{"id":13685,"date":"2025-09-07T23:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T11:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edwinov.com\/edwininnz\/?p=13685"},"modified":"2025-09-12T20:14:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T08:14:31","slug":"manuka-hut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edwinov.com\/edwininnz\/2025\/09\/manuka-hut\/","title":{"rendered":"Manuka Hut"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The mighty Jimny parked at the start of the Stour Track<\/p><\/div>\n

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Because this weekend I will hike to the Manuka Hut, stay there and then hike back the next day, it should be a 5 hour hike of just over 16 km<\/p><\/div>\n

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It was predicted to be sunny but there’s still a lot of cloud around here<\/p><\/div>\n

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Here = at the Hakatere Conservation Park<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

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But so far at least the temperature is nice<\/p><\/div>\n

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Some more sun coming through<\/p><\/div>\n

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Lovely landscape, nice to be walking here<\/p><\/div>\n

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Looking back<\/p><\/div>\n

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I wasn’t expecting river crossings, that’s a nasty surprise, I hate getting wet feet so I always take off my boots, cross the river on my bare feet (or Tevas), dry my feet and put on my boots again, slows things down but at least my feet stay dry, and warm<\/p><\/div>\n

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It’s very quiet here, I’m loving it<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Winterslow Range covered in snow<\/p><\/div>\n

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Another river (stream) that I just crossed, the water is rather cold, but that’s to be expected in early spring<\/p><\/div>\n

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Looking back, at Mt Somers<\/p><\/div>\n

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Arrowsmith Range in the distance<\/p><\/div>\n

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I took a little detour past Lake Emily<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mt Somers Range, I’m getting closer to Manuka Hut now<\/p><\/div>\n

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Looking back at where I came from<\/p><\/div>\n

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About 2 more km to the hut now<\/p><\/div>\n

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It should – literally – be right around the corner<\/p><\/div>\n

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And yes!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Water coming off the Mt Somers range, this will be my drinking\/cooking water (after filtering)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Won’t be long before the sun is behind the mountain<\/p><\/div>\n

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So a quick selfie before it’s too late. I’m quite tired I must say, it turned out to be a 20 km hike because of my little detour past Lake Emily<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Manuka Hut<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

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Sun’s down, moon’s up<\/p><\/div>\n

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Me trying to sit still for 10 seconds for a long exposure shot of the inside of the hut, I failed<\/p><\/div>\n

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The fireplace, not much wood, it’s a cold night, at least outside of my sleeping bag<\/p><\/div>\n

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This could only be better with a smoking chimney<\/p><\/div>\n

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The next morning! I had a good and loooong sleep<\/p><\/div>\n

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I’m on my way around 9 already, bye bye hut<\/p><\/div>\n

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Manuka Lake, Arrowsmith Range still covered in snow<\/p><\/div>\n

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This is the mountain bike track, the track I didn’t walk yesterday but do today, because it’s shorter and my legs hurt<\/p><\/div>\n

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Even more stream crossing though<\/p><\/div>\n

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Looking back again, Lake Emily is just on the other side of that hill in the foreground<\/p><\/div>\n

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Another selfie, so I know I was actually there to enjoy the scenery<\/p><\/div>\n