Antarctic Basalt

“By 1st February the unloading had been completed, and when the ice anchors had been recovered the ship drew slowly away from the ice edge. The dull weather could not suppress the thrill that pulsed through me – this was the real start of my adventure. Up till then I could at any time have turned back. It might have been embarrassing, inconvenient, or expensive, but it had been possible. Now there would be no more direct contact with the outside world until the ship returned for another brief week or so in a year’s time. There was no air link, established or even planned. Was any other workplace in the world as isolated? Even in the Antarctic, did any other base have so fleeting a relief? Together with my companions I was irrevocably committed.” Lewis Juckes describes the many new experiences that lay ahead over the next two years, first while living in huts buried deep within the snow and then in the field with dog teams for transport and tents for accommodation. Thrills and rare sights were there, as well as scares and dangers – and tragedy within the close-knit group. This was Antarctica in the mid-1960s.