Friday:
We met at 4 pm at Wellington Train Station in the carpark by platform 9. After a 2 1/2 hr drive we arrived at Aorangi crossing carpark, Cape Palliser road. It took an easy-paced 1 hr 10 min hike along Mangatoetoe Stream to reach Mangatoetoe Hut -just as the light started to fade. This area is next to Kawakawa Station – so we encountered a handful of sheep on the stream bed.
We had already had dinner before our hike. Sara’s medium grade group arrived at 8.45 pm – just over 1 1/2 hrs after us. All of her group (apart from one person – who slept in the hut with us) tented for the night.
Saturday:
We left Mangatoetoe Hut in nice settled weather at 7.55 am and began hiking up Mangatoetoe Stream. After 40 minutes, we realised that we may have gone too far. We’d in fact missed an orange peg, so we backtracked briefly and found the discretely placed orange peg nestled in the bush. Some of the pegs on the track are easy to miss, so you need a keen eye.
Soon there was a steep uphill section, up to the saddle, and then we headed down the steep track to Otakaha Stream. Once we had finished the steep section, we had a well deserved morning tea break.
We needed to follow the stream a bit further and we eventually made it to Kawakawa Hut. We had lunch and heard an engine in the distance. Three farmers then arrived in a light utility vehicle (LUV) from the nearby Kawakawa Station.
After lunch, we started cleaning and tidying the hut as part of the FMC ‘love our huts’ campaign. Sara had initially signed up to clean both Kawakawa and Parakai Huts, but asked me to help with Kawakawa Hut, as her medium group had a longer day of tramping than my group. Tony, Peter, Gina and I all helped out with cleaning jobs. The hut looked much better after our spruce up. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, having a hot drink, dinner, and then bed.
Sunday:
We got up at 6:30 am and left the hut at 8:00 am. We followed the river bed and took the same route back as we had on Saturday, arriving at the start of the saddle at around 9:15am. We prepared ourselves for the steep climb up the saddle, which was exposed. After the climb, we made our way along the saddle and then began our descent. This involved some backside sliding for some of the group. Several people in the group found the saddle the most challenging aspect of the trip.
Back on solid ground, we walked along Mangatoetoe Stream and arrived at Mangatoetoe Hut at around 12 pm. Enjoying the sun, we had a quick lunch and then headed back along the stream to the carpark. On the way out we bumped into a pair of hunters and arrived at the carpark at about 1.30pm.
