Brewster Hut

Since being in New Zealand, we’ve heard over and over again about the awesome hut network that exists in the country. If you look at a map of New Zealand’s huts it’s immediately apparent that wherever you are in the country you are never very far from a hut. The huts vary from newly built, 12 to 20 bunk huts with fully functioning kitchens and toilets, to uninsulated wooden shacks in the middle of nowhere with holes in the wall and rats under the floorboards. Regardless, it is a very impressive network and gives a totally different experience to travelling in the backcountry.

Since we had heard so much about these huts, we’ve been trying for a while to get out to stay the night in one. Both Hilary and I have been busy with work and since my last post, we have been biking in Queenstown and doing smaller hikes in the area that haven’t warranted a post on the website. On our last set of days off, however, we finally made it out to Brewster Hut for a night in the mountains and had an awesome time!

The hike to Brewster Hut starts about an hour north of Wanaka in a place called Haast Pass. It’s an area that gets a lots of precipitation, so the entire valley is covered in a thick beech forest that is a very typical New Zealand vegetation. The road through Haast Pass follows the river at the bottom of a steep valley and is lined with steep peaks on either side. We have driven through Haast Pass several times, but had never done any of the hikes.

The walk starts at a place called Fantail Falls which has a small parking lot. You then cross the river and begin the steep climb upwards through the beech forest. I usually don’t enjoy walking or hiking through trails in the trees because you’re not able to take in the views around you and I find that forests tend to become monotonous after a while. New Zealand’s beech forests have definitely changed this for me though. They are somehow a magical mix of ancient twisting trees, branches, and roots, and subtle varying hues of green moss and lichen. The climb through the trees took us about an hour and a half and every step that we took it seemed like the forest changed. I couldn’t get enough, and the whole time it felt like we were walking through Fanghorn Forest from the Lord of the Rings and were about to encounter a bunch of wood elves or something.

Once we eventually broke out of the trees, we knew that we were close to the hut. Every rise that we went over, we expected to see the hut, but it seemed to never be there.

About 45 minutes later, we were finally able to see the red walls of the hut in front of us and were soon relieved to be able to set our bags down and rest our feet after the steep climb.

That evening, we hung around the hut, had some Mi Goreng noodles for supper, and watched the sun set over the valley from the deck. We sat outside for a long time watching the colours come and go in the sky while the sun dropped behind the mountain. Shortly after the stars came out and a few hours later the sun rose behind Brewster Hut and lit up the night.

The hut has 12 bunks, a large cooking area, and a small bathroom. It’s first-come first-served, and since the hut was full when we arrived, we ended up sleeping on the deck of the hut. Luckily we had brought our sleeping mats and were able to sleep outside under the stars. From past experience in huts, I knew that they can sometimes be stuffy, noisy, and smelly so we didn’t mind the peace and quiet at all. Just after the sun had set, however, the wind had begun to pick up which made it quite cold outside. We decided to move inside about halfway through the night and slept on the floor of the kitchen for the rest of the night.

Photo Tour of Brewster Hut:

Sometimes, photos just do a better job of explaining something than words, so here are a few pictures from the hut. It’s like an episode of MTV’s show Cribs, except with photos, and without the celebrities, so on second thought, it’s not like Cribs at all. But either way, this is what Brewster Hut looks like.

Climbing Mount Armstrong:

We woke up at 5:00 AM, as we were planning to climb Mount Armstrong to watch the sun rise from the peak. Mount Armstrong is directly behind Brewster Hut and the path begins from the front steps of the hut.

It was still dark out when we began the climb but the moon was up and shining quite brightly. Even though we were quite tired from not sleeping much during the night, it was an exhilarating feeling to be hiking under the moon and the stars. Most people say that the climb up Armstrong takes about 2 hours, but we ended up taking a longer route that takes you far around the edge of the mountain before wrapping back up to the peak. Because of this, it took us closer to two and a half hours to get to the peak.

When we finally arrived, it was around 7:30 in the morning and the colours were just beginning to appear on the horizon. There were a few others from the hut up on the peak with us as well and we sat for a long time watching the sun rise over the mountains and taking pictures as the light and colours changed in the sky.

It was definitely one of the most memorable hikes that I’ve ever done and although the hike itself isn’t exceptional, the views from the peak, and the sunrise made it very special. From the peak, you can see across the ridge to the glacier covered face of Mount Brewster, you can see the Tasman Sea to the west which separates New Zealand from Australia, and you can see all the way to the valley floor where our vehicle was parked.

After a few minutes at the peak, the sun finally appeared and the highest peaks began to gather the first light of the day. The stars faded out of the night sky and the first warmth of the day started to chase the chill out of the air. We sat for a long time with no one wanting to say anything to break the silence and watched the sun climb above the horizon and cast its soft light across the peaks and valleys. All around us we could see glaciers, steep ridges and spires, and deep valleys. There was hardly a breath of wind and everything was still, silent, and calm.

After a few hours on the summit of Mount Armstrong, we reluctantly began to make our way down the mountain. Everything looked different in the light of the morning and the climb up through the darkness seemed like a distant dream already. It was immediately obvious during the descent that we had taken a wrong turn somewhere on the climb up because we were able to descend directly down from the peak in a straight line back to the hut instead of the round-about way that we had climbed in the morning.

When we finally arrived back at the hut we had some breakfast and rested in the sun for a few hours before packing up our things and making our way back down. Because the path back down is so steep, we were almost as long going down as we had been coming up. Each step has to be planned and placed perfectly to avoid slipping so the descent was just as painful and slow as the climb up had been. Luckily it is quite a short distance, however, and we were back at the vehicle in a few hours.

Our first hut experience in New Zealand was a definite success and already has us planning more trips. There is so much to see and explore and the abundance of huts makes everything a lot more accessible. No matter where we go next, however, I’m sure that Brewster Hut and the sunrise from Mount Armstrong will remain as one of our most memorable moments from our time in New Zealand. Thanks for reading, and check back for our next adventure!