Antarctic Training 5 - Fire and Emergency Response

As You can imagine it has been a very busy and hectic time leading up to our departure. The departure date has been set for Thursday 28th February, so not many days left.

As was mentioned in the post about SAR training - The crew at Macca also become the Fire and Emergency Response team (see Fire Prevention). This training took place over seven day at the Tasmanian Fire Service headquarters at Cambridge.

It was an intensive week with many theory lectures followed by hands on practical sessions.

One of the buildings at the Tasmania Fire Service training complex at Cambridge -  a house fire can  (under the right conditions) double in size every 30 seconds

Antarctic Training part 4 - Boating

The next part of our training took part in the pristine waters out of Kettering, the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, and the far southern parts of Storm Bay. We spent 4 day at and around the AAD's Watercraft facility at Kettering. This post will include plenty of images.

IRB's (Zodiacs) at AAD's Watercraft Facility at Kettering 

The first morning was induction and familiarisation of the the Inflatable Rubber Boats (IRB) which we will have with us at Macquarie Island.

Antarctic Training part 3 - More SAR

After returning from Bruny Island we spent the afternoon on more SAR training in the 'backyard at Kingston.

First we were shown four different tents/shelters and how to set them up. These are all available in the SAR backpacks at Macquarie Island.

Simple pyramid tent/shelter

Antarctic Training part 2 - Search and Rescue

The next part of training involved all expeditioners.

Macquarie Island lies approximately halfway between Australia and Antarctica - 1,496km south SSE of Tasmania and 1,294km north of the Antarctic Continent. It is at 54º 30' S, 158º 57' E.  This puts it right in the middle of the 'Furious Fifties', making it a very remote, windy and cold place. It is also the exposed portion of the Macquarie Ridge, which is where the Australian plate (Tectonic) meets the Pacific plate. It has steep rocky slopes near the coast.

Macquarie Island looking south showing rugged slopes and adverse weather