tiabunna's photos with the keyword: hut

Aurora over a living hut named "Balleny" (after an explorer) at Mawson base in Antarctica. This was actually the hut I shared with several others. To give some idea of the brightness of the auroras, this was taken on daylight 25 ISO Kodachrome slide film. It still required a slow exposure (from memory about two minutes, hence star trails) which caused some reciprocity failure in the film, resulting in colour changes - I've tried here to compensate for that in processing the slide copy. I'd intended to upload this image as a replacement for a very small one posted years ago. Unfortunately that's not possible at present. I have, however, included as a PiP an image of another aurora across Mawson.

This Lao gentleman was enjoying watching the 'farang' (broadly translates as 'Westerners') with their cameras. He seemed happy to have his portrait taken on the doorstep of his traditional house.

In the same village with the rice wine, this lady was busily weaving marvellous creations, as seen here and in the PiP, in a very basic thatched hut with an earthen floor. Best viewed large.

In the same village with the rice wine, this lady was busily weaving marvellous creations, as seen here and in the PiP, in a very basic thatched hut with an earthen floor.

After the Special Constables were killed, the bounty on the Clarke brothers increased, as did the numbers of police in the Braidwood district. It seems that a combination of diminishing community support after the murders, plus the higher rewards, led to the police being told the Clarkes' hiding place. During the night, five police surrounded the bush hut (the actual hut, now gone, was made of vertical slab timber, as in PiP #1). Early in the morning of 29 April 1867, the Clarkes came out with saddles, intending to ride away, but saw the police. Retreating back inside under a hail of police bullets, John Clarke was hit in the shoulder. As they retreated, Tom managed to get away some shots, hitting an Aboriginal tracker in the arm and slightly wounding a policeman on the leg. There followed a six hour armed standoff with occasional shooting from both sides. The Clarkes apparently were awaiting darkness to escape, the police for reinforcements. Finally, another seven mounted police arrived and called on the Clarkes to surrender. Tom Clarke recognised the game was up and also knew the leader of the new group of police, so they lay down their arms, came out, surrendered, and shook hands with the police ! (PiP #2). Interestingly, there must have been a photographic studio in Braidwood, because there are several photos of Tom and John Clarke, after their capture. John has his wounded arm in a sling. I mention a photographic studio because they appear in front of what seems to be a photographic background of the type used in studios of the time. (Pip#3). Time to add an appropriate musical link.

I'll leave Mawson's Hut with this stitched panorama. After visiting the hut interior, I felt the need to take it all in context, so I headed onto the ridge to the west. Mouse over the note at top left to view large. Near the hut is one of the more improbable sights: people queueing in Antarctica! They were waiting their turn to visit the interior. The smaller dots on the snow are Adelie penguins.

That very icy shelf in the foreground is the top of the slow combustion heater/stove for Mawson's Hut. Alongside the flue of the stove is a canister used to melt snow as the water supply. The tiny box behind with the open door is the darkroom of Frank Hurley, the expedition photographer, while beyond it is his bunk area with the black plastic (a recent conservation measure) protecting something from snow and water .

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914 established their base in the small inlet at far right, alongside Cape Denison in Commonwealth Bay. To the left, the Antarctic ice cap stretches polewards. The site was chosen by the AAE because it gave a rock base and was free of sea ice. Only after the base was established, in calm weather such as we experienced, did the true nature of the area become apparent. Extreme and near-continuous katabatic (cold air drainage) winds howled down from the plateau, while one blizzard followed another - leading Douglas Mawson, the expedition leader, to describe the place as "Home of the Blizzard". To quote Wikipedia. "It is listed in both the Guinness Book of World Records and the Eighth Edition of the National Geographic Atlas as the windiest place on Earth with winds regularly exceeding 240 kilometres (150 mi) per hour and an average annual wind speed of 80 kilometres (50 mi) per hour". Panorama from stitched photographs. Mouse over the note at top left to view larger.

Section of the roof, showing the erosion of the timbers. Incessant blasting by snow carried by high winds has reduced the timber thickness, leaving nails proud of the surface and raised "shadows" where now-gone timbers have protected the surface for a period before being torn off by the wind. The capping on the left is steel.

If I had to choose my "ultimate wish" travel destination, this was it: I never expected to actually get there! One of only six surviving explorers' huts from the "Heroic Era" of Antarctic exploration, this was erected in late 1911-early 1912 by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-14, led by Dr (later Sir) Douglas Mawson. It is at Cape Denison in Commonwealth Bay, south of Australia. The main hut on the right was the living quarters for 18 expeditioners, the hut to the left was the workshop. When this was taken, the latter had recently been fitted with an over-roof of new timbers to protect the original and deteriorating roof (and a similar protection has since been put over the main hut). The living area in the main hut was only 53sq metres (7.3x7.3) and was not just the sleeping space for the 18 men but also the recreation area, kitchen, laundry, Mawson's office, and Frank Hurley's darkroom. Around it was an enclosed verandah 1.5 metres wide, used for storage. In the foreground are Adelie penguins and sleeping Weddell seals. The strange tower on the hill is a modern addition with automatic equipment to monitor and relay conditions at the huts. Mouse over the note at top left to view larger.

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.

From an old 1966 slide. This was a time exposure of the aurora to the east of Mawson, looking past a living hut named "Balleny" (the living huts were all named after early Antarctic explorers). To give some idea of the intensity of some auroras, this was taken on 25 ISO film!

From an old slide. This was some years before ozone depletion was recognised, but scientists wanted more data on seasonal changes to temperatures in the high stratosphere. We had a supply of special high altitude balloons for launching on set dates, but on windy days it was a tricky process and required lots of coordination for two people to successfully get the balloon, radiosonde (temperature sender) and large radar target away.

Copied from an old slide. Dating from the early 1950s, the Lusitania Bay hut was a recycled aircraft engine packing crate! But it did provide overnight (if basic) accommodation. When I returned in 2005 for a visit, it was noticeable how the King Penguin colony had expanded to completely surround this hut.