Bushwalker Huts: Some Thoughts

[whynotwalk]

G'day all. I've just done a blog post about bushwalker huts. Some further thoughts should follow. You can read it at http://auntyscuttle.blogspot.com/2011/01/home-sweet-hut-part-1.html

cheers

Peter

Ironstone Hut, Lake Nameless

IronstoneHut2 small.JPG (139.73 KiB) Viewed 2198 times

[Lindsay]

Hi Peter, my only experience of huts has been on the Milford Track and on the OT, and there is a marked contrast. While the NZ huts are luxurious, and the hut wardens friendly and knowledgeable,I found the amount of regulation a little too irksome. At times I felt more like I was on a package tour rather than an independent walk. The Australian huts were far less sophisticated and often crowded, but were easygoing and friendly, with the marked exception of an incident at Windermere Hut.

It was cold and wet and the hut was crowded, both with independent walkers and guided walkers eating lunch and sheltering from the rain. I remember wishing rather uncharitably that the guided walkers would bugger off to their nice private hut and leave more room for the rest of us, when a large group, about 10 people, arrived, walking south to north. It seems there had been some sort of disagreement among this bunch earlier on, and tempers were fraying. After a look at the crowd and noting that the only available sleeping places were on the floor an argument broke out about pressing on to Waterfall Valley or even right to the finish. This got quite heated and was embarrassing to watch. Those who were moving on hurriedly packed up and left and the rest of us pretended to ignore the situation. Eventually about half the group upped and left with a final exchange of abuse, and the others retreated into a corner muttering to themselves. After about an hour they too suddenly upped and left. From the overheard conversation it seems that the transport from Cradle Mountain all belonged to those who had already gone ahead and the others didn't want to be stranded.

With the atmosphere suddenly lightened, those of us left discussed the niceties of hut good manners and what a pain larger groups could be in such situations. At least in NZ that situation would not have arisen. (given the booking system it probably doesn't on the OT anymore either)