Sitrep 30.10.06, 2357hrs AEDT

Greetings Sitrep Subscribers,

Our first full day in The Home Of the Blizzard!

While it wasn’t quite hurricane conditions today (around 70kmph / 40-50 knots winds; minus 39 Celsius with wind chill at its worst this morning), Cape Denison still laid on a truly challenging welcome.  We spent most of the day indoors variously writing diaries, reading books and tidying up a bit, in anticipation of the delivery of the rest of our equipment and supplies.  However, the katabatic winds ensured that no chopper would be able to land safely during the day so we maintained contact with L’Astrolabe crew to update them with local weather conditions in the hope we could between us arrange a heli-ops delivery of our gear.

This afternoon, Ted and Chris took the quad bikes for a run to warm them up and to check out the main Mawson’s Hut and the Granholm Hut – Mawson’s Hut was almost entirely buried up to the roof in snow and ice - while the rest of us variously busied ourselves with other chores to get our own living quarters (Chez Sorensen) in better shape. 

Anyone seen an old heritage icon lying around here somewhere?

For lunch, Angus whipped up a wicked pasta arrabiatta while the tea-time menu was chicken or beef soup with crackers washed down with a sniff of Banrock Station Shiraz. We had barely finished tea when we heard a chopper coming into land unannounced, and all six of us raced out to help unload because the wind was still whipping through at 35-plus knots – not exactly favourable conditions for heli-ops.  That kept us busy for the rest of the evening as we began to sort out and store our gear.

The next couple of days will be spent continuing to set up camp: for starters, the tents need to go up, while I still need to sort out my kitchen and arrange the larder.  The A-Factor will also continue to dictate matters to an extent.  You wouldn’t believe just how difficult it is to fetch some water for our coffee or dinner.  Also, I had an absolute bugger of a time trying to film some penguins in the katabatic winds.  Think I’ll wait for calmer conditions before trying that again.

Till tomorrow!

Team Australia

(All words and photos Copyright Simon Mossman 2011)

Sitrep 29.10.06, 1800hrs AEDT

Good evening Sitrep Subscribers,

Saving the best for last – we are the only ones left to be airlifted onto Antarctica proper.  Hurrah and huzzah!

One of many stunning icebergs as we slipped through Iceberg Alley

Earlier this afternoon, we left the Dumont d’Urville region and right now are steaming through open water towards Commonwealth Bay, parallel with the plateau. The latest plan is to get us within 50kms of Cape D and then start flying the lads off.  The weather conditions for heli-ops are currently looking good indeed and there’s little sign of the hurricane-strength winds which this region boasts.  The Home Of The Blizzard awaits.

Ted, Marty, Chris and Angus will be first off so they can organise unloading of the cage pallets in which our equipment and supplies are slung under the choppers, while Angus will be landed so he can make as much use of his short (scheduled) time in the huts as possible.  Ian and I will then do a sweep of Hotel L’Astrolabe Cabine 13 and the hangar to make sure we haven’t left anything behind (especially not the food, or it’ll be penguin steaks for sure.)

Apart from the raging swells that the Southern Ocean served up last week, we have all enjoyed the trip so far and have seen enough to last a lifetime.  Now the real work begins.

That just leaves us to thank voyage leader Patrice, Xavier and their crew for their hospitality these past nine days. We hope Team Australia has not been too much of an imposition that you will actually be back to evacuate us from the ice as scheduled around mid-December. (As you agreed, right? Right?) For now though, we wish you and your crew Bon Chance, Bon Voyage and Godspeed as you continue your own journey back to Australia.

Friends, in case we’re “radio silent” for the next couple of days, don’t panic – because we won’t be.  Laissez le bon temps roulez! (Let the good times roll)

Roger, Wilko and out.

Simon

Mawson’s Huts Expedition Team

C/o Sorensen Hut, 67o South

Sitrep 28.10.06

Greetings Sitrep Subscribers from latitude 65.53 south, longitude 140.07 east,

And in business news today . . . the Mawson’s Huts Expedition Team was, come Sunday, set to spend a fifth day on board Hotel L’Astrolabe as the ship battled valiantly through the near-impenetrable ice pack in order to reach Commonwealth Bay.

Not that the team members – field leader Dr Ian Godfrey, Ted Bugg, Marty Passingham, Christian Gallagher, Angus McDonald and Simon Mossman – were complaining, as they were treated to an outstanding day of cruising among tabular icebergs, orcas (killer whales), penguins and other unimaginable delights.

Right, scrap that orderly broadcast news nonsense . . . we have had one immense adventure today – and we haven’t even reached Cape Denison and started work yet.

Yes, this IS an iceberg (not land!)

The morning started out parallel-parked alongside the 30-metre high jagged eastern face of a massive, 60km-long tabular iceberg (see aerial photo), and ended cruising through iceberg alley, another region of this alien, otherworldly place.  Sir Arthur C. Clarke would have struggled to create a more sci-fi backdrop. It is something else and I’ll tell you now:  neither photos nor the most eloquent documentary film will ever do this place justice. The view changes every second, and you cannot take enough ‘ice’ or ‘iceberg’ photos (though editing one’s stock is going to take some serious self-discipline).

While we are keen as mustard to get onto the ice cap and launch the works program, today was, admittedly, something of a welcome delay and an utter delight: after leaving the 60km tabular behind, we happened across a pod of orcas as they followed in our wake. Cue: excited expeditioners of all nationalities jamming the helipad taking pictures.  In between, the French Antarctic team began flights to their base at Dumont d’Urville (DDU) some 100kms away across the dense pack ice.

They eventually landed a handful of people and equipment with more flights planned for tomorrow.  The wait continues, however, for the Mawson’s Huts team (remarkably, though we ain’t suffering from cabin fever yet).

Killer whale surfaces just metres from the boat

The afternoon involved more whale watching and some of us were hoping for a bloody feeding frenzy involving at least one poor, unfortunate penguin who happened to become lunch for the orcas, but ’twas not to be.  After the first French expeditioners left for DDU, we attempted to cut a track through the pack towards the base – and ended up gliding like a ghost ship for the rest of the evening through innumberable tabular icebergs, a playground full of orcas and then some.

There is the slimmest of possibilities that we will make it far enough through the pack ice tomorrow in order to be able commence airlifting of our heavy equipment, supplies and food to Cape Denison but suspect that the rest of the French summer base expeditioners will get to go off first.  We will keep you posted.

Over and out,

Simon & the Mawson’s Huts Expedition Team

(All photos & material copyright Simon Mossman)

Sitrep 26.10.06

Greetings Sitrep Subscribers,

WOW!  Stunning. Awesome. Breathtaking. Freezing. Fantastic. Beautiful. Astonishing. Amazing. Outtathisworld . . . what more is there to say? (Oh, ok: time: 1740hrs AEDT; latitude 64.44 south, longitude 143.40 east; outside temperature: -20degC with wind chill; wind speed: 35kph; ship speed 3.4 knots; distance to Cape Denison: 230kms approx.)

Today has been a stunning day, spent by most on board photographing every last inch of ice and generally picking one’s lower jaw off the deck.  Indoors or out, the ever changing views have been awe-inspiring.  Angus, our expedition artist, and myself were awake early enough to photograph the sunrise over the loose pancake ice this morning and since then, we’ve generally risked nasal frostbite trying to capture the myriad moods, colours, contrast and tones of this astonishingly beautiful landscape/seascape/moonscape. . . call it what you will.

The Mawson’s Huts team is very upbeat about what lies ahead, even the vets among us who know what to expect.  Today has been such a contrast to yesterday and Tuesday when we were still being flung violently about the cabin by the 12-metre Southern Ocean swells.  Today, it’s been a very calm day, save for the occasional crunching of the bow over the thicker ice floes, which is pretty cool anyway.  We spotted a couple of juvenile Adelie penguins belly-skidding across the floes and we managed to upset one Weddell seal by crashing headlong through its own personal pancake floe as it sunbaked.  Very funny.

The ship parked up about lunchtime to enable the helicopters to be lifted out of the hold and fitted together before the French Voyage Leader took flight to find some better leads through the pack ice.  As we are still 160-plus nautical miles from Commonwealth Bay, there could be more flights tomorrow to scout for more leads and I hope to blag my way on board to get some aerial video footage and photos. I hope.

Anyways, till tomorrow.

Simon, Ian, Marty, Angus, Ted and Chris

Sitrep 24.10.06

Greetings Sitrep Subscribers,

And thanks for tuning in this evening.

Well, the swell has picked up a bit again and we’ve been doing a fair ol’ bit of rolling and pitching.  Can’t wait for the ice, which we’re forecast to reach tomorrow morning, though hopefully we’ll be seeing an iceberg or two before then (which means calmer seas. Briiing it on).

Currently, we are at latitude 57.34 south, longitude 143.51 east, wind speed a fair 25 knots, outside air temp 0.7degC, water temp a nippy 0.6degC.  We’re cruising at the standard 12 knots and the swells are, in places, 4-6m in height.

Today’s been much of a samey day as the past few and we’re a bit over the cabin fever now, wishing for a change in scenery.  While the ocean is majestic and awesome to watch, it can also get a bit monotonous, so to see the ice and eventually some wildlife will be most welcome.  We have had the one or two albatrosses constantly tailing us from Hobart.  Remarkable birds.

Anyway, no gossip here to report.  Any news for us from the home front?

Simon and the A-Team

Phone hacking: a paper-thin apology?

So, Uncle Roopy managed to turn on some sort of sincerity when in private conference with the Dowler family and their legal team. Fair enough.

But, the brief worded statement printed in Britain’s national Sundays and elsewhere?  Words repeated /adapted from one of red-top Rebekah Brooks’ earlier statements as the #newsstainment NOTW was finally sacrificed?

”The News of the World was in the business of holding others to  account. It failed when it came to itself.

”We are sorry for the serious wrongdoing that occurred. We are deeply sorry for  the hurt suffered by the individuals affected.”

The News of the World* was in the business of holding others to account?  Others including Milly Dowler (what did she do that deserved being held to account)? The grieving families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan or other theatres of war or, indeed, families of 9/11 victims in the US (what did they do that they deserved to be held to account)?  A-, B- or even C-list celebs clearly not having done wrong? EPIC FAIL.

EPIC, EPIC FAIL.

(*And by News of the World, you can generally substitute News Corp, News International, even, it seems, The Sun)

"Hi Andy, sh*t mate, yah. W. T. F.? Yeah I know, they were only a few harmless exclusives. Not like we com-pletely destroyed peoples' lives, only moderately.."

And, seriously: when is Red-top Brooks going to actually, meaningfully apologise? A basic, simple, humble “I lied, screwed over so many innocent individuals and destroyed so many lives as Greg Miskiw pointed out” apology, complete with genuine remorse?

(Brooks) ‘I want to be absolutely clear that as editor of News of the World I had no knowledge whatsoever of phone hacking in the case of Milly Dowler and her family, or in any other cases during my tenure.”

Riiiight. So Brooks didn’t know sh*t, yet Rupert knew enough to actually man-up and apologise?  My back wheel she knew nothing.

(Brooks again) ‘I also want to reassure you that the practice of phone hacking is not continuing at the News of the World”.

Ah. ‘NOT CONTINUING”? So, it did happen at some point on Brooks’ watch?

(Brooks again) “‘The hurt and suffering caused to Milly Dowler’s family, and the many other alleged crime victims of phone hacking, is horrendous and inexcusable.”

So when is Brooks going to follow suit with Rupert Murdoch and a-p-o-l-o-g-i-s-e?

Because, don’t forget, it wasn’t just on the News of the World, but The Sun.

From illegally-accessed highly confidential, private and personal (I wonder if Brooks owns an Oxford dictionary to check out those definitions) medical documents about Gordon Brown’s sick child Fraser, Brooks knew (more) about Fraser and callously promised to publish details from those same confidential, private and personal files at the same time as the Browns were just beginning to come to terms with the discovery.

(Brooks again, this from her resignation letter, July 15) “… as well as the press freedoms we value so highly, are all at risk.”

What about the 4,000-odd individuals whose freedom to privacy was not just breached, but callously, sadistically annihilated?

FAIL. EPIC, EPIC FAIL.

When is this bullsh*t going to end?  When Brooks, Murdoch et al NOT ONLY apologise to ALL victims of their crime, but ALSO acknowledge that the material they ‘sourced’, the criminal methods they used, the operational grounds upon which they argued validity, never EVER amounted to news. EPIC, EPIC FAIL.

(Keywords: Rupert Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks, News of the World, phone hacking, Milly Dowler, News Corp, News International, Andy Coulson (not mentioned above, but might as well include him in your Google searches; ditto James Murdoch), The Sun, #NOTW, newsstainment, #newsstainment)

Phone-hacking & newsstainment: a recap

So, where are we up to re the News of the World phone hacking?

• Journalists and senior editors & execs arrested and/or questioned by police and/or charged (so not the work of one ‘rogue reporter’ then, eh Rebekah?);
• One of the journos arrested once worked for the same very police force originally investigating the phone hacking scandal;
• FBI now set to investigate News Corp for hacking the phones of 9/11 victims;
• News Intl chief exec Rebekah Brooks Was Wade claims never to have known of any phone hacking or other illegal activities happening on her watch – EVEN THOUGH she was the one who called former PM Gordon Brown to tell him, “We’ve got some of your family’s personal, private & confidential medical records and even though it’s NOT NEWS we’re still going to publish details pretending it’s news.”;
• A reminder that none of the story outcomes of the phone hacking – quite apart from being illegal and based on totally private and confidential materials – is NOT NEWS. NOT NOW. NOT THEN. NOT EVER;

This list is quickly threatening to become endless and those of you even interested or having followed the long and sorry saga of this blatant criminal activity doubtless have your own news sources to keep track of. (This has been my chief source, and comprehensive it is, too).

It was disappointing, though perhaps inevitable, that blame would be pushed around; that politics would invariably become entangled in the issue, including the question of the BSkyB bid; that the chief players (RB, Andy Coulson, Murdoch snr and jnr and their insidious fellow cast members) would deny left, right and centre; that no end of commentators and observers – pro- and anti- News Corp – would flood the information sphere with all sorts of trivial angles and opinions, most of them a complete load of CRAP; and so on.

At the end of it all are these simple truths: hacking someone’s phone for a story is NOT on. There is no legit news story to come out of such a low act. Paying criminals to access private individuals’ private records is NOT on. There is no legit story to come out of that, either.  Paying off bent cops for tips is invariably nothing new (good luck with ever putting paid to that one).

It is, quite simply, NOT news. I’ve said this before: the advent of the internet and 24/7 news (TV, print, online, mobile) was perhaps inevitable. However, doing anything BUT sticking to some basic moral guidelines and journalist ethics, not to mention endeavouring to uphold the traditional – and STILL RELEVANT AND NECESSARY – pillars of journalism, was NOT inevitable.  It is purely and simply news as entertainment (no world exclusives in that statement, for sure). Newsstainment. A stain on news. A stain on news journalism. Journalism full stop.

And really, it’s got to stop.

Sitrep Monday 23.10.06

Sitrep Monday 23.10.06

Greetings sitrep subscribers,

Well, what a cruisy-er day we’ve had today, compared to the weekend.  After Saturday’s heavy introduction to the Southern Ocean (SO), followed by a slightly easier day yesterday, today has been quite pleasant.  It has in the past hour begun to cloud over and rain and the swells are picking up once again.

At 1621 hours, we were at latitude 52.12, longitude 145.27 and had travelled approx. 600 nautical miles (1nm = 1.872km) from Hobart, with a further 846nm to Dumont d’Urville.  With that distance forecast in mind and if we maintain our current speed of about 11 knots, we are expecting to see the first icebergs by Wednesday morning.  It would be nicer if we’d gone past the first bergs and hit the pack ice by then, but we’ll have to see.

The swells have been around three metres, outside temp about 10 degrees C and the water temperature is an unswimmable 2degC.  How do I know that?  Well, I certainly didn’t jump in for a dip.  No, actually there are two CSIRO volunteers on board collecting sea temp data as part of climate change research.

Beyond that, the wind’s maintained a speed of 20 knots and was clear and sunny this morning, but as I mention, has since turned a bit more grey and wet outside.

Remarkably, there are still the occasional albatrosses tailing the ship but no other wildlife as yet.  Cameras are at the ready though.

Everyone in L’Astrolabe Cabine 13 are doing OK: we’re mostly entertaining ourselves with DVDs and books and dinner is in about an hour’s time.  Not much else to report beyond that, though.

Dave: the lads are up for filing a diary piece here and there, but I’ve not done the biogs yet.

Speak to you tomorrow.

Cheers,

Simon

Simon Mossman

Mawson’s Huts Foundation

C/o Sorensen Hut, 67-deg South

Cape Denison, Adelie Land

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ATTACHMENTS

Sitrep 22/10/06. Southern Ocean

Sitrep 22/10/06.  Southern Ocean

Greetings Sitrep Subscribers,

All Ok for the most part, but quite tired. Heavy seas through the night ensured we were pitched around in our beds, unable to get long decent Zzzs.  There have been plenty of whitecaps on and off, the sign of a lively wind and the captain told us at breakfast we should expect more heavy weather and high-rolling seas.

Not yet been up to the bridge to get any sort of data (such as speeds, swell height etc), partly on account of being a touch seasick yesterday but hope to at some point today.

It’s nice to have bananas again for breakfast, after missing them for so long b/c of Cyclone Larry.

Today (Sunday 22) likely to be another day of quiet down-time in the bunk, reading, writing emails, watching DVDs.  Will touch base later.

Cheers,

Simon

Sitrep: Doug’s Shack (some context)

Composite of original western roof

So, for your benefit, loyal sitrep subscribers, this book needs some context above and beyond simply that: Antarctica is white, icy, freeze-yer-nads-off cold and a bit more than just breezy.

We’ll discover more about Cape Denison, just about the windiest sliver of rock in the world, as we voyage deeper, further and longer.

More immediately, it’s important to grasp a sense of the purpose of our mission and the noble gesture of restoring not only a rare, living piece of Australian Antarctic heritage, but also Sir Douglas Mawson’s unique place in Antarctic history.  For instance, just what is it that is so compelling about an old timber hut that sits thousands of miles from civilisation, that briefly served a purpose a century ago and will never be seen by the multitudes (unless you’re talking penguins, birds and seals)?  A hut that largely remains buried under sheer tonnes of ice and snow, very much a part of the glacier it is entombed in almost year-round.

(I promise you, the answer to that particular question is worth going the distance for: literally and figuratively).

Then there is the actual business of just ‘living there’. You’ll hear me mention more than once “The A-factor” (‘A’ obviously being Antarctic) which governs many aspects of life, especially the supposedly simplest of tasks, and, doubly especially, the inexplicable aspects of life.

Anyway, to keep it brief(ish), some context:

* Antarctica – cold, right?  Erm, just a bit (something like minus 45C with wind chill was, if I remember correctly, the lowest temp we recorded. That figure might change as I review my original material);

* Windy. Not ‘alf!  Not without good reason did Mawson dub Cape Denison ‘Home of the Blizzard’. We had our own hurricanes and sideways snow and ice that could puncture Kevlar;

* Five-year-old food!  We deliberately planned to supplement our menu and fresh food with supplies and rations left behind by previous expeditions, which included emergency ration packs inc. chocolate bars and snacks plus dehydrated food (best before: 2001!);

* Complete isolation for almost two months:  five blokes in a small prefab. hut akin to an industrial butcher’s walk-in freezer, plus sleeping in tents – yes, I said tents! – on the ice, a million miles from emergency help and about 150 miles across likely untransversible terrain from the next nearest humans (being the French at the Dumont D’Urville base, DDU);

* Putting a new roof on an old building (sort of undermines every principle of tradesmanship [joinery, carpentry etc], painting over cracks etc; yet this itself is testament to Mawson’s original building design and durability of his shack);

* Communicating with the outside world when satphone signals, blizzards and sub-zero temps permitted.

It’s a good yarn, honest. Stick with me.