Would eight days be enough then? I was to help the hut wardens with their duties, servicing the seven huts along this Great Walk Track of 78.4 km in the Kahurangi National Park, lying on the western side of our province. It seems that most people take five days staying in four huts along the way. I’m sure it’s certainly best to go from East to West and this means that the first day’s walk into – or up to, Perry Saddle Hut is the hardest of 17km taking about five hours. The other hut travelling times vary from 2½ to 3½ hours except for the last days walk of five hours. These times depend on how fit you are as I walked in to Perry Saddle Hut in 4 hours 40 minutes and it only took me 3 ½ hours to walk out on the last day. Maybe getting fitter as time progressed? Nowadays I’m a bit slow going up hills too! What’s the rush though?

One of the old boots at the Boot Pole.

The track has at least two paid hut wardens on duty at the same time over the summer months, one based on either side of the track, checking hut tickets (a booking system), cleaning benches, windows, stoves, toilets, and floors and generally making sure all’s well. Gas stoves are in all of the huts too and some even had flush toilets. At four of the trampers huts, nearby, are small staff quarters and these even had a shower!

The Boot Pole.

After cleaning up the Perry Saddle Hut on the second day, Henry, the hut warden, and I walked to the Gouland Downs Hut. She did the cleaning at the hut while I cleared the drains on each side of the track. Once out on the downs, the track passes through red tussock, scattered scrub and patches of forest. The ‘boot pole’ with its overflowing collection of used footwear was passed along the way. Later we took some trampers and showed them around the caves just past the hut. There seemed to be holes and tunnels in all directions but Henry knew her way around so it was a good little tour which was a bonus for the trampers (and me!) Then it was onwards to the

Saxon Staff Hut track marker light shade.

Saxon Hut for the night. In the staff hut, I was amused to see a light shade made up of the triangle orange track markers and it worked quite well too. Everyone to their trade as they say. After the clean up duties the next morning we walked to the ‘boundary’ of the two department conservatoires; Golden Bay and the West Coast and here we met with Richard for lunch. Richard was shorter than Henry and I so to ‘even things up’ he stood on a couple of tins of fruit for a photo. The photo was taken on the Golden Bay side of the boundary and I have a suspicion that as he didn’t want to be caught trespassing he stood on the cans to avoid being accused of this.

Henry, Richard and Will at the boundary.

After lunch Henry went back to Saxon while Richard and I walked to the Mackay Hut. We walked over the last part of the Gouland Downs, through red tussock with sundews by the edge of the track, even twice spotting fernbirds in the scrubby bushes. It was quite hard to get a photo as the well camouflaged bird was continually moving. The Mackay Hut is 700m above sea level and being built in 2014 was like new. Mackay is pronounced Mack-ee after James Mackay an early politician and explorer. From the hut windows, one can see the mouth of the Heaphy and the Tasman sea far below – 21 or so kilometres away or about a 5½ to 6 hours walk. The staff hut was older but quite comfortable too. We had a little rain and it became colder too so the woodburner was lit.

Later just on dark, four keas (the native mountain parrot) came looking for food and mischief. One frequented the top of the chimney as I guess, with the fire going, it was a warm spot. I’m sure it made use of the smoke to perhaps ‘air’ its feathers and maybe get rid of lice too. In the past they had ripped to shreds the insulating foam plastic that surrounded the water pipes to stop the pipes freezing and then bursting. This evening they were intent on trying to remove the sealant around one of the main hut roof vents. Later that night we heard several kiwi calling nearby and in fact at just about every hut, sometime during the night, they were heard. Not the most delightful call but great to hear for sure.

Cleaning windows, at the Mackay Hut (photo R. Rossiter).

The hut windows were cleaned inside and out along with the other cleaning jobs the next day and then we headed for the Lewis Hut. It rained but cleared later so it wasn’t too bad walking the track. On the way we saw many of the bright blue toadstools, Entoloma hochstetteri as we started to pass through the mixed beech and podocarp forest. They look so beautiful and a stark contrast to the surrounding mosses and ferns from which they seem to spring.

Entoloma hochstetteri

The Lewis Hut was older – and no staff quarters so we slept on bunks the same as the other trampers. That night after dark, Richard took us to a large rata tree to see if any of the large spiders had come out on the rata’s trunk. We were able to see a couple of tree wetas, the menacing head of a funnel web spider and then these large bodied and long legged spiders came out on their webs. In the dark watching the spiders and trying to take a close up photo, it wasn’t the time for someone to brush a small fern frond on your arm or neck! Later that night Derry Kingston arrived in the dark. He is the chap that will take you to the start of the track, drop you off and then drive your car around to the other end of the track, park your car and then he walks back over the Heaphy back to his home. He recognised my name from the recent newspaper article about the environmental award and had wondered where Will’s Gully was so he came across to Richmond and had a look to see what we have been up to, so I offered him a guided tour! He bunked down next to me for the night and very early the next morning was up back walking on the track. He has done the track hundreds of times he said and it was good to catch up with him as can be imagined, he is quite a legend in these parts.

The West Coast
On to the newish Heaphy Hut and we settled in to the nearby staff hut. The staff hut might have been the original but it was comfortable never the less. Outside even the old horse coral was still there. The Heaphy River rushed past, and when the sea allowed, flowed into the Tasman Sea. Late afternoon we stepped over piles of driftwood and walked to the river mouth to watch the sun set. I even saw the green flash. So quick, I wondered if I had imagined it.

Painting of Heaphy Old Staff Hut.

The next day, after the cleanup inside the hut we washed the windows inside and out. One of the guests staying at the hut one night was a relation of the Charles Heaphy of whom the hut was named after. The son (and wife) and grandson walked in from the Golden Bay side and met up with the father/grandfather Heaphy who had walked in from the West Coast side. They were invited to inspect the old hut – now the staff quarters. He had visited the hut many years ago when he was just a boy and had some interesting stories to tell. No solar powered lights, gas cookers or showers in those days. He had found that the walk in was quite hard so Richard arranged a helicopter to fly in the next morning to give him a ride out. No doubt he was quite happy to pay for the ride and it would have been a good one too I thought, as I waved to him on the track as he flew past overhead. Each night, sometime around the middle or early morning, a kiwi came out on the lawn by the staff hut and started calling. Richard rushed out each time to try for a photo but each time the female kiwi took to the bush. Yes, the male and female kiwi calls are quite different. Other birds seen or heard were wekas on track and around the huts, fantails both black and pied, tomtits, keas, bellbirds, tuis, fernbird and morepork.

Sunset at the Heaphy River mouth.

They say the walk out from the Heaphy Hut takes 5 hours. Well, I did it in 3½ hours and didn’t feel as if I was hurrying at all. The track passes through nikau forest and this is something special all right. The nikau (pronounced knee-cow) is the most southerly palm in the world. It is said that the nikau doesn’t begin to form a trunk for 40 to 50 years and if that’s so, the trees along the track would be very old. There is the story of the West Coast farmer who said he ran over 200 cows to the acre but he was of course referring to nikau’s.