Kalymnian Dispatches...

Kalymnian Sponge.

We had a rest day on Wednesday so we took the bus from our hotel in Armeos to the capital of Kalymnos, Pothia, where some of the best sponge factories on the island are found. We toured around many of these and stopped off, in between factories, at the cafes and bars, which lined the harbour, for refreshments.

Trying to find the best hold in a sea of 'ok' holds on Heureka (F5c+).

Approaching the crux of Mermizeli (F6b).

The following day we were back on the rock and back at the Odyssey Sector. We quickly ticked off one of the climbs we had patiently waited for on our last visit, but never got chance to climb, before ticking another. We then packed our bags and traversed the hillside to the School Sector, where I had picked out two climbs, when back in the UK, which I wanted to tick. We dispatched these quickly and headed back to Odyssey for some more routes on the steep, pocketed limestone walls.

Making a couple of moves to the left on La vie selon Gege (F6b).

A climber chalks up on Chnosi Family (F7a).

Today, we headed up to the Panorama Sector of the Grande Grotta, which lies directly behind our hotel. The plan was to tick six routes ranging from F4c to F6c, but this was cut short after only getting three routes in the bag; on scrambling up to the base of Cyclops (F6c) I managed to disturb a well hidden wasp nest, and some of it's inhabitants took the opportunity to jab my scalp with their stingers. This was incredibly painful and put a bit of a negative spin on the day, so we packed up and retired to the hotel to nurse my wounds.

More pictures of the holiday can be seen here.

Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...
Iain