Compiled by Lindsay Main, Also previously hosted on a website by John Davis
Half way up the Purau Valley on the west side, a mass of rock crags are visible from the road to the Monument. Two reasonable crags are amongst these - Fawlty Towers and Dawn Wall. The right cliff, Fawlty Towers, was first visited by Murray Judge and Hugh Logan in 1976. Then Tim Wethey, Nigel Perry, and Peter Cleary visited in 1986.
Dawn Wall is 100m L of Fawlty Towers.
ClimateThe cliff gets full sun until early afternoon, and is shaded thereafter. The aspect varies a little so extra use can be made of sun or shade as desired. It is climbable year-round, but suits moderate weather - otherwise it can be too hot in the morning or too cold in the afternoon. There is good shelter from nor-west winds, and some shelter from southerlies. It is exposed to nor-easters. As the crag is clean it dries fast after rain.
Ownership
The owner is Zac Kyle of Bayview Road. Please text 027 604 1485, and only proceed once you have a reply.
Approach routes
Drive through Diamond Harbour and just past the road down to the shops and jetty turn right on to Waipapa Ave. Follow this up the hill to the end, where Bayview Road starts. Park at the entrance to the farm (marked "Chalfont") clear of the road and walk up the drive past the hedge, and follow the track up the spur past the hayshed and trees. Continue about 200 metres past a wooden gate. Angle up to the crest of the ridge where you should meet a steel gate, about 200 metres before another wooden gate. From the crest of the ridge sidle southward to a spur, drop down a bit, and descend a gully trending southward to the north end of the crag.
Access restrictions
Closed for lambing from mid-August to October. The farmer must be telephoned for permission the previous day.
Routes
Reference | Title | Grade | Length | Pro | Quality | Operations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fifty Guillotines | 17 | 20m | ||||
Face Off | 23 | 20m | 5 | |||
Scorpion | 18 | 20m | ||||
The Snarl | 16 | 20m | ||||
Possum Patrol | 15 | |||||
Dead-eye Dick | 17 | 20m | ||||
Bomb-bay Chimney | 16 | 20m | ||||
Pugwash | 19 | 20m | 6 | |||
Dead Kippers | 20 | 20m | 4 | |||
Ivory Corner | 14 | |||||
Swift | 17 | |||||
The Yellow Peril | 19 | 20m | ||||
Strip Mining | 20 | 20m | ||||
Cracked Up | 20 | 20m | ||||
Ama Dablam | 17 | 20m | ||||
The Rat's Rest Home | 21 | 20m | 2 | |||
Manual's Rat | 16 | |||||
On The Face Of It | 18 | 20m | ||||
The Flying Dustman | 18 | 25m | ||||
Stinka | 18 | 25m | 3 | |||
Amnesia | 20 | 25m | 2 | |||
Starfish | 16 | 20m | 3 | |||
Splash | 16 | 20m |
Retrieved a stuck cam from base of Ama Dablam. Old HB green one. If it's your's I'll get it back to you.
Additional route info completed.