By Justin Atkinson, 14 March 2026
If you've ever looked up at the night sky in the Tararua Forest Park, there's a good chance you've seen a beautiful array of stars. The east side of the range sits inside the Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve, which also includes the Aorangi Forest Park and towns like Martinborough and Greytown.
Eleven excited trampers bundled into three cars heading to Waiohine Gorge campsite (well known to club members for hosting the first night of Freshers). Destination: Tutuwai hut via Cone hut!
After 1.5 hours on the road, we tied our bootlaces and crossed a terrifying swing bridge. Already a dizzying height above a river, we headed up, up, up a big muddy hill and even further away from water. It wasn't always easy going, with overgrown bushes and several fallen trees causing the orange marked track to disappear in places. I carefully trimmed some bushes with club secateurs, but I cut my hands all over because I forgot gloves. A lesson there for any aspiring track cutters!
After a deserved rest at the top we went down, down, down the muddy hill. We eventually reached Cone hut, which is the third oldest Tararua hut and one of the best examples of a 'slab hut' in NZ (built using local totara wood, adzed into framing, and split into slab walls). The Federated Mountain Clubs run an annual event called "Love our Huts and Tracks," where awesome volunteers clean and report on the health of Aotearoa's precious outdoor huts. Look out for stickers from these volunteers on your hut stays. We cleaned the surfaces and mattresses, got friendly with cobwebs, and wrote notes on the condition of the hut.
Shout out to club member Alan, who emerged from the bush to greet us. On a solo day mish, he had been to our night's stay Tutuwai hut and had bad news: the 20 bunk hut was almost full with college kids. The idea of taking another 11 to the hut wasn't super appealing, but we had zero tents and Cone (6 bunks) as backups.
Tutuwai is a chill 1hr walk along the Tauwharenīkau river, but it too had several disorientating treefalls. Not to worry, the club handsaw came out and minimised the trouble with ecological and cultural considerations in mind. On the way we passed an empty helicopter landing pad, which will be relevant later.
Once at Tutuwai hut, we breathed a sigh of relief as most people there were tenting. We all got a bunk in the end, but the hut was completely full. We had an entertaining night, with a comforting fire and a lively discussion about age and mortality. Once it got dark, the Wairarapa dark sky proved its reserve status with a beautiful starry vista, only occasionally interrupted by SpaceX satellite chains. The lack of a telescope was lamented, but you'll find that missed opportunity fixed elsewhere in Heels ;)
The helicopter-shaped gap at the landing pad was soon explained. A chopper with search light roared out of the dark and circled the valley about 10 times. We eventually heard it land down the river, but it took off again and flew out to the west, possibly to Alpha hut. Fingers crossed it was a training exercise, we didn't hear about any missing persons. Ironically a week earlier someone had gotten lost not far from Cone hut, so maybe we time travelled back a week?
A pancake competition was held the next day, with yours truly gracefully conceding with a number of burnt chars. We had just finished packing when a fire 🔥 alarm began ringing. Our panic was extinguished when we realised it was just faulty, but it was duly reported to the Federated Mountain Clubs and the Department of Conservation. More hut cleaning then followed!
We returned to Waiohine Gorge the way we came. On our final descent to the river, we passed two hunters who imparted wisdom on goats and deer. We parted company and were almost out of earshot when one of them yelled "YO Justin, I used to work with your dad!" I then remembered I had previously had dinner with him in Greytown, where ironically neither goats or deer were on the menu. After one final crossing of the swingbridge, we returned home to Wellington. Thanks to everyone for helping with the Love our Huts effort, it's a great way to collectively look after our backcountry network. I highly recommend yall take part next time!
