Stockyard Creek - (Historical Tours)
Howqua Hills Historical Tour:
 (journey of historical significance)
High Country Scenic Tours have exclusive access to the remote and beautiful 420-acre property of Stockyard Creek, surrounded by State Forest this secluded historic area is
steeped in history.
Enjoy an interpretive guided tour of historic pioneer huts and mining sites with Wendy Jubb Stoney the tour includes access to interesting historic areas not available to the general public. This property was used extensively for the Snowy films, as well as several documentaries and films on the High Country.
Howqua Hills Historic Area is a site of natural beauty where you can rediscover the days of gold mining and settlement in the area as you walk past historic relics from times gone by.

Places of interest include:
Howqua Greenstone.
Outcrops of the oldest rocks in the alpine area can be seen along the river. Aborigines prized it for its hardness and used it for stone axes, spearheads and cutting tools.

Sheepyard Flat.
Locals say that after the valley was settled, shepherds yarded sheep on the flat at night keeping the dingoes at bay.
Tunnel through Tunnel Spur. Built in 1884 to link the Howqua River and a water race, it is about 100 metres long.

Water race.
Cut by hand in 1884 to carry water to the “Hanney” waterwheel, it is four kilometres long and can be seen above the road from Tunnel
 
 

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Spur to the chimney.

Brick chimney.
Completed in 1884 and used as a smelting furnace. The waterwheel “Hanney” was erected nearby and powered by water from the race.

“Hanney” was 63 feet (18 metres) in diameter and drove the crushers that broke the ore into a suitable size for gold extraction by roasting the chimney.

Fry‘s Hut.
Fred Fry built his home in the late 1930s. Fred's life in the Howqua Valley was the basis of Neville Shute's novel 'The Far Country’, published in 1950. Overnight camping is not permitted in Fry's Hut.

Together with spectacular scenery this will be a day to remember.
Please note this tour operates throughout the year and during the winter is a wonderful alterative for that rest day away from skiing.
Duration of tour 8 hrs.
From 9am- 5pm. Morning tea and lunch included. $125.00 p/p

A minimum number of 10 guests are required for this tour; bookings are essential and can be made direct with our office.
Private tours can be arranged (conditions apply.

History of Stockyard Creek
The Howqua and Stockyard valleys are comprised of the famous greenstone, prized by the Aborigines for axes for many centuries. During the late 19th century extensive gold mining was carried out.
Jasper and other semi precious

 stones can be found in the valleys and talc was mined for some years near Fred Fry’s.
Forbears of the Stoneys selected land at the junction of the Goulburn and Howqua Rivers in 1864. Eadley Stoney ran cattle on the Bluff from early 1940 and was friends with Jack Ware whose family selected Stockyard Creek and who also ran cattle on the Bluff. Mt. Eadley Stoney on the Bluff Range was named for Eadley after he died. Stockyard Creek was the home for Stoneys Adventure Rides and Alpine Tours for more than 20 years. It is a remote working farm of 420 acres completely surrounded by bush, widely and affectionately known as “Stockyard”.
Stockyard has now been owned by the Stoneys since the mid sixties. It is a remote and beautiful place. The property is a staging point for the Stoneys cattle on their way to Summer grazing on the Bluff High Plains from Mansfield. A different mob of Hereford cattle graze the property Stockyard and the adjoining “Narboorac” lease. This mob of cattle is historically significant as the genetic line can be traced back to cattle owned and grazed on leases by the Ware family 100 years ago.

 


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