5 – 9 February 2025

The weather for the tramp in and out was very fine, not much wind with warm temperatures. At times Mt. Ruapehu and Mt. Ngauruhoe could be seen out to the west. Due to other commitments of folk attending, the numbers helping with the working bee on any day were 2, 6, 4, 2. Anton & Luis tented alongside the hut while the rest of us slept in the hut.

Day time conditions were fine and enabled us to get on with the following tasks:

 Cleaning jobs done were: the side & porch gutters; the toilet interior and exterior; wood stove; window interiors; exterior walls; ceiling and trusses, as well as flushing of muck from the water tank by siphoning.  As well firewood was collected , two Interior Door Springs were fixed, the rat bait station was refilled and green handled axe was sharpened. 

During our time at the hut, we had about seven visitors, three of which stayed one night in the hut and two others tented amongst the trees.

Janice & Susan upon arriving at the hut found a sleeping bag and clothing with a note saying “Back tomorrow to pick up gear”. No name was given, so in their absence, the person was referred to as “Mr. Tomorrow”. Late Friday afternoon well after Janice & Susan had departed, a bloke arrived and we tongue in cheek asked if he was “Mr. Tomorrow” and the owner of the gear left in the hut. Indeed he was. He had previously come in, gone out and come back with 3 food caches which got buried in the general vicinity of the hut. He was content on tramping by himself, a minimalist with what he carried, slept rough and walked everywhere in bare feet.

Aside from working bee tasks, there was opportunity to explore around the general area. Randall pointed out a small water source about 40 metres down the Kiwi Mouth track off to the left. A deteriorating fenced off plot of bush, previously used to study bush growth in the absence of deer, and located about 50m downhill from toilet to the west from a clay pan 5 minutes from the hut on the start of the ridge line leading to Castle Camp. One person even got to do a return trip to Castle Camp.

A great effort and thank you to those who supported the working bee.

Party:  Janice L, Susan L, Anton D, Luis D, Randall G, Simon W.