5 days ago
Inside the lifesaving huts scattered throughout Australia's high country
In the middle of a white-out with howling winds and -5 degree Celsius temperatures, Karen Buckner was trying to reassure her three primary-school aged children they were not going to die.
It was summer in Kosciuszko National Park, but a blizzard had blown in rapidly and surrounded the family of hikers.
Visibility was next to nothing.
Studying the map, Karen decided to aim for the shelter of Millers Hut, a "really, really, tiny" shack, she said, built by brothers from second-hand materials over two days in the 1940s.
Millers Hut was lifesaving for the Buckner family during an unexpected summer blizzard. ( Supplied: Kosciuszko Huts Association )
For the Buckner family from Newcastle, seeing the one-room, corrugated-iron hut through the blistering, white wind was lifesaving.
"It's this huge relief," Karen said.
"There's no shelter out there at all. You have all your gear for safety, but to have the shelter of four walls and a roof is a lot.
"It certainly saved our family's life."
The Buckner family huddled around a fire in Millers Hut, which they say saved their lives. ( Supplied: Karen Buckner )
They bunkered down for three nights on their 2012 hike, praying the weather would change.
Karen's husband would venture out into the blizzard with socks on his hands to chop wood to load up the small fireplace.
They slept together on the floor in front of the flames of the fire.
Karen Buckner and her three children at Witzes hut. ( Supplied: Karen Buckner )
Those days became the highlight of the multi-day hiking trip.
"It's the memorable part of the trip," Karen said.
"When we talk about that hike, we talk about that hut.
"We don't actually remember the cheerful chatting along the track, we remember the adversity and staying in the shelter of the hut."
The hut network throughout the high country received national attention in January when missing hiker Hadi Nazari was found after eating only two muesli bars found in Opera House Hut.
It's one of the hardest-to-reach huts in Kosciuszko National Park, which, legend has it, cost more per square metre to build than the Sydney Opera House.
Karen has survived emergencies in huts decades before they made headlines.
She has sheltered in huts during blizzards or hailstorms four times while hiking in the Australian high country and has a deep appreciation for the huts, their history, and the people who use and maintain them.
Cootapatamba Hut stands near the summit of Mount Kosciuszko and is popular among skiers. ( Supplied: Angus Acacia )
Huts hold history
There are more than 200 historical huts scattered throughout the Australian high country from north of Canberra to south of Mount Buller.
Dating as far back as the mid-1800s, the huts were built by surveyors, fishers, miners, cattle musterers, loggers, brumby drivers, hydrologists, meteorologists or keen bushwalking and ski groups.
Valentine Hut was built in the 1950s to support a surveying crew. ( Supplied: Michael Milkovits )
Some are made from flat, rounded river stones, others from cypress pine logs, others from tin.
Each has its own unique quirks.
Mountain legend tells of a one-armed man building a hut.
Kunama Hut was brought from Sydney's northern beaches by truck and by saddle to stand a few kilometres from the summit of Mount Kosciuszko, while Illawong Hut was rowed along the river to its permanent home.
Grey Mare Hut is famous for its painted nude murals.
Murals on the wall of Grey Mare Hut. ( Supplied: Klaus Hueneke Collection, National Alpine Museum Australia )
Four Mile Hut had live dynamite stored under one of the bunks until the 1980s.
The newspapers lining Coolamine Hut were glued onto the walls with a mixture of flour and water for premium insulation during the 1880s, while the newspapers on the walls of O'Keefe's Hut, now preserved behind perspex, tell of fascist Germany in the 1940s.
The walls of O'Keefes Hut are lined with newspapers from the 1940s. ( ABC News: James Tugwell )
Karen said the huts offered a little window into the past.
"They're a big part of the culture of the place," she said.
"They hold a lot of history.
"You look at these huts and think, 'Wow, someone dragged all this stuff out here and built them."
O'Keefes Hut in the Jagungal Wilderness. ( ABC News: James Tugwell )
The caretakers
The wooden door of Whites River Hut is off its hinges and on the workbench for a fresh coat of brown paint.
All the huts are looked after by volunteer caretakers from either the Kosciuszko Huts Association or the Victorian High Country Huts Association.
A Boobee Hut working party heads for home. ( Supplied: Klaus Hueneke Collection, National Alpine Museum Australia )
Today, Whites River Hut caretaker Angus Broad is hard at work cleaning up the hut he has been maintaining for more than 20 years.
"A bit of a polish up, painting this or that, and just making sure it's clean," Angus said.
In the 1940s, caretakers were surprised to find a cow trapped inside the hut after the door was left open.
There are no surprises for Angus today.
Angus Broad loves being able to care for Whites River Hut. ( ABC News: James Tugwell )
He gives the small cattleman's hut a sweep and replaces the logbook signed by visitors with a new, fresh book.
The old book has been filled since May 2022 with entries from hikers, school groups, snowboarders and mountain bikers.
Visitors from as far as Townsville have left poems, drawings and stories of their adventures.
The logbook in Whites River Hut is full of stories of adventure. ( ABC News: James Tugwell )
There's a report of a hiker returning after 48 years and a ghost encounter with no further details provided.
One entry reads:
"Zeus decided to unleash his powerful thunder upon us.
"We gathered at Whites River to wait out the storm. Zeus, we look forward to a rematch."
The next day, according to the next entry, 17 people squished in during a thunderstorm.
The table — one of the only furniture pieces in the room — is etched with a graffitied history of other visitors, too.
Graffiti left by visitors on the table at Whites River Hut is a record of history. ( ABC News: James Tugwell )
"It's a sense of history and there's importance in preserving and maintaining the hut," Angus said.
His father skied Kosciuszko Main Range in the 30s, sheltering in huts across the mountains.
Angus is, in a way, skiing in the tracks of his father.
Reflecting on the personal significance of Whites River Hut brings him to tears.
"I had that history of his involvement when I came out to ski," he said.
"What is unique about Whites River Hut, as far as I'm concerned, is there is a history that makes it relevant to me."
There's always odd jobs for Angus to do every time he visits Whites River Hut. ( ABC News: James Tugwell )
It's a history he wants to pass on.
"Last night we had two young women with babies — one 10 months, one five months — who had come out here with a pram and camped outside for two nights," he said.
"That's special."
Angus has driven more than six hours from Nowra to Whites River at least once every year for the past two decades to make sure the hut is in tip-top condition.
There's no place Angus would rather be than in his tent next to Whites River Hut. ( ABC News: James Tugwell )
"Most people don't know what is actually out here on the main range of Kosciuszko," he said.
"They haven't been out here. They don't know the huts. Therefore, they don't understand the reason I'd want to do this.
"What we are doing is giving people who are coming here, staying the night, a place which is welcoming — that looks like it's well maintained.
"There's a level of pride leaving it in good condition."
There's no place he'd rather be than in his tent on the grassy flat beside the hut, falling asleep to the trickle of the nearby stream knowing the hut is glistening again.
"Kosciuszko is a unique area. It's one of those places you fall into and you form a bond with," he said.
"With the huts, when people come out here they see the value of the huts.
"They're a part of a vernacular history of the national park."
Delanys Hut between Adaminaby and Tumut, under a clear, Milky Way. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
Virtual tours
Kosciuszko Huts Association huts maintenance officer Marion Plum revs a four-wheel-drive full of paint supplies, nails and equipment along a dirt road deep in the heart of the national park.
Two weeks after helping Angus out at the Whites River working bee, she'll be out with her son and grandchildren caretaking at Valentine Hut.
Marion Plum says the huts have their own personalities. ( ABC News: James Tugwell )
She spends most weekends out in the mountains because she "just can't help it".
"It's a wonderful feeling coming across a hut," she said.
"They do have their own personalities. They are quite vastly different and have their own character.
"It's a little home away from home."
Some hut caretakers have been volunteering for more than 50 years. ( Supplied: Michael Milkovits )
She's spent many nights under the stars sharing stories about the huts and the mountains and remembers fondly her grandchildren's excitement when an antechinus (native marsupial mouse) would dart out across the floor.
"Particularly around the campfire at night we sit back and think how lucky are we to be here. It's a privilege to volunteer," she said.
A hiker enjoying the cosiness of Millers Hut with the fire on. ( Supplied: Tim Attwood )
Ms Plum, who oversees caretakers at 19 huts, said some had been volunteering more than 50 years.
"They come from all over and they travel down here because of their love of the mountains and the huts," she said.
Ms Plum is helping share the quirkiness of the huts with more people through a database of 3D renderings of the buildings.
She has helped electronically record 30 huts in two years, with the same technology used by real estate agents.
Ms Plum said it made doing repairs easier as volunteers could take measurements for materials before travelling to the hut.
It also creates a permanent record of a hut's character and likeness.
Because sadly, sometimes disaster strikes the huts.
A burning legacy
Whites River Hut is surrounded by the grey skeletons of gumtrees burnt during the 2003 fires.
The hut itself wasn't damaged beyond some blistering of the paint.
The chimney of Whites River Hut against the backdrop of trees burnt during the 2003 bushfire. ( ABC News: James Tugwell )
However, 10 huts needed to be rebuilt. Another 11 huts were burnt during the Black Summer bushfires.
After the Black Summer bushfires, Ms Plum said the association received thousands of donations from across Australia and all around the world to support the rebuilding of the huts.
"People just love the huts," she said.
Sawyers Hut was destroyed during the Black Summer bushfires. ( ABC News: Matt Roberts )
Rebuilding is something Ms Plum said was important for the history of Kosciuszko National Park.
"The story stops if the hut isn't rebuilt," she said.
"But if the hut is rebuilt the story continues because people continue to visit that hut. The fact it was burnt and rebuilt becomes part of the story."
NPWS builders Peter and Roger enjoy morning tea during the reconstruction of Four Mile Hut. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
The fight to rebuild
National Parks and Wildlife Services ranger and hut rebuilding project manager Megan Bowden said it was heartbreaking to see the burnt remains of the huts after the fires.
She oversaw the rebuilding of all 11 huts damaged during the Black Summer bushfires.
"If we lose these huts, then 60 huts becomes 50, then 40, and we lose the whole cultural landscape of these huts dotted across the landscape," Ms Bowden said.
NPWS study old records to ensure the rebuilds are as accurate as possible to the original. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
NPWS staff study old records to ensure the rebuilds are as accurate as possible to the original. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors) The construction of the frame of Brooks Hut. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
The construction of the frame of Brooks Hut. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors) The construction of Brooks Hut near the Eucumbene Dam. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
The construction of Brooks Hut near the Eucumbene Dam. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors) The inside of the new Brooks Hut. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
Inside the new Brooks Hut. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors) Four Mile Hut was one of 11 rebuilt after being destroyed during Black Summer. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
Workers were able to use modern technology but tried to replicate the original hut designs as much as possible. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors) Huts throughout the mountains look different in each season depending on the plants around them. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
Huts throughout the mountains look different each season depending on the plants around them. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors) In the middle of the wilderness, the huts are popular with astrophotographers looking for a clear night sky. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
In the middle of the wilderness, the huts are popular with astrophotographers looking for a clear night sky. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors) Brooks Hut is tucked into the side of a hill in a landscape that was badly burnt during Black Summer. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
Brooks Hut is tucked into the side of a hill in a landscape that was badly burnt during Black Summer. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors)
"They're really good markers of previous land use of the area — from stockman, to graziers, to timber getters, to the construction of the Snowy Scheme.
"They all tell a story of the different layers of what is now known as Kosciuszko National Park."
The rebuilding process took almost five years to complete, but Ms Bowden said accuracy was important, with builders trawling through historical photos and archives.
Vickerys Hut was constructed from timber logs. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
Vickerys Hut was constructed from timber logs. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors) The construction of Vickerys Hut in a warehouse in Tumut. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
The construction of Vickerys Hut in a warehouse in Tumut. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors) Some things never change. A KHA work party at Vickerys Hut in 1987 and it's still being looked after today. ( Supplied: Kosciuszko Huts Association )
Some things never change. A KHA work party at Vickerys Hut in 1987 and it's still being looked after today. (Supplied: Kosciuszko Huts Association) The final touches are applied to the new Vickerys Hut. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
The final touches are applied to the new Vickerys Hut. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors) Vickerys Hut was rebuilt after the Black Summer bushfires. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
Vickerys Hut was first built in 1938 and restored in 2024. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors) Families and friends involved in Vickerys Hut at the official re-opening after being rebuilt. ( Supplied: Tom's Outdoors )
The official re-opening of Vickerys Hut. (Supplied: Tom's Outdoors)
"When you visit these places you can feel the history, the beauty of the fabric and how they've been built," she said.
"The skill that went into building these huts, making use of the materials around them and without modern technology always captivates me."
The burnt Vickerys Hut was built in a workshop in Tumut, dismantled and transported in bundles and reassembled on site.
Linesmans Hut being lifted into position helicopter in the Jagungal Wilderness. ( Supplied: NSW Parks and Wildlife Service )
So too, sections of Linesmans No.3 Hut were airlifted into location by helicopter.
Ms Bowden said the effort was entirely worthwhile.
"When it's all packed up and you look back on the hut and sit on the verandah and look down the valley, it's magical," she said.
On the verandah at The Pines Cottage, Currango. ( Supplied: Klaus Hueneke Collection, National Alpine Museum Australia )
Each hut had a reopening ceremony, attended by caretakers, friends of the hut and, in some instances, people who used to live in the huts.
Boyce Boots attended the reopening of Happy's Hut in 2024, 82 years after living there as a boy with his stockman father.
Mr Boots had found his name pencilled on the wall of the hut in 2011, and told the crowd gathered at the official opening about his childhood at the hut milking the cows every morning — even in blizzards — and carting water up the hill in buckets.
"Watching him recount his stories and life there was magical," Ms Bowden said.
"They're all unique. They're all different. They're important individually — because of how they've been built. They also have that family connection.
"They're living museums."
