Barlow Hut, Ruahine FP, Saturday 25 October 2025
Banner Photo: One of the many crossings of the Makaroro River
It was a cool morning when seven set off in two cars, and the temperature wasn’t forecast to go above 12C, but with no rain. We arrived at the Hills’ farm at 8.30am and had a chat with them while we put on our boots and prepared for the climb up to the fence line.
Heading over the farm to the Gold Creek confluence
There were lots of sheep and lambs calling to each other. When we were up the hill and looked back, we reckoned there were more than 2000 ‘white blobs’ on just two paddocks. I cleared a trap on the fence line – a rat much bigger than I usually get on my usual trap line, but nothing in other traps. The bush lawyer was just coming out in flower; very pretty – but that plant is not a tramper’s friend!
Bush lawyer (or tātarāmoa in te reo Māori) in flower
It was pretty slippery down the hill, but with lovely views of the river, especially if you ignored the cleared land where they were harvesting the trees; a brown, blank square.
It took us an hour from the cars to the river, then wet boots immediately! The river wasn’t particularly high – just over our knees in places – but the water was swift (and cold). We zig-zagged upriver, warming up when we had intermittent sunshine; then you’d go round a bend and a cold wind blew into your face; so we donned our jackets.
On about one third of the crossings, most chose to link arms because of the unevenness of the riverbed, and the swift flow made us careful with every step. There are very steep slips coming down some of the valley sides. You wouldn’t want to be anywhere near them if there was a fall of soil and rocks.
Barlow Hut sits on a terrace above the river
We reached the hut at 11.20, emptied the grit from our boots and enjoyed sitting in the sun and warming up. We had a chat with two hunters from Palmerston North who were doing a fabulous job chopping wood, filling the shed for the fire and cleaning the hut.
It is such a lovely hut, quite different to any other I have been to and I recommend you go see it if you haven’t yet. It is Lockwood style.
We left the hut at noon and soon after met two big 4WD vehicles slowly making their way up the valley. Somehow it seemed wrong to have them in this environment. They couldn’t go any faster than our walking pace.
No doubt good fun from their angle but it didn’t sit well in this pristine environment, with diesel fumes spewing into the pure air.
One of the dramatic riverside slips
There was a lot of discussion on the return trip about the best techniques to cross rivers. Three of the group had done very little river walking. It was a good reminder to maintain our skills and we discussed and practised as we went. We did about 60 crossings during the day and on almost every one, you had to choose the best place to cross, be careful and concentrate. Amazingly, no one ended up falling in, but our shorts were wet.
The wind was behind us and we were much warmer – and we warmed up even more when climbing up the fence line again. We arrived back at the cars at 2.20pm, then tried to dodge the cow pats so we didn’t muck up the vehicles. Drinks at the Tiko pub, sitting outside in the sun – what a lovely way to finish the day.
Trampers: Elly Govers, Selina Chilton, Mary Campbell, Donna Weston, photographer Tarah Carpenter, Bryan Powlesland and reporter Di Reid
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