Doctor Forbes Hut
Located in the Geehi River Flats area, and is the one stone hut on the north side of the Thredbo to Khancoban road.
Accessible from a short 4WD track just before (east side) of the Geehi River bridge, plus a "jump" across the creek.
Brief History
This hut may be known as Doctors No.2 Hut as it was built on the site of an earlier hut that burnt down in the 1939 bushfires. It is one of five river stone huts located within the Geehi area along the Swampy Plains River. The local environment heavily influenced the materials fron which a hut was built, and river stone is in plentiful supply.
It was built by Ned Nicholson and Dr John Forbes (John Forbes married Peggy Nicholson, one of Ned's daughters.) and used by a wide group of friends. Up until 1956 access to the hut was by pack horse only and all the corrugated iron used in the hut was in short lengths so it could be carried in on the side of a horse.
Neil Forbes has written his memories of the hut:
Ned continued to use the hut until his death in the mid sixties, and I remember flying into the Geehi airstip with him in a light aircraft from Khancoban on his last trip. No fishing was done but it was a great trip for Ned sitting in his chair at the end of the table, with a whiskey at hand.
I don' t recall any mention of a caretaker, unless it was one of the Forbes Boys (4), we spent as much time there as possible. There was an arrangement with the national parks rangers (Peter Ingram, I think was the main contact to use the hut as a base until they were told to distance themselves from the private huts before they were taken over by the parks.
Originally we never locked the hut however, it became a necessity after theft and vandalism became a continuous event (even the old wire based camp beds were stolen by someone growing drugs in the huge blackberry bushes in the valley). The Park Rangers had keys. And I recall some lost walkers broke in one year used what they needed, repaired what they could, left their names and address with $5.00(I think it was a Sydney address). That was what the hut was for.
Construction
This hut is built of river stones on a concrete floor, with a stone and concrete chimney. It includes a sleepout and verandah, covered by an iron roof. There was an external toilet, but it is yet to be rebuilt.
The structure including stone walls was badly damaged in the 2003 fires, and has been rebuilt by NPWS and KHA volunteers. It is now in excellent condition, and a tribute to the workers.
References
- Huenke Pp xix
- KNP POM is L.61.
Last updated 3 March 2024
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