[Tagging] Historic huts

Steve Bennett stevagewp at gmail.com
Wed Mar 27 04:16:05 UTC 2013


Hi all,
  Just wondering how best to tag the historic "alpine" huts we have in
the mountains of southeast Australia. Some basic properties:
- usually fully enclosed (4 walls and a roof) although not necessarily
weatherproof
- usually have fireplaces
- sometimes in good enough condition to sleep in (bring your own
mattress and bedding)
- primarily of historical interest, rather than for accommodation.
That is, you might have lunch in the hut, or camp next to it - you
wouldn't hike without a tent and plan to sleep in the huts. (They
often have rodent and/or snake inhabitants...)
- could possibly be completely uninhabitable or ruined. (Hiking maps
here typically don't make much distinction, they might say "Smith Hut
(ruins)")
- typically built between 1850 and say 1920 by stockmen (cattle farmers).
- only maintained for their heritage value - no one improves them,
there's no hut warden or anything.

Is this just an Australian thing? tourism=basic_hut seems like the
closest, but still promises accommodation. I think most Australians
would know what to expect, but there are frequent stories of unhappy
Europeans expecting hot meals in the middle of nowhere...

An example of a hut I visited on the weekend, Kelly Hut near Licola.
Rough wooden walls, corrugated iron roof, stone chimney, dirt floor.
There's a very rough sleeping platform (no mattresses), no table or
chairs. The door is a sheet of corrugated iron. I'd have lunch in
there, especially on a cold day, but I wouldn't sleep in there unless
desperate.

Steve



More information about the Tagging mailing list