Mount Dundas & Fraser Creek Hut
The rainforests of Tasmania’s remote west are not your typical forests. Tasmania’s protected rainforests are usually cold, dark, muddy and very wet. They are quiet places filled with a natural awe inspiring beauty and contain more shades of green than you could imagine. Giant myrtle and king billie pines stand on mountain tops, soaking in wind and rain from the storms that rage across the roaring 40’s, all the while just calling out for more, more, more…
Tasmania contains the largest tracts of cool temperate rainforest in Australia. Some of the trees and plants that grow here can be traced back over 60 million of years of evolution—all the way back to the ancient Gondwanan landmass. Much of Tasmania’s precious rainforests are protected within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA), and contain plant species that occur nowhere else on the planet. So tread carefully and watch where you put your feet.
“In Tasmania’s west, towering myrtle trees can grow to heights of 50 metres, and live for 500 years. Sassafras is an aromatic evergreen tree that is prized for its dramatic timber. Celery top pine, a native Tasmanian conifer, flourishes and can live for up to 900 years. The leatherwood tree bursts into flower each summer, it’s delicate white blooms becoming the source of Tasmania’s coveted leatherwood honey. And the fabled Huon pine, Australia’s oldest living tree, grows along the riverbanks, reaching up to 3,000 years of age.”
Tasmania holds some of Australia’s oldest plants, and they all evolved long before any eucalypts grew here, don’t worry about the humans, you will feel a great sense of insignificance walking through these forests and rightly so.
Fraser Creek Hut
From Mountain Huts Preservation Society website
“Fraser Creek Hut is situated in this magnificent west coast rainforest near the old township of Dundas. It was built by R. J. Howard of Zeehan in about 1930 after he took over the Dunkley Bros King Billy logging operation on the Confidence Saddle Tram. The hut was used on and off by loggers, prospectors and miners throughout the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s – particularly by the sustenance prospectors of that time. The last mine to be worked in the area was that by Queenstown identity Bill Higgins. Bill and his two workers lived in the hut in the early 1950’s.
Steve Berrigan re-discovered the hut in the early 1970’s, did enough to stop it from collapse and, by chance, informed Terry Reid of its existence in the late 1970’s as possibly a place for scouts to visit.
Terry Reid who was then Scout Leader in Queenstown and Roger Nichols who was Scout Leader in Zeehan took up the challenge of restoration and renovation of the hut over the next few years into the early 1980’s. The hut has been registered in the Scout Association name since 1980 and Terry Reid still acts as the caretaker.
For further information on availability and bookings for Fraser Creek Hut go to: www.tas.scouts.com.au (Campsites & Venues – North West)”
For more on Terry Reid who has painstakingly cared for the hut and developed the area with tracks and signage so you can safely explore the mountain, go here: https://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2011/08/18/3296923.htm
My experience with the area is one of great happiness from a personal connection with place and people. Emersion into old forests and staying in huts from a bygone era are deeply satisfying experiences for me. The fact I am privileged enough to share this passion with a close-knit group of friends intensifies the emotions and positive energy I feel whilst there.
