They will ruin craigs hut.
Submitted: Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 20:17
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Truckster (Vic)
They are going to "access and improved and additional visitor facilities"...
Visitors Facilities? - What a Visitors Center with caps, badges, pins, and cheap chinese made Koalas?
Access? -> What a 4 lane freeway? Whats wrong with the 3 tracks into it now?
Craig's Hut redevelopment
Craig's Hut is a
well-known and popular destination for locals and tourists alike and an icon of the Victorian high country. It is so popular with estimates of some 80,000 people visiting the site each year.
The main focus for the redevelopment of the site will include an upgrade of the parking area, rehabilitation of degraded sites, improved signage and access and improved and additional visitor facilities.
Work will be done in stages with approximately $150,000 to be spent this year. Improvements to be completed by the end of March include erecting a new
information shelter, four picnic tables, two new viewing areas, seating inside the hut and a stabilised crushed
granite path leading from the car park to the hut and its surrounds. Provided more funding is secured next year, a disabled access ramp, major improvements to the car park and repairs to the surrounding wooded fence are planned.
DSE asks visitors to
Craig's Hut to be aware of the possibility of heavy machinery on the Circuit Road and the access track to the hut. There will be contractors and equipment working around the hut site until the end of March.
For further information contact DSE,
Mansfield on 5733 1200
Reply By: Crackles - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 20:39
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 20:39
If you hadn't already noticed it's been wrecked for years. Still you can always cross country ski in during the winter for a little tranquility....
DSE are dammed either way they go. Leave it as it is & the 100 odd cars a day will continue to erode the area, toilets will overflow & the snow grass around the hut will die. Upgrade the road & facilities & tourism will increase. Great for
Mansfield but for us regulars who have been going for years it will be another destination that we will descibe as "Back in the good old days"..................
Cheers Craig........
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Mick - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 23:27
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 23:27
But it wasn't there in the "Good Old Days" .... it's just a movie set!! There are plenty of "Real" huts from the "Old Days" still to be visited.
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Follow Up By: Crackles - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 19:13
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 19:13
The good old days were when the stables were still standing, the back room on the hut was not built , it had no floor at all & there was a ramp inside for the actors to stand on so when filmed from the outside they were the right height in the window & of course the good ole days were when you went there & didn't see another sole.
As for real huts there are probably none left in original state. If they have a corrugated iron roof (not bark) and are nailed together they are just a rebuild. Like the Cobbler hut, it's the 10th one in that location mainly due to fire.
Cheers Craig.............
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Reply By: Bonz (Vic) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 20:44
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 20:44
Amazing, I reckon its over the top now.
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 20:47
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 20:47
over or on top ;)
Thank goodness I got photos of the place before it gets destroyed, or becomes like craig said "Back in the old days..."
Might have to head up there next weekend... anyone keen?
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Follow Up By: ExplorOz Team - Kerry W (QLD) - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 00:37
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 00:37
Hey Bonz, as i was saying a while ago, I used to visit it in the 80s and it was hard enough to find it, - let alone see another person there.
Sometimes they do make it too easy.
As Sir Edmund Hillary said " The blood sweat and tears involved in getting to some of these
places is what truly made them special".
So true
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Follow Up By: Member - Robb (NSW) - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 19:10
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 19:10
We will be down that way for a week from the 1st thru 8th, not sure which day we will be at
Craig's hut...
Cheers
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Reply By: Flute - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:08
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:08
80 000 a year! they should put a KFC outlet up there. I usually try to get away from that many people. thanks for letting me know about another place to steer clear of.
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Reply By: Member - Jimbo (VIC) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:15
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:15
T,
Is not
Craig's Hut nothing more than a "prop" for a movie.
I've been there and been snowed on at the time. I loved it but realised it was just a prop. No Pioneer ever spent a night there mustering stock. Ther are other Huts of genuine historical significance that have burnt to the ground without a wimper.
How can you desecrate something that holds no genuine historical significance? Keep in mind that the current "Craig's Hut" is not even the the original prop created for the movie. That is to say that the "original" which was created in about 1982 has been long since demolished. The current "Craig's Hut" is a rebuild by the fine people who maintain it.
Why should those who do not have access to 4wd's be denied an opportunity to visit this wonderful part of Victoria?
Jim.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:34
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:34
"Why should those who do not have access to 4wd's be denied an opportunity to visit this wonderful part of Victoria?"
With that train of thinking, lets turn every single 4wd track in Australia into a 4 lane freeway.. Correct? WHy shouldnt they have access to EVERYWHERE?
Cape York in their Rolls Royce, etc..?
I know its not OEM hut, Ive been there dozen + times - we slept 15 people in the place in November.... Its not the point.
Once they do one hut, the whole lot will become freeway.
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Follow Up By: Member - Jimbo (VIC) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:43
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:43
T,
That's a very selfish attitude.
Do you really believe because you own a 4wd you have special priveleges?
Ownership of a vehicle does not equal ownership of the country.
Lighten Up.
Cheers,
Jim
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:50
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:50
Why did you bother buying a sorta 4wd? To go down Chapel st? Or to go off the beaten track to 'special'
places?
I bought one to go
places that 190238029380428340923042043923048 other people dont and cant go...
Why not flatten the whole continent and tar it from side to side?
Selfish? in that case f'n oath I am. and proud of it.
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Follow Up By: Member - Jimbo (VIC) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 22:21
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 22:21
Sad attitude.
I'll say no more.
Good Luck T.
Cheers,
Jim
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 22:25
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 22:25
Serious, Why did you buy a 4wd?
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Follow Up By: Bonz (Vic) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 23:22
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 23:22
Jimbo,
Its not a real Hut but its a famous Hut, is Jim Craigs. Took Dad to see it late last year, he'd seen the movie and then he got to see the real thing, the Hut is iconic the view is spectacular.
As far as giving everyone access, I dont agree woth that, its not selfish its just that the track is a good one, over Stirling is a great track and in a lot of cases, I know definitely mine and T-Man's this track whetted our appetite for 4wding as a family.
Ownership of a 4WD does bring special privelidges, the
Simpson desert being one of them, although a mate went thru there in '74 in a Sandman panel van with a mate in another. It also brings responsibilities, many of which are to keep to the tracks and tread lightly, dozing a track wide and good enough for a Hyundai Excel to get to Craigs is hardly treading lightly, you can go there on a tour from
Bright if your hankering for it and dont have the machinery to get there.
What a lot of waffle but what I said above stands, when it was a hut it was great, 15 yrs ago, now its just as good but a little more controlled, car park rails etc, toilets and a good track well maybe next time I can take the XR!
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Follow Up By: Flute - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 00:05
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 00:05
Ahh yes, the Sandman panel van. many a pleasant night were spent in the back of the sandman. much better than crossing the simpson i can tell you now.
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Reply By: Member Eric - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:37
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:37
I realy dont know why your so bitter truckster , I was there 3 months ago and found one part of the track a real challenge , I must admit , it had rained and the track was very greezy . First bit , I got up ok , then lowered tyre pressures to make it a little easier . At one section I had to back back and give it alot more momentum. Once up the top I had to drop a log in a hole since the wheel travel wasnt enough to go through withought touching underneith. I will never ever take my wifes magna there again .
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:45
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:45
Bingo.
The Tooraks and magna fleet will be happy as a Pig in Chit.
Seriously my first trip up there ever, there were commodores up there... Shocked me that this 'mecca' of wheelin was so easy to get to! It doesnt need to be made easier.
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Follow Up By: Mick - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 23:40
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 23:40
You've got a lot to learn if you think Craigs Hut is a "Mecca of wheelin" Truckster. A mate took an Echo (smallest Toyota
sedan) there last year so if you clas it as a mecca and you've been there many times you need to do some research on other 4wd destinations. There's a great place called the Wonnangatta Valley. It's not far as the crow flies from Clear Hills or you can go in from the south via
Licola or Briagolong or
Dargo. I think you'd really enjoy the challenge and find it much more exciting than the "Sunday Drive" type of trip to Clear Hills to see the old movie set. On a trip to the Valley (as we four wheel drivers call it) you could visit the Moroka Hut or the
Howitt Hut (check out the spot where they found the
cook's body after the infamous Wonnangatta). Good luck with your travels Truckster and I hope I've inspired you to try something a bit more challenging and I think it will move your focus away from the "tourist areas".
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Follow Up By: Member Eric - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 10:17
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 10:17
LMAO . Took 3 min on this page waiting for the laughter to subside before my reply .
either Mick is Trucksters mate and is taking the P!ss out of him , or Mick is reletavly new to the sight.
Either one , thanks for the laughs boys
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Follow Up By: GOB & denny vic member - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 17:03
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 17:03
and then there were parking fees like down at the beach
steve
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 22:27
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 22:27
Mick, how many sites, clubs, 4wders want to go to "CRAIGS HUT". Most still think its a genuine bushies hut.. How many say "IVE BEEN TO CRAIGS HUT"(thats a sticker I expect to see sold at the gift
shop that will be built up there)....
Yea its a walk in the park to get to, but its not suburbia.
When I said Mecca, work it out, again, majority of people always head there first when they head to the high country. Not many head to Tunnel Bend do they?
Done a club trip thru the Gatta,
yea its great, but its a trip, not a single destination like Ayres rock, or
Chambers Pillar or the Daily Planet etc.
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Follow Up By: Member Eric - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 22:59
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 22:59
Are we doing a day trip to daily planet ? when ?
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 23:23
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 23:23
SIGN ME UP....
IM THERE
always heard about it, even have the MMM ROCKS THE DAILY PLANET STICKERS!
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Reply By: Wisey (NSW) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 22:49
Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 22:49
Truckster,
never been there but with people from this site informing me about all the great
places they get to, and away from the hoards, I would put a dunny/ fulken (I've had both in the bushes) through the test to see the beauty of this area. I am always keen to see Aus, top to bottom. If it is good for dunnydoors and magma's, you ain't going far enough for your adventures. They might make it to that point but you CAN go past them for the range of your tank and cappabilitties of yourself and vehicle. Smile , laugh and give'em the bone on the way past and over the top..........
Regards
Andy
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Reply By: jackablue - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 07:19
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 07:19
When I was down there in December, that would explain the vehicle counter on the top of the first
hill on craigs hut track coming off circuit road.
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Reply By: Member - Jiarna (SA) - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 11:34
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 11:34
Didn't see anything about the track being upgraded, just the area around the hut. What's wrong with that?
I see a lot of eroded formations along the
Oodnadatta Track where 4WDs have gone off to try a steep
hill or whatever off the track. Seems to me that some people think a 4WD entitles them to go anywhere, just because it can (sometimes). Gives 4WDs a bad name.
Just my 1.8 cents worth
John
Oodnadatta
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Follow Up By: Member Eric - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 18:15
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 18:15
Hi John , how did you go with your rear springs ?
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Follow Up By: Member - Jiarna (SA) - Sunday, Jan 30, 2005 at 00:03
Sunday, Jan 30, 2005 at 00:03
Hi Eric
The ones I had checked out OK - 50mm raised HD. So I fitted airbags (see post 19881) which fixed the problem without making the ride harsher.
Cheers
John
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