Stones Outstation
Photographs courtesy of Luke Steenhuis of ABC Maps, Copyright © 2005.
Known as Stones Hut or Stones Outstation.
Located: beside Station Creek at Aird Inlet, Lake Eildon National Park. From Alexandra, drive 2 km towards Eildon on Goulburn Valley Highway, turn left into UT Creek Road and continue about 9 km to Haines Saddle. Descend Fraser Park Road for 3 km to the park office, then follow the signed Coller Bay access to Wallaby Bay carpark (about 25 minutes from Alexandra). This 2WD approach uses sealed park roads with gravel parking; cars and motorcycles remain at the carpark. Follow the Wallaby Bay Walk Track past Point Cook and School Point for approximately 9.7 km each way. Alternatively, park clear of the locked Station Creek Track gate on Skyline Road and walk approximately 4 km each way via Station Creek and Aird Inlet tracks; noting that the return climb is steep. Public vehicles cannot drive right to the hut.
History
This hut was built in about 1900 in a solid style of vertical timber slabs. The hut and nearby stockyard ruins were originally built as an outstation for the Stone family, who owned the land in the mid-to-late 1800s. It served as a remote resting post and shelter for cattlemen working far from the main family homestead.
There is a Lake Eildon Connection: The hut is a remnant of the era before the Goulburn River valley was flooded to create the Eildon Weir and later the expanded Lake Eildon. It now sits just 100 metres above the lake's high-water mark in Stones Bay, also known as Aird Inlet.
Construction
Vertical timber slabs.
References
Day Walks Victoria - John Chapman
Rooftop Maps - Marysville Lake Eildon Adventure Map
Mapping Guide:
GPS: 37.144222°S, 145.843639°E.
UTM Zone 55H: 397304 m E, 5888503 m N.
Approximate Artworkz heritage-factsheet position, consistent with VHCHA and treated as WGS84; not field-verified.