Well, an update of the Great Crunchie versus Violet Crumble Referendum is due. Currently there is a close scoreline of 8 – 7, with Crunchies in a narrow lead.

Extra points to consider – the Violet Crumble is an Australian product, made in Sydney by Nestlé, whereas the Crunchie is a Cadbury product, also available in the UK, New Zealand and Canada. (Oh, and random facts – the slab of Crunchie honeycomb is cut up using a jet of oil – using water would make the honeycomb melt, using a knife would lead to shattering)

Vote here – the fate of the nation rests in your hands.

Well, I’m feeling fairly ropable at the moment. The first weekend of peak bagging in how long? And I get left behind! I spend a weekend lying on a bed in stinking hot Melbourne, when I could be off bagging peaks in Alpine Victoria. Mt Buggery, Mt Speculation AND Mt Despair would have ALL BEEN MINE! But no. And this? This is just some sort of atrocity against moose-kind. You’re not fooling anyone you know.

Australia Day was spent on the raft again, moored off Elwood Beach again. We sat in the sun and the wind, and watched the hoards on the beach, and the talented individuals on their jet boats, and then said goodbye to Sarah, who is off in America-land now, and soon to be in Vancouver, where she will be cold, and be able to buy lots of cheap gear.

On reconsidering the forecast on Friday night (and taking into account my sniffing nose), I came to the conclusion that the Grampians wasn’t the best place to be on the weekend – with a forecast of high winds, high temperatures, and lightning strikes, I decide I would spend my weekend somewhere that wasn’t a stinking hot bushfire breeding ground.

A wise move, with over 100,000 hectares now burnt in the Grampians area (no need to get started on the huge amounts of the rest of the state that are on fire), the campgrounds evacuated, roads into the national park closed, and Halls Gap and other towns under threat, as well as sections of the Western Highway being closed due to heavy smoke and poor visibility.

So instead I had a sedentary weekend, lazing around in houses with no air-conditioning, and seeking out water whenever I could, as the ‘mercury’ (as the newspapers insist on referring to it) reached over 40oC. On Sunday, we took to the sea at Elwood Beach, paddling our trusty craft a few hundred metres from shore and mooring ourselves at a buoy. We sat back, enjoyed our esky full of cool beverages, swam around, and enjoyed the view as the wind grew stronger, and the clouds grew darker. We were finally safe from the bushfires.

The forecast:
Saturday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms overnight, locally severe. Showers and storms re-developing during the late afternoon, mainly about the ranges. A hot and mainly sunny day with moderate northwesterly winds easing.
Fire danger: High to very high.
Min 21 Max 40

Sunday: Fine. Very hot ahead of a late change with areas of raised dust.
Min 22 Max 41

The plan:
To go climbing in the Grampians – I’m sure it will be lovely and cool in the shade, and the bushfires shouldn’t go anywhere near us. I might even have some sausages.

Ummmm… for those of you who haven’t heard of Damir Dokic, he’s the vaguely crazed father of a girl who once played tennis for Australia, and has recently returned to play for Australia after having her father drag her around and play for a selection of Eastern European countries instead. Now he is accusing Croatia and the Vatican of brainwashing his daughter, threatening to drop a nuclear bomb on Australia, and maybe kidnap his daughter (although he’s apparently decided against killing an Australian in retaliation).

Damir said it was Australia, rather than him, that was mentally suspect.

“Australia is a spoiled nation,” Damir said.

“They can expect my revenge.

“I’m not crazy when I say this, they are the crazy ones who give you hot sausages before the match when it’s 40 degrees celsius outside.”

Yeah. Who eats sausages in Summer? Crazy country.

Getting into my thesis again:

As described above, two vertical layering definitions are used for regression-based prediction of convolved layer-to-space transmittances: levels of fixed pressure or levels of fixed absorber overburden.

and my brain is hurting… although I am fired with the nutritional value of the kangaroo balls I ate last night :)

Memorable climb of the weekend – Basalisk Direct (16). The first 35 metres involves some unassuming looking climbing, that’s actually quite nice. The next 20 metres involves a thrutch through a chimney in a roof, with a 40 metre drop off to the ground below. Standing at the belay just below the roof, with my back to the cliff, I could look down to the ground, out to views over the Grampians, and up to my climbing partner, apparently (and at times, actually) wedged horizontally in a crack in the roof above me.

Captured after our ascent, a pair of English guys on the same climb:

 
Note the leader avoiding the fun part by dangling below the roof instead of squirming through the chimney like a little horizontal caving snake.

(Oh, and the post title – there was a Lunar New Year celebration on the road around the corner – the whole street was blocked off and filled with people selling food, with carnival rides, and with exciting carnival games. And apparently screaming is obligatory).