Thread: Kaimai regulars, a question

I would suggest that anyone heading for the Kauritatahi hut, be aware after reading some of the information, that the original hut burnt down as was replaced in another location. DoC cut a 'new' track after slips on Ngatanahinerua made the going too dangerous. Those that hunted there many years ago will give a different perspective than those who have hunted more recent in the area.
The 'lost' hunter mentioned in a previous post was a wanker...raced up Thompsons on his motorbike from the Waikato side, and was on the phone to police within 2 hours of entering the bush to say he was lost and needed to get home to milk the cows...said he could see Mt Maunganui and Tauranga through breaks in the low cloud, but did not know where he was...he was at the old hut site and was told to stay there...police rescue team got their vehicle 150 metres up the track before managing to get it stuck with 7km to go...I loaned them quad bikes to get to the top...rescue team took old track to hut...got bluffed on Ngatanahinerua and arrived at 'new' hut after dark and found hunter had made it to there...after being told to stay put he had wandered around until he found new hut...took the whole team until 2.30pm the next day to finally get all of them out.