Oronui Hut

Oronui Hut is a standard six-bunk hut in the East Cape area, it has facilities such as a wood burner for heating, matresses, non-flush toilets and non-treated tape water. Nobody in VUWTC according to the Hut Bagger map has bagged it before, and being the first to do so would be epic. This is because there is no formed DOC track that leads to Oronui Hut, meaning we'll have go up and along a stream to get there. 

For gear you'll need to bring everything on the gear list, along with your own breakfasts, lunches and dinner. Protective clothing is recommened to push through scrub along the route, along with a mental prep that some parts will be slow. Navigation tools such as a map, compass, GPS are essential for getting through, but if you don't have one thats fine since we'll have them. We are also bringing an PLB along, but if you do have one, I recommened bringing it along just incase. This expedition altogether is true backcountry tramping, you're navigating with your own instinct without DOC markers. A high level of fitness is also recommened as the terrain can get tough in some parts.

• We'll start from Mt Hikurangi roadend.(Pakihiroa) to Tapuaeroa / Huitatariki confluence via Tapuaeroa River. It is an unmarked route that has easy to moderate terrain, with an gain of 81m along a distance of 4.4km. It will take around two hours to complete, with occassional river crossings.
• Afterwards, we'll travel from Tapuaeroa / Huitatariki confluence to Oronui Hut via Oronui Stream. This is the hardest part, where from the Huitatariki confluence, initial shingle flats soon tighten into pools, boulders, and bluffs with challenging crossings with limited sidle options. Above the park boundary travel eases on shingle flats to the Mangarata/Oronui confluence, then a 6 km gorge follows, generally knee‑deep and easy in low flows but impassable in flood. Oronui Hut sits just beyond the gorge on a terrace 30 m above the forks, reached by a steep final climb. This is a distance of 8.2 km (4.5 DOC hours), with a gain of 364m.

T

Trip Route Map

We are currently looking for interest right now, and plan on doing the trip between after Christmas and before New Years in late December. If you are interested please signup onto the waiting list. This trip also heavily depends on weather conditions, if it has been dry around our planned date, it'll make the route much easier. We are betting on climate change to make the trip experience more of a breeze. More details later!