D33- Cameron hut to Comet hut

The Ngaruroro cuts right through the main devide so must be crossed. Heading back to the junction i take the Kiwi mouth route which reterns to the river upstream of Cameron and stops. The true right of the Ngaruroro is considered Maori land and the swing bridge has been removed. Its too deep to cross at the site of the former bridge, so its necessary to travel upsteam and cross above the first rapid. Its a bit of a knarly, bouldery crossing even in low flows.
The track from the swing bridge is of course unmaintained but its been recently trimmed by locals as far as the main spur, they've even used the same couler tape as me. Once onto the main spur, the track stops but its reasonably open and an easy climb up to the ridge. It does however regain 700m from the riverbed so it takes a while.
Once on the ridge it's broad, open and easy going heading SE. According to the map, the main ridgeline is on public land, but theres confusion over the issue. The summit of Te Iranga (1324m) and trig lies 500m to the west. There's a few patches of beech, but its all open and easy. Loosing altitude again, there's a well formed track through here, not the formal type, more a route kept open by locals (not me this time). Its unmarked but obvious. It runs into a series of clay pans which lead to first a 4wd track and secondly the Napier- Taihape road, popping out on the Gentle-annie summit. Its the first sealed road since the Waioeka, and its time for the next road bash.
The road descends steeply as far as the Hoodoo creek. The traffic is light, mainly logging trucks stuck in crawler and can be heard for miles, making it safe to walk down the middle of the road, avoiding the narrow verges. The Hoodoo is a vital water source for this leg, theres even a swimming hole just by the bridge, but being cooler and overcast i resist the urge for a roadside wallow. From here it climbs over a short saddle to the start of comet road. Its only 6.5km to the hut but its all uphill and seems further. It climbs steeply, gaining 300m from the road untill leveling out along a flat ridge for the last 2km. The hut and carpark are located at the roadend.
Comet hut is a shit hole, it gets the abuse typical of a road end hut. There's a missing window, thee door dosent latch from inside, no fireplace, 4 bunks and a further camp bed left outside to rot. The walls are covered in graffiti and the log books missing, there's the usefull half of a broom but it doesn't seem to of been used in a while. A no fires sign sits beside a well used fire pit- what do you expect if you remove the fireplace. Again its most useful aspect is it's water tank. It's obviously off doc's maintenance list and i wouldn't be suprised if its removed due to 'reaching the end of it's design life'.
The road may be the huts biggest enemy, but for me it was useful, enabling me bury my next food drop here, which i find behind the hut. The clouds have been gradualy building and turn to rain early evening, which comes straight in through the open window.