Nearly 200 years of
unique architectural history is captured in a stunningly beautiful, highly-illustrated new book released by Craig Potton Publishing this month. And what a wonderful piece of non-fiction publishing. Simply superb
Shelter from the Storm:
the story of New Zealand’s backcountry huts by Shaun Barnett, Rob Brown and Geoff
Spearpoint looks at the network of over 1,000 working and recreational huts
that are located deep in New Zealand’s wilderness, and profiles 90 of the most
emblematic.
The project took the
three author/photographers three years to complete, tramping in to photograph
and gather stories about why huts were built, by whom, and how they’ve been
used since.
‘Nowhere else in the
world has a network of huts like ours, they’re a defining feature found only in
New Zealand’s wilderness, and the stories behind how and why they were built
are wonderful,’ says Shaun Barnett.
‘The oldest date back to
the 1800s, and originally housed gold miners or shepherds acting as boundary
keepers. Many of those are built of stone but corrugated iron sheds can last a
long time too, especially on the eastern slopes of the Southern Alps.’
‘The most remote would
take 3 or 4 days tramping to reach, and when you arrive at these places, in all
sorts of weather, and realise that in many cases they were built by people
carrying the materials in on their backs, it lends a real sense of thankfulness
to the whole experience,’ says Shaun.
For those who venture
into our wild places there is often a passionate attachment to the huts. Each
profiled hut is illustrated with an overview of who built it and why: from
private individuals, to tramping and mountaineering clubs, and various
Government organisations including the Department of Internal Affairs, Lands and
Survey, New Zealand Forest Service, Park Boards and the Department of
Conservation.
Shelter from the Storm is a landmark
publication, the first wide-ranging history of our backcountry hut network.
Photos below show just a handful of the many huts featured. The bottom image is the back cover of the book. The book was edited by Susi Bailey and designed by Robbie Burton. Well done guys.
Photos below show just a handful of the many huts featured. The bottom image is the back cover of the book. The book was edited by Susi Bailey and designed by Robbie Burton. Well done guys.
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