An easy trip with Nicola, Ian & Heather Atkinson, and Jane
A great weekend away with friends Ian and Heather and their friend Jane.
We started at the end of the Mangatarere Valley Road and headed up and over the well worn track to Sayer Hut.
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| Ian, Jane, Heather, Nicola |
From the road-end allow an easy 2.5 hours to get to the hut. The hut has six traditional bunks and is located in a small clearing just to the east of the Waiohine River.
We saw plenty of pig damage on the way in.
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| Heather and Ian - old teenagers! |
From Tony Gazley (Wgtn Tramping & Mountaineering Club):
"Sayer Hut is one of the oldest tramping huts in the Tararuas and has a fascinating story to tell.
In 1878 Sayer and Potts were prospecting for gold at Totara Flats and accidentally burnt much of the bush on the river banks to form the flats that we know so well. In 1889 Sayer tried introducing hens to Totara Flats but they soon died out. The in 1909 Sayer built his hut on the flats on the eastern side of the Waiohine River - the first private hut in the Tararuas - that is still standing today."
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| Crossing the Waiohine River |
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| 20 minute walk across Totara Flats to the hut |
From Sayer Hut the walk across the river and up the flats to Totara Flats Hut takes around 30 minutes.
The 'new' Totara Flats Hut opened in 2003 and sleeps 26 comfortably.
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| The ladies at Totara Flats Hut |
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| A dogs life |
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| Flo's new friend |
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| The Waiohine River from the bridge |
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| Ian's 'trapper' pack |
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| Onto the 'Holdsworth motorway' |
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