Ngamoko Hut Working Bee

Four excited fellas rolled into Pohangina Base on a beautiful Thursday afternoon, grinning like kids on Christmas morning. The anticipation of the helicopter ride into the hills had been building for weeks — and the weather had delivered: blue skies, light winds, and stunning views of the ranges. After a quick gear check and a final round of loading, we lifted off, skimming over the Pohangjna river valley and forest, soaking in the beauty of the backcountry. It was the perfect start to the trip.

Touching down at the hut early evening, we wasted no time getting stuck into the mission. The first job was scouting a new site for the toilet — Once a suitable spot was chosen, we got straight to work with crowbar, spades and shovels. After a hearty dinner (and a few beers/gins), enthusiasm remained high enough to carry on digging by torchlight, getting the hole around 80% complete before calling it a night.

Attachment 274010

The following morning, three of us headed upstream to check out a few slips and one other up the ridge behind the hut for a listen and look, both returning back after daylight not having seen anything but foot prints and a pair of whio in the river, the first of two pairs for the trip.

Attachment 274014
Attachment 274015

We finished digging 900x900 x1500 deep toilet pit and then turned our focus to some much-needed hut maintenance.
Three piles under the hut were removed, after the corners were jacked up fixing the door in the process, which had been dragging badly. New piles were installed and concreted into place. Meanwhile, the toilet was carried out onto the lawn, where it was repainted, reroofed, and prepped for its new home.
New bearers were set in place at the toilet’s relocation site, and with a team lift, the toilet was carefully moved and positioned securely.
After a full days work, we split up and parted ways up and down the river for an early evening look, both pairs returning without any luck. A lot of grass on the slips had ended up as a pile at the bottom of faces in the river after the cyclone.

Attachment 274012
Attachment 274013

Day three saw an early start with three of us climbing to the tops for a morning look around. After a good 90 minute grind, we were nearly at the top and by the state of the track (half foot deep mud) and strong smell of deer in the air, we knew there were a few around. We must’ve been following a stag up the track as he showed himself on the skyline at the top of track as we neared the tops, but without a safe shot, we let him go. We then spotted a spiker grazing in the leatherwood 100 yards away so dropped him and watched as another nearby yearling trotted off up over the range, not having time for another shot. We left the spiker and took in the views of the tops, spotting another 10 deer spread over the range without even really looking.
We took the back steaks out of the skinny spiker and rolled him into the leatherwood out of sight and headed back off down the range to finish off the hut mahi.

Attachment 274017
Attachment 274018
Attachment 274019
Attachment 274020

Back at the hut, we got into the final tasks of Z nailing and strapping the piles, wiring down the toilet, installing some soakers on the rear of the hut and a few other odds and ends.

Attachment 274021

In the afternoon, a resident stag put in a brief appearance, letting out a lazy, half-hearted roar from the top of the hut slip — the only roar we heard during the whole trip, but a welcome sound nonetheless. I saw a brief glimpse of him through a gap in the beech trees as he descended the slip and walked off the left hand side out of sight into some neighbouring pines, we heard him a minute later somewhere lower down towards the creek, but nothing after that. We’d seen him the night before right on dark at the very top of the slip in some scattered scrub but couldn’t get a clear shot away before darkness fell.

The final day was spent tidying and finishing off loose ends. We scrubbed down the deck, verandah, clear lights, and hut sign, leaving everything looking crisp and welcoming for future visitors. Firewood was topped up as well, ensuring the next party through would have a good head start.

Attachment 274022

Luxury slip watching
Attachment 274023

We capped off the trip with a few beers down at the river while waiting for the chopper pick up.
Attachment 274024
Attachment 274025

Highly recommend getting up onto that range for a look and shooting every deer you can, they’re in shit condition and making a bit of a mess in there.