought is that mid-dec - late January is our school holdiays. That makes flights/ferries more expensive and anything near tourists busy. Mt Buffalo campground will be booked out until after the Jan long weekend. Fortunately, February is a great time for Buffalo. Any of the classic walks in Tassie and NZ will probably also be booked out. It does mean lots of uni students will be bumming out at the Mt, and maybe at places like Freycinet in Tas, which is about the only dedicated climbing campsite there (although we had it to ourselves for most of Feb a few years ago).

You will also get sunburnt in the sun anywhere and any time of year in australia in no time. Our sun is vicious, which is why Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world.

Whatever you do, it should be a great trip. You can easily fill years travelling around Australia and most people try and squish it into a matter of weeks. At least you have the whole year to check things out and spend a good amount of time in the places you like best.