Phil from Karamea Express dropped me off at the Wangapeka roadend and told me the story of the reclusive old guy who lived in a bus for years. I remembered a few dumped cars on the property that hadn’t been moved for yonks. Apparently, he had a leaky gas bottle that filled the bus with gas and then exploded when he lit a smoke. What a way to go.
The track up the Little Wanganui River Valley is quite familiar. My first trip up there, more than 20 years ago, much was farmland with sheep on it, but that area is now covered with regenerating forest with no hint of its previous life. The river flats that were open pasture grassland are now covered with bracken, with the track no longer obvious, so it was slower than the three hours suggested by DOC signage at the car park.
It states four hours on the sign at the hut, but it took me longer as I sat in the sun for a while and ate lunch. Most of the sustenance was from the delicious Dutch Bakery at Karamea, and slightly stale, but it was supplemented by some local blackberries that were richly flavoured and sweet.
The previous time up there was for my Kākāpō circuit trip in April 2023. That circuit has now been done by quite a few others. I’m intending to return to this first hut after the Johnson Hut excursion and do the other half to Kākāpō Hut, Kākāpō Saddle, and maybe Taipo or Trevor Carter Hut in a few days.
I have to mention the track from the car park is verging on the overgrown, and I did my bit with snapping overhanging branches regularly. Also, stomping back the bracken.
The sun is now beaming in, and I have the place to myself on Sunday evening.
Might have plenty of solitude on this trip.
A guide to the night’s accommodation: Belltown Manunui Hut
