Liverpool Hut sits high above the Matukituki Valley and provides visitors with magnificent views of Mt Aspiring/Tititea. It’s an adorable red hut, particularly well-known for having a loo with a view. 

There’s no fireplace, which my group didn’t think would be an issue in January but above the bushline horizontal hail began to hit us, and I did wonder what had become of my ‘summer’ holiday. 

We took shelter in the hut and just in time for sunset, the clouds cleared. The evening was spent learning about the night sky from another tramper who was an astronomer. Next morning, all the puddles around the hut had frozen solid.

The hut is reached on the West Matukituki Track beneath towering mountains and glaciers of the Snowdrift Range and Kā Tiritiri o te Moana/Southern Alps. On a clear day, even from the valley floor, it’s possible to spy the vibrant red of both Liverpool Hut to the left and French Ridge Hut on the right side of the valley. 

After passing Pearl Flat and Gloomy Gorge, there’s a brutal 1100m steep track to Liverpool Hut over slippery roots and rocks.