Maungahuka Hut – a tramp to fix a long-broken water supply tap

A hike to Mungahuka Hut to replace a broken tap and deliver a new log book and enjoy one of the favourite Tararua huts.

Maungahuka Hut is my favourite Tararua hut, and the hut that inspired my tramping journey. So when Tony and I heard from Derrick Field, from Greater Wellington Backcountry Network (GWBN), that Maungahuka Hut needed the tap to be fixed after months of being broken, plus a new hut book, we jumped at the opportunity. I could visit my favourite hut, and do something useful for the outdoors community at the same time – see my story here on conservation volunteerism

We had a relaxed midday departure from Wellington, as I had worked the evening before. We stopped for a late lunch in Carterton, before walking into Totara Flats Hut for the night. At the Totara Flats bridge junction, I decided  to see if I could actually make it take the DoC time of 10 minutes to walk the 150m to the hut. I failed abysmally. I only took 8 minutes walking heel to toe, and I was very bored, but hung in there right to the end! 

We both decided to sleep on the balcony, rather than in the hut, and popped ourselves around the back of the hut in the enclosed balcony area, as there was some rain forecast overnight. It was nice and quiet, aside from a rather strange moment when a late night tramper on their way to camp at the Flats decided they needed to come and change their headlight battery right next to where we were trying to sleep for some reason!! Tony and I were slightly bewildered by this unusual behaviour, since we were tucked right around the back of the hut. And all Tony could hear was me giggling away in my sleeping bag for ages – especially after the tramper asked why we were sleeping out on the balcony and Tony pointedly said it was to enjoy the quiet!!!

The next morning our alarms went off at 5am, and we enjoyed the chorus of bellbirds as we packed up. By 6am we were on the go to Neill Forks Hut. The walk to Neill Forks Hut seemed to pass very quickly. Along this track we found what seemed to be evidence of a rather large colony of native Wainuia snails, as I counted over 38 snail shells. While it does mean some snails have been predated, it does indicate there seems to be a good colony existing there. And the shells are a source of calcium for their fellow snails – which is why it is really important not to remove shells! It’s all rather clever.

Before we knew it, we were at the junction to the knee bashing descent to Neill Forks. This track going down is nearly as fast as going up, as it’s pretty technical. So unless you are a mountain goat, or want to end up broken into multiple pieces in the river, you really can’t go too fast down it.

We had an early lunch at Neill Forks, and re-packed our gear as we were only taking day gear up to Maungahuka Hut. It was a steep climb up Concertina Knob, but so rewarding when we popped out of the treeline, with views over to Cone Ridge, the Southern Crossing and the Tararua Peaks. Tony sent me ahead to Maungahuka Hut, so I could spend longer at the hut. 

Maungahuka Hut is in such a picturesque location, and on a good day like we had, it is truly magical. It’s hard to fully describe it in words, but there’s something other-worldly about sitting there next to the tarn, with the reflection of the hut in it and views out to Kapiti Island, Wairarapa, and Aokaparangi Peak. You can be up there and forget about everything else. It’s good for the soul.  

Once Tony arrived, we got down to work – unscrewing the old tap that was broken. I managed to send the handle of the old tap flying under the balcony of the hut, and I think I spent longer retrieving that than actually screwing the new tap on. We then grabbed the old hut book and replaced it with the new one. Tony did a walk around the hut to see if it required any other work to report back to Derrick. 

We spent a while just sitting there enjoying the peacefulness before Tony announced it was time to head back down the hill to Neill Forks Hut. While we both would have liked to have spent the night in Maungahuka Hut, the weather was forecast to change. I still struggled to drag myself away, and ended up leaving a good 15 minutes after Tony – and only caught him up just before the bushline. 

We had a nice night at Neill Forks Hut, as there was a full moon so bright, that at one point I got a bit confused and thought I had left my headlamp on – only to realise it was the moon shining in the hut’s window. That got me up and outside to look at it and enjoy the starry sky before the clouds rolled in. Tony was entertained by hearing my squeals, as there were a large number of spiders abseiling off the roof of the porch of the hut. They were all glowing in the light of my headlamp, so I was carefully navigating around them all, so I didn’t destroy their webs that they had probably spent all day weaving! 

We had a relaxed 8am start the next morning – there was no gentle warm-up for us, but straight back up the hill to Cone Ridge! Nothing like going from resting heart rate straight to max heart rate! At the junction there was a bit of cell reception, and some texts came through from my work about being short staffed, and I sent off a text saying I could come in to help out for a few hours that night when I got out. 

As we descended down to Totara Flats Hut, it started to rain. It was too humid to put jackets on though! After lunch we grabbed the full Totara Flats Hut book to carry out to DoC too, and then started up the hill. The rain became heavier, so that we were now becoming drowned rats (the last time we had walked out from Totara Flats it had rained too!), and Tony told me to go on ahead to the car. At Pig Flat I managed to get some cell reception and see the response from my text to work – one of my bosses had hilariously texted back that they would love for me to come in to help, only if I had finished with the great snail hunt! I had sent her a message the day before about all the snails, as my fascination with our native snails is a bit of a running joke with my management team at work. Before starting off down the hill to Holdsworth carpark, I sent off a text saying we were drowned rats, and I might be in a bit later than expected, as we had snailed up the hill as yesterday had been a big day. 

Stats from Sarah’s watch (elapsed time includes breaks)

Day 1 – Holdsworth carpark to Totara Flats Hut:

Elapsed Time – 3.5h, Distance – 11km, Elevation – 562m

Day 2 – Totara Flats Hut -> Neill Forks Hut -> Maungahuka Hut -> Neill Forks Hut

Elapsed Time – 12.5h, Distance – 18k, Elevation – 2,143m

Day 3 – Neill Forks Hut to Holdsworth Carpark via Totara Flats Hut:

Elapsed Time – 8h, Distance – 19k, Elevation – 1,361m

For an Aokaparangi Loop story go here

For more photos go to www.tararuaphotos.com