Ruahine Forest Park, Manawatu – April and December, 2024

After the power and fury Mother Nature threw at this hut, in 2023, it seems perhaps fitting that its rescue, relocation and restoration called for a major effort. In the end it took four trips and some big winds before the project team prevailed. A new-look Leon Kinvig Hut now stands on a new, safe site, ready for hunters, trampers and trappers in need of shelter.

Built by the New Zealand Forest Service in 1963-4, the 8-bunk Leon Kinvig Hut is located in the mid-reaches of the Pohangina River, in the heart of Ruahine whio country. The hut was named after a young deer culler, Leon Kinvig, who drowned in the Pohangina River. 

In May, 2022, a BCT contract team, funded by the government's Kaimahi for Nature scheme, re-roofed the hut and installed a new woodburner. As it transpired, they could have saved the bother. Just months later, in February 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle raged through Hawke’s Bay and the Ruahine Ranges. Anthony Behrens works out what seems to have happened. “A hillside just north of the hut gave way in the heavy rain and blocked the Pohangina River. The river built up behind the slip and, when it inevitably burst, the resulting torrent of water and mud lifted the hut off its foundations and spun it around. As nature settled, Leon Kinvig Hut was left hanging over a one and a half metre drop, above a river channel forever changed.”

While the hut isn’t hugely visited, it is much loved by hard core hunters and trampers who enjoy the challenge of its isolation (and handy venison supply), and it provides vital shelter for the Ruahine Whio Protectors, working here to protect what is the North Island’s southern-most whio breeding population.

Obviously, the hut couldn’t stay where it was, so the project began with the search for a new and safer site. This was selected 500 metres downstream on a higher terrace well above the flood zone. After DOC rangers cleared the site, builder Brock Beyer and his son led a BCT volunteer team of Fiona Burleigh, Emma Martindale and Duncan Ford, to set down the new foundations in preparation to receive the old hut.

Funding for moving the hut came from a variety of sources. These included a significant amount of Cyclone Gabrielle facilities restoration funding, as well as from BCT’s own small reserves.

In early June, the tempo stepped up. The hut, perched on its precarious site was stripped of chattels, braced and prepped for lifting. At the new site a heli pad was cleared, toilet hole dug, toilet installed and the woodshed started. The work in this three day stint was carried out by Megan Dimonzantos (project lead), Brett Stokman and his mate Ben, Hannah Cochrane, Graham Beaven and Emma Martindale.

In August 2024 Megan, Anthony and Brett returned along with Regan Dick, Tyler Lee and Reon Sheath, for four days of action. First up was the big shift, calling on the skills of pilot Mark Law, his Kahu NZ crew and the heft of their heavy-lifting Black Hawk helicopter, to move the hut off its precarious overhang and position it onto its new piles. Then followed four days of intensive renovation, with lining pulled off the walls ready for replacement, new framing completed and a new ridge beam installed. Meanwhile the woodshed frame was completed and covered, the toilet finished, and the hut deck started.

A ten-day stint in December, 2024, completed the project. BCT regulars involved were Megan, Steve Wilman, Tina Christie (described by Anthony as ‘master chef’), Dave Eaton, Fiona Burleigh and Anthony Behrens. They were joined by Rosie McIntyre – tackling her first BCT mission, and Konrad, a Te Araroa walker and last-minute volunteer who happened to be a carpenter.

The team flew in with Leon, of Mid West Helicopters, sharing their rides into the valley with Ruahine Whio Protectors trappers. Anthony enjoyed flying with them, given these hard working trappers also make use of Leon Kinvig Hut for their important stoat trapping/whio protecting work.

The work completed on the big, final push included recladding of the hut, installation of new bunks, relining the walls, painting inside and outside, installing new windows, varnishing the floor and bunks, and completing the deck, verandah and woodshed. David Eaton scoped and started flagging the new tracks to the hut.

The hut’s woodburner, installed just months before the flood, was rescued from the damaged site, moved and re-installed. The old meat safe was extracted from beneath a fallen tree and moved to the new site.

The workload over ten days was huge, carried out in harsh conditions, Anthony recalls.

“The night winds were intense, our sleep was constantly broken by massive gusts we could hear roaring up valley towards us. Our tents heaved, tore, popped pegs, broke poles. The hut shook and loose paper and tin flapped noisily.”

Ten-hour days were common, and the crew managed to share a bout of Covid between them!
As with many BCT projects, the teams working on Leon Kinvig were a mix of skilled and unskilled volunteers. Anthony made observations about this that will resonate with those in the latter category, no matter which project they’ve taken on. “Being an unskilled foot soldier can be hard. Knowing how to find something to do when the skilled guys are doing the tricky stuff has its challenges. Being the lifter, the holder, or the tidier can bruise the ego. Waiting around nervously while there is nothing to do then feeling embarrassed when you realise you could have been polishing a door knob is humbling.”

He is indeed being rather humble – the point of the BCT volunteers is that everyone, skilled or not skilled, made a huge impact on the Leon Kinvig restoration – and has done with every project they work on.

Ruahine Forest Park, Hawke’s Bay - February and April 2023
Dianes Hut was built in 1978 by the Tressider family in memory of Diane Tressider, a farmer and hunter respected for her hard work and ability with a rifle. She was arguably a woman ahead of her time. The 6-bunk hut sits in steep Northern Ruahine country, perched on a tiny clearing 20m above Koau Stream (a tributary of the Ngaururoro and home to whio). For their tribute, the family designed an unusual but homely hut, featuring an extra-high ceiling, river stone/concrete floor and a golf club-style interior, with louvre windows and a Little Dorrit potbelly stove. The hut hadn’t suffered the dampness or rotting one might have expected for its age, possibly on account of the drainage provided by its river stone foundations. Nevertheless, the hut was in need of a thorough makeover.

The team who took on the work included Tina Christie, Steve Wilman, Anthony Behrens, Fiona Burleigh and Richard Wynyard. Fiona, Tina and Steve had previously worked on BCT projects. In Anthony’s words, ‘we were experienced chippies and me, a humble hammer hand.” Anthony and Fiona had voted the hut a favourite when they stayed there during their ‘Spine of the Fish’ Ruahine traverse, in 2017, and were keen to help with this restoration.

Owen, from Mid West Helicopters, flew the team and building supplies in from the Taruarau River, past Shutes Hut and up the steep and narrow Koau Stream. Dianes sits on a tiny flat clearing in a steep little gully 60 metres below the chopper pad. With rain forecast and a reroofing of the hut planned, a decent ‘kitchen and dining room’ was quickly set up under a tarp.

Over the next few days the hut was pretty much completely pulled apart. Just the inside and outside walls were left and the old louvre windows got a reprieve, while everything else was dismantled and replaced. The roof was removed, new pre-painted ply ceiling, exposed rafters and Clearlight skylights installed, and a scoria-coloured Coloursteel roof, along with guttering, was put up.

The interior was also transformed. Steve spent more than a day grinding down the rough concrete/stone floor then covering the most vulnerable areas with a waterproof epoxy. A stainless-steel workbench and woodburner were installed. Outside, a new woodshed and meat safe were built. (The area is well-regarded for its hunting. Following in Diane’s tradition, Steve and Tina had taken two deer off the face opposite the hut while on an earlier scoping trip.)

Painting, both inside and outside of the hut was still underway when the crew was due to fly out, though with heavy rain, wind and lightening forecast they were resigned to being stranded for some days.

In Anthony’s words: “We were wet, knackered and not looking forward to the next few days. We also had no food left. Then the message came. ‘There’s a clear spell in the weather. I’ll be with you in an hour and a half.’ I’ve never seen a building site cleared so fast. Everything was packed up ready for the sling loads and Owen was soon hovering above.”

They resolved to return on foot and finish the job but were thwarted when the weather took a bigger turn, and all access roads were taken out by Cyclone Gabrielle.

Thus, the return trip was again by helicopter, in April, when the team (minus Richard) flew in to add the final touches. Painting of the woodshed, wharepaku and both inside and outside of the hut was completed. The fire was properly attached, lining and floor added to the porch, bunks were painted and a ladder installed.

Whio visited the stream below the hut every night and ruru also kept the team company, said Anthony. ‘Not many people visit Dianes. It’s a long way from nowhere but it’s well worth the trip if you want a slice of Ruahine heaven. Just tip your hat to Diane as you leave.”
Photos: Anthony Behrens