MANGANUKU HUT RENOVATION

Manganuku Hut sits in the upper reaches of Manganuku Stream, part of the Waioeka River catchment, in Eastern Bay of Plenty. A base for hunters and cullers, the hut had certainly seen better days. With leaks around the open fireplace and the roof, it was due for a birthday. 

The team consisted of Mole (Mulhern Builders Ltd), Coralie, Toby, Jake (J McKain Building), Josh (Tool Guys Opotiki), Hedley Meacham, Sarah Millar, and Isabella Wilson. Mole and his crew from Mulhern Builders spent three days before the trip prefabricating the woodshed, deck and verandah elements, which made a huge difference to the volume of work the team were able to get done on site.

Manganuku Hut after renovation

They headed into the Manganuku Hut site on Friday morning with Luke from Bay of Plenty Helicopters, and by Friday evening had the site set up, the open fireplace removed, the plywood primed, the deck and verandah installed and the woodshed constructed and building wrapped. The removal of the open fireplace was a sentimental affair, as it was originally fabricated by Mole’s dad Pat, who is a local engineer. Pat folded a heap of steel fire surrounds for DOC back in the early 90s. The one in the Makakoere (Moke) hut still has “mul eng” (Mulhern Engineering) written in chalk on the side of it. Even more special though was that Pat's grandson, Toby, was on site, so three generations of Mulherns have worked on the Manganuku Hut!

Work starting on Day 1

Preparing the new linings. The old fireplace has already been removed.

Saturday saw rain, and work was confined to ground level for safety. The west wall was framed out and backed with ply, the fire and hearth in place, and the inside and outside of the hut prepped for painting, and some spot priming done (paint was VERY slow to dry).

Sunday was roofing day, with a later start to ensure the roof was dry and safe. The more complex fireplace/water damaged side was complete by the end of the day. The majority of the external re-paint with Dulux Karaka was also completed, along with installation of the fire, flue and cowlings.

Building the new verandah

Installing the new wood burner

The pickup rendezvous was booked for Monday, and by the time the machine arrived the roof was on, the woodshed complete and the deck and verandah ready to go. The inside of the hut looked smart with a coat of Dulux Sandfly Point on the walls and ceiling, and Dulux Bright White on the door and window frames. A later trip is planned to finish some painting and varnishing, but for a four day effort, in the rain, at the beginning of winter, the team was pleased with nailing the big parts of the work program.

Building the woodshed

While late autumn was getting pretty chilly for swimming, the team enjoyed watching the eels, catching the odd trout and hanging out with a family of four Whio. The hut is usually accessed via a walk up the river, which requires multiple river crossings, so is best visited during the summer months, when the river is low, but for the hardy winter tramper or hunter who can get the flows right between rain, this will now be a wonderful place to curl up in front of the new wood burner after a hard, wet day. 

Work finished