Jeff and Jane

Jeff stood on the windswept headland and thought of home. In just a few days he would be on his way there. Behind him he could hear the noise of the penguin colony, now well into the egg-laying season. There was a tug on his line and he pulled in a good size fish which he thought would be very nice for the evening meal. He was sure that Jane would do it justice.

Jeff was a specialist on penguins and he had spent the last three years coming to Macquarie Island to study the Royal Penguin for a book he was writing, his second, funded by his publisher when the first did well. The first was on Emperor Penguins and he had thought that the Royal could be something similar. He was instantly captured by them in the wild, with their orange feathers that looked like an Indian head-dress and their cute white face.

He usually arrived in August, towards the end of the winter period, so that he could be on site when the penguins came ashore to nest in September. He stayed until the end of the laying season in late October. The book was pretty well written now, he had enough pictures and Jane had written the text. She was much better at typing, he thought. He wondered what his wife would think if she knew that he had spent three months of the past three years, living in an isolated hut with Jane.

The hut was quite well appointed and part of the field hut network on Macquarie Island. It was resupplied every year by helicopter. A person, though, had to walk the thirty-odd kilometres from the main base to get there. It takes about two days and he had to carry Jane for most of it, the track being extremely steep in places. The hut is called Hurd Point and had a great view out over the surrounding area, which, much to his surprise at his first visit, also allowed him to view elephant seals as well as being a central point to go and look at the breeding area for the wandering albatross, perhaps a reason to come back for his third book.

He walked back to the hut with his fish. Unlike the Antarctic Stations further south, Macquarie Island was just cold, averaging a range between a degree and three degrees in winter, had not much more in summer! This meant that, although you needed to dress well to withstand the cold, it was not as dangerous as being on snow. He did all the outside work as Jane was happier inside the hut. As to be expected, Jane cooked the fish after he had gutted it, and it was wonderful, enhanced by some of the tinned supplies that were already in the hut.

The next day he reviewed the book on his laptop and saved it to a USB stick, in case his computer was damaged or lost on the way back. He also radioed the main base to tell them to expect him in a couple of days. Jane tidied the hut and took stock of the supplies to give to the administration at the main base. Early morning the following day he checked the small petrol generators’ fuel supply to add to the list. The hut was usually powered by wind and solar power that gave twelve volts but if you needed two hundred and forty volts you had to use the generator.

He hoisted his pack and, also carrying Jane, he started out for the main base. It was an overnight stop at Green Gorge and, at the evening light of the second; he walked into the Macquarie Island main base. He checked in with the administration in the office in Cumpston Cottage, leaving the re-supply list, and put his things in his allocated room in the Southern Aurora donga. He then went and had a good meal in the mess and caught up with the chat about world events while having a drink with the other expeditioners.

That night he rang his wife in Melbourne to tell her he would be home soon. Before he went to bed he folded all of Janes’ things and put them into a bag for the base incinerator. If he came back he would need to buy all new things and that was something to look forward to during the summer.

Marianne G 2021