Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Manawatu Region
Time: Overnight. 2 hours up, 1 hour return
Difficulty: Easy (Clear track. Running Shoes)
Rangiwahia Hut is super easy to find. Simply drive to Rangiwahia township (settlement?) inland from Hunterville. continue along Te Para Para Rd and on to Renfrew Road, you’ll find a carpark a the end! There are a couple of gates to open, so be sure to close them behind you!
Doc info for the tramp is here and the topo map can be found here. Remember to be prepared, check the weather forecast and tell someone where you are going and when to expect you home. There cell reception at the hut so you can even check in when you get there!
When we went to Rangi Hut, we had intended to stay the night. When we got there we quickly changed our minds due to a) the heavy hail and b) the large amount of school aged children and american student group we met at the car-park. We knew there were only 13 bunks in the hut and did some quick maths, figuring it would be much nicer to sleep in our beds than on the hut floor! So, armed with only a muesli bar each, our raincoats and camera, we headed up the track for a day-walk instead.
Maybe we will go another time, when it’ not school holidays.
We had thought we’d get to the infamous bridge in a break in the weather. But then it started snowing lightly and we couldn’t resist heading to the hut for more snow above the bushline! I think we did the whole trip in about 3hours, give or take some time to spend admiring the view and checking out the hut!
So, this bridge; It was opened in 1988 by then Minister of Conservation (now ex Prime Minister of NZ and epic leader in the United Nations!). More importantly it is the single most amazing bridge I have seen in my hiking life (so far, hopefully I will see and share many more). Its so high! and feels like it’s just wedge between the rocks above a large drop to the river below (though I;m sure there’s some fab engineering work going on that I wouldn’t be able to understand).
It’s about an hours walk, so would make a great day walk for little legs, or anyone who wants to get their fitness/hiking up without taking the step of an overnighter away from civilization!
The hut is another hour from here. The hut itself use to be “basecamp” for a ski field that operated in the 1930s?!!!!!!! How cool is that?!? Standing there, even in the middle of winter as its snowing, its pretty hard to believe there use to be enough snow here for there to be a fully functioning ski field! But there was! Inside the hut there are old pictures on the wall and information about the skiing. Outside the hut you find old Skis decorating several of the walls. (no snowboards though for those millennials too cool to ski, sorry) Some of the skis kind of look like the ones my dad use to use. And by that I mean the ones my grandfather MADE that my dad and his brothers would use to ski. The ones we found buried deep in my grannys garage when it was cleaned out one day.
The other great thing about Rangi Hut is that the long-drops are home to an awesome mural painted by local artist, Julie Oliver. And as an extra bonus the toilets are the best smelling tramping loos I’ve ever come across (and man have I been in some stinkers! Seriously, it would make an over nighter MUCH more enjoyable)
The great thing about this track, is actually the track itself. For 2 hours it has a lot to look at. There are informational signs dotted the whole way. The fauna is varied in that classic NZ native way. Apparently there are little whio ducks in the river that you can sometimes hear. There’s a waterfall just before the hut. The views of the surrounding country side are breathtaking. And the snow made it feel like a magical wonderland!
Above are some pictures of the flora that caught my eye (I am a botanist after all, meaning I have a science degree in Botany and sometimes pretend I know what I’m talking about). We also saw some awesome mushrooms growing on a tree trunk, but it was raining too hard for me to get the camera out. boo! The plant on the right is “horopito” or “pepper tree” or “Pseudowintera colorata” depending if you like to use indigenous, English or scientific names for plants. The leaves have a hot peppery taste to them (which is why you can find it abundantly in lots of places, because animals wont eat it!) The one pictured i covered in ice, but its pretty distinctive with the red tinged leaves.
Horopito has anti-fungal properties and was traditionally used by Maori to treat skin ailments, such as bruising, chaffing and ring worm. It was also ingested by chewing or steeping tea for a stomach ache, and the early settlers to NZ called it “Maori Painkillers” or “Bushman’s painkiller.” I personally quite like to pick a few leaves and chew them as I walk. Although every now and again the pepper taste is stronger than I expect and I regret it a little. But only ever a little. Next time you’re out and about and see this distinctive plant, give it a try!
Below is a view from the car park, which is only half of the views in store on this tramping trip!
Happy Hiking
Moochelle
Thanks for this Nicely explained