[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Antarctic supply vessels Aurora Australis and L’Astrolabe in Hobart                        Photo: by Eddodridge, Wikipedia Commons

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column][vc_column_text]Hobart’s Antarctic community will celebrate the beginning of a new expedition season in Antarctica with THAW – The Hobart Antarctic Week from 8-12 September 2016.  A joint venture between the Mawson’s Huts Foundation and the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, the five-day event will present a photographic exhibition, art prizes, lectures and waterfront activities designed to tell you about Hobart’s fascinating Antarctic history and the thriving role that Antarctic science and technology plays in our community.  Supported by the Australian Antarctic Division, Chimu Adventures and Events Tasmania, this free public event will give you a chance to peek behind the scenes as another Antarctic expedition season gets underway.

Meet the young scientists who will be studying everything from ice to oceans, tiny krill to giant elephant seals in the coldest, driest, windiest environment on earth.  Meet the carpenters and cooks, the radio operators and mechanics who keep Australia’s three Antarctic stations going all year ’round.  See beautiful works created by talented artists who have been South and learn about the heavy equipment and supplies assembled for the first voyage of the season.  Enjoy a season of Antarctic films at the State Cinema and visit our own Antarctic icebreaker, the Aurora Australis.

Wooden ships played an important part in the exploration of Antarctica from the earliest days and many of those ships, including Roald Amundsen’s Fram and Douglas Mawson’s Aurora were familiar sights in the Port of Hobart. Mawson  launched the first Australian Antarctic expedition from Hobart and thousands flocked to the waterfront to bid him good luck.  Amundsen, first to reach the South Pole, announced the news from the Hobart GPO.  Present day ships like the Aurora Australis, L’Astrolabe and the Investigator continue the tradition of Antarctic and Southern Ocean exploration.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”859″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”861″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”862″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]