Hut life at Kohanga Atawai/Manson Nichols Hut

..an overnight stay at Manson Nichols Hut...

Back in May I went for the first of my 2022 Winter series of tramps. I walked up to Lake Daniell in the Lewis Pass National Reserve on Sunday morning and spent an afternoon and evening at the hut. The weather was less than optimal so I ended up having the whole 20 bunk hut to myself for the night. 

Manson Nichols hut in the Lewis Pass National Reserve

Lake Daniell from the side porch of the hut

I thought we might take some time to look at the typical activities you will encounter at a backcountry hut here in New Zealand. I call this hut life...

A look at backcountry hut life...

The hut at Lake Daniell known as Manson Nichols Hut was built back in 2020 after the previous 40 year old hut was deemed uneconomic to repair. It is a real beauty and very typical of the type of huts the Department of Conservation are building in front country locations. It is super popular with West Coasters/Cantabrians and you will find it full to the brim most weekends and over the holidays. 

Side entrance to Manson Nichols Hut

Fancy composting toilets at Manson Nichols Hut

View from the throne room at Manson Nichols Hut

Manson Nichols Hut is a 20 bunker with two bunk rooms with different configurations and a large central dining-living area. It has that classic plywood look inside which I actually find very attractive to live in. It has all the mod cons like inside solar lighting, water taps, plenty of bench space and multiple tables to sit at.

Hey...what more do you need in a backcountry hut!!!

Manson Nichols Hut: the mud room at the hut

This hut is on the DOC booking system so you know you will have a bunk to sleep on which is one reason it is so popular with families, social groups, schools and tramping clubs. I looked before setting off from the car and there were three of us booked for the Sunday night. The other two people never turned up so I had the hut completely to myself which was nice after how busy everywhere  has been over the last summer.

Manson Nichols Hut: Interior living area

Manson Nichols Hut: the cooking benches

There are two bunkrooms in this hut; one with eight individual bunks and the other with two sleeping platforms which hold 12 additional visitors. I stayed in the room with the platforms as this allowed me to make a mattress mountain with four mattresses stacked next to each other for greater comfort. 

Manson Nichols Hut: the bunkroom I used

When you arrive at a hut the first thing you should do is work through a list of hut chores...this is best done when you arrive so you can get cleaned up afterward and enjoy your stay. Some of the hut chores I usually do are:

Gathering/Chopping firewood and bringing a ready supply inside

Removing and hanging up my wet clothing

Setting up my sleeping area

Claiming a spot for my cooking gear on the bench

Sweeping the floors through the hut and depositing the dust outside

Wiping down the tables and cooking benches

General tidying and cleaning around the hut

Boiling water for that first cup of tea at the hut

The previous occupants had done quite a good job so these tasks only took me about 30 minutes to complete.

Water tanks at Manson Nichols Hut

There was next to no wood at the hut and the forest was wet as it had been raining for 2-3 days. I chopped up what wood I could find and dragged a pile of tree branches and damp logs into the empty wood shed so it could dry out for the next people. 

I had just enough wood for a fire that night...

The woodburner inside Manson Nichols Hut

Once I had the hut ready to go I boiled some water for a brew and some lunch...I was eating freeze dried meals on this trip as I have a stack that are approaching their best before date. For lunch I had a Backcountry Cooked Breakfast and it was damn fine. They have changed the recipe of this meal and it is much more palatable than it used to be...recommend!!!

Preparing lunch at Manson Nichols Hut

I had Manson Nichols Hut to myself

Backcountry Cuisine Cooked Breakfast for lunch

After lunch and cleaning up my cooking gear I spent a couple of hours doing some vlogging work in the hut. I filmed the hut, the food I was carrying and some other subjects as well. Meanwhile I had a couple of hot brews and enjoyed the snacks I had not eaten on the short walk in to the hut.

Jon does some vlogging at Manson Nichols Hut

I went outside in a lull in the rain and filmed around the outside of the hut...on the veranda, out the back of the hut and at the nearby campsite cooking shelter. If the weather had been better I would have gone for a walk along the lake shoreline but the clear windows lasted for only minutes at a time.

Lake Daniell from the veranda at Manson Nichols Hut

Manson Nichols Hut veranda...picnic table and benches

The campsite cooking shelter at Lake Daniell

Rain rolls in over Lake Daniell, Lewis Pass National Reserve

Because I had so little dry wood I had to forgo lighting the fire until later in the evening but I did prepare it so I could light it as soon as it started to get dark outside. I used my typical fire setting method and left it until around 5 pm when I started the fire to warm the hut up a bit. Here is a vlog I made about using the woodburner you will find in most DOC huts...

I prepare the woodburner...Manson Nichols Hut

...classic cross hatch stack of kindling....

The previous visitors had huge big chonks of wood stacked up next to the fire so I removed a lot of it and took it outside to chop into smaller pieces. I also gathered a fist full of twigs and chips of wood to stack on top of my tinder. I found just enough to get the fire started with and hauled a pile of thiner tree branches into the wood shed for future visitors to use. 

Looking for twigs in the woodshed at Manson Nichols Hut

...my twig bundle for the fire...

Woodburner is ready to go at Manson Nichols Hut

I sat at one of the tables for an hour or so drinking tea and reading the supply of magazines I found in the hut. I also dropped off a couple of Ian Rankin books I had humped into the hut with me so if you are a Rebus fan there are two of his early books up there...

My cooking equipment at Manson Nichols Hut

The rain stopped for about an hour late in the afternoon and it allowed me to head out and take the obligatory shot of the hut from the boat dock...

Manson Nichols Hut from the Lake Daniell dock

Lake Daniell at Lewis Pass National Reserve

I got the fire going around 5pm and it soon had the hut toasty warm. One of the advantages with new huts are the double glazed windows and insulation...if you light a fire it will retain the warmth and makes for a more comfortable place to stay.

Woodburner blazing away at Manson Nichols Hut

Dinner that night was another Backcountry meal this time a Spaghetti Bolognaise two person serve. I had this with some Chicken Noodle simmer soup that I cooked on top of the woodburner. It is always a good idea to add a soup to your dinner for some added calories and flavor and it is especially nice on a cold winter's night. 

...simmering some soup at Manson Nichols Hut...

The MSR Windburner stove had an outing on this trip and it performed awesomely...it is a fantastic stove and best suited to these shorter in-out trips and over the winter. You will be seeing more of it going forward. I made a vlog clip about using a canister style stove in a backcountry hut while I was there.

I was using my MSR Windburner stove on this trip

Dinner spot selected...Manson Nichols Hut

It was warm enough in the hut to take off my fleece and I sat and ate my dinner while reading old Wilderness magazines from the early 1990's. They were having the same problems back then as we have now. Huts burning down, lack of money for DOC, tourist numbers, climate change, environmental problems etc. The ads for outdoor gear were interesting...lots of local gear and little from overseas but not as much variety as now. 

Chow time for Jon, Manson Nichols Hut

After dinner and cleaning up my gear I stoked up the fire and settled into my pit for a couple of hours of reading and listening to music. I really need some kind of lite weight speaker so I could play music in the huts. I could bother people with my tunes...how about some 80's classics from George Michael, Sting, Phil Collins or even the Smiths..

...I was minding my own business...lifting some lead off...

The roof of the holy name Church...

It was worthwhile living a laughable life...

To set my eyes on the blistering sight...

Of a Vicar in a tutu...he's not strange...

He just wants to live his life that way...

 Every now and then I went and made myself a hot drink or chucked some wood on the fire.

My pit set up at Manson Nichols Hut

 I finally turned off the lights and went to sleep about 9.30 pm and had a long peaceful sleep. I slept more or less solidly from about 10pm to 7am the next morning. It was one of the nicest sleeps I have ever had in a backcountry hut. 

Day two and breakfast...

I was walking out to the carpark on the Monday morning so after I woke up at 7am I started on my morning routine. I boiled some water for my freeze dried meal which was Backcountry Apple Pie. It is a spicy mix of apple filling and some shortbread biscuits to crush over the top of it. It is one of the better Backcountry meals and is good for breakfast or as a dessert. 

Breakfast the next morning at Manson Nichols Hut

After eating breakfast I packed up my gear and tidied up the hut before leaving. The tasks when leaving a hut are much the same as when you get there so things like;

Packing up your gear...don't leave anything behind

Stack the mattresses on their sides

Clean down the benches and tables

Tidy the area around the fireplace/woodburner

Sweep the floors

Check all windows are shut and the fire is closed down and safe

Close all the hut doors and make sure no animals/vermin can get inside

After I completed all these tasks and had a last look around the hut I geared up for the walk out to the road end. 

Dark and gloomy over Lake Daniell

My gear packed and ready at Manson Nichols Hut

On the way to the start of the Lake Daniell Track I walked down to the dock on Lake Daniell for one last look back at the hut. 

Last view of Manson Nichols Hut from the dock

Classic view of Lake Daniell, Lewis Pass National Reserve

It was lightly raining as I left the hut but the Lake Daniell Track is an all weather one so I knew I was going to be able to make it back to my car for the homeward trip. It continued to rain all the way out to the car so I had to wear my jacket for the three hour walk to Marble Hill. 

Farewell to Manson Nichols Hut until next time....

Hopefully that gives you a bit of an idea of the sort of things you do when you are in a backcountry hut. Obviously if anyone else had been there we would probably have chatted and or played some cards. I sometimes take some wine with me on tramps or a cheeky whiskey. Personally I quite like to have the occasional time to myself where you can just sit in quietude and enjoy your own company. It is a good escape from a hectic world...

YouTube: Manson Nichols Hut

Great Walk Adventures over the 2022/2023 season....

 Future Great Walk plans...

 With my completion of the Routeburn Track in March I have now completed all of the original Great Walks of New Zealand. I will now shift most of my future attention to walking some of the lesser known but just as good tracks around the country. In particular I will be looking at some tracks like the Aotea Track, Rees-Dart, Caples-Greenstone, Rakuira Northern/Southern Circuits. 

A return to the Greenstone Valley is on the plans...

I would also like to move my Te Araroa Trail Campaign along with some of the track section in the South Island. In particular I would like to knock off the Richmond Ranges and the section from Queenstown to Bluff over the next couple of years. I was planning to walk Harpers Pass over Christmas but family commitments nixed this plan so it still needs to be completed. 

The Two Thumb Range along the TA

Despite this I still have one future Great Walk to complete and that is the Humpridge Track down in Southland. DOC and the Humpridge Track Trust have just started the track and hut upgrades to turn this into the newest Great Walk. It is expected that all works will be complete by the start of the 2022/2023 Great Walk season and that the track will be on the GW booking system from this June.

Humpridge Track becomes a Great Walk in 2022...

I have been waiting to walk the Humpridge Track as I wanted to be able to use the new hut planned for the first/last day of the tramp and the track upgrades. I will be looking to secure a booking for December of 2022 to walk the track although this is going to be difficult as the tourist hordes pour back into the country. I will try none the less...

Percy Burn Viaduct on the Humpridge Track

Apart from the Humpridge Track I will be doing my annual pilgrimage to the Abel Tasman Coastal Track in June or July. I'm looking at a trip from possibly Bark Bay to Anchorage as Bark Bay and Awaroa are my two favorite huts on that circuit. 

Bark Bay Hut is my favorite on the Able Tasman Coastal Track

I am also keen to revisit the Tongariro Northern Circuit although that is the most quickly booked out Great Walk in the country so again we will see. I walked the North Island Great Walks before they even had the name so it would be good to see them once again after so many years. 

I would like to revisit the Tongariro National Park

The Routeburn Track was not the end of my Great Walk journey but perhaps just the beginning of the end...

Routeburn Track Planning: Transport

 Planning transport for the Routeburn Track

My second Great Walk tramp for the 2021/2022 summer season is coming up in two weeks time. As mentioned before I will be walking the Routeburn Track the last of the existing Great Walks I have yet to complete. I'm waiting to walk the Hump Ridge Track when it becomes a new Great Walk at the end of this year. 

NB: I just read an article over the weekend that DOC are starting work on track upgrades and the new hut on the Humpridge Track in the next month....

Te Waewae Bay from the Humpridge Track...2023 anyone?

I have previously been to both ends of the Routeburn Track but have yet to walk the section from Routeburn Flats to Lake Howden as my last attempt on the track was rained out by a massive storm system. I am hoping that this time I finish the track so I can "..knock the bugger off..." as a certain man once said. 

Direction of travel:

The Routeburn Track runs from near Lake Wakatipu to the Milford Road so if you are walking the whole track you will be undertaking a crossing of several mountain ranges. Obviously this means you have two termini for the tramp and a choice of directions to walk in.

The Routeburn runs through the Alisa and Humboldt Ranges

The standard route is to start at the Routeburn Shelter in Mt Aspiring NP and walk east to west over the mountains to the Divide Shelter. Probably 80% of trampers will be heading in this direction as it is arguably the easier way to cross the mountains in between the two points. Starting from the Routeburn Shelter end means you have to get there usually from Queenstown.

Routeburn Shelter at the Queenstown end of the track

It is perfectly possible to walk the Routeburn in the opposite direction...start at the Milford Road and walk to the Routeburn Shelter and 20% of people walk this way. Tramping west to east means you have to get to the Divide Shelter on the Milford Road and Te Anau is the starting point for this journey. 

The Divide Shelter on the Milford Road

My last attempt at the Routeburn was from west to east so I thought I would mix it up this time and start at the Routeburn Shelter and head to the Divide Shelter. 

How do I get to the track...?

Once you know which direction you will be walking you need to arrange some form of transport to one or the other ends of the track. The Routeburn is linear (from point to point) so you cannot walk a circuit back to your start point (...unless you walk back along the track but forget about that for now...) so you have to figure out how to get to the start and from the finish.

Routeburn Track profile diagram

You have the usual three methods as found with most tracks in New Zealand. These are; 1. use your own transport, 2. return the way you came, 3. use public transport. Lets start with using your own transport

Use your own transport..

There are roads to both ends of this track so you can just drive yourself to the start of the track. The Milford Road is sealed all the way to the Divide Shelter carpark and there is parking space here for about 100 cars so that is no problem. The road from Glenorchy to the Routeburn Shelter is gravel, rough, winding and remote. You can drive it in a 2 W/D but a 4 W/ D is a better option. 

The Divide carpark holds about 100 cars...

If you are happy to do this then your transport problems are solved. Just make sure you totally fill your car before leaving Te Anau or Queenstown and thoroughly lock your car to deter people breaking into it. Both of these carparks are remote and there are occasional instances of vandalism of cars and theft but this is a long way from any larger town so the Bogan factor is less here that say Arthurs Pass or Lewis Pass. 

Remote SH94 runs from Te Anau to Milford Sound

The problem is what to do when you finish the track? Your car will be 32 kilometers away over the mountains. One solution is to use a car relocation service to bring your car from one end to the other. There are several companies doing this for the Fiordland Tracks so have a look online. It can often be eye wateringly expensive as the two road ends are nearly 300 kilometers apart but it can be done.

 

The Routeburn Shelter road end...

You could do a key swap with parties starting from both ends of the track and exchanging keys mid way along the track but obviously you will need another party. This is not an option for me...

Return the way you came...

Another option is to walk back to your car over the track you have just walked which is a popular option of some tracks like the Heaphy. This would make your tramp a 4-5 day, 65+ kilometer mission but if you have the time, energy and can find a booking when you need then by all means fill your boots...

View up the Hollyford Valley from the Routeburn Track..

One problem with this scheme is that the Routeburn is the most popular of the Great Walks so the chances of getting bookings for four huts/campsites is slim. There is also the weather factor...4-5 days of decent weather is unusual so you could find yourself stranded on the wrong side of the mountains. 

This option is doable but not prime...

Use public transport...

Personally I think using public transport is the best method of access to/from the Routeburn Track. Several companies run trips into the road-ends from both Queenstown and Te Anau. There are multiple trips per day and they are not really that expensive when compared to the other options. You can also drive to one end of the track and use public transport to get to the other end. Environmentally using a shuttle or bus is a much better option than burning a lot of fuel in your own car.

Lake Howden between the Divide and Lake MacKenzie

After a lot of thought and weighing of options I went with public transport to/from both road-ends...for me it was the easiest option.

So...lets have a look at how that is going to work. 

To Queenstown...

I decided early in my planning that I was going to drive down to the start of the track rather than taking a flight or bus. With the rise of Covid these forms of transport have become hazardous and they are often cancelled. As I will have my car with me it made sense to start from Te Anau as that would be my final destination after finishing the track. I can park my car there ready for the drive back to Christchurch.

The Tracknet shuttle starts at the Lakeview Holiday Park

I will be walking the track from the Queenstown end so this means I had to get from TeAnau to Routeburn Shelter using public transport. This is a common way to start the track so there are several companies running services between the two points. I have booked myself on the Tracknet shuttle from Te Anau to Queenstown on the first morning of my tramp. From there I will be catching the regularly scheduled noon shuttle to Routeburn Shelter. 

Tracknet shuttle I used on the Milford Track back in 2018

Tracknet offer a package deal for transport from Te Anau to Routeburn Shelter is $122 in total and will take about 4.5 road hours in total...

From the Divide Shelter...

Walking from east to west means I will arrive at the Divide Shelter on the Milford Road around 1.30 pm on the last day. I would require transport from the western end of the track at the Divide Shelter back to Te Anau about 50 kilometers away. It is obviously too far to walk or hitchhike so I would need public transport at this end as well. 

The Divide end of the Routeburn Track

The easiest option was to book with Tracknet once again so I am scheduled to be on their 3.15pm shuttle from the Divide back to Te Anau. I have used this service a couple of times now and they are the largest transport company in Fiordland so I could be fairly certain that it would still be running. The shuttle starts in Milford Sound and runs through to Te Anau with stops along the way so it must be booked ahead of time. 

Te Anau is my start and finishing point

The shuttle costs $45 from the Divide to Te Anau and takes about an hour as you drive down the Eglington Valley to get back to civilisation. 

Transportation problems solved...!

So...to summarise my transport plan is as follows:

Drive from Christchurch to Te Anau which is where I will be staying before and after the tramp. From Te Anau I use the Tracknet shuttle to Queenstown on the first morning of the trip then at noon I take the scheduled service to the Routeburn Shelter road-end. 

4.5 hours travel time and $122 NZD...

The turn off to Key Summit...a side track of the Routeburn

Once I finish the track I take the Tracknet Shuttle from the Divide Shelter back to Te Anau which is my start point for the drive back to Christchurch. I will be driving back on the Friday which is the day after I finish walking. 

1 hour travel time and $45...

The shelters on Harris Saddle...Routeburn Track

Easy as...all up it will cost about $150 which is not bad compared to a car transfer between the two road-ends which runs to $400-$500 dollars. It just means I have a schedule to keep too and will be sitting in a shuttle for a quite a while.