The grassy expanse of Totara Flats. The site of the old hut is at top left. Photo: Ricky French

Message in a barrel

January 2021

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January 2021

On a trip to Totara Flats Hut in Tararua Forest Park, Ricky French unearths the unique geological and human history of the area as well as one man’s buried treasure.

We found the plastic barrel buried in the long grass near Sayer Hut. It was one of those 55 gallon drums (designed for shipping liquid food products) you see everywhere: in the back of warehouses, as rainwater containers, lashed together to make pontoons, but this was the first time I’d seen one buried in the […]
January 2021

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January 2021

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