Comet Hut restoration: Wāhine prepare to helicopter Bay treasure to new riverside location

Backcountry Trust wāhine Sarah Millar (left), Corine Pontbriand and Emma Martindale take a break while working on the new track.

A team of wāhine volunteers are turning a vandalised hut in the Hawke’s Bay bush into a riverside gem - by helicoptering it to a new location and then renovating it.

Spearheaded by the Backcountry Trust, the project will see the Comet Hut in the Kaweka Forest Park undergo a complete relocation and restoration after years of significant damage.

The four-bunk forestry hut is situated at the end of Comet Rd, off the Napier-Taihape Rd, which has left it susceptible to theft and other forms of vandalism - the trust has even found bullet holes in its water tank.

Its new location will be next to the nearby Ngaruroro River, which will make it a haven for whitewater kayakers, rafters, anglers, and conservationists. There will also be a track cut to the hut for foot access.

Backcountry Trust North Island project manager Megan Dimozantos said it was a significant project.

Volunteers will spend six days in the rugged bush and will have to quickly adapt to changing weather conditions.

“We’ve done a couple of sizeable projects like this, but this one is certainly at the bigger end of the scale.”

Comet Hut in its current location at the end of Comet Rd.

It’s also the first time an all-female crew has come together for a Backcountry Trust project.

Dimozantos said the group would work on different sections at different times.

“At the moment, we’re doing track cutting, and we’ve got four people who are working on that. All-up, we’ve probably about 16 wāhine who will help at different stages of the project.”

Volunteer Sally Neal said she was a keen tramper and saw the project as a chance to help others in the community.

It was also a great opportunity to meet like-minded folk and work with wāhine, she said.

“It’s great to have the opportunity ... in what is often seen as a male-dominated area – hopefully it will encourage more females to get involved in the future, too.”

It doesn’t come without costs. Things like building materials and equipment, helicopter transport, food for the team on-site and compliance documentation all needed funding.

The Backcountry Trust has received support from the Department of Conservation, Forest & Bird, the Air Force, and a number of private businesses, but Dimozantos said donations would help.

A Givealittle page has been set up and has already raised $3405.

“At the moment, there’s a little bit of uncertainty around the volume of our funding moving forward, so something like this is really important for getting us over the line,” Dimozantos said.

Some of the funding will also go towards creating a documentary showcasing the teams’ process and journey over the course of the relocation.

Dimozantos said it took a particular sort of person to take on this sort of project voluntarily.

“I think with this sort of mahi, you definitely need a degree of flexibility. You also need to be happy to live a little bit uncomfortably for a few days.

“It’s not everyone’s cup of tea to wait for a weather window, jump in a helicopter, get into the bush and sleep in tents for six days on end.”