The story relating to Maf Carter’s Hut is as intriguing as it is interesting.

It is a hut, seemingly, with two distinct timelines as well as two different names.

Located on Bond Plain in the Vale of Belvoir region, outside the Cradle Mt. National Park, the hut was built by Mafeking (Maf) Carter.   Carter was born in 1900, in Wilmot, and was named after the town of Mafeking in South Africa, famous for a 7-month long siege in which the British Army was eventually successful during the Boer War.

Maf Carter was a pioneer bushman, prospector, and hunter who snared in the Middlesex Plains, Lake Lea, Vale of Belvoir and Bond Plain area with other hunters such as Gordon Ibbott, Gordon Connell and George Williams, to name just a few.

The facts involving the date of construction and those who helped are in dispute.

One story relating to the building of the Hut is that it was built by Maf and his three young sons (Nick, Peter and Paul) in 1938 and referred to as “Sunshine Hut’ because of the hut’s exposure to long hours of sun in that particular area.  Other place names nearby include Sunshine Creek and Sunshine Plain.

A very different account tells of Maf Carter and a couple of mates carrying building supplies and recycled materials to the site in 1960 with the hut being constructed in just a few days. Leo Hill, a good mate of  Maf Carter, owned a drapery business in Devonport and reportedly helped with the supply and transport of materials and the subsequent building of the Hut. The hut was reportedly named “Yackandandah Hut” after a town in Victoria which was the birthplace of a frequent visitor to the hut in those early days.

While trying to determine the true date of the Hut’s construction, research and interviews from associated connections provided credible accounts for both periods.  Perhaps the most telling evidence however, is a 1956 aerial photograph which shows no trace of any building at that time in the clearing corresponding to the hut’s current location on Bond Plain. Examination of the aerial photograph was undertaken by DPIWE and with no sign of the hut’s existence, it would indicate that the Hut was built after 1956.

Set deep in an aged Myrtle forest, the hut was built with one room used as a living area with an open fireplace and bunks, and another slightly smaller room on the western end used as a skin shed. The original hut had a rustic verandah which covered the door and window.

Maf Carter continued to hunt almost until his death in 1976 where upon family members and others proceeded to use the hut for hunting purposes until the early 1980’s. By the late 1980’s the Cradle Mountain Link Road had been built shattering the peace and quiet and detracting from the isolation of the area.  The little hut, although still well hidden from general view, was by now in a very fragile condition and engineering advice listed the hut as “close to unrecoverable”.

Today the Hut is under the care of Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service and is referred to by PWS as Yackandandah Hut – although many still refer to it as Maf Carter’s Sunshine Hut.  

Following a submission from the late Simon Cubit to the Tasmanian Heritage Council the cultural value and heritage significance was accepted for Yackandandah/Sunshine Hut and as a result it is currently listed as a place of importance and worthy of protection and has been placed on the Tasmania Heritage Register.

Mountain Huts Preservation Society, as part of its partnership agreement with Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, and in consultation with the Heritage Section of PWS, commenced the Yackandandah Hut Restoration Project in February 2022.

All works carried out by MHPS had to be within the Burra Charter principle of ‘as much as necessary but as little as possible’. With that in mind, wherever possible, existing fabric and timber materials were used in preference to replacement or new items. Extensive renovations and repairs included straightening and securing the chimney as well as repairs to the stone base, fireplace and hearth.  Wall cladding was matched and patched where required and attention was given to the door and window. The original floor had been transported to the site in one piece and set on myrtle logs. The hut was jacked up to level it with the installation of bearer and bed logs. Due to the delicate and fragile condition of the original linoleum, a decision was made to attach a sample of the better section as a reference to the past.  Corner posts on the skin shed were replaced as were the missing vertical boards on the walls. A new door was built and fitted to the skin shed replacing the original one which was missing.

The restoration was completed on April 22^nd 2023, with work spanning 10 working bees and in excess of 350 volunteer hours contributed from MHPS members. Help was also forthcoming from volunteer members of “Friends of Cradle” who worked alongside PWS on several occasions.  A generous donation towards the restoration work was made to MHPS by a member of  Maf Carter’s family, indicating the on-going interest to keep his legacy and memory alive.