Let's do the Time Warp - Field Training Take 2 (Part 1)

Three years ago I was sitting down to my laptop to write blog posts to discuss my first experiences on the Antarctic plateau and the pleasures of sleeping in a Bivvy bag. 

Some things change in life, for example: I'm using a Mac now, I'm in a much warmer place, and I'm a kilogram or two more "prosperous" than I was back then.

And some things are destined to repeat themselves: generations blaming their problems on those who came before or who will come after, the great romances and tragedies that are told in tales, reruns of Friends. And I go on field training. 

Early in my time at Mawson I spent three days in the field in Antarctica ticking boxes for the AAD and learning how to not die in the ridiculous place they had left me in. And very recently I spent three days in the field on Macquarie Island.... you guessed it, learning how to not die.

On a lovely Macca Thursday I met up with another group of three field training hopefuls and our instructor, we kitted up, discussed our plans, turned our tags and wandered out of station. 

And then rather rapidly and rudely we ran into one of the glaring differences between field travel on the continent and field travel on Macquarie Island. It's called Doctor's Track, and it's a bastard.

That's home way over in the distance.

You see, in Antartica you get cruise around in the comfort of a Hägglund or astride a quad bike like some kind of petrol powered super hero. It's the high life for sure. On Macca you get to cruise around on your own two feeties, dragging all your crap essential survival equipment with you along the way. And if you can't be arsed trudging up 400ft of mud and grass in the cold, wet, and rain, then mate, you're staying at home.

Doctor's Track is so named because after using it you're going to need one... and it's the main highway off station.

Still gaining elevation...

Like the wolf of Three Little Pigs fame we huffed and puffed and blew our knees out, but we did eventually make it to the top of the rise and were rewarded with level track for our efforts. We slogged along in majestic sub-antarctic wilderness for the rest of the day, making it to our nights accommodation around four in the afternoon (sunset!). Bauer Bay Hut is located 1/4 of the way down the west coast of the island, is built in what I would call traditional remote hut style, and features an external "Shangrila" that ideally is stuffed full of field food.

On the north end of the island plateau the tracks are remarkably well maintained.

Gorgeous sunset colours lighting our decent to Bauer Bay.

This is another difference between continental field huts and Macquarie Island field huts: Antarctic huts have a stash of absolute basic provisions that don't mind fluctuating temperatures from -40°C to 15°C (eg. milk powder, instant coffee, sugar, tea, potato powder) and expeditioners are expected to bring all their meals with them. On Macca we have stashes of most of everything in Shangrila at each hut, and carry treats with us on our backs.

At Bauer we baked bread, cooked dinner, dried our gear, reviewed good radio communications practices, discussed our plans for the following day and settled in for an early evening to recover from our first day of walking Macquarie Island!

Day 2 dawned with uncharacteristically civil weather, and saw us clear of the hut by 0900. Our intentions for the day were to make our way south along the Aurora Cave Track, experience some featherbed, and break east off track up Flat Creek to practice navigation. Eventually we would end up back on the east coast of the island, overnighting at Brother's Point Hut.

Featherbed is an interesting phenomena of short grasses and herbs growing thickly over a layer of water, and feels remarkably similar to hiking over a waterbed. It is an incredibly inefficient medium for walking on, and worthy of it's own blog post some day.

Deposited out of The Labyrinth...

onto the featherbed.

Working hard by this point.

<Insert two week writing break here. Wow, I've been busy!>

I'll have to bid you adieu here, I've written more than I should have about the trip and I've been busier than I should have been. I'm going for another walk over the weekend so we'll continue when I get back on station next week.

Wish me luck!