Bay Road

As someone said in the other thread about this (can't remember where it was) the surface of the new bulldozed road is very sandy/dusty. This seems to be almost as bad in the dry (as we found it) as it could be in the wet. Not a lot of grip, but just don't lose your momentum and you'll be sweet. 8)

The large mounds immediately below the four or so drainage paths on the steep section of the road are probably the most "interesting" part. We found it was only gravity helping us along on the way down when the Corolla bottomed out on almost all of them, but on the way back with one person plus gear in the car it's sweet. Just remember - momentum.

The tracks to Up De Do Da and Lobotomy (new track) are already reasonably easy to find from the new cut.

I'm expecting that the new road will be surfaced sometime in the not-too-distant future, and this will surely mean that access to The Bay will no longer be an issue, however it does seem like quite a shame that the old road is no more. That really added character to the place, and getting down (and back) was part of every Bay trip. I do miss parking halfway and walking down the gorge - that place really is enchanting isn't it?

I haven't heard any specifics. I just assumed the locals would want something that would actually hold up to some rain so the money spent on bulldozing isn't wasted, and that the only reason this hadn't been done is because the bulldozing was so recent and they haven't got around to it yet... :?

It was quite weird taking such a different route to The Bay - around the gorge - on such a huge track. I knew it'd been changed before we went down but didn't know it was so drastic.

"the gorge - that place really is enchanting isn't it"

sure is - you should climb some routes in there

the ones to do are:

Inside Out 19 *
Sylvia's Arete 20**
One More Time Josephine 21 *
Street Legal 23 **
Saved 24 **
Wish You Were Here 24 **
Pacifica 2nd pitch 26 ***
Knowledge of Angels 27 ***

they will all need a brushing, but these are the ones that have been climbed in the last couple of years so aren't overgrown

Don't try rubber band man, the anchor is now sitting in a block somewhere on the old road

for some first ascent glory:

1. Iron Horse, first free ascent???

2. breakthrough, old aid route bottom left of Pacifica wall, will be a primo grade 18ish open book corner, Kristen has been talking about this for years........ plus theres a harder 2nd pitch

3. The wall right of wish you were here has some jugs on it that Pamela Anderson would be proud of! and also has the anchor holes drilled already

4. the wall left of sylvias arete starting at the ground, a mammoth cleaning effort will be required but Im sure youd get 30-40m of three stars out of it.

for some community service:

you could clean dance of the red corpuscles - I've always wanted to try that route, and mallowpuff looks ok

you can still walk down the old road, but they've bulldozed the dirt from the new road onto it in parts, making it a bit lumpy in places.

Oh yeah craigm's right - below Lobo there's some debris from the new road. Didn't have a look at how much this blocked off the old road, but walking down will still be sweet.

Man forecast is shit, except maybe for Saturday. But you know what Bryce says: "The Bay just has it's own little micro-climate..."

Excellent. Thanks for info.

best way to check weather is to be there :P

yes it's safe, relatively anyway, safer than Aucklands motorways.

generally, there isn't any 'unstable' rock at the bay, except the flake on the 2nd pitch of there goes the neighbourhood, and maybe tibia.

the top of RBM fell off in those massive rain storms of last year, taking with it the whole top section of that part of the cliff - hence the blocks on the road.

so nothing is perfectly safe in this world, all I can suggest is not climbing steep walls at the bay during rain storms

TIHOI WEATHER REPORT.

rained lots overnight. not actually raining at the moment (0800), but still very dark. light winds. looks like more rain to come.

weather is improving down here!, blue sky patches, and some wind to dry things out. looking good for this arvo. :)

Okay Lucy you asked for it so here goes:

The Bay "river" road trip

A few years ago, 2001 or 2002 I suppose, I was trapped on the Central Plateau at OPC. Thunderstorms and heavy rain were threatened in the weather forecasts so we were unsure where to climb and didn't want to waste a weekend. An enthusiastic Mike Madden convinced me that an day at the Bay would be worth a try so off we went, the little Civic fueled and ready to roll. I hadn't been to the Bay for a while ( being a mainlander) so we were quite excited. we had heard that the road had been washed out in some floods and we would have to walk down so we packed lightly There were a quite a few cars in the carpark and they were backed up towards the corner where I ended up parking.
Walking down the "road" was quite gobsmacking. That mother nature could not be trifled with was readily apparent as we came to the first set of steps that had been built to descend the first steep section that had been washed out the road then narrowed through a small cutting to the second major drop 2-3m. The road was almost unrecognisable - the remnants being more like a west coast river bed scattered with boulders and trees. Down below Lobotomy Buttress a slip ate into the side of the road with a steep bank straight down to the river. Several times we said to each other that there was no way that they would ever get a road back down through here again. This was later proved wrong. I can't remember what we climbed but we ended up at Lobotomy on the way out having had a pretty good days climbing free from the threatened storms. We were about to leave when Mike decided that we should just go and have a look at uppity do dah buttress to check out the climbs there. The clouds were massing up the valley and looking very dark so we dropped our packs and wandering through the bush armed with the guide tried to figure out what was what.
As we got back to the road the storm hit. It was an amazing scene as the hail struck the trees absolutely shredding the leaves on the trees as though a gatling gun had been fired through the canopy. The ground quickly turned white, hail covering the ground to at least 2.5cm. We cowered in a corner and tried to protect ourselves. Mike didn't have a jacket so we improvised the rope tarp as a poncho. It hurt our heads such was the power of the deluge. After about half an hour it was apparent that unlike our hopes the storm was not moving off so we resigned ourselves to getting even wetter and trudged off up the valley. Now I should mention that michael is quite tall and I am only 168cm and he didn't have a coat. With his long legs and slightly desperate condition (wet and cold) he gradually left me in his wake. Quite a lot of water was flowing down the road/river which was all totally white from the hail which meant you kept plunging into holes of icy water.
I came round the corner to the lower of the two steps and found there was considerable water running over either side of the steps. At the top of the steps I moved into the cutting and as I did with each step forward the water rose about 15cm. I was suddenly aware that this wasn't a good place to be. Water was now pouring over the steps below me about 3m onto big boulders. I didn't fancy getting swept over that !! I couldn't see what was around the corner but the water was rising rapidly so I had to get out of that trap somehow.The banks of the cutting were steep, clay and covered with small gorse so I couldn't escape up the sides. Going up into the rapidly rising water seemed a no brainer so I went back towards the edge near the top of the ladder and managed to desperately fight my way up a vertical gorse and blackberry bank on the true right. Feeling as close to death as I have for a long time (the power of rivers scare me) I battled my way through some pretty unpleasant terrain. After about half an hour of struggling I was opposite the main car park and saw some people sheltering in a van including Michael. At least he was all right. It was a bank to bank torrent at this stage and cars were getting buffeted around by the flow. The run off was coming off the farmland opposite the tight left hand corner above the carpark. I made my way above the corner looking to find the best place to cross the 20m wide river. as I was not so worried about the run out now. I got about half way before I stepped into a hole and was swept over and moments later was thrown out onto the other side near the corner. I made my way down to find Micheal and some locals. About now the rain stopped and within 10 minutes the river had totally disappeared leaving great piles of pumice against and under cars, some of which had been moved all over the place - including a pretty flash red BMW.
An inspection of my car revealed that water had been flowing through it drowning my Mini Disc player which I had stashed under the seat. We figured it wouldn't be to difficult to get out from there but a quick explore up the hill revealed a 2m wide gut right across the road and a huge 4WD stuck in it. Well that was that so all the people who had been sheltering headed up towards the shearers quarters. The road was completely impassable in a couple of other places as well. At the shearers quarters our local friends helped us get in touch with someone at OPC to come and get us- my cell phone had drowned when I got swept away.
We left the car there as there wasn't much option and gave the locals the key. Several days later they had retrieved it for us and I spent many days pulling pumice out of the motor cavity. I had to eat my words when, not much later, I went back and found that they had bulldozed a new road down the gorge where I had previously stated that there was no way they would ever rebuild it.

:roll:

After a large amount of rain, the New Road is looking good - culverts are working, but as the sceptics will no doubt point out, it is still early days.

However, the road from the New Road to the climber’s camp/parking area was rather rapidly disappearing on Saturday night. People were getting stuck going down, let alone coming out.

So, for now.....

Don't drive down the climber’s road in the dark! Don't drive down in the light, unless you think you'll get out okay (even then, is it worth degrading the track further?). I think parking off the side of the upper part of this road will be the way to go, and hike your gear from there.

I'm down there for a week, so will check it out again, and see what Mere Reckons.

Plus remember....

Mere and co. love having climbers down at the bay, but have asked climbers to be reminded that;

1 - please do not fish there without permission. If you are caught fishing without permission you will be tossed out. If you use the excuse that you are a climber you will cause trouble for Mere and all the other climbers.

2 - PLEASE don't try to drive though the swamp between the climber’s car park and camp. You will get stuck, no matter how shiny your nice 4WD is. Two people got stuck so far this Easter, one had to be left until a tractor can be found. Water was coming in the drivers window. (NB: if (when!) you end up stuck come to the other climbers first, rather than hassle Mere and co.)

3 - please don't drive past the Marae. If you have to, please check with Mere first as a courtesy.

4 - when you go down to the bay, introduce yourselves to Mere. That way when you walk along the beach you can acknowledge the locals with a smile or a wave - it makes all the difference!

5 - most locals really enjoy the climbers, and want the climbers to enjoy the bay. Please help it work by passing on info to other climbers and being respectful to the bay and its people.

It was choice seeing a range of people enjoying the bay over Easter, despite the ‘odd shower’. Highlights were seeing Carl and Rich making impressive ascents of ‘Fawlty Towers’ and ‘Drive in Bank’. Carl took a respectable lob, and Rich got his clean. Plus crew from UK, Oz, Germany, France, Norway (and Akld and Welly) all representing and having a great time.

Cheers all, see you at the Bay.

Mike

I wasn't so much refering to legalities of fishing at the Bay.

The locals get really annoyed when people fish from their land. I can see their perspective, as the fish are a staple in their diet (and I don't see the attraction of fishing).

If you are dead set on fishing and have gone to the trouble of getting a liscence, at least ask their permission first. I can't see them saying no. It's about respect and maintaining a healthy relationship.

On the legalities; the sign on the gate says no access to fishermen. Therefore if you are fishing down there presumably you trespassed and are there illegally anyway?!

That is a truly epic story; thank you cragrat :)

And I was only "walking"....

isnt 5+ like the hukka falles

Think I was more scared on the Bay road than on the Central Gully on Douglas but that was a slight epic too leaving one and a half ropes behindcaught on the rap off (we just cut off whjat we could and ran) and mild hypothermia...

A fine example of posting irrelevant garbage. Once again you you demonstrate your capacity.

Ahhh, yeah.

Anyway, seeing as this post was originally about the Bay...

The climbers road has been dealt to by a digger, and is currently in reasonable nick. There are new signs up directing climbers down that way.

Not sure it will stay that great for long, but make the most of it while it lasts and get down to the Bay folks.

Mere has been asking people to park cars in the car park again now the pigs are gone (NB; there are still rats, so string up your food or get your tent eaten into!).