Possumers Hut - Kapakapanui

As an end in itself, hut bagging is not usually my thing.  However, it's as good as an excuse as any to go somewhere and Janine will sometimes rope me in when the objective is off track.  Today it's an old possumer's hut off the side of the Kapakapanui Circuit Track.

  

What:   Hut bagging - Possumer's Hut
Where: Kapakapanui - behind Waikanae
When:  28 March 2021
Who:    Janine and Angela

Website

The hut baggers website has the location and details so I'm not expecting this to be a difficult navigation exercise.  They list it as "Thornhill Possumer's Hut" noting it is the second on the site - the previous called Kohlers Hut.

I don't know where the name 'Thornhill' comes from, but the search prompts me to try to find the significance of Kapakapanui.  The first website that comes up is the local school seeking feedback on a proposal to change their name from a shortened and meaningless 'Kapanui' to the correct form.  They note that:

"The name Kapakapanui came from a waka (canoe) which travelled to Kapiti in the 1800s.  Along with other waka, these name[s] were used to symbolise mana whenua or land occupation."

I won't prolong the trip description here - I've passed through this area a few times, the first trip write-up is in 2013 has a halfway useful description of the Circuit.  

It's a slow climb to the wee knob at 852 which signals that the turn-off to the hut is a bit over 100m higher.  Janine has her GPS, but I'm interested to see if the access point is obvious through more traditional means of navigation.  I find what I think is the likely spot and wait for Janine to confirm.  There's a distinctive bent branch on the track and a faint foot trail turning off to run downhill.  A short way down the hut comes into view.    

It's seen better days - the roof has a disintegrating tarp over it, there's no glass in the window and the inside is a bit ... slimy.  However, the hutbagger website indicates that by May someone has done a bit of reno including perspex in the window and plywood repairs to the floor.  Someone fairly determined I think, as it would be quite a proposition wrestling even a small sheet of ply up that track.      

And that's pretty much it really.  We complete the circuit with the cloud ceiling high enough that we have reasonable views from the top. 

The hut itself is such a short way off the track it's worth popping in for a look as a point of minor interest on the circuit.  For the truly avid bagger, further around the circuit near the Kapakapanui Hut the hutbagger website notes that Henderson's Shelter was located but subsequently removed.  It was in the saddle between pt 890 and the Pukeatua Track - I found some bits of iron and other debris when passing through which I suspect were the remains.

A happy hutbagger