Golden Hills Hut Restoration

Our new member Murray N has asked me to post a series of five stories about the restoration of the old Golden Hills hut in the Kaimanawa Range - Murray is a very experienced Tauranga hunter and builder
Murray has developed the stories with his tech advisor who formatted them into pdf files - I have arranged to store them in the cloud on a Google directory - so long as the link remains open for others to view - they should be fine - let me know if they fall over
Enjoy -

Trip 1
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1M4...-MRQ-HF9ApMT9S

Trip 2 Part A
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Qm...umFe8ICILTaG6-

Trip 2 Part B
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Gk...5XKFmA3W13louv

Trip 3
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1W8...kXCp9XcpN2BeRh

Trip 4
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1uu...SuSyJSfwhvI8Gi

Yeah followed the restoration over at the other pub. Stories are a interesting read. Great effort by the restoration team.

Thanks enjoyed that:)

Absolutely excellent.

I love seeing things like this happening, Keeping our local history is so important but seems to be overlooked so often. We are a young country but we have lost so much of our history already.
Top effort and a great read.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by time out

Murray has developed the stories with his tech advisor who formatted them into pdf files....

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Tech advisor?

In this day and age I take it this is probably his 12 year old child.

:)

Thanks for posting those - good to see huts being restored instead of pulled down.

:thumbsup:

Great stuff

Big ups to those guys.

Golden Hills is a special place for a number of NI backcountry roamers for a number of reasons.....a very pretty spot, lots of farming and hunting history......

What an awesome thread :thumbsup:

I love seeing stuff like this. Restoring a hut and keeping the soul of the original intact and retaining some of the history.

Well done and a huge "thank you" to everyone involved.

a respectful restoration of a hut that holds so many memories.

Just Awesome :)
Love their use of the local wood and great to see it split and used in the hut.

That was an awesome read, great to see peoples dedication to preserving our history. It sure looks like a special place. Well Done to all of those involved in the restoration.

Restoration Trip 5 report from Murray N - file link below – Enjoy -

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VU9...ew?usp=sharing

Yes great Post
Thanks will save

Quote:

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Originally Posted by time out

Restoration Trip 5 report from Murray N - file link below – Enjoy -

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VU9...ew?usp=sharing

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To me this Thread take the #1 seat
That last PDF is a collection
Good on all that took part - would have been a lot of work but the rewards would have been even greater !!

Never got to the Golden Hills - entended to - but never did

Again @time out
Great Post - in my opinion best this year thus far

Stayed in the old hut over thirty years ago and hadn't been back until last November when hunting from the new hut. Went and checked out the restoration. Awesome job, really well done although could only see from the outside.

Visited the hut about three weeks back when hunting and it looked incredible.

Noticed that the monowai and manuka have taken over quite a lot of the tussock compared to when I first hunted the area in 1989. More cover for the sika. Took a couple of deer less than 100m from the hut right on dark; could just make them out after cranking the scope power back to about 5x.

It's a beautiful area and the hills are gentle.

Our final Restoration Trip is planed for 17 - 22 nd Jan to complete the minor work that is still to be done .

We will be displaying items found during the Restoration and are on the look out for 2 or 3 old saddles , also any old horse related items that can be hung inside the Hut , anything mustering related would be welcome , old dog chains etc , billys , lanterns , hand shears .

It would be greatly appreciated if any members are help out with the above .

Thanks Murray N

What a fantastic effort.
Well done to all involved.
:cool::cool::cool:

Great job, hut looks bloody fantastic.
Thanks for the write up, love the history.

@Murray N
I have an original old swanni here about 50+ age and an original NZFS map of the area showing pack tracks to the hut as they were then. PM me if interested.

PM Sent

Hasnt come thru. Try again please.

Brilliant.
Have walked through and past it Pre restoration many times.
Well done team.
B

Hi Murray
I have a old working kero lantern that I would be happy to donate to the hut project
Cheers
Rod

Hi Ruger 7 mm ,

Thank You , that would be very welcome , we are flying in Sunday 17 th for the final Restoration Trip , if you could PM your contact details .

Great rifle caliber as well .

Murray N

@Murray N the effort you and the team have put into restoring that hut is simply awesome, well done! I’ve read a few books about the old days when Ngamatea had the grazing rights to various watersheds within the Kaimanawas and Kawekas, and naturally Golden Hills featured heavily in that literature. So when I eventually hunted golden hills for the first time I was pretty gutted to see the hut in such a dilapidated state. But it’s great that the Trust have recognised it’s rich history and initiated it’s restoration. Thanks for sharing, keep up the good work!

Some pics from a spring hunt in 2014, hut was in terrible shape back then..
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Thanks 7.62 for putting up your photos from 2014 , the Hut had deteriorated further in 2017 when we flew in to carry out a survey of the huts condition as to weather it was still possible to restore , it has always been my view that regardless of the huts condition , these old historical huts must be restored and preserved , even if they no longer exist we only need a photo or sketch to rebuild as per original .

On the 17 th January Lloyd , Hamish and I flew in for the final Restoration trip , Bob was unable to make it due to illness , which was unfortunate as Bob had been on 4 previous trips and had made a big contribution to the Restoration , we flew out on the 22 nd .

I had put out a call on the forum for any items members where willing to donate to the Restoration that would be displayed inside the Hut , Forum members Ruger 7 mm and Woody both offered items which was greatly appreciated , I had never met Woody but had arranged to meet at his place 7 am on my way to Heli Sika , Woody had set up 2 tables with items all neatly laid out to donate to the Restoration , although i had limited time to talk with Woody it was obvious Woody had spent most of his life in the outdoors both working and hunting and had been following the Restoration progress with interest .

Woody all your items are now displayed inside the hut along side items we recovered during the Restoration , your billys are hanging from the split beech rafters as is your kerosene lantern , your swannies are laid out on old shelving supported by manuka , as are your old Outdoor magazines from 1948 , the old pipes and tobacco tins are fixed to the cubboard , the items displayed have added to the special atmosphere inside the Hut ,thanks Woody , i do hope you get your wish to spend a few nights at Old Golden Hill Hut .

Ruger 7 mm there is a special place set aside for your Lantern .

Thanks members for your support , i will write up my report when time allows .

Murray N

Thanks for the update @Murray N. I’m 100% with you on the need to restore and maintain iconic huts like Golden Hills. They are reminders of our rich backcountry history; whether it be mustering sheep in wild and far flung corners, or epic deer culling missions, theses old huts were used as a base by a plethora of outdoorsmen during an era that is now long gone.

Also kudos to @Woody and @Ruger7mm, really generous of you guys to donate some items to the hut to recreate the atmosphere of a bygone era.

Some pics of the hut during its heyday
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awesome thread

The book that those photos are from is also an awesome read. 'Ngamatea'. As written in the book " its not a station, its a province!". In its heyday it was 70 miles long and 30 miles wide.

And one of the most beautiful areas of New Zealand.

Just reading one of Lester Masters’ books and it turns out that Golden Hills was built in 1925 by Jack Steel, Jimmie Wethersone, and Barny Knoll, who were commissioned by the then owners of Ngamatea Station to build the hut for their shepherds. Lester actually dedicated a short but interesting chapter to the hut. It turns out that rabbiters were based there for sometime not long after it was built (the rabbits were in plague proportions back then), and the hut was even used for guerilla warfare training during WW2. It also talks about some of the shepherds getting a surprise visit from the two gold prospectors who probably went missing after looking for gold in the Panoko Stream (more commonly called Gold Creek). The prospectors weren’t experienced bushmen and it was assumed that they went missing in the bush, but it was also possible that they made it out. I guess we’ll never know!

Thanks 7.62 , Lester Masters wrote a introduction into the Golden Hills Hut Visitors Book and included what you wrote about in your post , it started with a poem

Golden Hills Hut

We "ll take the old route o"er the range
By windy ridge and spur ,
And come again to Golden Hills ,
And golden days that were .

While restoring one of the 2 Hut windows i noticed names and date written on the inside of the sash , the names where the original hut builders you have mentioned and have been left intact .

Over the past 4 years while undertaking the Restoration i have met and talked to numerous men that once worked as Musterers on Ngamatea Station , i met Dave Withers who first went to Ngamatea as a 18 year old and his first Muster was the 1959 - 1960 season , Dave recalls he was given a Braun camera by his grandmother and carried it with him every day and has a wonderfull photograph record of his 6 years at Ngamatea , Dave is currently in the process of publishing a book of his time at Ngamatea .

The photo collections of Don Hammond and Ray Birdsall are outstanding as are the many stories and folk lore that surround Ngamatea .

If i may i will tell a story as told to me by Tim Birdsall , Rays son

Ray and 2 Musterers where Mustering when they where caught out in blizard conditions , due to snow building up on there horses hooves making it to dangerous to continue on horse back , being 5 hours from Golden Hills Hut where they knew was shelter , food and dry firewood the decision was made to abandon there horses and continue on foot in appalling conditions , they knew darkness would overcome them before they reached Golden Hills , there long oil skin coats and south wester hats kept them dry as possible , the thoughts of hot food and drying out in front of the open fire .

On reaching Golden Hills Hut well after dark they where shocked to find there food supply had been eaten and all the dry fire wood burnt , with no blankets and unable to start a fire it was a long cold night , the following morning they walked the 6 hours back to the Station , a few days later the Musterers where back at Golden Hills , they made 2 large earth mounds , placed a cross on each with the words " Here lies the barstards that ate our food and burnt our fire wood "

The crosses lasted many years and the mounds are still visible today

Awesome thread to read through. That place and Ngamatea is on the bucket list to visit. I am also really wanting to read that book as 2 of my uncles worked there in the 1960's and are mentioned in the book from what I've been told.

@Murray N that’s really cool to find the names on the window sash. The only person I’ve met from that era is Peter van Dongen who was a packman/cook. I dealt with Peter a bit but that was 15 odd years ago and I had barely heard of Ngamatea back then. If I bumped into Peter tomorrow I would certainly be keen to hear about his experiences from back in those days. I’m also keen to get a copy of Dave Withers book when it gets published, thanks for the heads up.

That’s quite a story about Ray Birdsall. The guy that cleaned out the hut of food and firewood was clearly a thoughtless wanker and put some lives at risk.

Years ago my daughter gave me a copy of "Ngamatea: The Land And The People".
It's a great read. Covers back to the Fernie brothers era.

Just found this post and would like to add my thanks and express my admiration of the work that was done. In a time when NZ history is being made compulsory in schools I hope that the stories attached to places like this don't get lost in all the politically correct bull being pushed by those in favour of the "cancel culture".