Aorangi crossing- Waitangi weekend 2026
“Moe atu te ringa raupa”
With a 3 day weekend to celebrate Waitangi day, the plan was for an avarage trip to
complete the Aorangi crossing. However with only 3 members signing up, it was felt by all of
the party that the trip could be completed in 2 days of approximately 15 kms and 8 hours
for each day. With the weather forecast for the South coast examined, it was decided that
we would complete the journey over Waitangi day and Saturday, leaving Sunday for home
tasks for the younger member of the party.
We left Masterton at a very civil hour, picking up Finlay and the second vehicle at 09.00.
Following a brief stop in a very busy Martinborough for a coffee, we continued down to the
Putangirua pinnacles campground to drop off a vehicle, then on to the Mangatoetoe valley
entrance. At this point one member of the party (the club Captain) realised that she had
forgotten to pack her boot inner soles, a mistake perhaps not likely to happen again! A last
check of the kit and we left the car at 11.00, heading up the valley, following a footpad
alongside the river, before very quickly realising that the stream was much easier travel.
Being a warm day, and the river being low, not an unpleasant experience, and one that we
knew we had alot more of as the day went on.
The valley was quite wide at this point and travel was fairly easy even with alot of crossings
of the stream. We did start to encounter some Ongaonga just before reaching the
Mangatoetoe hut which we arrived at at 12.15. A pretty little 6 bunk hut sitting up on a
terrace just off of the river in a grassy area, perfect for a short break. We headed off after 15
minutes, with plans already forming to head back to the hut for an overnight trip in the
future.
It took about an hour to reach the split in the branches of the Mangatoetoe stream and our
first section out of the stream. Unfortunately we had all been caught out by the increasing
Ongaonga alongside the track, including Boots the dog who stepped on some, while we
guided her around a larger bush! Antihistamines and analgesia for the ladies in the party
were issued, before we started the 120 m Climb and contour around to the next catchment.
Unfortunately we lost the track initially, and spent 10 minutes bush bashing to return to the
well established track. We had a break at a small clearing with some tree stumps to sit on,
before continuing to contour around quite dry and slippery ground on quite a camber,
slowing travel down more than we expected. The final descent down into the river was
particularly steep and slippery underfoot, with about 2 km to travel to Kawakawa hut.
We met two hunters at this point, who had been out since early morning, and planned to
stay at the 4 bunk Kawakawa hut, they were relieved to know our intention was to continue
further on.
Just prior to arrival at the hut we were onto a 4WD track, travelling just off the river under a
terrace of trees. We arrived at 16.30 at another stunning little hut, and elected to have a
further break, out on the grass in the shade of the trees. Neither of the huts appears to have
too much occupation, a suprise given the amount of traffic that Tararua huts receive.
Leaving the hut at 17.30, we knew we had 2 – 3 hours of travel ahead of us, but plenty of
light. A short section of river travel again led us to the hardest section of the day with about
160 m of ascent up a fairly steep spur , then some “sawtooth” ridge, and more cambered
contouring, before a further 140 m steep climb. During this section we could clearly see the
saddle that we would pass through, prior to dropping down to the Pararaki catchment. As
was becoming usual, the last section down the stream was quite steep and required some
concentration. We arrived at the Hut 19.30, NZFS S70 bright orange – familiar in layout to
us enough to feel like home. Well maintained it keeps its original open fireplace.
We had a wash at the river, and made sure we had a few cups of tea to replace fluids before
we thought about dinner. There was equipment on a couple of bunks and we assumed 2
hunters had headed out for the evening, actually it transpired that it was one hunter staying
at the hut, who returned about 21.00.
Day 1 Road end – Mangatoetoe hut 1.5 hours
Mangatoetoe hut – Kawakawa hut 3.5 hours
Kawakawa hut – Pararaki hut 2.5 hours
Total time 8.5 hours
We were all awake at about 06.00 and after the hunter headed out for a morning trip along
the river we all started to get ourselves ready for the day. We gave the hut a reasonable
clean up and Finlay, not for the first time, donned gloves and cleaned the toilet, leaving it
looking brand new. MTC mention in dispatches for his effort. We actually left the hut at
08.00, with an immediate climb of over 400 m vertical ascent, which took about an hour to
get to the top of the steepest section. Soon after this we had a glimpse of a view across
Palliser bay and towards the Remutaka range , topped with some cloud. The weather was
slightly cooler at this point, but far from being cold. We undulated across the top of the
ridge, briefly skirting 700m altitude, before the travelling down the spur to Washpool creek.
About 5 minutes before the creek we came across some climbing Rāta in flower right next to
the track. We then had a fairly scarey descent from this point down a precipitous section of
very dry and slippery track to the creek and the crossing to Washpool hut. The track to the
hut from the creek was guarded by a particularly large Ongaonga which is mentioned in
various other trip reports also!
Washpool hut is another NZFS S70 Orange hut, up on terrace a short climb above the river.
We enjoyed a half hour break in the sun outside the hut, knowing that we had another
climb straight out of the hut.
It took 45 minutes to climb the steepest section of the track, and then we carried on
traversing the undulating ridge until a lunch stop at 13.00. The track was by now more
overgrown than anything earlier in the day, though relatively easy to follow, and certainly
not a fight.
Having strted off again at 13.30 , it took a further 1.5 hours to reach the 4WD track coming
out of the Pinnacles, making travel much easier for most of the party, though those with
paws found the dead gorse on the track a little uncomfortable!
Over the next 45 minutes we left the 4WD track and travelled down to the Pinnacles
viewpoint track, passing many day trippers with little more than summer wear, while we
had full tramping equipment, looking a little out of place! We arrived back at the carpark at
4pm.
Day 2 Pakaraki hut – Washpool hut 2 hours 40 min
Washpool hut – Pinnacle track 4 hours
Pinnacle track – Carpark 45 minutes
Total time 8 hours
Thanks to the rest of the team, the crossing was the first time for all of us, and was
enjoyable, though slightly harder than we had all imagined, given the apparent topography
when studying the map. The first day was a highlight, with a mix of travel in different
terrain, and the first two huts would be great overnight trip destinations. By putting the
extra effort in to complete the trip in two days rather than three “calloused hands were
earned by the hard work”
Party- Gail, Finlay, Boots (dog), Conrad (scribe and leader)
