Knuckle shuffle

After a day and a half of inactivity, the swelling in my hand appears to have abated, and all that remains is a dullish pain. Bruno's friend Steve finally appeared, rather late but not his fault. We put in half a day of boudering at the last remaining main bouldering area, The Sad Boulders yesterday. Not too enamoured with it to be honest, even if I did manage a V2 and a V3 which given the state or my hand I was happy with. Sarah managed a highball frightener rated V2. Steve and his travel companion Colin headed back towards Seattle as the rest of us cooked up the now traditional camp fire delights. The nights and mornings are getting colder, or 'baltic' as Jen phrased it. Days are still absoultely roasting in the sun, but the shade is cold. I've invested in a silk sleeping bag liner, both to keep me warm and to shelter me from any emerging biological threats that may have developed from it being in quite heavy use over the last few years, and not washed that frequently. Never, in fact. 'Minging' was Sarah's verdict - one of those northern words I don't quite know the meaning of, but it sounds bad.

We're slowly sorting out the travel plans ahead of us. It seems that you can race former America's Cup Yachts in Auckland, which sounds like a riot. We've managed to book accommodation, too, in College halls of residence, in the Mt Eden district.