Yep, Mangatapopo is indeed a bad place to leave a car. Typically there are several piles of broken glass to be found in the carpark. Though I must admit it has been some time since I was last there ...

One one trip in order to advoid leaving our car unattended for the night at Mangatapopo (or Kiteahi) we decided to sleep in the shall shelter at the Mangatapopo carpark, and the following morning do a day walk to Keteahi hut returning back to Mangatapopo carpark. With light "day packs" this is quite achievable. Sleeping in the shelter is not strictly "legal" and when we got caught by the Mangatapopo hut warden we claimed that we were not sleeping but watching our car (the sleeping bags and roll mats were just for warmth and comfort). He was pretty understanding about this and left us to continue watching our car.