Almost a rest day. After a cruisy start and a wash with some soaps, it 1pm by the time i break camp. Its 3km back down the road to the start of the Makino track. The Kawekas were the epicentre of August's snow fall and the damage is severe even at 500m. With the tracks around Macintosh still uncut other than by me, im expecting the Makino track to be bad. However its been recently cut, well marked and impossible to loose.
It starts off quite steep, but soon adopts a more gentle gradient, tho it's uphill all the way, gaining 500m from the campsite to the hut. Its starts off in kanuka scrub, but later changes to original beech forest.a couple of open spots provide good views to the Mohaka valley and farmland beyond.
I pass the Makino biv, nothing more than corrugated iron proped up on local timber, its got a dirt floor and no water source, but would be good shelter if caught out. After passing the tracks to Middle hill and Te Puia, a 3rd sign points to Makino hut, 100m from the track in a grassy clearing. Its a typical Kaweka hut, orange painted, a Wagner stove, 6 steel bunks and a tank. It gets regular use being easy access, but there's no one else tonight.
Another great feature of the Kaweka huts is the map and description/ times of nearby tracks, something rarely seen in other places. The winds been gradualy increasing the last 2 days, by the time i reach the hut at 1000m, its quite strong.
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