The old Sandy Bay hut - and neighbours

Dating from the early 1950s. As with the old hut at Lusitania Bay, the Sandy Bay hut was a recycled aircraft engine packing crate, installed when the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions were new and short of funds! But it did provide overnight (if basic) accommodation. It was good to see it surviving after some 50 years, but it looked very neglected (there is a glossy new hut not very far away). Parks Tasmania refused to allow the tourists up close to inspect it.

Apart from the hut, look for the elephant seal pups among the tussocks to the left (note) and the yellowed dying tussocks - in 1968 this hut had been surrounded by tussock and other vegetation, but that was under savage attack by rabbits at this stage. See the note/photo at top left for more details on rabbits on Macquarie island.