Thread: Old huts

johnd,s original post in Jan 18 kicking off this thread.Pretty sure the first happy snap is of the NZFS Jam Hut in Jam Stream,T.R. Clarence Blk. The background steep weetbix country should jog memories

This is the original Ruahine Corner Hut when i first went there must have been late 1970s.
You can see frame for new hut nearby, this a photo of my original so date not correct

Anyone who has hunted the Hihitahi bush near Taihape will know Zekes hut ,it has been replaced by a flash new one now.

Originally Posted by 30late

Anyone who has hunted the Hihitahi bush near Taihape will know Zekes hut ,it has been replaced by a flash new one now.
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Yip stayed there plenty of roars with my mate and his old man Graham Nichol.

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Very close @bluebaiter222 , but I will give its secret location.
Its the Muzzle hut in the Muzzle stream.
If you look on a map it was / is situated at the fork in the stream.
Back when I took this picture in around 1980 the hut was still like new, the matresses were in good nick and the billies and pots all clean as.
Mein Fuhrer of the day Les Battersby told us before we went in.
"oh yeah I have shot Chamy from the door"

Well we were sitting on a log outside the hut having a break when someone says
"Dont look now but I think theres three Chamy looking down at us"

Bugger me!

The hut was a trick to find as it was tucked back in behind trees on the stream junction. Also I guess being on the Bluff Station at the time made poor access for Joe Blogs and it was probably a 6 hr drive in if you had permission. The cullers would have used it I guess, but they seemed to concentrate more on the seaward range.

It sure was step country, we used to grow our eyebrows long just to hang on when sidling ( an old saying from back in the day)

She,s a dead ringer for the Jam Hut.Especially with the non std coloursteel weatherboards as exterior cladding.FS must have used that as default cladding when setting up the Clarence Blk Huts.Could have sworn that photo background is where you throw the tea leaves @ the Jam Hut

Here's the new one.

Hey Shearer thanks for posting that, the new hut is definatly an upgrade but i have a lot of good memories from staying in the old Zekes hut , used to practically live there in my possum trapping days when i lived in Taihape. cheers

Never made it to the Jam, went up the George and to the saddle but was never a destination I needed at that time in my life. I think by the time I got to the top, it was time enough to go home. There was plenty of hunting on the other side of the river as a rule if you didnt have venison in mind ( there were plenty around, you just werent allowed to shoot them.)
Just as a side note, I was watching the George stream for a while one day hoping an animal would come out and to my surprise a stoat zipped out onto the rocks, and across to the other side.
What the fuck are you doing up here I thought to myself, I should have shot the little bugger as it turns out as no deer were seen.

Here's one from yesteryear.

man that photo of Sids takes me back Did a number of 3 month stints in there and Tewaiotukapiti culling for FS in early seventies

Here’s a cool wee hut I’m sure some of you know. Built in 1920. Bunks are made of Manuka. Has a hefty hut book that goes back to the mid 1980s, even with people writing several pages per entry.

Originally Posted by Pixie Z

Here’s a cool wee hut I’m sure some of you know. Built in 1920. Bunks are made of Manuka. Has a hefty hut book that goes back to the mid 1980s, even with people writing several pages per entry.

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Almost as interesting as one of its builders Alex Shute, who lived there for some years. When it was built Alex was not long out of hospital after being wounded in WW1 when the hut was built. Alex (Alexander) was a thoroughly interesting chap who was likely most at peace at the hut. Lester Masters talks about him in Back Country Tales and wrote this about him.

Old Alex Shutewas a rabbiting man,
In the high lands of the Bay,
He'd pull your leg and drink your grog,
And yet you would want to stay,
With that old coot of a toughie Shute,
In the high lands of the Bay.

Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by Pixie Z

Here’s a cool wee hut I’m sure some of you know. Built in 1920. Bunks are made of Manuka. Has a hefty hut book that goes back to the mid 1980s, even with people writing several pages per entry.

Attachment 202545

And here it is "back in the day" long before DOC cut down Alex's pine trees and fruit trees

Sid's Camp, Lower Waiau below Te Waiotukapiti.