Thread: Wairere Falls Hut

Kia ora,

Heading for a walk (Hunt) over night Saturday, Whats the best hut to go to fro the falls?

Cheers.

Mangamuka hut would be the closest but that's pretty far away. You would be better off going up Te Tuhi track and heading to it from there.

Best to take a fly and stay where you end up on dark. Great hunting up above the falls

Originally Posted by MDub

Mangamuka hut would be the closest but that's pretty far away. You would be better off going up Te Tuhi track and heading to it from there.

Thanks mate, just had a look at the map and that looks like the plan for Sat, also won't have to walk passed the hundreds of people doing the falls with a rifle on my back.

Have a browse on the doc map. Under parks and recreation, down the bottom there is a link to it. Tick the boxes for hunting areas tracks and huts, can also switch it to top maps or satellite

Hang a right immediately as you head up tetuhi, follow the ridgeline to the hut instead of the marked track, you'll go through a series of clearings. Some of the best and shittiest bush in the Kaimais up there

Originally Posted by Freezer

Hang a right immediately as you head up tetuhi, follow the ridgeline to the hut instead of the marked track, you'll go through a series of clearings. Some of the best and shittiest bush in the Kaimais up there

Nice hunting on that route but I wouldn't do a big bush crash there with pack on my first trip to Mangamuka hut. Walk 30 min along the track eastwards from the top of the hill then follow the marked track south to the hut. It's about 1:30 from carpark to turnoff and another 1:30 south along the track to the hut.

It's no secret that at Wairere falls there's 2 big clearings and a campsite about 10 min walk north of the track junction with the north-south track. As soon as you cross the first bridge look right into some large clearings and you'll find it 100m from the track. This is about 30 min from the top of the track where you come out by the river. Treat it nicely, carry out rubbish please. A good first base for hunting above the falls and few trampers will walk past. To avoid walking past heaps of day trippers with gun on your back (no problem really but I like to climb on my own too) there is a track more or less up the main spur where you get to the end of the farmland it skirts around the top of the grass on the DoC side of the fence, zig zags up then into clay scallops and comes out on the main track again 10 min from the top. Much nicer to go up than down. An alternate start goes straight up by some old fence wires - not so much fun.

Get in there and have a grovel around and soon you'll suss it out. Make a plan to go up one day every second month and in a year or two you'll be an expert on Wairere and Te Tuhi.

Originally Posted by Bagheera

Nice hunting on that route but I wouldn't do a big bush crash there with pack on my first trip to Mangamuka hut. Walk 30 min along the track eastwards from the top of the hill then follow the marked track south to the hut. It's about 1:30 from carpark to turnoff and another 1:30 south along the track to the hut.

It's no secret that at Wairere falls there's 2 big clearings and a campsite about 10 min walk north of the track junction with the north-south track. As soon as you cross the first bridge look right into some large clearings and you'll find it 100m from the track. This is about 30 min from the top of the track where you come out by the river. Treat it nicely, carry out rubbish please. A good first base for hunting above the falls and few trampers will walk past. To avoid walking past heaps of day trippers with gun on your back (no problem really but I like to climb on my own too) there is a track more or less up the main spur where you get to the end of the farmland it skirts around the top of the grass on the DoC side of the fence, zig zags up then into clay scallops and comes out on the main track again 10 min from the top. Much nicer to go up than down. An alternate start goes straight up by some old fence wires - not so much fun.

Get in there and have a grovel around and soon you'll suss it out. Make a plan to go up one day every second month and in a year or two you'll be an expert on Wairere and Te Tuhi.

Thanks so much fellas, hoping these showers settle down and will have a great walk today, this arvo, this trip is definitely a bit of a reccy as have tried Thompson's track to death (almost literally with the amount of gun fire going off in that place). Will report back.

Cheers

Bagheera's right ignore my post for a first mission up there. And make sure you have a gps and compass. That bush can get you mucked up pretty quick.
10mins back along the track from the hut to the east will put you into a few clearings also. Well made trails lead to them.

Yea got the Rhino and compass and a few topo maps, satellite views of the area, taking some polyprops and have good gear and sleeping bag. also a thermarest, biv sheet and my burner! looking forward to it! thanks heaps for the help!

Was in there last weekend close to waiwere falls, had a stag bark at me at 3am for a fair while, was awesome.

@Freezer and @Bagheera a massive thanks for your tips, was an awesome walk in if not a sweaty one along the track, very easy to follow. Got to the hut around 5:30 and some awesome lads from AUckland were inn resifdence one had got a yearling and hind around 1:30pm, was away from the hut around 7 and walked out along the ridge, came across that sensational bush you were speaking of and also some of that horrific stuff between the two marked creeks but found my way no worries, will definitelybe heading back in there when I have more time, thanks again was one of my most enjoyable hunting experiences so far!

That sounds like the spot the lad shot the Hind and yearling, also the lads handed over the co-ordinates for "The Duck Pond" which they had got from a regular to the hut last month.
These Auckland lads were no good at lighting a fire however, took a bit of work to get one going.

You'll find all the wood around the kaimais damp and an absolute bitch to get a fire going. Thats my experience aNY way.

Originally Posted by StagRyan

@Freezer and @Bagheera a massive thanks for your tips, was an awesome walk in if not a sweaty one along the track, very easy to follow. Got to the hut around 5:30 and some awesome lads from AUckland were inn resifdence one had got a yearling and hind around 1:30pm, was away from the hut around 7 and walked out along the ridge, came across that sensational bush you were speaking of and also some of that horrific stuff between the two marked creeks but found my way no worries, will definitelybe heading back in there when I have more time, thanks again was one of my most enjoyable hunting experiences so far!

Good on'ya mate. It's not the easiest climb to get up there and plenty are put off by it. It's also got some real shitty bush in there that will take you hours to get through. but persevere. get up there and do some big loops. along the ridgeline - east of the hut - south on the north south - north of te tuhi track - there is a track that runs straight down from the hut also which you can use if you want to try hunting the faces........ just get amoungst it!
The place gets a bit silly during the roar but other than that there is an incredible amount of bush to cover in the kaimais.

If you do 3-4 trips up there and having no luck flick me a PM.