Available for bookings by members and non-members
Pāua Hut is the club’s 10-bunk hideaway in the Ōrongorongo Valley, less than an hour’s drive from the Wellington CBD. The hut is nestled on a terrace among the beech forest about 2 hours walk from the Catchpool car park. Pāua is an excellent base for exploring the valley or just relaxing, the choice is up to you. If you do hang around, make sure to check out the tree swing! Outside the hut there is ample room for additional tents to cater for larger parties.

Booking information
Bookings are per bunk. There are 10 bunks in the hut in total.
To request a booking, select the required dates and the number of people in your group and complete the details in the form. You will be asked to provide payment as part of the booking process.
Note that a ‘day’ includes the night to the following morning.
You will be automatically emailed the code for the key lockbox 5 days and 1 day before the start date of your booking. Booking is essential.
General queries relating to Pāua Hut can be addressed to the Paua Hut Booking Officer.
What You Will Find at the Hut
– gas cooker
– pots and pans
– cups, plates and cutlery
– table and chairs
– ten sleeping mattresses on two platforms
– wood burner
– water at the sink (supplied from a roof tank)
– outside long drop toilet.

Fees and refunds
Charges per bunk per night are:
- Members:
- Adults – $5.00
- Youth/children(17 and under) – Free
- Non-members:
- Adults – $15.00
- Youth/children(17 and under) – $7.00.
The Club’s refund policy is available here.
Payments
The booking system will provide prompts to pay online.
Payments can also be made by bank transfers directly into the Club’s bank account (38-9017-0330533-00).
Please make the bank transfer after completing your booking on Seekom, and code the bank transfer as follows:
- The facility you booked (i.e. ‘Paua’)
- The booking number on the Seekom platform
- The surname the booking was made under.
Accurate descriptions will assist our volunteers to reconcile the accounts and ensure that payments are properly recorded in our financial statements. Payment queries can be addressed to the Treasurer.
Getting there
Pāua Hut is located on the banks of the Ōrongorongo River in the Remutaka Forest Park, about 2 hours easy walk from the Catchpool car park. The car park is approximately 45 minutes drive from Wellington. Note that the gates to the car park are open 6 am – 8 pm from 28 September until 7 April, and 6 am – 6 pm from 8 April until 27 September.
Walking to the hut from the Catchpool carpark involves a 2 hour walk along a wide easy track to the Ōrongorongo River, and then about 1 km of walking downstream along the river bed.
You’ll have to wade across the river a few times (usually three times). Note that after heavy rainfall, the river level may be too high to cross. You can check river flows here. River flows above 3 m³/s are likely to prevent crossings to and from the hut. If in doubt, DO NOT cross. If you are unable to reach Pāua Hut due to high river levels, please contact pauahut@wtmc.org.nz to reschedule your trip.
From the river, the landmark to look for is a 5 metre high cliff on the left (looking downstream) of the river. Pāua Hut is tucked into the bush on top of this cliff. A 4WD track leaves the river, crosses a large creek on the left and heads up to the terrace on top of the cliff, right past Pāua Hut. It can be followed up to the hut.
For those with a GPS the hut location is BQ38 645207, using the topo map NZ Topo50-BQ38 Lower Hutt [the full reference is E1764469 N5420709]. Or Lat -41.348464, Long 174.965515. Map Link



History of Pāua Hut
Pāua Hut was built in 1940 by the Paua Tramping Club, which was formed from the social club of Shell Oil employees. It was named after one of the company’s barges. In 1962 the few remaining members of the Paua Tramping Club merged with WTMC on the conditions that WTMC maintained Paua Hut and that the Paua club members retained access. Since then generations of WTMC members have looked after Pāua Hut. We ask that you do the same and continue this tradition.