The Totem Pole

Well I've been wanting to see this rock formation for over 10 years. The first time I saw a picture of this rock and someone climbing it I was awestruck. Today I was able to visit this magical place...by accident.

One of our friends down here called and asked if I wanted to go seakayaking for the day. Of course I was keen to get out of the house. Lora was excited too because with me gone it meant that she would not be distracted and would be able to get a lot of work done.

I met Dan at his house at a little before 7am. He and two other Tasmanians were taking a high school group out seakayaking for the day. We weren't sure if I was going to have a boat to paddle when we arrived because I guess paying customers come first down here. So I set off on a hike. The track I was heading to made its way to the rocky coast of the Tasman Sea. Carol told me that it lead to a famous rock formation, the Totem Pole. I was stoked! The walk took about an hour and half and was beautiful.


Of course I thought ahead and brought my new camera. Unfortunately, the batteries were dead when I tried to take a photo. Oh well. I kept hiking towards the Pole. I then met two ladies out for a walk and told them of my dilema with the camera. One of them told me to take the ni-cad battery and rub it on my clothes. The static electricity would "charge" my battery. I of course was hesitant to try this but she just waited for me to give it a go. So I did. Guess what. That shit works! I was able to take two photos of the scenery before the battery totally drained. The two scenic shots here, I took. The Totem Pole shots I stole from the internet so you would have an idea of what I saw.

The photos are not great but you get an idea of what I saw. In the picture above you can see the Totem Pole standing alone, water lapping at it from all four sides. If you want to climb this very hard route you have to swim out to it while dragging a rope from the mainland so you can do a rope traverse from the top when you ascend it.

After seeing this climb I am now scared shitless! I can not believe that people climb this thing. The whole spire is only a few square meters at its base and rises over 60 meters out of the sea. It's one of the most amazing rock climbs that anyone could do. Maybe I'll give it a go. I'm just hoping that Scottie, Baldwin, Jack or one of my other rope guns will come over for a visit to drag me up this thing.

Well after returning back to the car I found that there was an extra seakayak for me to use so...I went for a paddle. The water here is even more clear than the water in the Virgin Islands or Panama. Since we are so far south there is no coral but lots of kelp and the beaches are made up of some of the most brilliantly white sand I've ever seen. Since I was unable to get any pictures I'll save this part of Tasmania for another blog entry.

We miss you all tons and of course want to share what we are experiencing with you all. So COME VISIT!

Tim