Paua Hut

A page with information relating to the Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club hut in the Orongorongo Valley of the Remutaka Park, including location, facilities, and how to book.

Paua Hut is available for bookings by members and non-members.

WTMC Paua Hut
Paua Hut

How to Book the Hut

Bookings are per bunk. If you would like to book the whole hut, please submit booking for all 9 bunks. There are 10 bunks in the hut in total.

To request a booking, select the required dates and the number of people in your group and complete the details in the form. You will be asked to provide payment as part of the booking process.

Note that a ‘day’ includes the night to the following morning.

Link to the online booking form for Paua hut: https://wtmc.org.nz/pauahutbookings.

You will be automatically emailed the code for the key lockbox 5 days and 1 day before the start date of your booking. Booking is essential.

General queries relating to Paua Hut can be addressed to the Paua Hut Booking Officer.

Fees and refunds

Charges per bunk per night are:

  • Members:
    • Adults $5.00
    • Youth/Children(17 and under) $0.00.
  • Non-members:
    • Adults $15.00
    • Youth/Children(17 and under) $7.00.

The Club’s refund policy is available here.

Payments

The booking system will provide prompts to pay online.

Payments can also be made by bank transfers directly into the Club’s bank account (38-9017-0330533-00).
Please make the bank transfer after completing your booking on Seekom, and code the bank transfer as follows:

  • The facility you booked (i.e. ‘Paua’)
  • The booking number on the Seekom platform
  • The surname the booking was made under.

Accurate descriptions will assist our volunteers to reconcile the accounts and ensure that payments are properly recorded in our financial statements. Payment queries can be addressed to the Treasurer.

What You Will Find at the Hut

  • Gas cooker
  • Pots and pans
  • Cups, plates and cutlery
  • Table and chairs
  • Ten sleeping mattresses on two platforms
  • Wood burner
  • Water at the sink (supplied from a roof tank)
  • There is an outside long drop toilet
  • There is also space around the hut for camping.

Photos

You can pan the photo to view the hut interior.

And you can view photos and a video of the last hut clean-up here.

WTMC Paua Hut swing
And the swing of course

Location

Paua Hut is located on the banks of the Orongorongo River in the Remutaka State Forest Park (also known as the Orongorongos), approximately 2 hours easy walk from the Remutaka Forest Park car park at the Catchpool.

To get to Remutaka Forest Park, follow the instructions in the Remutaka Trust website and park in the Catchpool car park. The car park is approximately 45 minutes drive from Wellington.

Walking to the hut from the Catchpool carpark involves a 1½-2 hour walk along a wide easy track to the Orongorongo River, and then about 1 km of river walking downstream along the river bed.

You’ll have to wade across the river a few times (usually three times). Note that after heavy rainfall, the river level may be too high to cross. You can check river flows at Wellington Regional Council’s website. River flows above 3 m³/s are likely to prevent crossings to and from the hut. If in doubt, DO NOT cross. If you are unable to reach Paua hut due to high river levels, please contact to reschedule your trip.

Location of Paua Hut
Paua Hut location

From the river, the landmark to look for is a 5 m high, cliff-like clay bank on the left (looking downstream) of the river. The river swings right so you see the cliff facing you as you walk downstream. Paua Hut is tucked into the bush behind and on top of this cliff. A 4WD track leaves the river, crosses a reasonably big side-creek on the left (another landmark) and heads up onto the bank, and goes right past Paua Hut. So follow it up the bank. (In other words, if you keep to the 4WD track – it mostly follows the river, but you’ll be able to follow the compacted gravel wheel tracks – you more or less can’t go wrong).

For those with a GPS the hut location is BQ38 645207, using the topo map NZ Topo50-BQ38 Lower Hutt [the full reference is E1764469 N5420709]. Or Lat -41.348464, Long 174.965515. Map Link

Also, on the other side of the river, Brown’s Track heads up the hill – you’ll see an orange triangle marking it (it may be hard to pick out initially but if you look for it for a bit you will see it). This is an alternative, but more energetic, track back to the Catchpool carpark.