Annual meeting

Saturday, October 17 2026

Some fun track work: 10am, Chinese Village, Arrowtown

Show our appreciation to the Mahu Whenua Covenant. Bring a shovel, gardening gloves and a backpack to carry some stuff. Other useful tools are picks/grubbers, sledgehammer/mallet.

Meeting: 4pm, Fork and Tap, Arrowtown (out the back somewhere)

Beer and pizza!

If you’re late I’ll leave some lengths of wood and pegs to form steps beside the red van at the start of the Bush Creek track.

Budget for 2026/27

  • $4000 for improved doors at Hyde and Crown Basin Turk. Probably uPVC since I have seen this used in other alpine environments such as Temple Basin Ski huts (more below).
  • $3000 for generic maintenance. To be spent at the maintenance manager’s discretion, with committee agreement.
  • $2000 to revise website. A lot of work has been done on this, I just need some help getting it over the line! My problem is I work with technology all day and struggle to tackle this project in a skill set I’m not familiar with. I usually delegate such tasks, hence a small budget so I can. Ideally I’m looking for a WordPress expert who wants to be part of the club (or already is).

 

 

What is a Turk?

Watch this video to get an idea of what it is all about:

Welcome to the home of the Mountain Turk Club

The goal of this club is to build, install and manage Turks in mountain environments of New Zealand.

A Turk (tank hut) is a lightweight, helicopter flyable mountain hut based on a large plastic water tank. Creative interior design combined with the circular shape results in a highly efficient and relaxing space that is safe in even the most extreme of storms. The name derives from the saying “Not a hut and not a yurt, not a tank so must be a Turk”. About Turks

The club currently has 6 Turks in the mountains between Wanaka and Queenstown. There is no restriction in being involved, however to use the huts you need to be a member of the club – see Club Membership requirements here.

The first 5 of these Turk form the Mahu Whenua Traverse  or look at a map.  You can read About Erik and some Turk history to help understand what is going on here.

If you’re already a member and want to stay at a Turk, make a booking here..

Polnoon Saddle Turk

 

Mt Hyde Turk

 

Saint Just Turk

 

Vanguard Peak Turk

 

Deep Creek Turk

 

Crown Basin Turk

 

Get involved register for emails. This is the primary method of club communication.

The Mountain Turk Club Privacy Policy can be found here

Flying in a Turk below a Squirrel B3

A good armchair. A must for all Turks

4 Comments

  • Paul Corwin

    Dear Erik, my wife Sally Widdowson and I have just joined MTC. (Our friend Zane Kerse sent us updates on the project.) Based up at Christchurch and Cass not sure when we will be able to use the huts but think they are such a great idea! In March we were in Canada and did the Wapta traverse. We had a night in the new Guy hut–An amazing hut but it must have cost a gazillion $ . It had triple glazing and incredible insulation and needed no heating even when it dropped to -20 at night. It has wind, solar and propane power. It has no water source so is closed in the summer!

    Let us know if you have any proposed Turk sites up in Canterbury we could help with. The one place that really needs one is in the Murchison at Mt. Cook. Doing trips like Classen Saddle or the Aida Glacier are long days from Kelman Hut these days.

    Good luck with beating the lockdowns before winter. Paul and Sally

  • STUART TILLER

    The March 2020 edition of FMCNZ Bulletin, Backcountry, has a mouthwatering article about Turks and the Manua Whenua traverse. What a dream of an idea and what a dream traverse to do. Hint, hint. If you ever there is an opportunity to do this and have room in your party my hand is up.
    After COVID the world is going to have to be very different. A timely rejig of everyone’s ideas about what matters most in life. And Manua Whenua traverse has to be right up there as an example of the new reality. Simple, in touch with nature, healthy, egalitarian and home based. Congratulations. Stuart Tiller. Auckland.

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