D13- Te Waiti hut to Tokenui hut

Its a short back track back up the pack track to the forks. A doc sighn points up tge riverbed, put poking around on the true right i pick up the next pack track. This one's the worst so far but its followable. It passes in and out of regen bush and long grass( the fan). Horses graze in the grassy sections. Once into mature bush its clear and easy to follow.
About half way to Tokenui, an obvious track leads down to the river, crosses it and picks up another pack track on the westen side. This one's not show on the map but it's marked and maintained so i follow. The markers soon stop, the track becomes overgrown and slips make it dangerous to continue. Back where the markers stopped, they head back down to the river, not far from where previously crossed.
Bush bashing up to the original track, its unmarked but followable for 500m, untill a recent looking slip has washed the entire road away. Only option is back down to the river. After wasting over an hour following tracks with little reward i decide to stick to the river, using the path nature provides rather than the one it is slowly reclaiming.
It starts off easy shingle but soon enters a long and narrow gourge - slippery bolders, upstream wading and slow going. A few deep sections require swims. It's senic but cold on an overcast day. An unpassable section must be sidled on the steep bank, flagging tape marks the way.
Eventually the stream opens up, orange markers appear, and an ok track is established on the banks, criss crossings what is left of the flow. Tokenui hut is located in a clearing on the western side and you can't miss it. Again not the flashest, its a small, 4 bunk, plywood box. There's a crumbling open fire and water from the stream. I arrive just in time as the clouds turn to rain.