Nele & Andrew Around Oz: Kia Ora Hut, Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, TAS

Day 305 – 18^th December 2011

Kia Ora Hut, Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, TAS

Day 4 of 8 – Overland Track

Pelion Plains to Kia Ora Creek (9km, 280m ascent/descent)

Side Trip: Mt Ossa (6km return, 550m ascent/descent)

Pelion East (2.6km return, 335m ascent/descent)

We decided last night to get up early to check the weather and if it wasn’t raining we would head off asap. So by 7:30am we were walking to Pelion Gap, going past Snarers Hut Creek and Douglass Creek Waterfall. When we reached the Mt Ossa turn off it wasn’t raining with little clouds over the summit so we decided to start walking and see how we’d go. On our way up the clouds seemed to be coming in so we weren’t sure if we’d get to the top but luckily there was a break in the clouds so we were able to continue on. Once we reached the summit we took some photos and planned to walk down sooner than later as more clouds were coming towards us. We were just about to turn around and walk down when it seemed to get clearer. We remained at the summit and enjoyed the beautiful views while the weather improved more and more. After staying over an hour at the top we walked down and had lunch at the bags. Instead of continuing on to the hut as most people did, we climbed up Mt Pelion East (with a short detour as Andrew was trying to pioneer a new walking track). Back at the track we put on our packs again and walked to Kia Ora Hut. At the hut we walked to the falls (after some searching for the track) and refreshed ourselves with the icy cold water. We enjoyed another delicious Thai chicken curry meal and had a chat with some friendly fellow hikers.