I have climbed with Gavin on three occasions each time for multiple days. The first was to his backyard of the Drakensberg, a place I have wanted to climb for years. We had a superb time including an early ascent of a new route on the Sentinel. Gavin knows the area so well that we were able to adjust to weather and situations very easily, visited various crags and enjoyed the best climbs on each. Gavin is very safe and organised whilst at the same time prepared to weigh up your abilities. As such he was comfortable with me leading both sport and trad.
This latter became the norm as we climbed together again the following year in the Spitzkop Nambia then again a year later in the Cape area.
The Spitzkop was an idea suggested by Gavin and it turned out to be inspired. I loved the area as much as the climbing. We had the place to ourselves with perhaps the highlight being a route on the Horn. High up , technical climbing and with desert all around it was a magical experience.
A highlight of any trip with Gavin is his expertise with a briar and I have many fond memories of warm starlit nights whilst the food slowly spits and cooks whilst sampling the ubiquitous glass of red.
I look forward to many more trips with Gavin and know that each one will be superbly organised, very flexible with good food and some great climbing on some of the best rock in the world.