Labour Weekend 2023
On Friday, 20 October a group of five left to drive around to the northern side of Whirinaki Forest
Park to the Okahu road end. We arrived around 12 noon on a lovely clear day. After a spot of lunch
beside the van we headed off up to Rogers Hut (a six bed hut). It was around a 3.5 hour walk to the hut.
This historic old hut has so much character. The hut was built in 1952 and the covered deck was added on in 1995. A hunter and his partner came to the hut later on in the day so the hut was full. As it was such a beautiful day Nic decided to make good use of his tent and camped outside above the Moerangi Stream. We were also very lucky and saw a couple of blue ducks.
The next morning after breakfast we headed off to Mangakahika Hut (a nine bed hut) which was around a 3.5 hour walk from Rogers Hut. Another beautiful clear day and we arrived around lunchtime. A very nice walk with only a couple of small slips to navigate. Mangakahika Hut is set amidst beech forest, this hut is a popular destination for hunters. Upon our arrival we were very lucky and had the hut to ourselves.
After a relaxing lunch Nic and Jude decided to head off along the track to Central Te Hoe Hut. The track certainly needed quite a lot of work as there were trees down and a few slips to navigate. After a return walk of around 3 hours it was nice to be back at Mangakahika Hut which was really lucky as five minutes later the heavens opened and it rained very heavily for the rest of the evening.
On day 3 we decided to head through and spend the night at Skips Hut (nine bed hut). Skips Hut has
beautiful views of the podocarp and beech forests. We were so lucky with the weather as it was
another beautiful clear day. We meandered our way back and arrived at Skips Hut around lunchtime
again. We met a hunter and his dog who were camping nearby and a family who decided later in the
day to head back to Okahu Road leaving us to have the hut to ourselves.
After a leisurely breakfast on Monday we headed back to Okahu Road to the van. On the way back we saw a family of blue duck. It was very special. We then stopped at Rainbow Mountain where Nic and
Simon went for around a 1 hour walk or so whilst us three girls sat in the sun. We then stopped at
the Berry honey café for lunch and then headed back to Hawkes Bay with Nic and Simon sharing the
driving.
A really fabulous weekend with amazing weather
Susan L , Jude H, Simon W, Nic W and Anne D