Miracle makeovers
When you decide to take on the job of restoring a neglected backcountry hut at the top of a 1000m high ridge in the Ruahine Ranges, you might not necessarily expect one of your biggest headaches to be working out a way to stop people driving their cars onto the roof.
But this was one of the problems faced by Dannevirke woman Cherry Peeti-Tapurau and her crew of volunteers when they set about repairing the badly vandalised hut known simply as A-Frame, in the southern extent of the North Island forest park.
The hut’s vulnerability lay in being accessible by a four-wheel-drive track. Its triangular shape proved too tempting for weekend hoons, who used the roof to create what was possibly New Zealand’s most picturesque 4WD obstacle course. The inside of the hut was treated with the same level of respect, strewn with
