Paua Hut is located on the banks of the Orongorongo River in the Remutaka State Forest Park (also known as the Orongorongos), approximately 2 hours easy walk from the Remutaka Forest Park car park at the Catchpool.

To get to Remutaka Forest Park, follow the instructions in the Remutaka Trust website at http://www.rimutakatrust.org.nz/maps/maps.htm and park in the Catchpool car park. The car park is approximately 45 minutes drive from Wellington.

Property Facilities

What You Will Find at the Hut:
Gas cooker
Pots and pans
Cups, plates and cutlery
Table and chairs
Ten sleeping mattresses on two platforms
Wood burner
Water at the sink (supplied from a roof tank)
There is an outside long drop toilet
There is also space around the hut for camping.

Check-In Time

Between 1:00 pm and 11:30 pm

Check-Out Time

10:00 am

Directions to Property

Walking to the hut from the Catchpool carpark involves a 1½-2 hour walk along a wide easy track to the Orongorongo River, and then about 700 m of river walking downstream along the river bed.

You’ll have to wade across the river a few times (usually three times). Note that after heavy rainfall, the river level may be too high to cross. You can check river flows at Wellington Regional Council’s website at http://graphs.gw.govt.nz/?siteName=Orongorongo%20River%20at%20Truss%20Bridge&dataSource=Flow. River flows above 3 m³/s are likely to prevent crossings to and from the hut. If in doubt, DO NOT cross.

From the river, the landmark to look for is a 5 m high, cliff-like clay bank on the left (looking downstream) of the river. The river swings right so you see the cliff facing you as you walk downstream. Paua Hut is tucked into the bush behind and on top of this cliff. A 4WD track leaves the river, crosses a reasonably big side-creek on the left (another landmark) and heads up onto the bank, and goes right past Paua Hut. So follow it up the bank. (In other words, if you keep to the 4WD track – it mostly follows the river, but you’ll be able to follow the compacted gravel wheel tracks – you more or less can’t go wrong).

For those with a GPS the hut location is BQ38 645207, using the topo map NZ Topo50-BQ38 Lower Hutt [the full reference is E1764469 N5420709]. Or Lat -41.348464, Long 174.965515. See Map at http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap?v=2&ll=-41.348883,174.965386&z=15&pin=1&lbl=Paua%20Hut

Also, on the other side of the river, Brown’s Track heads up the hill – you’ll see an orange triangle marking it (it may be hard to pick out initially but if you look for it for a bit you will see it). This is an alternative, but more energetic, track back to the Catchpool carpark.

Additional Information

Please make sure you have the access code for the door before you depart.