Location: Tangihua Forest Park
Author: Lucy Douglas
Participants: Lucy, Andrew, Billy, Sam, Miles, Nicolas and Cameron
Date: 7th-8th September 2024
We’re going on a book hunt and we’re not scared!
Five of us stood at the clocktower at 7am on the Saturday morning mentally preparing for the trails we’d face over the weekend. We were heading back to Tangihua Hut, the last known location of a dreamed about book. We could not remember what the book was called and despite hours of googling we couldn’t work it out. We even had a picture of Andrew reading the book, but it didn’t show the cover! So our only choice was to go back, more than a year later and see if the book was still there.

By 7.30 we decided two of our group had been scared off by tales of what we may face. Failing to make contact with our missing members, we tried to decide if all five of us could fit in Andrew's car. Just as we were putting stuff in I received a phone call. One of our missing party members was coming!
That meant six, so a second car was in order. Leaving Billy on the lookout for our late arrival the rest of us headed off to pick up my car. Almost to Grafton Gully and our other missing member called! They were also now on the way, and had a car. It made for a pleasant-ish trip around the block to return to a confused Billy.
Eventually the late arrivals showed up and we left an hour behind plan, but we were on our way to find the book!

The track was much as we remembered. Scrambly, steep and poorly maintained. One member of the party asked ‘how could it get worse than this?’ when we were still heading towards the junction where the track really deteriorates. They soon found out.
‘Catching shit’ became the phrase of the day as more obstacles that stood between us and the book were overcome. Spirits remained high. ‘I guess the real obstacles were the friends we made along the way’ (thanks for the versatile quote structure Billy).

Sooner than expected we arrived at the hut. Busting to go to the toilet I headed that way to find it infested with Wētā. Clickety clacking they made their way away from the light I was letting in. Seems no one had been there for quite some time. The hut book agreed to this with no entries since July!
Heading back from my side quest Andrew had already been into the hut and found that the book was still there!!!!!! Whoop! More than a year later! We rapidly took some pictures of the cover this time. Then we had a read and some great yarns.

Quest complete.
Oh not quite, now we need to track down a version of it so we can read the rest (of course the original has been left at the hut for the next person to find).
And yea, I almost forgot. We had to walk out the same way the next day. We all survived, yada ya, who cares, we found the book!!!!!!
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