I searched for the Hidden Hut that might not exist

Ajouté : 2026-05-25

[00:00:01][music] >> Recently, I had tell of a hidden shelter in the bush near where I live.

[00:00:08]It's off the track and very well hidden, and I couldn't even find any information online.

[00:00:12]I don't even know if this place exists.

[00:00:15]It's getting pretty dark already.

[00:00:17]And I don't know where this place is.

[00:00:19]So, that's the mission. Follow my nose in a direction I only half know to a destination I know nothing about.

[00:00:25]Unfamiliar land in a very familiar place. I [music] can see my house from here. The problem is, it's almost winter. I've only got a few hours left until it gets dark, [music] so I better get moving.

[00:00:38]Just got to follow the creek bed up there.

[00:00:54]Oof.

[00:00:55]Cuz this is all farmland, the ground has no structural integrity.

[00:01:01]Uh if I slip, it's a pretty long way down.

[00:01:07]And the whole place smells like sheep's bum.

[00:01:10]>> [music] >> There's only 1 hour left until it gets dark.

[00:01:30]>> [music] >> Oh, look.

[00:01:39]A cell tower.

[00:01:46]>> [music] >> Whakatane, where I am now, is actually the kiwi capital of the world. So, the kiwi is one of our native birds. Since the introduction of pest species such as the rats, mice, stoats, ferrets, weasels, cats, and even dogs, populations of kiwi and our other native birds have just gone downhill. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Now, it's going to be about bush bashing through this dense bush uh till I get to the shelter pretty much, or where I think the shelter is.

[00:02:44]Now, that there could potentially be a kiwi burrow. They like to dig into the roots of trees, and that's where they nest.

[00:02:52]Now, this is an example of a trap that's working to protect our native birds. I'm not sure what this one does. I can't explain it to you. Must be a new one.

[00:03:01]What the hell?

[00:03:03]I've come right back to where I was before.

[00:03:13]Um that's not good.

[00:03:22]How did Swear I was just following the road.

[00:03:29]I literally did That's so comical. I just did a straight-up circle.

[00:03:32]You cannot make that up.

[00:03:43]Wow.

[00:03:53]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Seems to [music] have reached a fork in the road.

[00:04:30]And the map is just telling me to go that way. Right in between them.

[00:04:40]And that one appears to be gone.

[00:04:42]Kind of the closer direction.

[00:04:50]Bro, that is so dark already.

[00:04:57]Does make me wonder like what was this hut built for? Like if someone went to the effort to build it, why is it not talked about more? I've only ever heard of like a couple people kind of talk about it, but they couldn't give me any directions on how to get here.

[00:05:13]Yeah, my question is why? Why does it exist?

[00:05:23]Had to bust out the the head torch.

[00:05:27]It's very easy to lose track of the track.

[00:05:35]I'm starting to hear the first of New Zealand's nocturnal birds start to wake up.

[00:05:39]The ruru morepork is chipping away somewhere up that way.

[00:05:50]Now, according to the map that little dot there that I've marked should be it.

[00:05:56]Um Oh, actually speak of the devil.

[00:06:04]Look at that.

[00:06:07]Wow.

[00:06:12]Well thank goodness it actually exists. We're going to be setting up camp here tonight.

[00:06:22]I need to get some warm layers on fast cuz I sweat a whole lot on the way here and that's just going to cool on my body and potentially give me hypothermia.

[00:06:38]Think it's about time we got some dinner on.

[00:07:16]Bugger.

[00:07:18]I just put my hand in the fire.

[00:07:20]I really like this jacket.

[00:07:23]And luckily I bought some plasters.

[00:07:31]Here we go. Good as new.

[00:07:35]Leave your guesses as to what I'm cooking down in the comments.

[00:07:46]>> Do you hear that?

[00:07:47]I'm pretty sure that's a kiwi.

[00:08:00]Any guesses now?

[00:08:04]Ooh.

[00:08:26]What am I looking forward to this?

[00:08:32]Oh, man.

[00:08:40]According to this, um, handy dandy sign, the kiwi mating season has literally just begun this week.

[00:08:58]The item that I forgot today was my pillow, unfortunately.

[00:09:04]That is a tragic one to forget.

[00:09:06]But luckily, there's a work around. I'm just going to stuff all my warm clothes in my sleeping bag there, and then I know it won't be the best, but it's a pillow.

[00:09:17]Okay. Well, I think I'm going to curl up in the bed.

[00:09:21]Got some Caramilk Cadbury chocolate. I've, uh, I've had to be stingy.

[00:09:27]Couldn't buy the Whittaker's chocolate.

[00:09:28]Had to buy the cheap Cadbury stuff. The book of the day I'm going to be reading, well, I'm going to be being read to, I guess. Beau Miles, The Backyard Adventurer.

[00:09:40]Love that guy. Love his films on YouTube. Listening to his audio book today, and uh hopefully we can get a bit of inspiration.

[00:09:56]There is a beauty in the unexplainable passage of time when you're by yourself at sea because time seems to operate so differently.

[00:10:18]I desperately need a new sleeping mat because yeah, within about 20 minutes it was completely flat and I was just lying on the wooden board.

[00:10:28]It's raining outside.

[00:10:31]What the hell?

[00:10:33]That was not in the forecast.

[00:10:53]Cheers, fun night.

[00:10:59]Woo!

[00:11:01]That's a strong coffee. I had just like a little bit of the bag left over. I thought oh well, might as well might as well use the whole bag.

[00:11:13]>> [snorts] >> Goodbye, little shelter.

[00:11:22]See you next time, eh?

[00:11:24]Sort of leave here still still wondering what on earth it actually is for and why does no one know about it?

[00:11:52]So, Whakatane succeeded.

[00:11:54]In 27 years, kiwi populations have increased [music] by 1,000 fold.

[00:12:02]But, at the same time, [music] pest numbers are still very high, and there's still a lot of work to do.

[00:12:08]And, it might seem all doom and gloom, especially for us, >> [music] >> the inheritors of the earth.

[00:12:13]But, I think that's exactly why places like this are made, to educate and inspire the next generation.

[00:12:20]Because, here in Whakatane, we've made so much progress.

[00:12:24]And, like the hut I slept in last night, no one is talking about it.

[00:12:28]If you want to truly [music] succeed, it's going to take every single one of us.