Heard the one about the dog that fell into the long-drop toilet? Shane Gilchrist goes digging at Tailings Hut ...
It is 8 am in the Maniototo. The mist lifts enough to allow three hawks, circling in close proximity, a better view of any potential prey. Nearby, several kilometres past Naseby on Dansey's Pass Rd, a couple of children wait for a school bus to arrive. We, meanwhile, carry on by.
The Department of Conservation Toyota Hilux, a mobile construction station of sorts staffed by Bob Thomas and Alan Vette, turns on to Little Kyeburn Rd. A light spring dew helps keep down the dust. It's a small comfort in light of the fact the 15km journey from the information panel near the bottom of Mt Buster to Tailings Hut takes a good hour. In this terrain, it's a case of slow and unsteady.
I mention to Bob and Allan that one of their more enthusiastic colleagues had suggested I use a mountain bike to get to my destination. Their response, though not entirely unprintable, reflects a sense of humour as dry as the tussock-clad mountains through which our vehicle steadily climbs, before dropping into a small clearing defined by a winding stream (Guffies Creek) and a cluster of small buildings known as Tailings Hut.
Built in 1924 on the boundary between Kyeburn Station and Mt Ida Syndicate (formed in 1896 by the Naseby families of Hore, Scott, and Inder, who took out a pastoral lease on tussock high country on the Ida and Hawdun ranges), Tailings Hut originally comprised a single corrugated iron building, primarily used to accommodate musterers. It has since grown a bit. A working bee in 1977 resulted in the addition of two wooden huts, workingmen's quarters used during the construction of the Roxburgh Dam; in 1986, a range and sink-bench were installed; and in 1989 more renovations were made to the kitchen.
More recently, Department of Conservation staff (including Bob and Alan), along with various volunteers, have continued to spruce up the facility. Late in 2009, the toilet was replaced (though it's still a ''long-drop''), as were mattresses and a coal range, swapped for a multi-fuel burner. Rubbish, including a rather large cache of old beer bottles, was also removed from both inside and outside.
Early last year, old weatherboards were replaced, the shelter area connecting the original hut to the bunkrooms rebuilt, safety rails added to bunks, a new hay store constructed, a stainless-steel top added to the kitchen bench and much of the structure given a lick of paint.
''We have tried to make it more habitable,'' Alan says.
''It was grotty and had suffered years of neglect. The veranda was close to collapsing and the outbuildings' foundations were sitting on untied railway sleepers.
''When something looks rough, people treat it the same way. Now that it's been done up, people treat the place with more respect; they tidy up; some even leave their spare food behind. They also take away their rubbish, which is a biggie for us.''
Yet this is no Grand Designs renovation. Regardless of any changes, the hut remains rustic and still serves as a welcome shelter for musterers, as well as being used by hunters, fishermen, trampers, (hardy) mountain bike riders, and four-wheel-drive enthusiasts, among others.
Proof of its variety of occupants can be found in the visitors' book, the scrawled entries ranging from short, terse observations (''Dogs got one boar, saw one stag'') to humorous (''Had to fight the waitress off'') to self-deprecating (''Decided to eat some humble pie and go back out the way we came in yesterday''). Going by the bullet holes in the adjacent toilet, some have vented frustration in other ways. Says Bob: ''People who can't hunt like to shoot signs and things.''
Among the names in the visitors' book is fourth-generation Maniototo farmer John Mulholland, who operates Maniototo 4WD Drive Safaris and brings a range of curious types to this slice of back-country.
''I do a lot of trips out there and often stop at Tailings Hut for a cuppa.
''The hut would probably be used for a couple of nights for the Mt Ida Syndicate's main muster, but the main hut used would be the old Ida Railway Hut.''
(In 1975, the Mt Ida Syndicate bought the old Mt Ida Railway Station and transported it to an area about 12km - by 4WD road - west of Tailings Hut. According to Beth Bain's history, Beyond The Buster, it was named ''Inder's Castle'' after muster boss Laurie Inder's family.)
''Still, most of the history of Tailings Hut has to do with mustering.''
John mentions an episode that combines both mustering and the hut's amenities. Enshrined in Inder's Dog, by Naseby poet and farmer Blue Jeans, aka Ross McMillan, it is a tale about a heading dog that managed, somehow, to get stuck down the hut's long-drop toilet.
''Apparently, Laurie Inder was the cook on this particular muster, so he had woken at 4am to start breakfast and gone out to the long-drop. When he shone his torch down, there were a couple of beady eyes looking up at him.
''In the morning, they ripped the place apart and tied a rope to the dog and pulled him up. Well, the dog hadn't seen anyone for three or four days and just wanted a pat.''
Or as Blue Jeans phrases it: ''The shepherds pulled the place to bits and threw it far and wide.
It looked as if a cyclone might have struck the mountainside.
And all the while cry rang out of 'poor old flaming Tim'.
Yet when the dog was safe and sound NO-ONE wanted him.''
- Inder's Dog, from Tracks in The High Country, by Blue Jeans.
Tailings Hut
Hut category: Standard ($5 per person per night)
Facilities: 12 bunks, heating, mattresses.
Tailings Hut actually comprises three huts, connected by a shelter area. The main building (now the kitchen) was built in 1924 to accommodate musterers; the two bunkrooms were once workingmen's quarters used during the construction the Roxburgh Dam.
Given Tailings Hut has a shared use arrangement with leaseholders for mustering purposes, it would pay to check with the Central Otago Doc office in regards availability.
Oteake Conservation Park covers large tracts of the St Bathans, Ewe, Hawkdun, Ida and St Marys ranges and parts of the Upper Manuherikia Basin. It protects outstanding landscapes, including mountainous high-country, tussock plateaux, scree, wetlands and indigenous shrubland.
Getting there: From Naseby, turn on to Mount Buster Rd. Continue to the end of Mt Buster Rd on the 4WD track. From the Doc information sign near the bottom of Mt Buster, also the boundary of the Oteake Conservation Park, the trip to the hut is 15km. However, the rugged nature of the road, which has numerous river crossings and steep, rocky sections, means those 15km will take about an hour to traverse.
Note: This is serious 4WD country. As an example, the Department of Conservation Toyota Hi-Lux, in which this trip was made, featured a customised, raised suspension (or clearance kit). And it required such modifications on numerous occasions.
- For more information, visit: www.doc.govt.nz (search for Tailings Hut)
