Welcome to the very first post in my DOC Back Country Huts series! In this series, I will be blogging about and reviewing the New Zealand back country DOC huts that I go to to give you some first hand experience and info in case you are thinking of doing the hike, or looking for a tramp to go on near Wellington.
If you are unsure about what the DOC huts are or need some more general info, read my previous post: A Beginners Guide to New Zealand Backcountry DOC Huts
Nearly all the huts that I go to are short drive from Wellington and offer something a bit different to do on the weekend. In each post I will be reviewing a particular hut and its conditions as well as giving information about the tramp to get there. Hope you enjoy!
Here goes the first one: Mitre Flats Hut…
Mitre Flats Hut
Hut name:
Mitre Flats Hut
Where:
Tararua Forest Park
Date of our tramp:
Beginning of March, 2017
Route and Road end:
We left our car in Pines Carpark. From Wellington headed toward Marsterton, turn into Upper Plain Road and then into Upper Waingara Road to the carpark. From here the Barra Track begins. The hut is well signposted all the way.
Hours to hut:
A 4/5 hour hike depending on fitness and breaks. 8/9 hour round trip.
Track conditions:
The Mitre Flats Tramp is a fairly flat hike, It is a bit of a gnarly tramp and there are lots of tree roots, but few steep hills after the first 30 mins. A steep decent down to the river at the end.
Our Mitre Flats Hut experience:
We headed to Mitre Flats Hut for the weekend hike when Lucas’ parents came over from Melbourne. We chose the Mitre Flats Tramp as it is a larger service hut and its a pretty un-intense route. It turned out to be a great weekend, we had perfect weather and there were only 4 more people at the hut which meant we could drink wine and catch up over the campfire without annoying too many people!
The hike starts with a track following the Waingara River through farmland until you reach the forest. Then there is an decent ascent up into the forest above the river, it is probably a 30 minute climb. Once into the forest there is a well marked, and for the most part, flat track the rest of way. Finally a decent down to the river takes you to a swing bridge crossing the river to the hut. This is a really enjoyable amble that pretty much anyone could do. Its not too strenuous with plenty of running streams along the way to fill up your water bottle and keep hydrated!
When we reached Mitre Flats, some guys had put the stove in the hut on to cook with and on the warm day the it had become boiling inside; a testament to how cosy these huts can be. (although not really needed in the perfect summer weather) We had tired feet from our hike so we headed down to the crystal clear river, next to the hut to cool our feet off and sunbathe a bit.
There is the possibility of climbing the steep 3 hour ascent from Mitre Flats Hut to Mitre Peak to see the views but we decided to chill at the hut for the rest of the day. We pulled out a couple of mattresses onto the balcony of the hut and had a bit of a communal nap in the sun!
The guys went out to see if they could spot any deer but didn’t have much luck this time. Us gals stayed at the hut and cooked up some tortellini for dinner and tucked into the red wine by the camp fire. The sky was perfectly clear and the stars were amazing.
The hike out went just as well as the hike in. It always seems shorter on the way out though, why is that?! We tried for a fish in the river on the way out without much luck but by that point we were all ready to head go for a beer in Greytown anyway!
Hut Review:
Great well serviced hut. Clean and mattresses in good condition. The only downside was there was no running water but with a river running so close this didn’t really matter to us. Lots of room and places to get some sun around the hut.
My Hut Rating:
All in all a 4.5/5
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any questions or personal experiences of this hut in the comments below. I would love to hear from you!
You can also read more on my adventures in the mountains in my Back country DOC Huts Series HERE And check out my post and video on my favorite hut so far, Cone Hut.
Peace
Josie x