Hi, I'm Simon and Jeannine

I grew up spending most of my holidays at my dads hut in the Howqua Valley. My husband Simon grew up in Zimbabwe and spent most of his holidays by the Gairezi River. So for us, Schusters Lodge is the most magical place, a piece of tranquility along the Howqua River buried deep in nature. We love the walks in the valley, hikes up nearby peaks, swimming in the river or simply enjoying the warmth of an open fire under the stars, enjoying time with family and friends.

Schusters Lodge is named after a fearless lady called Helen Schuster. She lived on her own in the valley, across the river from the legend Fred Fry who hand-built many of the mountain huts in the area, and indeed helped Helen build her original home, Howqua Hills, further down stream. Helen moved upstream to a sunnier spot in her older age, and built the original Schusters Lodge, a house on stilts with no right angles (apparently, she found the kite-shaped design in an American architectural magazine), and she lived there with her blue healer dogs and two gas fridges, Electrolux, that are still there today. Subsequent owners have built out the structure and it now accommodates up to 10 comfortably in an acre of grounds adjacent to the river.