We walked along the Waihaha hut track to the hut. This hike is a fairly flat hike that follows the Waihaha river. It is 3 hours one way from the road end. There were river views along the way, with waterfalls and wetlands. This is a great hike to do if you looking for an overnight hike.
Upon reaching the 10 bed hut, we were surprised to find 4 families already there, they even had matresses on the ground to fit everyone in. Luckily we had brough our tent as there definitely wasn’t room for us.
We had bacon and kumura for dinner and dark chocolate for dessert.
The temperature dropped to about 4 degrees overnight but luckily we had lots of thermals and good sleeping bags so were fine. The families in the hut had a fireplace to keep them warm and apparently the hut is pretty well insulated. In the morning we had the hut to ourself, as everyone else left the hut early. We made a breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee in the hut. We also had a wander down to the swimming hole near the hut and had a general explore around.
The hike back was harder than expected as we were tired and sore and had an average night’s sleep due to our dog Pup Pup sleeping in the tent with us. She decided to wake up and walk around the very small tent many times during the night. Despite the sleeping arrangement issues, we were stoked we could bring our dog as many of NZ hike do not allow dogs to come. We loved the hike, we were stoked we brought a tent, and we were blessed with sunshine for most of the hike.
Top tip
How to find the start of the track? Park you car in the car park on state highway 23 at the waihaha bridge on the left, there is a big carpark you can drive into (if coming from Hamilton). Then the start of the walk is actually across the main road(statehighway 23). Make sure you take the Waihaha Hut track NOT the Waihaha Track this is VERY IMPORTANT. Enjoy 😉