Crutches....

My first contribution since Ranaz set up this blog... Enforced houseboundness has given me the time to watch every old Hamish Macbeth episode, eat the fridge bare and finally get round to contributing! 2 weeks before we set off on our climbing extravaganza sees me (sod's law) on crutches for the first time in my life and the novelty has well and truly worn off. Embarrassingly there is no epicness to my accident, no daring deeds to report, but simply hopping over a stream in cornwall saw me sitting in Truro's finest medical establishment for the best part of a glorious sunday whilst the rest of the group enjoyed the fine weather and the finer waves.

Sitting around for so long and with evening climbing sessions off the agenda has given me opportunity to really think about our trip. I've had itchy feet for a few years now and its crazy to think that in a couple of weeks we'll be off to visit some of the finest climbing destinations in the world. I'm also very lucky to be heading off out there with one of the most awesome climbers I've met! Ranaz has been climbing for far longer than I have and has this uncanny and freakish ability to cling onto holds smaller than a gnat's arse.

So we've spent a small fortune on amazing gear that we would never have been able to afford otherwise... There are benefits to working in an outdoor retailers to make up for the wages... I have no idea how Ranaz has managed to fit all his gear into that Osprey rucksack in the photos, I'm starting to wonder if I should have gone for something a little larger in a bag, like a trunk maybe or a white van. My Trangia is an invaluable bit of kit but it takes up a lot of room, although Annie at work has opened my eyes to the possibility of the tin can trangia which will leave me with room for the heels! Yes I am definitely taking one pair just because...and anyway they have cork heels, cork floats...and.... I'm sure at some point we'll be in a desperate situation which calls for cork floats. Honest.