MANSON MADNESS

Twisting its way up the mighty Ngaruroro river, it then banked sharply to the left before its cargo was dropped down to the thick, scrub-covered faces.

Sweat dripped off the men as they cut manuka poles from the surrounding hills before dragging them back through the scrub to the small clearing on the hot January day. The long slow process of stripping the bark from the trunks to reveal the clean timber took place before the gang worked on the foundations. The mighty hand-built hut started to take shape before being completed in June of 1970. For the next 48 years, this