Thread: Old huts

Greetings All,
A few years ago I wrote a story for the NZ Guns and Hunting on an early walk into the now gone Lawrence Hut. In it I mentioned the Black Whare which we passed on the way in. I had not been able to find a photo of the hut until a friend gave me a slide showing it which was likely taken around 1960.
Lester Masters gives some info into its early history. It was built in the last two decades of the 1800's by a couple of men who were pit sawing timber in an adjacent patch of bush. They used timber sawn on site ant the interor was lined as you can see on the photo. Later the whare was used by staff on Waiwhare Station. During this time one of the staff was asked to turn out a mob of sheep into the Quarry padock. The gentleman, whose name was Hapi, so tasked heard Quarry as Whare and set out on what was a significant drive returning after dark to the relief of others who were organising a search party. Thereafter the whare was known as Happy Valley Hut for a time and the valley where it sits is known as Happy Valley. More recently some have called the hut Back Whare and the road close to its location is so named. I have looked for the hut recently but could find no trace. It was visible from the road up until the felling of the first rotation of pines around 2000.



Regards Grandpamac.

One from the past.... how things were.

the year i left school , the next year i was up there on my way to the Horace Walker bivy