Greys Hut

Maintenance Status
The Department of Conservation at Karamea is responsible for maintaining Greys Hut, although their input has been intermittent over the years. Jason Campbell, Mayer Levy, Bruce Polkinghorn and Geoff Love did some maintenance on the Hut and a bit of trackwork in 2016, then in May 2021 Davey Guppy from DOC Karamea and John Taylor from DOC Takaka went in and fixed up the hearth and fireplace. In February 2024 Ben Piggott and Mike Detlaff from DOC Hokitika did some roof repairs, rodent control and vegetation clearance around the hut site. The track doesn't appear to be officially maintained was getting rough and hard to follow in a few places. A local person has been doing a bit of tidying and marking, and Andrew Barker of Permolat went in with a crew in February to get the rest up to scratch.

Location
Karamea catchment. Map BQ22. Grid Ref: E1539304/ N5434543 (BQ22 393 345). Altitude 85m. Greys Hut is located on a bush terrace on the TR of the Karamea River, 1-2 hours walk upstream from the Karamea Gorge. Although inside the Kahurangi National Park boundary, it is fairly low-use hut. For the last few years, it has averaged around 15 visits per year, around 50% of which are kayaking parties, many of whom don't stay overnight. Foot parties comprise a mix of fishers, hunters and trampers. The forest around the Hut is predominantly beech and hardwood.

Access
From Karamea township head 10kms up the TR bank of Karamea River along Umere Road to a small car park just before Virgin Stream. A track on the TL of Virgin Stream leads down to the Karamea, then follows the River along a narrow terrace. There is a 250m river section before the track returns to the bush 200m below the cableway. A few metres past the cableway, cross over an old pack track and continue along the river terrace, now clearly marked. Eventually the track climbs up to a higher terrace and rejoins the pack track. The going is mostly benched and relatively easy for the next three kms, after which it becomes more difficult, either sidling around bluffs, or boulder hopping up the riverbed. The last bluff below Greys Hut which is called Mohawk Bluff is benched and easier travel. There are three optional flood detours and in other parts the bush has been trimmed back above the high-water mark. Most entry and exit points are clearly marked with large orange triangles or double smaller ones. The Hut is concealed in the forest around 30 meters from the riverbank at the top end of a clearing. A reasonably fit, experienced party should be able to access the Hut from the road end in around 4-5 hours.

There is river access for kayaks or rafts from the Karamea Bend down to Greys.

Type
Greys is a standard six-bunk New Zealand Forest Service S70 design with open fire. It has mock weatherboard iron cladding in place of the usual flat iron (a common feature of Nelson Conservancy huts) and an open wood box/ cupboard type alcove outside of the door. There is an external long-drop toilet.

Condition
DOC Westport had already completed some of the urgent remedial maintenance when Mayer and his team went in in February 2016. This comprised resealing the fireplace and patching the hole in floor. The work completed by Mayer and friends was painting of the inside and outside of the Hut, constructing a porch awning, replacing springs on bunk beds with 21mm ply, constructing shelving, a fire mantle, and hut book holder, fixing the toilet lintel, installing coat hooks, and making a new drying rack. In 2021 Davey and John pulled out the old hearth poured a new one. In 2024 Mike and Ben removed the roof and cleared out all the rat nests in the cavity. They then wrapped it in building paper before refastening the iron. Two new sheets of clearlight were put on and the rat entrance in the porch was blocked off. Insect screens were added, but unfortunately in a way that prevents the louvres from opening very far. The screens can be removed at your peril as the sandflies here are diabolical. The encroaching regen around the hut was also trimmed back. There is a key for the bait dispenser in the cupboard. At last report the bait supply had been used up.

Routes
There are any number of routes to Greys from the Tasman Wilderness area and Kahurangi National Park via the upper Karamea and its numerous tributaries. All require high levels of fitness, bushcraft and navigation skills. Travel upriver from the Hut as far as Greys Creek is relatively easy with one bluff to negotiate on the way. Phillip Collyns mentions a trip over Bald Knob from the Ugly River (so named because of the hordes of sandflies there) and down Greys Stream to the Karamea River. There is a headland just upstream of the Greys Hut that you have to bash over if coming downriver.

There used to be a track from Kakapo Stream up the TR of the valley to Greys, but there is only one account on hand of anyone using it in the past 22 years. It would be interesting to see if there were any useable remnants of this route.

Repairs needed.
The concrete steps could do with repairing. Contact Jess Curtis at DOC Westport for track marking supplies as it is best to keep this track maintained with orange triangles. More rat baits need to be taken in.

Provisions on site
An aluminium basin, an axe, a billy (without lid), a frypan, a fish slice, two trestle seats, and H3 21mm structural ply sheets under Hut.