Helz Adventures

Ernie’s Creek Block          East Taupo Lands Trust                                               1st January 2026

Summer bush perfection

• A-frame from the outside (Bivvy style INTERIOR) approx. 24m2
• 4 Slab sleeping benches
• 4 mattress
• 3 burner stove stop
• Astro turf floor
• Heavy duty tarpaulin installation
• old telephone poles base of structure
• Solid table and benches, plenty of chairs
• All the cooking equipment and utensils
• Large modern ‘metro’ fire place
• No sink space and water tank -Water is collected by nearby streams
• Tidy Meat safe
• Long drop toilet
• Tussocks flats
• Scrub sidlings.
• Pockets of native

Day 1

 1^st January 2026        

Happy New Year

Midnight on the 31st 2025, we are kept up by the sound of fireworks cracking all around town. Setting the alarm, the phone tells me we are to be up in 3 and a half hours.

0400- an early start but a reason to get out of bed. Red eyed and bushy tailed we are up.

The ute is loaded up , and we are south bound to the plateau from Whangarei. Our ideal new year celebration is always spent in the hills. This year is a slight contrast to last year’s 100km fast pack mission through a mountainous navigation loop via Kaimanawa high point -Makorako summit again with access permission from Helisika to travel through private land. This year we take advantage of exploring another Helisika block we hadn’t been to. Being 20 weeks pregnant the goal of covering ground quickly has been temporally put on hold and thus a helicopter trip was again our choice of travel.

While the rest of the motu was either still up partying or dead asleep avoiding the unavoidable hangover, we travel silently through the dark and quiet roads into the dawn of the first day of 2026. Arriving at Helisika , the carpark definitely is not empty suggesting others share similar thoughts of a preferred bush holiday.

The usual chit chat with pilots and weigh in and we are sky high before we know it. A smooth flight (much to my delight). Dan flies us past ‘Big Ben’ high point and we circle our block boundary. A ten-minute flight and we are landing right on the door step of Ernie’s hut

Within 30 minutes of arriving at the hanger we are soon left with a noticeable silence. As the sound of the hughes 500 thumps into the distance and only the sound of the birds and nearby stream can be heard. Bliss. We are here. Suddenly we are aware of our surroundings. Hills stretch up high all-around us. The same familiar thick scrub conditions you would find at Managroa block except there are beech forest pockets that sprinkle the tops and ridges. The Te Matai highpoint (Ernie’s boundary) stands behind the hut begging the summit chaser to attempt to conquer her and on a day like today it is not hard to imagine the view you would get up there if you were successful.

Ernies hut, wow what a place. This is an unusual hut full of character. Instantly you can tell this hut has been loved and has seen a few seasons. On first appearance you would call it an A-frame styled hut. The corrugated iron roof almost meets the ground but as you enter this unique hut, you step down and onto an astro turf floor. The base has been built in the ground by approximately a foot. The hut is held up by old telephone poles. The same markings left by previous hut goers dating back to the 90’s.the difference this time since my last trip in October (Tauranga-Taupo solo trip) is that the pilots have been tasked with placing hut books in all the blocks -how good! So straight to the book we go, and unfortunately much to our surprise but not to the pilots there have been no entries. Sharing hunting spots and wins not always the preferred option. How ever in this case we luck out with 5 trip recaps left in a school book tucked away. Dating from April 2025- august 2025 there is some good stuff in there that all helps towards making a plan of attack whilst here. Making the trip to the stream behind the meat safe to fill up the 20l container of water, later learning the track in front of the hut is easier to use to access the stream.

This has to be the warmest hut I have been in. Today is a hot summers day and the Kestrel (little hand-held portable weather station) tells me it is 23 degrees. The hut is stifling hot. Opening the window and door to create airflow is a must. It is too hot to be in-doors. A quick snack of apple, cheese and nuts and we are too eager to wait. We gear up to explore the North West part of the block, essentially you just head up stream from the flats in front of the hut.

The clearings are littered with deer droppings, some old some fresh. Deer-heaven here it seems. Following the stream and the familiar faded electrical tape around tree branches marking old routes, some used Speights low carb beer cans also mark preferred routes. We stalk, ever so quietly. This time Chris walks ahead with the shooter. The sound of the stream trickling and plenty of birds sing out this afternoon welcoming us back.      

Spooked! There is heavy thump through the scrub and we have stumbled on our first encounter with a local sika. We stay quiet and push on, covering ground approximately 1km an hour. There is noticeable handy work that has been done around the place. A lot of tracks clearing and cutting of scrub which is really great to see such passion for the block. Coming to a sizeable patch, we place ourselves high up on a good view point. We have a muesli bar and enjoy the afternoon sun. Chris whispers with urgency. “Animal!”. We go still. A stag in velvet and a beautiful shiny red coat meanders out and not at all worried about being out in the open at 3pm. We eye him up. Block rules state clearly no stags in velvet to be shot. To be honest even if we were in public land we would have made the same decision not to shoot. Saving the animal for future hunters/hunting adventures. The stag looked to be growing a good stack of antlers and being day 1 of our 4-day trip we watched him with different intentions. It wasn’t to long before he came across our scent only 80 yards away. His body stiffened and he jumped at the unusual smell of human and before we knew it he was gone followed by squeals to alert all his mates. Well ..smiles on our faces. If this was the omen of the next few days, this trip was going to be an awesome one with plenty of wildlife encounters.

We call it a day once we reach the beautiful beech forest which looked like an awesome place to explore. It was about 1.2km from the hut.

We take no time at all to walk back. Little 3-hour trip on the legs and animals seen, not bad, not bad.

The heat in the hut remained, and it didn’t take much time before we were snoring. The 3 hours sleep leading up to now had caught up with us. Waking at 5pm. We hustle a lovely hut dinner of steak and packet vege and mash before heading back out to a look out about 100m from the hut over looking some clearings. Nothing moving and we eventually loose shooting light at 9pm, we decide to call it an evening. With a full moon appearing we can assume that the night life would be up at all hours.

A cracker night sky and a clear night. How good for the soul to be in this place. A great start to 2026

Day 2   

2^nd January 2026

Nature show

Visitors in the night didn’t disturb us from a 9-hour sleep. Possums came and went. The local mice tried their best to wake us. 0830 and the heat of the day was already warming the hut up again.

Stove top coffee a must, eggs on toast and it all had to be enjoyed outside. What a day we wake to. 18 degrees by 9am and not a breath of wind. It was an absolute scorcher!

We hang about till mid-morning before packing the essentials for a day trip and this time in a North East direction (following the tracks downstream) with the goal of reaching the Ripia River.

Leaving at 1130, the heat of the day was very present. Drinking from the stream at every crossing was needed. The tracks via this route were not obvious. Very old markings were barely visible. Taking note of man-made cuttings of scrub was sometimes the only way to know you were on the right path. Quite a bit of bush-whacking, frustrating entanglements with bush lawyer and thick over growth was common, making the travel tedious and slow. Opting to travel in the stream sometimes worth it. How ever this was almost just as slow due to how slippery the river rocks were.

1.2 km and we break through to where the stream runs into the big Ripia river. On arrival we surprise two brown trout. We made the poor decision of attempting to scamper up the scrub to get to a better section of the river, in hindsight we should have just committed to crossing there, as it was only hip deep in calm water. We battled through thick uphill bush and came to rocky outcrops and what looked like bluff systems. We ended up back down to the river and decided not to return that way.

Finding a lunch spot was easy. Beautiful sandy beaches line the clear river. We make a coffee and a “real meals” dehydrated nacho. We watch an eel swim past us, the first of 4 sightings. We strip layers off as the day is at its hottest being 2pm and in no hurry to head back we decide to check out up river  wading up through the calm waters. Much more time could have been spent here. What a neat place. Stunning is an understatement. We play with a hungry eel that jumps on to a bit of salami we hooked and released. Heading back, we take time to watch 2 pair of Whio(native blue duck) whom weren’t worried about us at all. River travel was cooling; water temps were delightful. We weren’t surprised to come across old campsites as we could have easily stayed here.

Heading back seemed much quicker, and making the decision to stay in the stream was the better option, which lead us right to a good-sized water fall. It was an impressive cave section with a 10m drop; made it feel like we had stumbled onto a secret spot. How ever there is actually mention of this waterfall by previous block goers in the ‘school book’ collection left in the hut.

It is hard to miss the sound of the falling water from the old tracks as well. Taking stock of how cool this block and this day was, Ernies Block was fast becoming our favourite pick of the lot.

We eventually hooked back onto the obvious track and take a turn up the hill where the track has an intersection leading back to the clearings and eventually the hut or you can choose the lower track (stream travel) which we had just been on. This track was a single trail, well cut into the hillside and was steep. Straight up to some great look outs over the valley. Eventually winding all the way up and into some impressive open beech forest and some steep ridges. We sigh; this of course would be the more travelled route over to the river (yet to confirm) Taking note of a 5-hour day on the legs, this pregnant lass carrying an additional 9kg was feeling the days effort. Tiredness was scratching at me, reminding me I was at a different stage of my out-door exploration tolerance. Still a lot of the day left and knowing there was a weather system to push through tomorrow. Chris and I part ways. He makes the most the approaching evening, stalking his way up and off into the distance. I enjoy a slow trip back to the hut. Taking in every last bit of the afternoons summer day and the bird life around me. Back at the hut I change into shorts and bra, apple and cheese again for afternoon tea and forced outside by the hut sauna. This is absolute bliss.

530pm not long after my arrival, I hear something hit the ground outside and look to see a happy husband looking through the window at me. As I come out to meet him, I notice the blood on the back of his legs.

Chris will tell you the rest of this story …..

“As I left Helen, I said, I’ll see you at around 6: 30pm.My plan was to head up into the open beech forest, find a good ridge and climb to the top, circle around the high point anticlockwise and then back down a ridge to the Hut.

As I head back to my previous vantage point to look up a gut to my left, what looked like a good area to stalk, however the wind was definitely not in my favour coming up from the creek below and that would have carried my scent up to where I was looking. I decided to hold a contour (height) and travel across the faces in a North East direction looking down below and looking up ahead of my direction of travel.

Picking a path, I made my way around to large old fallen beech tree and thought that this is something I could tuck in behind for 5min and look down into a small gully and up into clear beech. After 5 mins I decided to start moving and my next plan was to start gaining some elevation. After taking 10 steps out into the open I catch movement out to my right, I pause…. I take a good look and see a Sika hind feeding across the face towards me at about 70 yards! I take cover behind what little cover I could find; a small patch of fern will do.  I guess my only saving grace here in this moment, the wind was actually working in my favour. I load the rifle carefully and crouch waiting for the hind to walk out from behind some foliage.

It all happens so quickly. The hind now presents herself. She stops broadside and now at 40 yards, I take the shot…. and to my relief the hind drops on the spot, rolls 10 metres down the hill until she comes to her final resting place. STOKED!!!!  All in the space of what feels like 15min since Helz left, and we have venison!

I was pretty confident Helen would have heard the shot and would be back to see what was going on but not to be. I gutted the animal on the spot and (as I do) hang the Heart (what was left) and lungs in a nearby tree and proceed to carry the hind back to the Hut to bone out so we can take all the meat we could home. Once I had taken all the meat of the carcass and I must say she was in good condition, I proceed to take the Jaw out and on very limited knowledge and the aid of the well-placed hunting magazine left in the hut by a previous party and that had a “how to “guide in it so at an attempt we ‘age’ the hind at approx. 4 – 5 years old (will find out later the actual age) Jaw is now in a Orange Sika Foundation Jaw Collection box back at base .

Finally secured another Sika all adding to the experience of the continued hunt here in the Kaweka and Kaimanawa backcountry.  This trip certainly is one to remember”

*Chris Newson

I thought he was joking when he casually said “I got you a deer babe” .

Sure, enough there she was, a good-sized sika hind with a kill shot through the heart. Absolutely stoked for him, well and us. Successful hunting trips for us when it comes to these animals are few and far between. We have had to hunt long and hard just for one successful story and this trip has certainly made it all worth it . Hanging her up and we are elated. Thank goodness for the fly spray left in the hut , this was a game changer at this time of year the flies are in the hundreds and a constant.

 A brutal couple of games of last card, another yummy hut dinner this time venison stew from a previous hunt. An early night and much needed sleep finds us .

Day 3

3^rd of January 2026

Hut bound and rained out

We wake to rain , the forecast had proven true. The day as we knew it was going to be a hut day. Perfect. The excuse not to go anywhere is just what we needed. In fact I believe everyone needs to experience a hut day . Cards, Chess, reading, and in my case writing. This is forced rest. Of course we have wet weather gear and it is by far not cold even in the slightest. Being a SE change still allows us to light the fire more out of comfort and something to do more than anything. The temptation to doze is there and also to eat all you rations but before you know the day will be gone and we will only dream of having a hut day again when we are back in the busyness of the real world.

The afternoon rolled round quick and the rain wasn’t letting up. Eventually we fund our selves seeking fresh air regardless of the weather. We chucked on our wet weather gear and heading back towards where all of yesterdays action went down. Chris took me to the native pockets of bush on the high track where he had shot the deer. Here you will need to pick your poison in regards to route choice to the Ripia River. There was a very old track marked and you would have to look very closely to get your eye on dated electrical tape faded with time. It isn’t hard to pick an animal track and follow single trails along a contour line and eventually you will drop down to the River . I would advise caution up here, the terrain is steep , narrow and requires some side saddling and concentration. If you are here for the hunt then this bush seems like it would be very productive. Plenty of fresh ‘sign’ and plenty of feed as well as being NE facing , there is opportunity to find deer sunning themselves also

1800 and the Southerly was very present and had bite about it. We decided that most living things would be bedded up in this and waiting for it to clear. We decide to do the same , the thought of the warm hut we had left pulling us back.

Day 4

4th January 2026

Bitter Sweet departure

The idea of stove top coffee was the only thing that was getting us out of bed this morning. The weather was still misbehaving and a good chill was still around. The surrounding hills were lost to the cloud on and off and for a second we wondered if our afternoon flight out would be delayed.

Chris processed the deer and in this case was grateful for the cooler temperatures because the meat has set quick nicely. We ready the hut , leaving it better than we found it. Pack , sit and wait.

The last few moments are left to the thoughts that start as you are about to leave the back country. Trying to hold on to the feeling one gets from having spent time decompressing in nature. Getting back to basics and appreciating the little things, simple things like warmth of a fire , a hot meal , dry clothes , and shelter. This time my thoughts went to , gosh when would be my next trip ?…

Will this be my last one with out a kid in tow? What does that new world look like ? How young is to young to bring a baby into the hills? All these thoughts only made me savour the here and now . The quiet and the views, the opportunity to have had all these years in the NZ Back-Country and now to turn attention to the fast approaching new era , teaching the next generation how to love and appreciate it as much as we do.

Ernies Creek you get a top score from us , made it very easy to promote !

*Learnings -check your gear still fits! hunting and bush apparel wasn’t at all maternity friendly (Stoney Creek camo tights for the win). Had to wear some of the husbands shirts 🙂

* More time or a better weather window- Summit Te Matai High Point 1235m

*Top meal -Packet mash , Wagyu beef Sausages , tinned peas, watties canned Mexican diced tomatoes -delish