Waitewaewae Hut has been scheduled for a complete repaint – roof, exterior and interior – for 4-5 years. Recently it was decided that the roof should be replaced – and this was done by Brock Beyer and team under contract to the Back Country Trust, over 3 days in a short spell of good weather at the end of February 2025.
Painting the hut was estimated to need 6-7 fine days – and after several postponements due to unsettled weather in the western Tararua, 6 volunteers from Hutt Valley Tramping Club plus scaffolding, ladders, paint and equipment were flown in from Otaki Valley road end on Thursday 13 March. John Duggan joined us from the Dorset Hut refurbishment. HVTC has a long association with Waitewaewae Huts, members having built the original Whare-iti biv in 1934, the first Waitewaewae Hut in 1950 and contributed to the design and building of the present hut in 1990.
The team
John Duggan , Shane Harrison , Doc Watson, Jackie West , Chris West , Murray Presland –
The weather was not kind for painting! One and a half days of good conditions were spent on preparation of the exterior, concentrating on completing painting the tall (8 m from ground at the gable peak) east wall of the hut. A light-weight scaffold, lent by the Backcountry Trust, made for efficient completion of this task. Four days of poor weather – drizzle, showers, steady rain – followed, so attention moved to the interior with forays outside to complete preparation and painting of the north and first coat painting of the west exterior walls when they were sheltered and dry. Renovating the interior was completed over 3 days.
The MetService forecast for Wednesday was for showers easing. The west, gable end, wall, which extends above a clearlight verandah roof was a challenge, met successfully by the two engineers in the group – though one is a water engineer and the other an electrical engineer – using a cantilevered platform and a paint brush on the end of a long pole! Painting the exposed roof beams under the clearlight verandah – rather fiddly – was begun, along with the foyer, around the door and sink area.
Our exit had been delayed a day – the helicopter was away for servicing – and the forecast for Thursday was for showers easing. They did so by around dawn. Although it was not warm, it was possible to complete painting the west and south walls, the roof beams and walls around verandah area, the barge boards above the north and south walls and all of the barge boards of the hut’s base platform by 5 pm. Project complete!!
