Ramble
Quest - Overland Trek: Part Two -- Windemere to Kia Ora.
On to Pelion Hut, passing through more forest now. The weather is perfect again, so warm that I can swim in the creek behind Old Pelion Hut. This turns out to be the best swimming spot on the trail and a very quiet, picturesque spot. I return here a few times as I wind up spending two nights at Pelion. The water is still cold, so much so that I have to rescue a dropped water bottle for a couple as they didn't want to go in to save it. Still, it feels extremely refreshing.
At night I play cards (Peasant or "Asshole") with the Von Trapp kids. New Pelion Hut (actually I should say "newest" because the hut formally known as "New Pelion Hut" was torn down, so that only the oldest and newest remain) is the largest and best hut on the trail. Everyone has bunks and it is divided into rooms so it doesn't seem as big as it is.
In the morning, I head over to the gap with the intension of climbing Mt Ossa, the highest mountain in Tasmania. However there is a wall of clouds that completely cover the Ossa side of the gap. Amazingly (although I've read this isn't too unusual) the other, East Pelion side of the gap is completely cloud-free. OK, I'll take what I can get, so I climb Pelion East instead. There are great views at the top but it is tremendously windy. I sometimes have to duck down behind rocks just to get a break from it. It's also quite a tricky scramble at the top, much more like rock climbing than trail hiking.
Naomi had injured her ankle on the previous day's hike so she takes a day off and stays at the hut. My arnica comes to the rescue once again and helps to get her past this. She spends the day rehearsing a Christmas Eve performance with the Von Trapp children. They put on quite a show too, all dressed up in costume and singing Overland inspired lyrics to the "Twelve Days of Christmas". At one point the little monsters drag me up in front of the crowd, claiming I'd promised to sing an "American song".
Well, I don't have any training in singing and don't even know very many songs. However, I don't freeze up in front of crowds and can actually be pretty glib when faced with an unexpected public speech. So, while singing is new for me, I somehow manage to come up with a very passable version of "Chicago -- That Toddlin Town". The kids were particularly amazed that I was able to manage this. For many day's afterwards, I would meet people on the trail who would say something like: "Oh yes, you were the guy who sang that Chicago song at the Christmas Eve party."
Christmas morning is rainy and cold. Everyone in my section of Pelion is up before dawn because they are all worried that the next hut, Kia Ora, will be full. I have no such worries, since I always hike fast enough to arrive first at the huts, but wind up getting up with all of them anyway. This cold, muddy hike through leechy rain forest is not my ideal Christmas dawn. I'm disappointed as well because the gap is completely cloudy now and I see my chance at Ossa slipping away.
This is a miracle trek for me though. Out of the twelve days I spent on the trail, only two of them were bad, and most of the others were incredibly perfect. I also have the amazing fortune of having the weather improve just when I need it most. So, just as it is getting to be too late in the day to return to the gap and attempt a summit, I note improving weather towards Ossa. As I head back towards the gap it gradually gets better and better. As I start to climb it improves even more, so that as I near the top of Ossa I have absolutely perfectly clear skies in all directions!
The Overland has many exceptional highlights but a summit of Mt. Ossa with clear views surely ranks near the top. All the glories of this fantastic area lay before me. I sit up at the top for a long time, relishing in this most appreciated Christmas present. There's even considerable snow at the top for sliding down!