Napier Tramping Club

based in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

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A northern Ruahine circuit with the help of “Sammy” the Galaxy Notepad

November 23, 2013 by Julia Mackie Leave a Comment

Big Hill Station Permit, Saturday November 23, 2013

The Napier Tramping Club was successful in getting two permits into Big Hill Station for the 2013/2014 year. The next is in June 2014; however, we made sure we used the permit in November.

We last did this trip in February 2010, and we decided that it was so good that we would do the tramp again. Permission was obtained from the Maori block trustees to walk on their land, and we got all the 4WD vehicles we could muster (four in total).

The photo call at No Man's HutThe drive through Big Hill Station is a long and winding one. The road was not too bad up to No Man’s Hut. Beyond this, it is seriously rutted. We took a photo call at No Man’s Hut in the low cloud before we set off up the road to the top and the trig post just off the road. The 4WD track then goes to the White Hut, but there are waratah standards indicating the track to the junction to Ikwatea Forks and Shutes. We followed the Shutes Hut track, still a 4WD track until we came to the cairn which indicated that we needed to head off it. The cloud had lifted and we had great views of the tops where we would walk.

By guess work, and good navigation with the aid of “Sammy” the Galaxy Notepad which Murray Goss was happy to use, we found our way around the tops, through bush and low scrub. At one point, Simon disappeared down a hole in the long tussock. We also chanced upon a Spaniard in flower. In the bush, the old track markers are still visible and the track is a matter of intuition.

Making our way around the topsOn emerging from some bush, the track sidles around the tops, where there are views of the farmland. We headed up to a clearly visible cairn for our lunch break at E787/N157. After the break, we continued our way around the tops, and made the junction for Taruarau Bivvy. This is a 20-minute drop-off from the tops, but no-one wanted to go down and have a look. (I’ve been down before). We still had a way to go yet, so continued on to Diane’s Hut, shortly passing the junction for Shutes Hut. We now had DoC orange markers to follow. It is fairly steep down to Diane’s Hut, where we relaxed and had a break in the sunshine. The hut looked like it has had a good tidy up, and repair.

Enjoying the sun outside Diane's HutThe track back up to No Man’s Road requires a short downstream in Koau Stream before the climb back up. Early on, when looking back down, the hut could still be seen from the stream. We all gathered again at the Diane’s car park, where Ray and his mates had moved all the vehicles.

We all had a good day, and the weather held for us. Our thanks to the Maori block representatives for their permission.

Trampers: Sue Marshall, Simon Hill, Ted Angove, Chris Davidson, John Marshall, Paul Exeter, Julia Mackie, Murray White, Isobel Holdoway, Alison Greer, John Dobbs, John Russell, Jenny Burns, Ray Slavin, Murray Goss, and helping with transport, Debbie and Graham. Author: Julia Mackie

See our Facebook Page for more pictures

Filed Under: Recent trips Tagged With: Diane's Hut, No Man's Hut, Northern Ruahine Ranges, Taruarau Bivvy

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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

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Latest trip

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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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