Rerekapa Track and Hut

We wanted to stay for an overnight in one of the hundreds of DOC (Department of Conservation) huts that are scattered throughout New Zealand. The Rerekapa Hut was a perfect one for us since it was an easy drive to the start, it was only a 1 hour tramp to the hut, and there were the Rerekapa Falls to see as well.

We invited our new friends Myska and Piddy to tramp with us.

We picked them up at their house and drove north. Our first stop was Mike's Brewery for a cold Pilsner. I have blogged about 'Mike's' in earlier blogs. I was thrilled to find out that they just bottled a new batch of my favourite brew, 'Strawberry Blonde'.

From there we went to another favourite site, Three Sisters Rocks. Unfortunately, we had stayed too long at the brewery as the tide was up and we couldn't walk very far out to the ocean.

The road to the start of the track was quite exciting. It was a narrow road and there was a drop into the gorge on my side of the car with no safety rails, all the way along. It was us and the sheep and tunnels. There were 3 of these tunnels that looked like they were hand chiselled through the range.

We found the head of the trail and donned our packs. Luckily there were 16 bunks in the hut, and no other cars at the start of the trail, so we knew we could leave the tent and tarp in the car.

Piddy and Myska have done a lot of hitch-hiking and long tramps with their backpacks. They knew how to pack light, but still have all the essentials for a trip. We were used to car camping and had not carried a heavy pack tramping for many years. so it was evident we had packed too heavily. I was sweating profusely about ten minutes into our trek. I was carrying 4 litres of water, all of the food (which included jars of peanut butter and nutella, cans of tuna, a container of cooked noodles, bread, crackers, cheese, dip, tea, coffee, cutlery, pots, stove, first-aid kit, flashlight and my clothes. Cary had the sleeping bags, thermo rests, and his clothes. I KNOW........I COMPLAINED! In Cary's defence, I did have the better backpack with a waist belt.

Piddy very kindly took 2 L of water from my pack and carried it for me. He wasn't sure why we took so much water. This particular hut had running water and he finds generally that he only needs .5 L on most trips. There is always water somewhere he said and a 3 minute boil will kill anything bad.

We arrived at the hut after a beautiful tramp through a forest of Tawa and Kamahi  trees.

There was evidence that someone was living in the hut. The place was a mess! Leftover food and spills on the table, dirty dishes and garbage everywhere. A fellow had taken up residence in the back room and his pack and stuff was littered throughout the hut. Myska said this wasn't too bad as she says that most huts are not very clean. She immediately started to scrub and tidy. I swept the floor. In no time everything was spic and span.

We then went outside and I swept the cobwebs away from the long-drop seat and Myska collected some wood for the outdoor fire pit. (Not sure what the boys did all this time.)

We settled into the hut and got our supper. Myska and Piddy are vegetarians and cooked some onion, garlic and courgettes and had that with their homemade bread.

While we were eating, the resident came into the hut. It turned out he was a possum hunter. He had an array of knives on his belt and a bag of fur. He luckily didn't say anything about his stuff being moved (good or bad) and obligedly made some small talk with us. He said he gets $100 for every kilo of fur. He hunts year round and this hut has served him well.

He stuffed his leftover spaghetti between two slices of bread and paced the floor, eating and smoking rolled cigarettes. He every now and then offered some comments but he basically kept to himself.

The hunter was the first to bed. While he coughed and coughed in his bunk, Piddy taught us a card game. It was called 'The Big Two'. Piddy said that there are a few things that can be understood around the world- laughter, music, and card games. It involved strategy and of course luck. It was fun!

We settled into our bunks and I was determined NOT to use the long-drop during the night. It was pitch black out there and the hunter said that he left the guts of the posssums out for the wild pigs.

After breakfast we walked for an hour through fields and bog to the Rerekapa Falls. They are 10m high and there is a beautiful pool at the bottom of them. We were warned though, not to go swimming as there are huge eels that live in there.

Here we sat and talked about meditation, vegetarianism, religion and dreadlocks. All rather fascinating!

We headed back to the hut and got ourselves sorted for the tramp back to the car. When walking out I thought about all the things we had done (I had never slept with a possum hunter before!) or learned during the weekend. I thought about how we left the hut in a better state than how we found it.  We had learned a new card game. And we had learned about how other people live their lives and we had some time to evaluate our own.

We visited Urenui Beach on the way home to have some lunch. A pretty spot.

Thanks for reading!