The Orongorongo Club is a strong advocate of conservation and preservation of the unique nature of the Orongorongo Valley and its environs, and particularly supports the continued presence of huts and their multiple usage in the area. The club continues to campaign for hut licences to become transferable to allow the wider community to own huts in the area.
Hut owners provide an important watchdog role with their presence in the valley and provide valued support to valley visitors through assistance with Search and Rescue efforts and river crossings.
About the Orongorongo Club
The Five Miler Newsletter
The club produces a regular newsletter called the Five Miler Newsletter. The newsletter provides an important source of information for members including vehicle access dates, event dates, Department of Conservation and Rimutaka Forest Park Trust updates, as well as write-ups about social events and hut histories. In recent years the club has also included a kid’s page for its Junior Members where they can find out interesting facts and fun activities about our native plants and animals.
Vehicle Access
The club negotiates with the Orongorongo Station and the Department of Conservation for regular access to the valley by vehicle, for the servicing and maintaining of huts and also obtains special vehicle permits to transport elderly and disabled club members and members of the public into the valley. The club organises an annual road maintenance weekend to repair and upgrade the 4wd access road into the valley and the tracks through the river flats in the mid valley. This work includes clearing and/or installing culverts and drainage channels, filling potholes and re-metalling the road surface, trimming and clearing over-grown vegetation and also rubbish removal from within the valley.
