Friday 18 August 2023

Sleeplessness, Week 6



Another week another 8A. This week had been filled with a lot of mixed emotions. This will also be the last blog I write from South Africa. I have one more week to go. 

Wednesday and Thursday were mainly resting. Thursday evening I went for a night session on The Wee Baby Shamus to see if I could finally get some links in or repeat the crux move. Unfortunately non of this happend. I got there super late but it was still unbearably hot. I kept slipping off off all the holds not making any progress.



Friday my stay at Alpha Exelsior ended. I had to move. Earlier in the trip I went and visited Nardouw. This is a newer sector with a lot of FA potential. Mario the owner of the land has a cabin that I decided to rent for my remaining nights. Arriving in the afternoon it was very hot. After some unpacking I decided to hit some boulders anyway. There where a couple right below my cabin. To have boulders within a 100m of the place your staying is kinda sick. I did some 7A boulders and did an FA of a 6A+.


Saturday some of my friends headed down to Witness the Sickness my first 8A. I came to support them and to hangout. Later in the day me and Jackson tried Throw Yourself Away Original (8A). After figuring out the top of the boulder We had a nice little send train again. Later in the day we headed up to Plateau and played around on some dynos.


Sunday I spend the day at the the Henhouse resting.



Monday Jackson and I had big plans to go up to 8 Day Rain and finish up some dyno projects. When we got to the boulders we did a quick warmup and tried The Flying Guitar Thief (8A) it’s a cool step up dyno that I tried a couple years ago. What’s hard about this dyno is that after the step up you have to shoot back a lot. After a couple of close tries I tore the biggest flapper of my climbing career and I had to call it early.



Tuesday we planned on going to a new sector called The Realm. With my flapper It wasn’t smart to do some. Climbing so I decided to rest and look at some flowers. It’s flower season in the Cederberg and it is a beautiful sight.


Wednesday I got to The Hen House to see what my friends had planned. We all felt a bit tired but decided to head to Kleinfontein. I wanted to give The Hatchling another go. Arriving at the boulders we all still felt pretty demotivated and tired. After listening to some tunes and gaining some sike we gave our projects a try. It all went pretty horrible so we decided to give some easier problems a try. I flashed A for Epic (7A).


After our shifty session in Kleinfontein we headed to Plateau to try some more easy problems. Jackson did Human Energy and Thomas did a nice little dyno. 


Next week I’ll be in the plane on my back to The Netherlands. I would not have thought that I’d have the feeling of wanting to go back home. But I’m happy to say that I do feel like going home. These long trips are both physically and Mentally exhausting. In the end we all remember the good times but it is also good to remember the though battles we fought here, even if they aren’t always boulders.


This weeks song is going to be:


K. Flay, Can’t Sleep


One more week, I hope to do something cool before I leave what that will be I’m not sure yet.

See y’all next week. And don’t forget, be nice, think twice and most importantly, crush some boulders.

Tuesday 8 August 2023

Baby’s on Fire, Week 5



Soooo I’ve been a bit lazy when it comes to writing my blog… that’s why it’s late this week. O well. Better late than never. I’m back and I can’t wait to tell you about my week.

After feeling not to great for a longer period of time I was siked to head out again. I decided to head over to Kleinfontein and try The Hatchling (8A) a famous Rocklands boulder. Still feeling a little fatigued I had a pretty good session on it non the less. I think one more session could secure me the top. Afterwards Max and I headed to The Fin (7A). I did a repeat and max did a quick send. After this Max had an interview. 

Later in the evening we decided to go for a little night session on Black Shadow (8A+) this boulder felt incredibly hard and cool. I’m not sure if I could send it this trip but it’s definitely one for the future.

Wednesday I was feeling a bit tired again from the day before. I headed out to support my friends and to chill with them. In the end of the day I decided to give Pinotage a go with my friends and even though I felt tired this went pretty well.

In the evening we had a charity cultural event at the local school. We got lovely food and the kids had prepared some dances for us to look at. It was an amazing experience and all the profits went to a good causes.


The day after it was a rest day again.

Friday and Saturday I spend in Danger Zone. A newer area near Travelers Rest. I was getting a bit sick of all the company constantly around me, so I decided to go for some solo adventures. After a quick warm up I did a cool 7B+ called Shadow Flight. After this I went to Hot Zucchini (8A) this boulder is super cool but felt a little hard and it was a bit hot for the slopey compression. In a little cave underneath this problem I found The Wormhole (7B+) and did this quite quick. At the end of the day I spent my time underneath The Wee Baby Shamus (8A/+) this boulder involves some squeeze on non existent holds into a toe cam to go to another non existent hold. From this position you do a double clutch to a pinch hold. This boulder is one of the best boulders I’ve climbed on in the Rocklands. Unfortunately I haven’t done it yet after two sessions. Some cooler conditions and a fresh body might do the trick tho.


Sunday I went to Oupoort with Jackson to look at some sick dynos. It is getting hot in the Rocklands and you know what that means… time for dynos!!!


First we go to pizza night and watch the lead finals at The Henhouse though.

Waking up early to beat the heat Jackson and I went to Oupoort. First on the list of dynos was Baboon Jump (7A) after both flashing it as a warmup we moved the pads a meter and threw ourselves at Mattias Didn’t See It (8A) I had a dream the night before that both Jackson and I flashed this boulder. And well. Dreams do come true sometimes. Jackson and I had a little flash train on this boulder. Moving the pads another meter we headed into The End (8A) we both couldn’t believe it but an hour had past and we had just done two 8A’s the rest of this day would just be gifts. 

Later in the afternoon we found ourselves in Powerlines. Here Jackson had a project called Final Destination (8A) after throwing ourselves at that boulder for over an hour we walked away empty handed. We threw ourselves at Superpowered (8A+) and Overpowered (8B) but it was clear that the juice had flown. After a celebratory shake and burger it was time for bed.

Tuesday was time for dyno day 
two. Let’s gooo! We had a slow ass start but made it to some cool dynos. I was lucky enough to flash Sex on the Beach (7B+/C) and Jackson and I both topped Barbies Bro/ Ho Ratio (8A) this was such a sick boulder. Starting with a double dyno into a slot finishing off with some technical sloper climbing to finish. After spending quite some time figuring out the top we almost gave up. I went up the boulder to see if we missed a hold and found the shittiest slopey crimp. This was apparently enough cause Jackson did the top with it. I knew it was go time and send the boulder. Jackson followed not shortly after. 

The rest of our day was spend trying this comp boulder called Cinqueiume Soleil (8A) after being a bit of a pussy regarding the first jump I finally stuck it. Only to get scared at the top out and not finish the boulder. It is pretty high and the landing is not perfect. The top involves you throwing yourself backwards and over this little roof. Maybe I’ll try it in the near future on a rope just to feel secure enough on that last move. It is a sick boulder after all.

For this week there is only one song that makes sense to me. If been on fire these past days and this song resembles that perfectly.

I’m gonna need to do some planning if I want to do all of my projects. I’m not a fan of how close my departure date is getting again. See y’all next week. And don’t forget, be nice, think twice and most importantly, crush some boulders.






Monday 31 July 2023

Sending and Crashing,Week 4

It has officially been a month since I left home, I almost cant believe it. Time moves in such strange ways in the magical Rocklands… Anyway, this week was preeeetty good again.

 

Monday was a chilled rest day with a lot of chilling.

 


Tuesday all my friends decided to go to Nardouw to finish some business. I however, had some other business that I had to finish. Heading out on my own I decided to drive to the pass with one goal in mind. Sending Nutsa! After the 25 minute walk I arrived at the boulder. It was a nice sunny day which isn’t necessarily what you want but it was still early and cold. I told myself that I would warmup on some surrounding blocks first instead of warming up on the proj. I think this might have helped quite a bit. I felt strong on the first few moves which have always been an issue in the previous session. It would always take 30+ minutes to feel good on them. After warming up and feeling some more moves I went for the redpoint attempts. After punting the final hard moves a couple more times I felt quite solid on the boulder. I had a lot of faith. And after all my hard work it finally paid off. I send my second 8A! It was an amazing feeling to be on top of that boulder after all these tries. It was a little sad that my friends weren’t there to celebrate with me but it was still unbelievable.

 

After going to The Henhouse to celebrate with a coffee shake, I headed up to Nardouw as well. Here I found my friends and climbed a bit more. A memorable boulder from that afternoon session was All Night Dinner a sick roof problem with a crazy finger jam. After our Nardouw session we headed to Travelersrest to celebrate my send with burgers and fries.

 

On Wednesday we went to The Sassies to concur my fears. Most of you probably remember the accident from week 1… Max and I headed out to Ghost In The Darkness (7C+) a cool roof boulder with a hand jam, toe jam and kneebar. Very sick! It was very busy at the boulder and you kind of had to fight for a go. After warming up, putting on my kneepad and taping up, I got surprisingly close on my flash go. Giving it a few more tries got me on top of the boulder. A few Americans wanted to get on Leap of Faith (7C+) which is this crazy high dyno problem. The perfect opportunity to concur my fears… After giving it three pussy tries, I decided to call it quits. Earlier that morning I extended my trip, and this would be an awful day to break something. So yhea I’m officially staying longer. I’ll be here two more weeks. I also gave Shosholoza a couple tries, and this was very promising. I did the second move a couple of times and felt good in the first move.


 


Thursday, we headed out to The Pass. Mason wanted to try the Rhino before he left. I didn’t feel very good that day, the past weeks of sending had me feeling a little tired. Mason send The Rhino while I headed home to lay in bed for the rest of the day…

 

The day after I felt a little better and decided to come support the boys. I couldn’t control myself and went and tried some boulders. I did a quick send of White Arrow the softest 7C+ in Rocklands and I played around a bit on Black Velvet (8A). This was a promising session on it! I did the jump and got pretty close starting from the bottom. Sticking the jump messed up my right shoulder a bit though… This didn’t stop me from retro flashing Hole In One (7C+) though.  

 

 

 

 

Today is Monday and I have been knocked out in my caravan for the past three days… A lack of rest and quite a lot of emotional and physical strain has gotten me exhausted. Today is the first day where I’ve been feeling a bit better. The rest days are kind of welcome though. Especially since I extended my trip. I hope the rest is going to do me well, so I’ll feel strong and refreshed when I get back on the rock. This week was Masons last week and I’m going to miss him a lot. It was quite the shame that I couldn’t boulder with him these past few days. But I’ll see him soon enough.  

 

For this week there is only one song that comes to mind,

 

Superfan, Too Tired

 

The pressure is lowering since the weeks that I have left are doubled. Let’s hope i can do something cool with the extra time. See y’all next week. And don’t forget, be nice, think twice and most importantly, crush some boulders.

Monday 24 July 2023

A change in perspective, Week 3

Back at it again. This week was a week full of sends and epic times. 

On Monday we had a rest day and didn’t do that much. We had dinner at De Kelder in Clanwilliam. Being vegetarian in these restaurants always limits your choices. Meaning in this restaurant it was onion rings and pizza margarita…

Waking up on Tuesday I looked at The Pass and saw big dark clouds heading our way. Desperate for a session on Nutsa I decided to gamble and headed up there anyway. Together with Minh I walked towards the boulder and found another group of people that where desperate for a session at Roadside. The conditions are cool and humid due to the us being in the clouds. Not ideal for a session on a slopey compression boulder… After falling on the last hard move another seven times I decided to call it quits for today and give Nutsa a little rest. This boulder is really testing my patients. It’s extra frustrating because I know I can do it, it just needs to go… 



On Wednesday I met up with 3 different party’s on The Pass again. This time at Roadcrew. This day was awsome. I met up with Marlies a setter from Beest Rotterdam at When The Day Breaks (7B) and after warming up I did it second go. After that I walked around a bit and headed into a musty cave. In this shallow cave there was a sick problem called Une Rime Stupide (7C+).  I worked out moves with Efix. The main crux of this problem is a dynamic move to a jug from a weird body position on sloper. The big problem is not dabbing on the ground when you catch the jug. After some ground tries and a lot of dabbing I started to look for different approaches to the crux move. Somehow I found a crazy and shitty kneebar which made it possible to static the crux. After some rest and a few tries it went down. Full of excitement I met up with the triple D Irish squad at Ulan Bator (7B+). This problem felt super hard. There was still one problem on my list for today that I had to try. This was The Bridge (7C). I went up the cliff with Jackson and Mason to scramble and look for the problem. After we found it and put our pads under the boulder, I went in for the flash go. The Bridge is this overhanging board like problem with big moves on good crimps. In my surprise I managed to flash this problem. What was even more amazing is that Jackson and Mason managed to hop on the flash train with me. All three of us flashed The Bridge. It was the best train I’ve ever been on.



Thursday was another rest day full of non exciting experiences.


Friday was a day for Riverside and Mooiste Meisie. After cheering on the bois for a few hours on White Mazda Clan I gave Mooiste Meisie a try. Unfortunately I didn’t really link a lot of the bottom, but I did manage to stick the crux move on my own and topped it out. 


Jackson and Mason wanted to go to Roadside later in the day to give some burns on Oral office and Caroline. Caroline was still on my list so I was keen to give that a burn as well. I didn’t have any expectations because I just spend the day projecting an 8B. It was getting late and dark while Max and I waited for Jackson and Mason to arrive with our food. After a quick pizza (again)we walked to the boulders in the dark. Arriving at the boulders the silence was deafening it was a crazy experience. Mason and I got on Caroline and it went surprisingly well. I found different beta for the start with a right heelhook. After getting warm again I gave it some redpoint burns and managed to top this incredible line.




Saturday was a slow as day. One of our friends wanted to go to Kasteelport (7C) I got there around 16:00 ish and wanted to give this boulder a try. It looked pretty straight forward and my style. Big moves on good holds with compression. I jokingly told Max to film my flash go just in case and putting the extra pressure on myself worked cause I managed to flash. Sorry Thomas for flashing your project…


Sunday we headed out to Nardouw a new area quite the drive away from the main area’s. Thomas showed us around some amazing possible first ascents. I managed to FA two boulders. One is called Bohemian Blasphemy (7B) and Wretched Throng (7B+) later in the evening I worked on this open project called The Dyno Project. It is this super beautiful wall that is pretty high and exposed. This boulder is way to cool and I really wanna get back on it and try to grab the first ascent. 



Week three went by so fast I realize I only have 2 weeks left and that’s starting to stress me out. There is still so much I want to do and the list  just keeps getting bigger. 


For this week I choose the song,


Crash Adams, Caroline


I’m really considering extending my trip for a week or two. See y’all next week. And don’t forget, be nice, think twice and most importantly, crush some boulders.

Monday 17 July 2023

Frustrating Projects, Rocklands 2023 Week 2

Another week another blog. This week was a little bit less exiting, but how can you beat a broken leg… This week was full of projecting, frustration and a couple of sends.

On Sunday we went to 8 Day Rain. It was still a bit cloudy and rained a little now and then. I gave some tries on Black Mango Chutney (7C+) which is this overhanging blank face with shitty crimps. Not really my type of boulder. But very sick. I got pretty far. Figuring out the bottom, and working the top. I might wanna come back for that. Later in the day we went to this cave cause the rain was to heavy. There is a 7A in there called She’s a Man Eater which I had done before. I decided to give it a retro flash burn.



Monday we finally walked up The Pass. This area is beautiful and great but it’s always such a chore to get there. With walks of 30+ min mostly uphill it’s not my favorite. The boulders really make up for it tho. We first went to The Rhino, a mega classic of Rocklands. Max really wanted to try this problem and I don’t blame him. He gave it some really good burns and got super close. I wasn’t really doing anything and decided to give it a retro flash go. I ended up doing exactly that. Later that day I did Question of Balance (7B) and tried Nutsa (8a) and Coroline (7C+) managed to do all the moves on both. Gotta go back for both of them.




Tuesday was a rest day and at the time of writing I can’t really remember anything exciting I did that day…


Wednesday was my first session on the BIG project: Mooiste Meisie. I slept horrible and didn’t really eat the evening before. Arriving at the boulder I felt a little low. After a quick warmup I jumped on the boulder. Man it felt hard as shit. At the start I couldn’t really do any of the moves. Putting the toe hooks above my head felt impossible. After a few tries and getting the feeling for the boulder things started to look better. I was slowly getting moves done. And in the end I did all the moves. I must admit the big move I didn’t reaaalllyy stick. I stuck it for a second and dropped it. Still really happy with my first session and I have quite high hopes. Better luck next session with maybe some slightly colder conditions.



Thursday was a shitty day for me personally. I did not feel very well but decided to go out anyway. On our way to 8 Day Rain we saw a black snake. I think it was a black spitting cobra. Cool, but scary. After a couple of hours in the sun I started to feel worse so we cut the day short since I just felt to sick. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day but I didn’t do any climbing today. Maybe I’ll do a night session at Mooiste Meisie if I feel better.


The next day I woke up still feeling not too well. I don’t know what is wrong but it has knocked the shit out of me. So today is another day of feeling shitty and doing nothing. After some Henhouse breakfast Max and I played some Magic the Gathering which was pretty fun. After that I went back to bed to chill and watch some Netflix. In the late afternoon we went to Clanwilliam for some shopping and I started to feel a bit better. I loaded my crashpads and climbing gear in the hope to maybe do a night session. On the way back from the supermarket we stopped at Tea Garden. I saw some people trying Black Shadow (8A+) which is still on my list. After a bit of bushwhacking and searching er couldn’t find a path in the dark, so we gave up and went back home. Guess I’ll take the two rest days and hopefully climb tomorrow.



I woke up finally feeling a little better. After a breaky at The Hen House we went for an early session on The Pass. We first walked up to The Rhino since Max got really close and after talking to some people and looking at some vids he found some new beta for the end he wanted to try. After warming up and figuring out the end. He send it in his second go of the day. I was super excited for him and my sike was high! Walking up a bit further I was so excited to climb. I did some ground warm up and went strait in Nuts. Man this boulder gave me some struggle. I wasn’t really that warm when I got on it and the first moves just felt horrible. Even though I linked the bottom part into the stand two moves in…

After a couple of tries I started to feel it and got super close. I proceeded to fall off of the last a hard move four more times. Frustrated as hell I decided to call it quits and headed up to Caroline. I wasn’t expecting much from getting on there but made some good links in the end which I’m satisfied with. I did a bit of playing in Pendragon (8A) but was really to tired to feel any of the moves. After not sending anything today I felt kind of bummed out. But I did make some good progress which is also important. Meeting up with Mason and Jackson we had a little night session at the Pendragon boulder and walked to the car. Today was a long ass day, I’m waiting for the curry to finish so I can eat and go to bed. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.



Whaattt I’m a day late with posting so we get a free Sunday story. Sunday we were really debating if we were going to climb. In the end we decided to do a short day at the Dihedral boulders. Here I did Jaws (7C) and did a bit of playing in Gliding Trough Waves Like Dolphins (8A) this 8A is one of the weirdest boulders I’ve ever tried. It is more struggling your way up the boulder instead of climbing. Very unique and interesting. Later in the evening we managed to get a spot for pizza night at The Hen House. We ate a delicious pizza played a game of pool and went to bed. 



The song for this week is gonna be:


Rage Against the Machine, Killing In The Name Of


I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my silly little stories. See y’all next week with another blog. And remember be nice, think twice and most importantly, crush some boulders.

Sunday 9 July 2023

Not as expected, Week 1, Rocklands 2023

While the weather is disgustingly hot in the Dutch lowlands, it is raining cats and dogs in the South African Cederberg. A forced, and much needed, rest day it is. The perfect time to write a little about my stay in Rocklands so far.


It was a great start of the trip after a 2 hour delay and an 10,5 hour flight Iep and I arrived save and sound in Cape Town. After some shady routing we found ourselves in the hotel ready for a short night of sleep.

The following morning we picked up our car, Blue Minki, and headed towards Echo Valley for our first day of bouldering. We booked a group bouldering session with Breath in Experiences. Arriving a little late because of Cape Town Traffic being a little bit more chaotic then we are used to. We set out to climb some superb boulders. I managed to climb Mintberry Crunch a classic 7C+ of the area. I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to climb this amazing line in such a short period of time. Thanks so much to Mish, Beks, and all the other amazing people at Breath in Experiences.

After dipping a bit early on our group trip. We drove towards Clanwilliam. A small village close to the Rocklands bouldering area. Arriving at 21:00 to a caravan with no electricity or WiFi reminded us where we were. The middel of nowhere. Amazing. Our first night of sleep was cold and cut short by the sike to climb some Rocklands boulders. After a quick coffee and breakfast at The Hen House it was time to CRUSH. 

A first day at Plateau is always a nice welcome into the Rocklands bouldering style. With short walks and boulders that aren’t to crazy. Like a tour guide I showed Iep around all of the mega classics of plateau. Send him up Poison Dwarf and Minki. These boulders went super well, even though there weren’t any tops. I tried to do a little bit of flying in Black Velvet, feeling more confident on it then previous years.
 

 

Cutting our day short again as we needed to rush to the supermarket to buy some food, I got overwhelmed with nostalgia as all the food in the supermarket sparked so many memories form previous years. The banana bread, the double stuffed cookies, the shitty American bread, the gross blocks of cheese it was such a weird experience to relive this place just through the food.  Over the past years I’ve become a vegetarian so all the meats are off the menu for me, and I don’t mind this that much. There is one product here that still scratches that carnivorous itch, Biltong. Probably the grossest form of meat out there, as it is just dried meat with some spices. But my nostalgic ass is craving that stuff. Let’s see how long it takes for me to surrender my ethics for a piece of biltong.

Our second day was more of the same. Plateau again. Strait to Minki, still no send. I did I Believe I Can Fly in my third go. And send Iep on some more Classics. The body was getting tired from climbing 3 days in a row so a rest day was needed and deserved.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t think I’ve ever had a more chill rest day. After another breakfast at The Hen House we played some pool at the camping and did some groceries for a feast of a meal. On the way back we stopped at riverside to look at my dream boulder for this trip, if not life, mooiste meisie. An 8B mega classic in Rocklands. The holds on this boulder are crazy. All of these slop

ey edges which seem impossible to hold. The only thing allowing you to hang are these amazing toe-hooks. 5 star line for sure.




The fifth day of the trip was one I won’t forget anytime soon. After our breakfast we decided on going to the sassies an other classic area with some amazing and aesthetic lines. After a lot of searching for the parking and walking towards a different crack we started our warmup. After some easier problems we had our eyes on this beautiful 6C+. I flashed to problem and Iep got really close a bunch of times. I decided to give mega classic Shosholoza (8A+) a try. This boulder is set upon this “stage” of rock and is a two move wonder. I kind tried it as joke but the moves went so much better then I could ever expect. In the end I got close, almost sticking both of them.

Iep decided to give this 6C+ one last try because he had gotten so close so many times. I filmed his try from the side and as he went for the crux move his left leg got a little stuck and he dropped to the ground landing on one leg. There was a loud snap, followed by a terrifying scream. I dropped everything, walked up to him and saw his right leg in an inhumane position. The whole crag came and helped us out in this dire situation. A bunch of strong people carried him out while the rest of us carried down our stuff and made sure we got down to the car safe and sound. While we where in the car it was a shitty drive towards the nearest town, Clanwilliam. Dirt roads with potholes left and right, after an hour of driving we finally arrived at the hospital. Here we still had to wait a good hour before a doctor came to help us. The nurses didn’t really care. We had to ask for our own painkillers and other needs. When the doctors finally arrived they made quick work of resetting the leg and putting a cast on it. The radiologist was not available in Clanwilliam so Iep got the choice either go to Cape Town and do an X-Ray there, or try again tomorrow. He opted for the first and got send to Cape Town in an ambulance. The drive back was a weird one for me. Like a zombie behind the wheel trying to process what had happened I arrived at my caravan where I got jump scared by Max.


Max is a fellow Dutchie who is the roommate of a friend from my Ex. After a weird night of sleep max and I had some breakfast and met up with a trio of Irish guys. Dave Dave and Dan. I got told by all of my friends, my parents and by Iep him self that I should continue climbing and should not let this ruin my vacation. This felt very weird and hard for me. But I went and had a great session with the bois in Powerlines. I did 7 boulders graded between 6C+ and 7B+ which was just what I needed. A lot of bouldering to get back into things. I felt sketched out on my first few climbs. A little shaky and scared to top some of the higher boulders. But it all went well in the end. After a great day of climbing back in my caravan I could not stop the feeling of missing                                                                                something, or rather someone.

On Friday I felt quite destroyed but it was gonna rain later that day and on Saturday, so another day of climbing it was. Max and I went to The Coop to look at The Finnish Line and try some fun problems. I did Ganja Babe (7B) and Zwangsjacke (7a). Max is staying here for quite the long time. He is writing his thesis on Climbing Tourism in Rocklands for which he is planning on interviewing some people. I got the pleasure of being his first interview which was quite an honor and a cool experience.

Today is Saturday the 8th of July, a wet and rainy day here in Rocklands. I’m visiting Iep today in the hospital, bringing him some of his essentials. I have a long drive ahead of me but I’m happy to see him again and to see how he’s doing.

Arriving at the hospital I was so glad to see a smile on his face. I don’t know how he does it but he keeps his spirit high. We talked a little and he broke his enkel in two places fracturing the inner part of his enkel and he has a break in his lower leg. If all goes well he will get his surgery tomorrow. We also took a little stroll through the hospital and had a breath of fresh air just so he could see a bit more then those four walls he had seen for quite some time now. Pfff if it was me in his position I would have definitely been more of a wreck.


It has even a hectic first week and I’d like to give every week a song that I think relates to the week or at least part of it. This week it has to be:

Tenacious D, Dude I Totally Miss You.


See y’all next week with another update. And don’t forget, be nice, think twice and most importantly, crush some boulders.