This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
High in the Tararuas over looking the Tasman Sea, lays Maungahuka Hut. For approximately 45 years a standard Forest Service 6-bunk hut sat beside the tarn, clad in nothing more than a sheet of iron. Freezing cold on a frosty winter morning but any chill was shed once the sun rose and shone across the tarn. Normally though the torrid Tararua weather battered the little structure. Back in the 1990’s, with DoC funding running low, Maungahuka was added to the endangered species list. The WT&MC was keen to keep this hut going to aid a weary tramper in a Tararua storm, so adopted the hut for maintenance.
Well 10 years is a long time in DoC budgets, and following the replacement of the chain ladder with a new rigid ladder built by WT&MC member Gerald Galvin, a new 10-bunk hut sits adjacent to the old hut site. Insulated, double glazed, but still damn cold on a frosty winter morning, this is sure to be a popular, albeit difficult spot for trampers to reach. The new hut was finished in April/May this year.
Due to the high water table the WT&MC assisted with the relocation of the dunny a few years ago, but the only site was 100 metres away. With the coming of the new hut, was the decision by DoC to install a new “contained” dunny, that could be located next to the hut. So come May 2006, six WT&MC punters headed for Maungahuka to dig, install and remove.
On foot John gained a Friday night inspection of the new hut, only to be greeted by the harshest frost this year, while Gerald Dreaver, lan Harrison, Garry DeRose, Ann Rhodes and I, boarded the chopper at Holdsworth. With the sun shining across the tarn, we sipped our brew as the chopper returned, sweeping above the Tararua peaks, new dunny swinging below.
Installation began with digging away half a metre or more of snow. By lunch the hole had been dug and the new dunny was now located 10 metres from the hut. Tied down with wire rope and 3 loads of gravel for the path, we were off to topple the old throne. This wooden beast was much, much heavier than the new fibreglass model — no wire tie downs had been need for this to withstand a Tararua gale! Gerald discovered much to his horror that that patch to the side of where the old throne had toppled was not solid ground! Fortunately the water tank was full, to assist with the clean-up! Heading off to the Tararua peaks for an afternoon walk, the chopper returned, hooked up the old dunny and then struggled to get airborne again. The sight of the helicopter struggling made us worry a little at first, but gradually it returned, high in the sky, dunny swinging beneath, to Otaki Forks.
Grant Newton
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