Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk

Day Two - Waiharuru Hut to Marauiti Hut

Tramp Description

After a night asleep next to the gas heater in the main section of the Waiharuru hut, I woke to find a beautiful cold clear winter's day outside. From the hut you can wander down to the lakeside and admire the awesome views of the Panekiri range as the morning sunlight falls upon it.

As time was not so much of an issue for me, I had decided to complete the tramp as a five day trip, so today was to be a short day tramp to Marauiti hut. If I had decided to complete the walk in four days, I would have probably attempted to reach Marauiti yesterday.

Although the DOC time to reach Marauiti hut is stated as two hours, this section of the track has had a lot of repairs done to it. Consequently it took me almost 2.5 hours to reach Marauiti. Along the way there are more stunning views of the Panekiri Bluff, and this is probably the most scenic part of the lake side section of the walk. The track leads past a number of small bays cutting across a couple of points before reaching Marauiti Bay where the hut can be seen on the other side. A footbridge crosses the river feeding the bay and after a short side trip you reach the hut.

I had reached the hut by lunchtime and spent the afternoon lazing on the verandah in the lovely warm winter sunshine. Even at this time of year there are still plenty of boaties out on the lake and a group dropped in to say hello whilst I was resting at the hut. A couple of DOC rangers also turned up to check my ticket and to do a few quick repairs to the hut.

The hut is one of the smaller huts on the track, only sleeping 25 again in a separate bunk room. There is a gas heater in the kitchen area and plenty of tables and benches. Although there are no views of the lake, the hut is in a pleasant spot overlooking a bay full of bird life.