Sir Douglas Mawson led an Australasian Antarctic expedition during the great period of Antarctic exploration in the early 1900s. His ship the SY Aurora left Hobart on 2 Dec 1911 and landed at Cape Denison. The expedition members built themselves huts and lived in these for two years through constant blizzards and winds up to 320km/hr. After the expedition left, the huts lay undisturbed until the 1970’s when attempts began to preserve them. The huts on Hobart’s waterfront are faithful replicas of the originals (probably better as they were built by skilled carpenters). They are near the wharf from which the SY Aurora sailed.
The gift shop sells knitting patterns so you can knit your own replica Mawson balaclava. I was tempted as it’s been pretty cold so far in Tassie and if it saw Mawson through an Antarctic expedition it must be pretty cosy.
