Camped in a Hut – Andamooka Station
I camped for one night in a small hut on Andamooka Station. Maybe it was the cook’s quarters, in days gone by. Here’s the story and photos:
Late afternoon at the hut I camped in, on Andamooka Station
Several of the arid region stations have been taken over by BHP Billiton, the big mining company that runs Olympic Dam Mine. The stations are run according to environmentally friendly, sustainable, parstoral practices. The stations are not financially very productive with these limitations but are readily available for minerals exploration and are kept in reasonably good pest free order as a good neighbour must.
However, Andamooka Station has recently been vacated and destocked. Exploration drilling is going on in various parts of the station. There was a small team of drillers staying at the homestead when I was there, traveling an hour and a half to their drilling site each day.
The open verandah where I slept. The breeze got up during the night and blew down into my sleeping bag.
I had my permission sorted from BHP, to be on the station, and the drillers didn’t mind what I did. So I found a small hut and moved in.
The main room, well, the only room, is about 12 feet square inside with solid stone walls about 400mm or 16 inches thick. Plastered on the outside with thrown cement mud and inside plastered smoothe and painted white.
In one corner is a small, corner open fireplace.
The floor is of slate laid straight on the ground, the biggest slabs approaching a metre square.
Often, in these abandoned huts, kangaroos or sheep have got in and the door shut. They can’t get out, and perrish in their prison cell. But the door was open and only what remained of a dead bird in the fireplace, and kangaroo poo in the doorway.
The hut must have been flooded to a shallow depth at some time. Curled up flakes of red silt covered the floor.
I opted to camp in the built in verandah, about two metres wide and the length of the hut, with an open doorway at each end to let the breeze flow through. A slate floor in the verandah also, plus a slate path leading to each of the verandah enterances.
Inside of the hut with character and romance.
The prevailing westerly wind had swept the verandah floor fairly clean.
Parking the bike at one enterance, I had plenty of light to set up my self inflating matress and sleeping bag.
The full moon had risen. Outside it was was brilliant and in the verandah it was quite light enough to see what I was doing. I like these moonlight nights spent in the outback.
During the night the breeze grew quite strong. The roof squeeked a bit and the wind blew down my sleeping bag. Another time I’ll sleep with my feet to windward.
The full Moon rising over the arid region at the Water Creek campsite of John McDouall Stuart.
Up, out of bed with the full moon still in the western sky and the slightest hint of a glow in the east. A drink of water and pack the cameras, satellite phone, water and food in the boxes on the racks of the bike and away, under headlights, on a trip that took most of the day and took me to Arcoona Homestead and back, which I gues would have been a total distance of 100km.
You may read of my photography trip, rediscovering the campsites of John McDouall Stuart, at my website that celebrates the great inland Australian explorer.
But I did make an extra, short trip while camped at Andamooka Station. Between setting up in the hut and dark I made a quick trip of about eight km to the site of John McDouall Stuart’s campsite. That’s where I saw the full Moon rise over the arid landscape.
Update
Stephanie Wallace has made a comment (see below) and has kindly sent her owl photo for inclusion in the photo story.
Danny Oldfield was the manager of Andamooka at the time of my visit, with a lease to run cattle, and ran Andamooka for about five years.
BHP made the decision to destock the station and so Danny had to move out.
Danny is part of the Oldfield family, famous as cattlemen, from up Birdsville way.
On my first trip to Andamooka homestead, Danny’s grandson Charlie, was two and a half and rode a mean trike around the homestead. I caught up with Danny and Charlie some time later when Charley was four. The trike outdated, Charley now rode a 50cc quadbike, bright yellow, while Danny was mustering cattle on a large dirt bike. Charlie proudly showed me how he could ride, standing up on the foot pegs. A great outback lad, destined to be a part of another generation of Oldfield cattlemen!
An owl camping in the hut at Andamooka Homestead. Photo by Stephanie Wallace.
Close-up of the owl, perched on the mantle piece of the hut at Andamooka Homestead. Photo by Stephanie Wallace.
A wonderful and heart warming story Laurie.
Thanks Chris.
It’s hard to put into words the feelings I have out there. The isolation and being reduced to the bare necessities to survive, travel and photograph give a simple meaning to life.
Hi Laurie,
Very interested in your article and pictures.
Mt grandfather, Bruce McKenzie Foulis was manager of Andamooka Station in 1920’s to early 40’s.
He and two of his stockmen discovered the first opal. My mother Nancy has great memories of her life at the station and many photos,. She was born in 1925.She has many interesting stories to tell of events and life in general in such an isolated area,
Sad to hear that it is now deserted.Apparently a new homestead was built next to the old one where my Grandparents and my mother and her 5 brothers and sisters lived.They had a tennis court and a lovely garden.
Must go and see it before it becomes too delapitated.
Thank you so much.
Thanks Sally, for that input to the story.
Yes, Andamooka sure must have been isolated in those days. It’s isolated still, to an extent.
The old homestead is still quite livable and looks from the outside to be in better order than the new one. Mind you, the new homestead has a fair sized, in ground swimming pool.
Across the creek at the woolshed, the shearing shed itself is still standing and in good order. There’s also another hut, built to the same design as the one I camped in. But the shearer’s quarters have been demolished due to their dangerous condition.
Hello Laurie,
I also was very interested in your bush hut-stay and the photos.
My parents lived on Andamooka from the early to mid 1940s, so I’m thinking that my father, Eric Foote, followed Sally’s grandfather as station manager. Would you please contact Sally, if possible, and see if she would be interested in talking to me- I also am related to some Foulis’ from the northern areas of South Australia.
My husband and I visited the station in late October, 2007. I believe the current manager was about to leave Andamooka, but I certainly didn’t know anything about the fact that BHP were about to take over. We saw plenty of stock around.
I was lucky enough to get a photo of an owl perched on that wooden ledge above the fireplace just before it took off and flew out the window.
Thanks and good luck with you further adventures!
Stephanie
Hi there, Stephanie! Thanks for the comment.
My grandson accompanied me on my most recent outback trip, April 2010. We tried to get through from Arcoona, heading north to Andamooka but were beaten by the wet conditions, there having been heavy rain a week or so before hand.
I’d be pleased to see your owl photo and maybe publish it as an extra on the story.
Thanks.
Thank you Laurie, that was an intersting read which served to jog my memory as I was quite young when I left Andamooka to live in Adelaide. I am Bruce Foulis’ youngest child. I have only been back to the station once, passing through after staying at Purple Downs, but my brother John has been back several times. I now live in WA and I love the outback country here, probably because in some ways it is similar to SA.
Janet
Pleased you liked the story and photos, Janet.