July 17: Trip to Brother's Point

I had planned to walk to Brother's Point Hut and rendezvous with Ranger Anna to assist her with Petrel burrow searches. Overnight snow falls buried many of the burrows, so Anna cancelled the hunt. I was happy to walk out to the hut anyway, and so began my three day Brother's Point Hut trip.  My plan was read, eat, check out the beach for cool stuff, read, etc, walk on the beach... you get the picture.
 

Brother's Point Hut with Brothers Point in the background. Photo: Jacque Comery

This hut is one of two that were actually moved from their original location at the former research station on Heard Island, to Macquarie Island. (The other is at Waterfall Bay). Imagine living in a whole village of googies!  How very Jetsons! The cold porch on the side has shelves for stores and is where we leave wet gear and boots. The green wooden box on the balcony is the fridge. ( It IS just a box, but Macca temperatures are usually pretty fridge like.

The googie or spaceship hut. Photo: Jacque Comery

 





I arrived at the hut in good time, and put on dry clothes, made a cuppa,  and had a relax after my hike out. The water pipe to the hut was frozen so I scooped water out of the top of the tank to fill the kettle and get water for the night. It was so cold that ice was freezing on the jug between scoops!

Inside the hut. Photo: Jacque Comery

Cosy bed! Photo: Jacque Comery

View back up to the plateau. Photo: Jacque Comery



View from Brother's Point to the north. Photo: Jacque Comery

The googie window. Photo: Jacque Comery

Frozen jug. Photo: Jacque Comery

Scooping water from the hut tank. Photo: Jacque Comery

 

My cosy little spaceship hut was warm and toasty in no time, and after taking advantage of the short-lived sunshine I bunkered down to read for the whole afternoon. 

The winds built throughout the day and by nightfall the hut was shaking on it's foundations. I wondered if I actually might experience flying in the  space ship!