"Mawson's Hut" a Antarctica Travel Page by tiabunna

Of all the places I've wished to visit - this was "top of the list". (The mast on the ridge in the background is a modern automatic weather station, which has confirmed the weather records of 1912).

The story of the Australian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1913 is probably little known outside Australia. It deserves more recognition, for several reasons: for the innovative use of then-new techonology; the herioc story of Mawson's survival after the deaths of his two companions; for the photographic work of Frank Hurley which immortalised the expedition and gave Hurley a place among the greats of Antarctic photography; and not least for the incredible conditions the expedition experienced.

Led by Douglas Mawson (later Sir Douglas), the expedition established a radio station and meteorological office at Macquarie Island, on its way to Antarctica. This was to relay messages from Antarctica back to Australia and was the first use of wireless in the Antarctic. It also proposed to use an aircraft, but that was damaged prior to departure and instead was used as an 'air tractor'.

Reaching Antarctica on the ship 'Aurora', the expedition found an icefree section of coast and an ideal small boat harbour on a rocky area at the foot of a clear climb to the plateau. They established their station there, at Cape Denison, in Commonwealth Bay.

Not until after the station was established did they realise that the site is subject to extreme wind conditions. Shortly, the katabatic winds began to howl down from the plateau, as they did throughout the year,earning the spot the undying title of Home of the Blizzard. The windspeed during the entire length of the expedition averaged about 45 mph (72km/hr) and gusts over 150 mph (240km/hr) were common, making this probably the windiest place on earth..

The hut was built of baltic pine timbers and it is doubtful that thought was ever given to it lasting for nearly 100 years. But somehow, though filled with drift snow for much of the time, it has survived. It is probably the most undisturbed of the surviving expedition buildings of the 'heroic era' of Antarctic exploration and now is a highly valued heritage memorial.

We were fortunate to be able to visit the site twice, first to disembark a small maintenance team and, a week later, to pick them up. At that point, we also were even more fortunate to be among the very few people priveleged to be able to enter the hut itself and, in small groups, to receive a 'guided tour'. Being there, it was easy to imagine the ghosts of long-gone explorers looking on, and truly a humbling and emotional experience.

One of the highlights, for me, was looking into Hurley's darkroom. To my surprise, it is less than a metre square: think of an undersized broom cupboard. In his time there were no digital photographs, he had to chemically coat his own glass slides, then expose and print them here. He also printed and developed movie film. It is nothing less than amazing that he could carry out those tasks in such confined conditions, producing the results he did. Hurley was truly a giant among Antarctic photographers, as was further shown in his photographs of the better-known Shackleton 'Endurance' expedition.

The wind-driven snow in blizzards acts as an abrasive grit. Over time, the timber of the hut is being abraded away. In this photo, it is possible to see in some areas that the timber surface is higher where now-missing external reinforcing timbers have protected it, before themselves being blown away at some time.

Over the past several years, a volunteer organisation called the Mawson's Huts Foundation has been working to stabilise the huts so they can be seen by future generations. It was through their efforts that we were able to gain access. Go here to see their website, with recent photos of the huts and progress reports on their work.

This is the memorial cross to Lieutenant B. Ninnis and Dr X. Mertz, who perished while on the eastern exploratory voyage with Mawson. Very briefly, Ninnis and his dog team disappeared down a large crevasse in the ice, taking the food and tent with them, while some 300 miles from the base. Mawson and Mertz returned, eating dog meat, until Mertz also succumbed to the conditions. Mawson finally struggled back to camp, long overdue, only to see the ship disappearing without him. Several of the expedition had stayed behind in the hope that Mawson and the others would return late but safely, however high winds prevented the ship returning to pick them up. They were forced to remain for another year.