Overland - The summit

Today was summit day, an early start with lots of porridge gave us plenty of energy to climb out of the forest for several hours until we reached the Pelion plateau. The weather seemed to have cleared, and despite a bit of wind we decided to attempt the Mt Ossa summit. We left our packs at the trail fork (safely protected from Currawongs by tying the straps together) and started the ascent. The climb took about 2 hours and involved trudging through leech infested pools, climbing through river gullies carved into the rock and much sketchy scrambling over large boulders, but we made it to 1617m for some fantastic views and a well deserved lunch on the summit. The way down was harder on the knees but the breathtaking views were worth it! Another few hours and we reached Kia Ora for a night under the stars, we claimed about 1000m of vertical ascent today and made the most of the weather. Check back for photos.