Hut2Hut Archive
Includes articles/posts transferred from Hut2Hut.info about international topics, as well as some others that are not necessarily up to date or very substantive. These serve as an archive for the hut2hut.info website, which will eventually be decommissioned, but which has formed the foundation for the US Hut Alliance site and will be discontinued.
Note: Limit 20 posts per page, so click below to see more.
New Zealand: Hut Capital of the World
List with links to all posts concerning New Zealand Huts.
New Zealand Country Study – Overview & Table of Contents
24 articles summarizing the results of an in-depth study of many aspects of NZ huts. Includes historical and operational perspectives, observations on tramping, culture, reviews of key books, profiles of 9 key players, and more.
New Zealand Hut Heroes: Mick Abbott
Profile of an inspiring landscape architect, futurist and hut nut who challenges folks to think imaginatively about the future of huts. this one of 10 “NZ hut heroes” included as part of my Country Study of huts in New Zealand.
Shelter from the Storm: dream team, genesis and impact
Background on the writing of one of the best books ever written about huts: Shelter from the Storm, by Shaun Barnett, Rob Brown, and Geoff Spearpoint. How the book came to be written, the authors, and the profound impact the book has had on the appreciation of huts in New Zealand.
Challenges and opportunities for NZ and its huts: observations and questions
Eight questions about the future of huts in New Zealand.
New Zealand Huts Country Study: introduction
The purpose of this series of web posts is to provide a substantive overview of the world’s largest hut system. Specifically, the aim is to provide — in one place, free of charge — a sense of the origins, purposes, operations, unique features, challenges, people who care about, and cultural meanings of this amazing, collectively owned system of approximately 962 huts. The hope is to create an efficient point of entry to serious study of NZ huts, with pointers for digging deeper.
Shaun Barnett: New Zealand Hut Hero
Profile of a leading photographer, tramper, writer and advocate. By far my best idea when planning a three month study tour of New Zealand huts was to read Shelter from the Storm and contact the authors. All three members of this Dream Team (Rob Brown, Robbie Burton, Geoff Spearpoint) were helpful, but Shaun’s thoughtful and generous email exchanges were spot-on in guiding me on who to talk with and where to go (i.e. what huts to visit!).
New Zealand Backcountry Trust
An amazing pubic/private partnership, the Backcountry Trust (BCT). BCT is one of the most exciting hut-related initiatives in NZ. It represents the kind of cultural and governmental convergence of ideas, energies, needs and solutions that will help to carry the rich heritage of DoC huts into future generations.
New Zealand Hut Heroes: Paul Kilgour: story and video
Profile of Paul Kilgour, a kindly, energetic and intelligently man. He has tramped incessantly for years, and in 2004 he retraced on maps all the walks he could remember and made a notebook listing huts he had stayed in and those he “had cast a shadow on”. After his 2007/08 “long walk home” the number jumped considerably. He is still keeping a record in his neatly kept notebooks. When we looked in March 2018, he was up to 1,174 huts total.
New Zealand Hut Heroes: John Taylor, master of hut restoration
Profile of John Taylor, an amazing DOC engineer and hut restoration expert who has contributed enormously to the maintenance building and conservation of NZ huts. Notes on his mentor Max Polgaze, whose hut building and restoration work is legendary. Lots of great photos shared by John.
New Zealand Hut Operations: Notes on ten selected DoC hut operations
Notes on ten selected operational issues, with links to NZ DOC manuals, standards and other documents. INcludes track (trail) extent, maintenance and building; waste and gray water management; logbooks; historic huts and conservation; citizen action to maintain huts; and reservations system.
Cross-cultural Comparisons of Huts: methodological notes
Thoughts and questions, using NZ as an example, about what questions to ask and how to develop a more intentional method of using cross-cultural comparison as a lens for studying and comparing hut systems internationally.
New Zealand Huts: unique features and loose ends
Notes on topics I’d hoped to learn and write more fully about, which are place-holders/reminders to spur further inquiry on interesting topics, by myself or, I hope, by others.
Brian Dobbie: New Zealand Hut Hero
Profile of my liaison to DOC when spending three months in NZ. Brian is an exemplary public servant who has quietly served his fellow Kiwi’s by helping to steer the modern development of their remarkable national hut system. This brief profile attempts to put a face to the name by sketching in some background about a person who works quietly behind the scenes to maintain access to the bush.
New Zealand Huts History
A brief historical sketch focusing on the contemporary history of how the NZ Department of Conservation (DoC) — established in 1987 — came to inherit the world’s largest and best organized hut system, and how it forged the disparate parts into a coherent, government-operated system of about 962 huts. A few key events in DoC history between 1987 – 2010 highlight how this transformation took place. During this period about 100 new huts were built, most to replace existing structures in poor condition.
Book Review: “The Hut Builder”, by Laurence Fearnley
Review of a NZ novel in which a hut is a major character. A great example of the place of the hut in NZ culture.