tiabunna's photos with the keyword: Mawson's Hut

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.

When we visited Mawson's Hut, we had with us a team of four from the Mawson's Hut Foundation. We left them at the site for several days (there are other new huts nearby for workers) to do their work of clearing out some of the snow, to allow access. Their main task was examining and measuring the roof, to assess what was needed to add a false over-roof to protect the building (that has since been done). On our return, we were allowed inside in groups of three for just a few valuable minutes (they didn't want excess body heat thawing things unnecessarily for conservation reasons). As someone remarked, there have been fewer people here than to the top of Everest! Taken with the main stove/heater directly behind me. Originally there was a long table where I was standing - this was the only 'social/recreation' area indoors. Apart from the old tins and jars, it was fascinating to see the old paperback books and magazines on the shelf. Clickable links to further photos in the notes. Here is a link to a Mawson's Hut Foundation video on the restoration programme, showing quite a bit of original movie and stills from 1911-12 by Frank Hurley. www.youtube.com/watch?v=72sgyZpHGq8 I am amazed though, that in their film they have totally misplaced Mawson's Hut on the map! The correct address is in the link at right on this page (change to satellite view).

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 .

This contrivance is the acetylene apparatus, which generated acetylene to provide lighting for the huts. Although there was electricity (Mawson's expedition in 1911-13 was the first to use radio to communicate from Antarctica to the world, via a relay station on Macquarie Island) it would not have been possible to operate full time generators for power and lighting.

The 17 expeditioners were bunked around the outer walls of the hut (Mawson, the leader, had a small office/bedroom). They also had their initials on their bunk space, and in most areas there were upper and lower bunks. In 1912 this was the area for James Francis Hurley - better known as Frank Hurley. Hurley was the photographer for the expedition and also, on his return, for Shackleton's famous "Endurance" expedition. On this expedition he was given the nickname "Hoyle" because of his encyclopaedic knowledge of the rules of card games. It appears he had the luxury of an enclosed cupboard below the upper bunk, presumably to house all his photographic gear (cine and still cameras, chemicals etc). In his darkroom he wrote on the wall Near enough is never good enough : he was an excellent and quite innovative photographer and remains one of my "photographic heroes". :) I would encourage anyone interested to Google for images of his work.

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.