Napier Tramping Club

based in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

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Overflowing at the Rangiwahia 12-bunk Inn

June 5, 2021 by Sue Martin Leave a Comment

Rangiwahia Hut, Ruahine FP, Sat/Sun 5/6 June 2021
Banner Photo: The loos at Rangiwahia Hut

The Brown Sugar Café (Ray Slavin’s second tramping hut) was calling us as we approached Taihape, where we enjoyed a coffee before heading to Renfrew Road car park and the start of the tramp. Everyone gasped when we saw the number of cars and hoped they were day trampers.

Nine of us in total, and with Rangiwahia there were options to reach the hut. Three chose the harder Deadman’s route, five of us chose with Juliet following later in the day. This report is of the walk up the easier benched track to the hut, which takes 2-3 hours. It was a gentle steady grade and we regrouped often to delayer as the sun warmed us up. Although this was a new tramp for two members, the club has been to this hut several times, in sun, rain, flood, snow and for solstice.
The track zig-zagged around the old slip and then took a series of steps to skirt around the outside of it.

The bridge

As we approached the gorge, you could see the beautiful arched wooden bridge (opened by Helen Clark in 1988 when she was Minister of Conservation). These days the bridge is dwarfed by the bush, but the gorge is still picturesque. It certainly deserves a photo. Throughout the whole tramp, there were a lot more groups of steps than we could remember, up and down – some desperately needing refilling with soil.

Between the beech trees you could get small glimpses of the rolling hills and farmland, and views all the way to Ruapehu. The grade became a little steeper once over the bridge and the shrubs become smaller. We met keen returning trampers who told us that the hut was terribly busy with already six beds claimed. We all had our mats so were not too worried.
We reached the small waterfall which has been recently bridged and knew that the hut was another five minutes away.

Rangiwahia Hut

The hut sits above the bushline on the tussock-covered tops and is renowned for its ski history. There are skis attached to the outside walls to remind us of when they once skied the slopes behind the hut. A local artist has brightly painted the woodshed and toilets with native birds. It is worth a visit just to see these buildings.

People everywhere! It was obvious that there were more bodies than beds and it was only 1pm! We managed to secure a bed each and saved one for the other three through some kind young people who chose to sleep on the floor and in a tent.

The view of Mt Ruapehu

It was a beautiful winter’s day, sitting in the sun eating our lunch with stunning views over to the snow-covered Mt Ruapehu. However, by 3pm, the temperature quickly dropped, and soon we were sitting in front of the log burner.

Several small groups of trampers arrived and we lent our mats to them. Mid-afternoon, a group of ten schoolkids and adults from Levin arrived with no tents or mats, and the inn was already over-full. As the day ended, others came by the hut and because of the numbers decided to return; others decided to move on to Triangle Hut, another three hours away, which was a blessing for us.

We managed to fill in time until bed at 8.30pm when the schoolkids quickly and noisily moved into the hut and somehow found a sleeping spot on the floor. Then four more trampers arrived and were stunned to find no room at the inn. After they cooked a meal, they managed to squeeze somewhere on the floor. I didn’t hear anything during the night, but believe the level of snoring, the stuffiness of the hut and people awkwardly stepping over sleeping bodies to make toilet trips kept people from our group awake. There were more than 30 in the hut that night and a few on the deck.

Heading to the Mangahuia highpoint from the junction

You can imagine the scramble in the morning, moving around sleeping teenagers as we made breakfast. At 8am, we set off up to the high point Mangahuia at 1583m where we had 360-degree views. It was gusty at times while we were walking over the tops. Although the tops were covered in tussock, you had to watch out for the leatherwood and spaniard scattered throughout. We gradually made our way up and down muddy trenches, through some rooty bush then a steep descent to the car park.

The Deadman’s Track took us nearly four and a half hours. Back to Brown Sugar in Taihape for lunch, then a long drive home.

Trampers: Bruce Hodgson, Lynette Morgan, Simon Hill, Juliet Gillick, Fiona Bryant, Fiona Chiverrell and reporter Sue Martin
Also: Julia Mackie, Geoff Donkin on a longer multi-day tramp.

Filed Under: Napier Tramping Club, Recent trips, Ruahine

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About us

We are a group of like-minded people who love the great outdoors. We tramp mostly in the Hawke’s Bay province, in remote areas such as the Kaweka and Ruahine Ranges; but we also travel longer distances to new places, for longer walks.

The Napier Tramping Club was established in 1974 and has about 70 members. We belong to the Federated Mountain Clubs of NZ Inc (FMC) and run Saturday, full-weekend and Wednesday tramps, every fortnight.

Interested in joining us?

Enjoy the great outdoors, keep fit and get to know others with similar interests.

More information

Latest news

March 2023 News

Tramp List Amendments and Road Closures Due to the inability to access most of the Ruahine Forest … Read More

February 2023 News

Mokai Access to Iron Bark and Colenso Huts Copied from the Ruahine User Group (Private) Facebook … Read More

Latest trip

Racing (and beating) Cyclone Gabrielle

Useful links

  • Dept of Conservation
  • DoC Huts Use, Kaweka Forest Park
  • Federated Mountain Clubs of NZ (FMC)
  • Heretaunga Tramping Club
  • New Zealand Tramper
  • NZ Walking Access Commission
  • Wanganui Tramping Club

Useful links 2

  • Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society
  • Weather forecast

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