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Hot shower in the bush, what else? asks Anne. Well, at Westies it goes like this:
After the hot shower retire to the Westies lounge with some crackers and cheese while waiting on your evening meal of a choice of burgers, followed by fresh fruit for dessert.
Once fed then sit outside the front door of the hut and watch the surf…
…and then the sun set below the horizon.
Not a bad day’s tramping actually.
The summit did look different but the Hillary Step was much the same. 
Leaving Base Camp 
On the summit ready to ski down When doors are stuck shut
Sarah does not wait about-
kick kick kick kick kick
There’s something in her hair that’s quite wrong
It looks more like that of King Kong
When asked why it was so
She said I don’t know
But I think I’ve been in the bush for too longHey Heather I like your idea of the K-K replacing the current S-K, but it is interesting to note that even if you have to start your K-K about 7 km north of Putara you won’t have to travel any further to get to Kaitoke than you do now. So, times for your K-K won’t get progressively longer over the next million years.
Harry is quite correct about the Mangahao doing odd things too but it cheats a bit and gets a free ride back through the Manawatu Gorge. Although it does effectively start on the west and ends on the east of the ranges so does make a crossing. It’s cool to think you could stand on Arete and throw a bottle in the creek to the north and then wait a couple of days to watch it float into the sea below you after crossing the Tararuas twice. There are a number of other minor east-side streams (eg Mangatainoka) that flow into the Manawatu above the gorge and therefore also reach the coast on the west – mostly, as Harry says, because they were there before the ranges were raised by tectonic forces.
Leslie Adkin was a NZ self-taught geologist who was responsible for some amazing work and scholarly articles on the Tararuas (especially glaciation), as well as other areas of NZ, and was one who believed that the Manawatu River was always there and it was able to cut down faster that the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges were rising – which is generally accepted now. Adkin was an amazing man who has been rewarded with the name of one of the most piddly inconsequential peaks in the Tararuas! You hardly know you have walked over it.
For some info on Adkin try here.
From my sketchy notes on a uni coastal geomorphology field trip which was a while back now here is (simplified) how we were taught the gorge was formed:
- Top sketch – 1 to 2 million years ago approx. the gorge was once the location where the river reached the coast. The ranges were beginning to be raised above sea-level.
- Btm sketch – 750 kya to 1 mya years ago the coast was moving further west as the ranges continued rising.
- As the ranges were raised to their present level the coast moved further west – and the Manawatu was able to continue cutting down through the basement rock to maintain its course to the west while most other eastern rivers took the easy option and changed course to flow to the east.
And the final story is we now have our adventurous river that is so polluted at the gorge it is unsafe to swim there…!Well that’s good news. And it certainly does sound like the same track renegotiated. I will check it out and if so we can reinstate the description on the website later today.
Powell Hut update 2 May 2019.
Building work almost complete. The 3 latest photos show:
1. General east outside view. Scaffolding for plumber to fix roof gutter.
2. Kitchen and social area painted and ready for cooking benches.
3. The south 12-bunk bunkroom with the cool sloping ladders to the upper level.The builder expects to be off-site in next few weeks but the hut cannot open until it receives final sign-off from the Building Consent Authority. And before this happens a fire alarm system (with its solar power) needs to be installed and a decision made on grey-water disposal. So DOC are saying prob end June opening.
A couple of unusual features of the building. Having a fire alarm system will be interesting. It certainly will increase occupant safety but may cause unintended problems. And it is a significant extra cost to DOC who must fly a technician to the hut every 6 months to maintain the alarm in compliance with the Building Code.
Additionally there is a passive ventilation system installed – principally to remove internal condensation from breathing and cooking. This makes sense especially for building maintenance purposes given moisture causes problems with the building structure in the long term. But because it cannot be adjusted it may make for a cold hut in winter even though the hut is fully insulated.But regardless it will be a wonderful front-country facility – hopefully it will be well appreciated and visitors will pay their fees to offset the $750,000 price tag.
And again as usual a big thanks to the guys from McIntyre Contractors for assistance with the photos and the info.
Harry’s story with his route description has been updated in the WTMC newsletter with some photos and a short video.
Powell Hut update at 23 March 2019.
Another misty day but pleasantly calm.
Six photos show: interior of hut looking in the north door; windows in the east (front) bunkrooms; windows in the east kitchen/ social area; south side; west (rear) side; and the north side.
All the windows have been installed but some flashings still to be fixed in place.These will essentially complete the outside of the building except for some additional sub-floor bracing.
The front bunkrooms will have a great view of the sunrise and will likely be the first-choice rooms.
All the interior wall and ceiling insulation is installed. The woodburner from the old hut will be removed and replaced by a new one of the same model.
So starting to look like a real hut now – but still plenty of fit-out work required inside before it is finished. The front deck still seems HUUGE.[thanks to McIntyre Construction for assistance with photos]