Huts,
by Mark Pickering, Canterbury University Press, $49.95
A 381-page book of text and pictures about huts? Thankfully, as the sub-title - Untold Stories From Back-country NZ - tells us, there is a lot more to it, and rather interesting it is.
There are more than 1500 huts scattered around the country,
1200 or so in the South Island. At least 30 of them are more than a century old and, rather surprisingly, the vast majority of the huts are still in good or serviceable condition.
Many were/are for recreational use, many were working huts for gold diggers, packers, water-racemen, musterers, rabbiters, shepherds, boundary keepers, roadmen and others.
The author, who has done an excellent job of research and writing, has visited 1170 of these huts. The book is liberally illustrated with colour and black-and-white photographs. With lots of fascinating history and folklore, this is a valuable record of historical interest.
