Tutuwai Hut – a kid’s persepective

1. There were two families on our tramp. The first family was Marieke, Bram and Dante (age 8) and there was us, my mum and I, Sara and Victoria (age 10). When I first saw Dante, I was quite nervous.

2. Just before we started to walk Dante told me about tunnel web spiders, there was one sitting on the deck (the veranda where all the maps were). When we started walking, I told everyone about Mingimingi (the berries). The Mingimingi are delicious (they’re edible).

3. We had to go across a very scary swing bridge. The walk was very fun – my most favourite part was near the end, but I won’t tell you yet.

4. After we crossed the swing bridge there was a very steep hill- we had to do 682 meters of elevation. Once we got to the top of the elevation there was a junction. There were three different turn offs – back the way we came and go to the car park, to the Cone Hut Saddle, and to Cone Hut. We went to Cone Hut for lunch.

5. Once we finished lunch, we kept walking to Tutuwai Hut. It was mainly flat. Before we got to the hut there was heaps of mud and Dante and I liked mud, so we kept on standing in the sections.

6. When we got to the hut, we had to collect firewood for the toasted marshmallows that we were going to do. When it was time to eat the marshmallows, they were delicious. Just before bed we had to go toilet and brush our teeth. Sadly, it was already dark and there were lots of possums out in the bush. We played cards and bananagrams, then it was time for bed.

7. When we woke up, I felt so sore on my shoulders and feet. After we had breakfast (pancakes), we went back the same way. Luckily, it was a bit quicker on the way back.

8. The fun bit at the end was dropping some sticks off the swing-bridge and watching them float down the river. It was a fun trip!

Trip stats: 

• Saturday 2 May – Depart Waiohine Road End 9.45am – arrive Cone Hut 1.15pm. (3 hours 30 mins). Depart Cone Hut 1.35pm, arrive Tutuwai Hut 2.45pm (70 mins).
• Sunday 3 May – Tutuwai to Cone Hut (60 mins). Cone Hut to Waiohine Road End (3 hours).