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Fantasy Factory

Type
Altitude
350m
Part of

The cliff is on the west side of the spur which runs down to Diamond Harbour from Herbert Peak. The Fantasy Factory is the larger, more obvious cliff, just below the top of the spur, overlooking Charteris Bay. It is sheltered from easterly winds.
Access is from Charteris Bay, along Bayview Road (turn R off the main road before the yacht club). Drive along Bayview Road for approx 1.5 kilometres and turn right up Doris Faigan Lane. At the top of the Lane go over the cattlestop and up past the house to park under the trees near the water tanks. If a car isn't available, catch the ferry to Diamond Harbour.
Go through the gate and walk up the spur for several hundred metres until opposite the top of the cliff, sidling above a patch of gorse to pick up a track marked with red and faded pink tape which descends to the base of the cliff.

History

As can be seen from the names of these crags and some of their climbs, there was a post-hippy boom going on in Christchurch at this time. The cliff was discovered in 1975 by Tim Wethey and Mike Franklin. Wethey produced the excellent **Shortcut To Mushrooms (18), and *Mindbender (20), one of the hardest Peninsula climbs at the time. Mike Franklin contributed **Bitterfingers (16). In 1979-80, John Howard contributed the hardest route on the cliff at the time, *Birdbrain (22). In the late 90s there was a resurgence of new sport & trad routes by Richard Kimberley, Tony Burnell & Alan Hill.

Climbing Notes

Descent is possible at either end of the cliff, or via a 30 metre abseil from the bolts above Not Crack But Still Ecstasy. There is a clip line which leads to abseil anchors above
Xena - Warrior Princess 30m descent.
There are other rap stations just below the edge of the crag which may be possible to use with redirecting the top of the climbs.

Image
Walktime
20 min
Aspect
West
Lat/lon
POINT (172.723674 -43.654368)
Topo50
BX24 777 669
Access

Permission must be granted from two sources!
1. The owner of the land the crag is on - Zac Kyle. Please text 027 604 1485, and only proceed once you have a reply.
2. The owner of the land you cross between Doris Faigan Lane, and the crag - Peter Nel. Text 021 223 4478.
Please keep the traffic light!!! One car with 4 people is a lot less intrusive than 4 cars with 4 people. (Pool your cars at Diamond Harbour).
Park Considerately! Please leave enough room for a tractor to go past into the neighbouring paddock, and do not attempt to drive beyond the water tanks.
No access during September, as it is lambing season.
Walk through from the public road, don't drive.
The usual rules should be observed - leave gates as you found them, no fires or sources of ignition and leave your dogs at home!

Add Place Add Route

Routes

Reference Title Grade Length Pro Quality Operations
Nurdle 17 5m
0
DV Double Vision 15 15m
0
Fondue 12 15m
0
Fn Faigan 11 25m
0
Cheap Insurance 17 25m
0
Indemnity Only 18 28m
0
Riot Grrrl 17 28m 5
0
CR The Cave Route 15 28m
0
Gd Geoid 21 25m 5
1.02
Scabiosa Direct 17 25m
0
SC Scabiosa 13 30m
1.02
Second Wind 15 30m
0
SA Sacbiosa Arete 15 30m 4
0
Fin de la Mundo 20 25m 5
0
Je Jorgie 16 30m
1.02
Ng Naming Rights 17 28m
0
Twinkletoes 18 28m
0
NR Naming Rites 19 28m
2.01
Cn Cruxafiction 23 26m 7
3
MC Matariki Corner 21 28m
1.02
Birdbrain 22 30m
0
Mb Mindbender 20 30m
0
Dramagedon 24 26m 6
2.01
CE Not Crack but still Ecstasy 23 30m 8
3
SC Short Cut to Mushrooms 18 30m
3
DT Dweller on the Threshold 22 30m 7
1.02
PS Pot Shot 21 30m 4
1.02
RD Ratchet Direct 20 30m
0
Ratchet 17 25m
0
Sticky Moments 23 30m
0
Poms in Circumstances 23 30m 2
0
Heretic 20 28m
0
FL Famous Last Words 21 28m 6
0
WW Women's Weekly 16 28m
0
FP Feeling the Paunch 24 25m 5
0
The Dealer 23 25m 7
0
Bo Bruno 18 28m
0
NW Nor'west Take-off 20 6
1.02
Lateral Thinking 19 25m
0
VT Vertical Thinking 18 25m 7
0
The Burst Phenomenon 18 25m
0
Sa Stigma 12 25m
0
TI Tupps Indispensable 18 25m
0
FJ The Funky Junkie 20 26m 4
0
PS Prime Suspect 23 25m 6
0
OB Older, Not Bolder 23 25m 5
1.02
AN Au Natural 21 25m
0
XW Xena - Warrior Princess 20 28m 9
2.01
Lawless Loosey 23 28m 9
0
Bf Bitterfingers 16 28m
2.01
Season Of The Mouse 18 28m 3
0
RR Rat Race 16 30m
0
Rats And Mice 17 25m
0
SM There’s an Arete in my Soup 19 28m 6
0
AS Flashback to the Future 19 28m 5
1.02
Rheumatoid Corner 12 28m
0
SD Swab the Deck 21 20m 5
1.02
HD Hit the Deck 21 20m 5
1.02
RU Roll Up 22 20m 5
0
WE Weed Eater 23 20m 5
0
WK Weed Killer 23 20m 5
0
MM Magical Mystery Tour 24 18m 5
0
Ebb and Flow 18 18m 4
0
Burley Fingers 16 20m 7
0
Thermal Runaway 18 15m 6
0
The Mangle 18 15m
0
Agoraphobia 12 15m
0
Marcus The Tank Engine 18 20m
0

Images

Comments
climber53

Hi Grubbie, I note there was some comment about loose flakes etc, have climbed here about four times this year, the crag doesn't appear any worse than pre quake with the exception of the area around Rheumatoid Corner.
Also I replaced the anchor at the top of Roll Up, and two chains to lower off Bitterfingers.
The new route Swab the Deck, somehow didn't get into the right place in the text, maybe you can shift it.

Tue, 20/05/2014 - 21:29 Permalink
This place appears in
Attribution
Information from Lindsay Main, Alan Hill, and Tony Burnell.

UUID
 
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