Brad&Janet and Antarctica
Brad and Janet first visited Antarctica in 2013 and fell in love with the continent. It is hard to convey the grandeur of the scenery and the joy of watching penguins, something Brad & Janet could do for hours.
The adjacent picture shows Janet in Antarctica in 2013. The baby King Penguin walked towards her while she kept still. The baby didn't seem to understand the rules about keeping humans and penguins a reasonable distance apart!
The adjacent photo taken in good summer weather shows Brad at the lookout point above the Argentinian Antarctic Station, Base Brown. A most spectacular view.
However, while beautiful, Antarctica can be a very inhospitable place.
In his work as a specialist aeromedical and critical care physician Brad has been involved in two Antarctic medical emergency/rescue events. The logistic challenges were not insignificant.
Brad and Janet both have enormous respect for those hardy souls who spend their winter in Antarctica.
Mawson Station
Part of Australia's Antarctic Division, the over-wintering Mawson Station is situated on an isolated rocky outcrop in Mac Robertson Land in Antarctica. It is one of the longest continuously operating stations in Antarctica. The station was named after Australian Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson OBE. If you have not read his story we strongly commend it to you. A true adventurer, scientist, and hero.
Mawson Station came into existence on Feb 13 1954 when Phillip Law, the first Director of the Australian Antarctic Division, Law reached Horseshoe Harbour in Mac Robertson Land and raised the Australian flag.
In that first year a party of 10 Australians spent winter in cramped accommodation. By the end of 1954 they had erected living quarters, a works hut, an engine shed, two store huts and a carpenter’s shop.
Since that time the number of building has grown significantly including in 1956 the first aircraft hangar to be built in Antarctica. The current Mawson station has a large collection of buildings old and new.
Casey and Davis Stations are the two other mainland Australian Antarctic Division Stations. Although Mawson is below the Antarctic Circle you would have to travel over 2490 km further south from Mawson to get to the South Pole.
The Geocache
We placed this cache during a seasonal changeover of staff at Mawson Base. The adjacent photo shows the Signpost Pole on Mawson Base in December 2018.
The cache is located within a currently disused Station building. It was the site of an old accommodation cubicle. The cache is a green ammunition container with an inner hard plastic container. Both are clearly marked with the words geocaching and there are the usual cards inside explaining what geocaching is and what this specific cache is. It does not cause any any limitation to access to the building.
Thanks very much to the Station staff for assistance with identifying the placement location, and for helping to maintain the cache. Of course any Station staff with a geocaching account are very welcome to log a find on this one.
The GPS coordinates will get you to the door of the building in which it is located, assuming you have managed the minor task of getting yourself on base.
The cache contained 8 trackables when hidden. Feel free to grab any of these and move them on. We would love to hear your story and see any photos of your time in Antarctica. We are sure the trackable owners would love photos too.
The cache has been placed in accordance with Antarctic treaties. Permission has been given by the Australian Antarctic Division for the geocache to be present and there is an ongoing maintenance plan. The details have been supplied to the reviewer at the time of submission of this cache.
