Camp in the Stockmen’s Hut at Wirrda
A camping place for two nights, the old stockmen’s hut at Wirrda.
Filled and surrounded with history, giving rise to many untold stories of the men who lived and worked here, Wirrda Hut must have been a grand sight in it’s day.
Constructed of native pine logs, plentiful in the area, with a slate floor, perhaps from the slate mine about 20km to the east.
The stockmen’s hut has a stone fireplace in the main room with a doorway leading to what may have been the bedroom.
The first of two nights spent at Wirrda was quite windy. A comfort to be camping in an old hut rather than in the tent, unprotected from the relentless, gusting wind blowing from the south west.
Although the wind gusts rattled the foofing iron of the old stockmen’s hut and made it a bit scary, it was great to feel the security of four solid walls and a roof.
Not too far from the stockmen’s hut there was some dead wattle scrub and a few dead myall trees with broken branches. The wattle scrub and myall trees are both accacias which typically burn very hot.
These two accacia species are no exception and leave a good bed of ash and hot coles, often needing only one match for a week’s camping.
So it wasn’t hard to get a cheery fire going to ward off whatever might be scary, light up the hut’s interior and cook up a good feed in the camp oven (dutch oven).
Welcome home
… Hope you enjoyed your trip … and really I wish I could join you in your travels because it seems really ausome places you visit …. Take care … and thanks for such amaizing photos you post…
GOOD LUCK……
That looks like fun. And the food… looks delicious! Whenever I camp out the food really tastes good because I’m really really hungry… but it never looks as good as that. And sometimes the only reason I can even eat it is that I’m so hungry.
Well, thanks Shirley.
I’ve been camping since I was no more than a gleam in my father’s eye, you know. So I’ve cooked my fair share of camp tucker, some of it a bit rougher than what you see above.
It’s sweet corn, of course, butternut pumpkin, a couple of small potatoes, half a small onion and an apple, quartered and cored. No meat.
Pressure pack cooking oil is the go for the camp oven. Saves getting oil all over your fingers.
With the fire well died down, the camp oven (dutch oven) cooked along in the coals and ash for an hour or so giving a hearty midday camp meal.
Regards,
Laurie.