As a young person, I only ever had two dreams. The first was to be a plumber. I was fascinated with where the water goes when I flush the toilet, why the flow of water was different out of a hot tap compared to a cold tap, and did the reservoirs have lids?
However, this is not a story about that. This is about my second dream: Macquarie Island!
As a young’un, I spent countless hours at the Botanical Gardens in Hobart, frolicking amongst the various flora exhibits. But where was my favourite, you ask? Well, the Macquarie Island exhibit, of course! With its wind generation, misting system to simulate the rain, and Macca conditions, I thought, "Wow, people actually live here in this weather, with all this beautiful plant life and animals!"
Then, as I grew up and developed my life plan, little did I know my passions would collide. I remember it to this day. Tim Price, my former mentor, was telling me tales of the rugged Macquarie Island and being the plumber there (a previous winterer himself) and how, hidden on the rugged west coast, there was a hut – well, a refuge, actually – and not just any hut. This hut was a WATER TANK!!
It consumed me! For years, I would see photos of this tank and its evolution, from a basic 10,000 litre tank fitted out with bunks, to having a luxurious (sic) cold porch addition completed in 2017! Plumbers would send through their annual reports, each of them featuring the wintering plumber sitting in front of the hut.
“I must get there,” I thought.
Fast forward to 2024, and I was lucky enough to be selected as a wintering expeditioner at Macquarie Island. My wintering goals: have a safe and enjoyable time and see Davis Point Hut!
However, I quickly discovered you can’t just visit this hut. Not only did you first have to complete the required field training, but it was not a hut for recreation. It was a refuge for use in extreme circumstances and mainly by rangers or field biologists when in the area. My heart sank. Was my dream over? No, is the answer (otherwise, this wouldn’t be much of a story).
The 77th ANARE features two wintering rangers, Amy and Mel. After discovering that there was an annual gas inspection at this hut and a plumber would be required for a visit (this is how they’ve been doing it, I thought) my opportunity arose and I grabbed it with both hands!
Dr. Mel and I set off trekking to the overland destination Davis Point. Picking Amy up at Green, we cruised the Overland Track, nipped under Spaghetti Hill, strolled down the Tiobunga Track, and were guided down one of the most scenic places I’ve ever seen – Sandell South Jump Down. The local travel guide describes it as one of the best jump downs on the island, way better than the creek or the north Sandell (If it sounds like it has a PR agent, it does).
Once at the base, after a short stroll, there at the base of a jagged rock sheltering from the storming west coast was the Davis Point Hut! I was nearly brought to tears. This was it. The hut of my dreams.
And would you believe, this water tank, hidden on the west coast of Macquarie Island, had its own little water tank. Enough to bring a tear to your eye!
Duckie (Shaun Gillies), Station ESS
Big “Tanks” to Dr. Mel Wells for guiding me down, Amy our wintering ranger in charge, Chris Howard for fighting to keep the hut (and its history), thus keeping my dream alive, and Dan Mizza and David Brett for the cold porch.
