By Grace Rotherham, 14 April 2026
Girls Trip to Waitewaewae Hut 14/4 - 16/4
For the first girls trip of the year, 7 hardy lasses (Mia, Hazel, Imogen, Gracie, Caoimhe, Charlotte and I) made our way to Waitewaewae Hut from Otaki Forks. We spent two nights at the hut, so we could enjoy what we call a hut day - a day for swimming, exploring and general whimsy, before walking back out to Otaki Forks. We did, however, find ourselves involved in a slightly unexpected adventure or two.
Day One - Don’t take the River Route to Waetewaewae
The walk in began as expected, we trudged along singing ‘The Good Keen Girl’ while the deer in the forest roared all around us. All was going well, until we got to a sign at the last kilometre that offered two options: a 30-minute climb over a hill, and the 20min river route. Impatient and desperate to be at the hut a whole 10 minutes earlier, we put far too much faith in that graffiti-ed doc sign and blindly chose the river route.
The walk down a tributary stream was fine, although Hazel did get stuck on a rock, and Mia slipped and fell in. We followed the riverbed confidently, like a bunch of fools who still hadn’t looked at the map, only to discover that the riverbed soon disappeared into a steep bank. At this point, we finally looked at the map, and since we were such keen girls, we decided to bush bash up to the main track. However, by now it was quickly getting dark. After a scramble up some cutty grass and a rather loose bank, we encountered a bit of a bluff that we could not get past. We tried to traverse around it, but the terrain was getting steep, and we also couldn’t see very far in the dark. At one point, Charlotte was dangling precariously from a tree. We also saw some glow worms!
We decided it was probably better to turn around and make our way back to the main track via the way we came. By the time we’d bum-slid back down to the river and made it back to that stupid sign, it was raining. Bruised, scratched, and generally pretty exhausted, it took us another hour before we finally got to the hut, inhaled most of an enormous pot of pasta, and collapsed into bed. Overall, our attempt to save 10mins of walking time added an extra two hours.
Day 2 - Shenanigans
Hazel, Charlotte and I began our glorious hut day with a swim to wake us up. Then we all went for a wander past the swing bridge in search of the perfect picnic spot. This time, topo did not lie, and we found the most magical riverbed-meadow, where the 7 hardy lasses picnicked and played mega-sized cards amongst the dandelions and a decaying goat. When we were stuffed, with chocolate, sherbert fizz liquorice, salami, and sandwiches, we proceeded to stuff Hazel and Charlotte's packs with dry firewood from the riverbank. Charlotte attached quite a lot of sticks to her pack and took 30 minutes to cross a swing bridge. But thanks to that, Hazel got a blazing fire going when we got back to the hut.
Mia decided to recreate some photos of Tommy sitting on a folding chair in the river that we found in 2024’s edition of Heels. Then the day ended with a bangin' curry for dinner, followed by a very intense game of spoons. To keep our socks dry, Mia, Hazel, Gracie, and I took a piss off the side of the balcony together (how we achieved this, you’ll have to figure out for yourself).
Day 3 - We Surprise Ourselves with Our Own Speediness
We had to rise at 6am because Charlotte needed to make it back to Welly for a meeting, and we had ambitious plans to start walking by 7 to achieve this (which did not happen). So we decided to split into a fast group to boost it back to the cars, and a slow group that could walk at a more leisurely pace. But it turns out we all sped back over the hills and found each other in time for a lunch break. By the time we made it back to the cars, we still had plenty of time to get fish and chips in Otaki and enjoy one last greasy picnic together.
