Thread: Whirinaki Hikoi

Day 1 Upper Whirinaki Hut.

Walked in from Plateau Road end. Just an easy start to the mission.

Next day on to Upper Te Hoe. With heavy packs it took us 7 hours.

But there was heaps of cool bush scenery.



There was a family already at Upper Te Hoe. They walked in from Pukeroa road end. We didn't have a hunt but their son managed to get one.
Next Day it was onto Central Te Hoe.

The dreaded Te Hoe Bluffs.

They weren't that bad really.
We got to the hut in good time so we had time for a hunt. After a feed first.

We tried downstream first. There was an abundance of Ongaonga and the river was swift and powerful,to the point of being dangerous. We turned back and had a look upstream. It was the right call and Oliver soon had a deer in his sights. He thought it was a spiker so smacked it. It turned out to be an in milk hind. Bit of a bugger but an pplhonest mistake.


Central Te Hoe is in a cool spot. Very steep though.

Next day we headed to Mangakahika Hut. Oliver carried the back steaks and hindquarters meat.
Stopped at the Bullring campsite on the way.
Found a huge wok hanging up.


Looking back down towards Centrl Te Hoe.
Mangakahika is a neat spot. Didn't go hunting, but there would be a few around I'm picking.

I put the boy to work getting wood while I put a feed on.


I can assure you it tasted better than it looks.
Next day was a big one. Head to Roger's and on to Moerangi.
There was a couple of choppers at Roger's.

One of them turned out to be an old time meathunter in to celebrate his birthday. He was interesting to talk to but we had to push on to Moerngi.



Next day was another mission to Mangamate.




next day we had a quick hunt and Oliver smacked a fawn.

Today we got back to the truck to be greeted by this.


Bit of a stink end to the trip.
Luckily the truck was still drivable. Unfortunately I left my wallet in my truck.
My credit card got a good hammering before the bank stopped it.
All in all a fantastic trip.
My son has proven himself a good shot and can carry a load as long as required.
Our next trip will have less tramping and more hunting though.
Thanks for reading.

what a cool trip heading down there in a couple of weeks

That was great. Father and son bonding trumps a low life break in. You are still on the right side of the ledger.

That is a shit end to the trip!

Cool account of your trip, some good memories/photos to look back on when you get old. bit shit about the ute . Theres some arseholes out there alright.

Originally Posted by charliehorse

That is a shit end to the trip!

First time is ever happened. Was probablya bit complacent. Left a bit of stuff in there to nick.

Originally Posted by Tahr

That was great. Father and son bonding trumps a low life break in. You are still on the right side of the ledger.

Correct.
I pity the shit heads that did it.

Awesome work mate, spending time in the bush with your kids and dog has to be one of my favorite pass times.

Bummer about the ute and the CC.. hope damage to back pocket wasn't too bad.

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Sadly the dickheads that violated your truck are unlikely to recieve the punishmenf they deserve.
But, thanks for a very good report and I'm glad you and your boy had a great hunt.

Hey thanks for posting this, bloody inspirational stuff right there. Man that boy is lucky to have a real kiwi dad!

Roger, his birthday during the weekend, great guy and a legendary hunter, we used to fly in when I was a wee chap. Great stuff.

Unfortunate about the Okahu road end but it happens everywhere, even around town these days aye.

That Pukeroa track end isn’t like it used to be so big ups to them going in from that side.

Great to see mate, and congratulations to you both. That’s a great hikoi.

Roger. That's the one. He featured on the Deer Wars podcast. Got shot in the arse with a 180gr 308. We've been listening on the way around. Was a hard case coincidence. Would have lived to continue yarning with him.
Truck got broken into at Plateau Road. Been hunting there for years and the first time I've ever been broken into.

Excellent trip report, nice to see all them huts are still there, are all the Whirinaki huts separate from Te Urewera?

Originally Posted by Chur Bay

Roger. That's the one. He featured on the Deer Wars podcast. Got shot in the arse with a 180gr 308. We've been listening on the way around. Was a hard case coincidence. Would have lived to continue yarning with him.
Truck got broken into at Plateau Road. Been hunting there for years and the first time I've ever been broken into.

The farmer who shot him was prosecuted but got off. Repesented by a legendary lawyer from Auckland.

Originally Posted by RUMPY

Excellent trip report, nice to see all them huts are still there, are all the Whirinaki huts separate from Te Urewera?

Apparently Roger's is right on the boundary. The others are separate.