01 November
2006 - An Australian expedition team has arrived
at Cape Denison, in eastern Australian Antarctic
Territory after a nine-day voyage to begin a major
conservation works program aimed at saving one
of the country’s most important heritage treasures.
The Minister for the Environment
and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, said today
the team of carpenters and conservators would
immediately begin work to over-clad the roof of
the living quarters of the historic Mawson’s Huts
at Cape Denison.
Senator Campbell said the Australian
Government had given a $320,000 grant to help
fund the project being undertaken by the Mawson’s
Huts’ Foundation with considerable logistic support
provided by the Australian Government Antarctic
Division (AGAD).
Mawson’s Huts were used as the
exploration base of the pioneering 1911-1914 Australasian
Antarctic Expedition (AAE), which was organised
and led by Adelaide geologist Douglas Mawson.
The living quarters, which Mawson
modelled on a colonial Australian homestead, have
survived for almost a century in the extreme Antarctic
environment but without the restoration work could
eventually be lost forever, Senator Campbell said.
“The main building - and the
Cape Denison site as a whole - is of great heritage
importance and value, not only for Australia but
for Antarctica too,” Senator Campbell said.
“It is an invaluable part of
history. The pioneering scientific and environmental
research work that Mawson and his team carried
out between 1912 and 1914, and the subsequent
BANZARE 1929 – 1931 expedition which Mawson also
organised, led to Australia’s claim to over 40
per cent of the continent.
“It is a tragedy that the AAE
expedition members are not more widely known around
the world – they deserve to be ranked alongside
other pioneers from the heroic age of Antarctic
exploration, such as Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen
and Wilkes.”
The six-member Mawson’s Huts
expedition team was flown ashore by helicopter
at Cape Denison earlier today from the French
Antarctic resupply ship L’Astrolabe after negotiating
dense pack ice.
The arrival of the expeditioners
follows a short delay when the L’Astrolabe, was
temporarily halted by a large 150km long iceberg
that blocked a vital access route.
The mission was delayed for
about six hours on Friday while helicopters were
sent out ahead of the vessel to find the best
route through the ice.
The ship departed Hobart on
October 21. The team is due to return to Australia
on Christmas Eve.
Rob Broadfield
Expedition to conserve Mawson's
huts back on track
A voyage to Antarctica to carry
out critical conservation work to preserve Mawson’s
Huts is back on track today after being temporarily
halted by a large 150 km long iceberg that blocked
a vital access route.
The Australian Government has
helped fund a team of Australian conservation
experts to travel to the icy continent to undertake
urgent repairs on Australia’s only heritage listed
link to the heroic age of Antarctic exploration.
The French vessel L’Astrolabe
departed Hobart on October 21 and having reached
the edge of the ice on Wednesday, was making good
progress through the floes until encountering
the huge iceberg yesterday.
But the mission was only delayed for about six
hours while helicopters were sent out ahead of
the vessel to find the best route through the
ice.
They were expected to arrive
at the French base this afternoon when the Australian
team of experts will then be transported by helicopter
to the base.
The Minister for the Environment
and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, said the Australian
Government's aim is to preserve the wooden buildings
in perpetuity but without urgent attention they
could eventually be destroyed by the strong winds
in a region that Mawson himself described as "the
home of the blizzard".
For the past 95 years the historic
Mawson's Huts at Cape Denison 2,600 km south of
Hobart have withstood the extreme Antarctic elements
in what is generally considered to be the windiest
place on earth.
Renowned explorer and geologist
Sir Douglas Mawson set up camp at Cape Denison
during the 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition
and the huts are listed as a National Heritage
site, as well as being of international significance.
"The work being undertaken
this summer will finalise a major part of the
programme to stabilise, repair and protect the
historically-significant artefacts contained in
the buildings,” Senator Campbell said.
“This work is being carried
out by the Mawson's Huts Foundation with the full
support of the Australian Government and is a
wonderful example of private enterprise and the
Government working together to conserve Australian
heritage."
The Mawson's Huts Foundation
has been given a $320,000 grant by the Australian
Government to help fund the project and the work
will also benefit from considerable logistical
support provided by the Australian Government
Antarctic Division.
“The contents of the huts remain
largely as Mawson and his men left them in 1913.
They are an immensely valuable part of Australia's
Antarctic history and it's essential they are
properly conserved," Senator Campbell said.
The six member works party,
headed by an expedition field leader and materials
conservator Dr Ian Godfrey from the WA Maritime
Museum, includes three heritage carpenters, a
photographer/cook/journalist and an artist. The
team is due to return to Australia on December
24.
Rob Broadfield
Mawson's Huts live up to 'home
of the blizzard' name
3 November 2006 - A team of
carpenters and conservators on an Australian Government
funded expedition to restore historic Mawson's
Huts have reached Cape Denison in winds over 100
kilometres per hour, the temperature around minus
20 and visibility of around 30 metres.
"The site is living up
to its name as the 'Home of the Blizzard' for
the expedition team, with the huts buried in hard
snow halfway up their roof," the Minister
for the Environment and Heritage Senator Ian Campbell
said.
"As soon as the weather
abates sufficiently the team will assess the site,
and begin their work.
"Ironically our records
show that on the same day 94 years ago Mawson's
comprehensive meteorological records show the
wind blew from SSE all day and night at an average
65 kilometres per hour gusting up to 85 kilometres
per hour, but never dropping below 50 kilometres
per hour and with an average temperature of -7.8
degrees Centigrade," Senator Campbell said.
Senator Campbell said the Australian
Government had provided a $320,000 grant to help
fund important work being undertaken by the Mawson's
Huts Foundation, with considerable logistical
support being provided by the Australian Government
Antarctic Division.
"Mawson's Huts are the
only physical connection back to the period of
pioneering Australian Antarctic exploration during
the Heroic Era (1911-1914)," Senator Campbell
said.
"Mawson's Huts is an amazing
site that was the first base for scientific and
geographical discovery in Antarctica by Australasian
Antarctic Expedition (AAE) led by Adelaide geologist
Douglas Mawson.
"These expeditions were
the earliest large-scale scientific inquiry by
Australians outside Australia following Federation."
Mawson's Huts, which are on
the National Heritage List, is one of only six
surviving Heroic Era wintering bases. The Huts
feature many items, ranging from food to work
tools, intact and exactly as they were left on
the expedition's departure.
The five-member Mawson's Huts
conservation team was flown ashore by helicopter
at Cape Denison on Monday this week from the French
Antarctic resupply ship L'Astrolabe after negotiating
dense pack ice. The team is due to return to Australia
on Christmas Eve.
The latest pictures of Mawson's
Huts half buried in snow are available http://www.aad.gov.au/
Rob Broadfield
