Icebreakers, ice, sledge dogs and penguins.

United States Coast Guard Ice Breaker Burton Island 283. A ship with a proud history in the annals of modern  Polar Expeditions.  Photo: Bob McKerrow

"Let's take the dogs out for a run, and see if we can link up with the Coast Guard ice breaker," said Chris Knott. "What ice breaker ? " I replied. " I heard from an American yesterday that an ice breaker is  about 20 miles from McMurdo and should be here in a few days." This was November 1969 when Chris and I were at Scott Base in Antarctica. Chris was the dog handler and I was a science technician, and I used to run the second dog team for Chris. Here are a few photos and jottings.

We hitched up two teams of dogs, 12 on each team, and soon were speeding across the ice of McMurdo Sound and on our right the long finger of the Hut Point Peninsula with Castle Rock dominating, a good place to take a bearing off. The dogs were yelping with joy, having their first run for 5 days. Chris' team was pulling away from me, as I shouted to Mike and Kulak to pull harder.. We passed the winter quarters of Scott and then could see the Erebus Glacier Tongue in the distance, a good bearing en route to Cape Evans.

Mike and Kulak, Scott Base huskies. During the summer of 1969-70, they were the two best dogs on my team. Chris Knott used Rangi as his lead dog. Photo: Bob McKerrow



Chris Knott and his dog team were in front of me and I had to urge Kulak and Mike to pull harder, to catch up. Photo: Bob McKerrow

We glided across the sea ice, conscious of all that history of Scott, Shackleton, Mawson, Crean, David, Wilson, Oates, Bowers, Hillary, Bob Miller and all.......We had been travelling about 30 minutes, when we picked up an object on the horizon. It must be the Burton Island. The dogs got the scent of something, lifted their tails and pulled like Colin Meads with someone tugging his jersey. Having something on the horizon is what Antarctic huskies loved, as it gave them something to pull towards and they could pick up some smells of food. As we drew nearer we could make out the outline of a ship, and the sea ice was transmitting and amplifying the sound of the huge roaring engines of the ice breaker.

We put the sledge brakes on, slowed the dogs down and parked about 100 yards away. The dogs were in a frenzy. I walked round and gave them a little bit of 'how's your Father,' to quell the riot. Rangi licked my boots in an act of mock submission. By this time the crew had spotted us, the first sign of human life for some weeks. A bunch of icebreakermen thronged the rails and yelled at us, " Crazy Kiwi's" and invited us aboard. Not being able to resist, I shouted out, "Can we bring the dogs, and they drink only Jack Daniels?"

We  staked the dogs to the ice very firmly, and they stopped the ice breaker, so we could climb up a ladder.Once aboard in the fuggy lounge, the ship started breaking ice, a big push forward, ram the ice, make a gain of 20 to 30 yads, then everse back and start the big push forward again. This monotonous routine went on day in and out, and turned the men into zombies, anticipating the ram, when they broke in a quickstep routine, and grabbed something firm, to stop them being flung across the room.

We had a few Jack Daniels, some food, and then back to the dogs. In those days there were no rules about drinking and driving at Scott Base, so we untied the dogs and headed back to the Base, so pleased we were young, carefree Kiwis, and not Navy Icebreakermen. I suppose that was something I appreciated in the leadership at Scott Base in those days. Bruce Willis, would test us all, give us little by little, more responsibility. Woe and betide if you broke his trust: no dog trips, no perks and punishment only a school principal can mete out. It was a great summer for me, sledging with Chris Knott and the dogs, accompanying scientists on their field work, rock climbing at Castle Rock under the midnight sun, skiing on the old rope tow, accompanying field parties of drop offs to remote parts of Antarctica so I would know the terrain in case of rescue, and our scientific work at Scott Base. Only 21 and all that responsibility .Another memorable dog sledge trips was to Cape Evans and Cape Royds, where we saw the historic huts of Scott and Shackleton, the penguin colony. But, a little about the Burton Island.

USS Burton Island (AG-88) was a United States Navy Wind-class icebreaker that was later re-commissioned as a United States Coast Guard icebreaker, USCGC Burton Island.


Burton Island was laid down on 15 March 1946 at the San Pedro shipyard of the Western Pipe and Steel Company, launched on 30 April, and commissioned 28 December with the identifier AG-88. She was named after an island near the coast of Delaware.

On 17 January 1947, Burton Island, loaded with supplies, steamed from San Diego to Ross Sea, Antarctica where it met with units of TF 68 on the first Antarctic Development project, Operation Highjump. After returning from Antarctica, Burton Island departed 25 July 1947 for the Point Barrow expedition to Alaska. From April 1948 to December 1956, Burton Island participated in 19 Arctic and Alaskan cruises, including Operation Windmill. Duties on the cruises varied including, supply activities, helicopter reconnaissance of ice flows, scientific surveys, underwater demolition surveys, and convoy exercises. In March 1949, Burton Island was designated AGB-1.


Burton Island, Atka (AGB-3), and Glacier (AGB-4) pushing an iceberg out of the channel in the "Silent Land" near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 29 December 1965.

On 15 December 1966, the Navy transferred the vessel, along with all of its icebreakers, to the United States Coast Guard and it was renumbered WAGB-283. After its transfer, Burton Island was stationed at Long Beach, California and used for icebreaking operations. Starting in 1967 through 1978, Burton Island went on eight different Deep Freeze operations to the Antarctic. In the operations, Burton Island was responsible for creating and maintaining aids to navigation, clearing channels through the ice for supply vessels, and various other activities. In addition to Deep Freeze operations, Burton Island served as a floating platform for scientific surveys and research around Alaska and other isolated polar areas. Burton Island also conducted numerous SAR missions.

From October 1967 to April 1968 she participated in Operation Deep Freeze '68. From October 1968 to April 1969 she participated in Operation Deep Freeze '69. From November 1969 to April 1970 she participated in Operation Deep Freeze '70 and her accompanying icebreaker was disabled. From November 1970 to April 1971 she participated in Operation Deep Freeze '71 and again the accompanying icebreaker was disabled. From August to September 1971 she conducted an oceanographic survey along North Slope, Alaska. From February to March 1972 she conducted a scientific survey in Cook Inlet, Alaska. From November 1972 to April 1973 she participated in Operation Deep Freeze '73. From June to July 1973 she conducted oceanographic research in Alaskan waters. From November 1974 to April 1975 she participated in Operation Deep Freeze '75. From 13 November 1975 to 26 February 1976 she participated in Operation Deep Freeze '76. From July to September 1976 she deployed to the Arctic. From 9 November 1976 to 7 April 1977 she participated in Operation Deep Freeze '77.

She was decommissioned on 9 May 1978. I was honoured be on this ice-breaker even if only for a hour or more as she rammed, ploughed and broke Antarctic ice.


Two of the best: Rangi (left) and Oscar (right) 1969 Scott Base. Photo: Bob McKerrow


After heated newspapers debates in January 1986 when the DSIR’s Antarctic Division announced they were pulling the huskies out of Antarctica, not a lot has been written about them since.  If you want to read more anout the New Zealand huskies in Antarctica, see this article I write: http://ladenladenfam.blogspot.com/2009/09/last-antarctic-huskies-from-scott-base.htm
In this article I attempt to give the full history of huskies that lived at Scott Base and played such a vital role in surveying and exploring the New Zealand sector of Antarctica.

I loved the different shapes of the ice and photographed the best. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Chris Knott looking down on the US McMurdo Base from Observation Hill. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Penguins at Cape Royds. Photos: Bob McKerrow

Shackelton's Hut at Cape Royd's that we visited by dog team. What a walk down memory lane. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Out with dogs. Chris Knott and I racing each other close to Scott Base. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Chris Knott, a master dog sledder, giving his dogs a talking too. He hardly ever took the pipe out of his mouth, but they understood every word he said. Photo: Bob McKerrow

The adventure wasn't over. After the summer at Scott Base in 1969-70, I moved to Vanda Station in late January 1970, where I wintered over. That's another story. If you are interested, here's the link: http://ladenladenfam.blogspot.com/2010/06/mid-winters-vanda-station-antarctica-40.html.

Mid winter's Day, Vanda Station, Antarctica, 40 years on

After four months at Scott Base, I arrived at Lake Vanda in January 1970 where I spent 10 months as a science technician. We celebrated mid-winter on 21 June 1970, some 40 years ago today .

Our laboratory at Vanda station. For electricity we used a wind generator to charge our 12 volt Nicad batteries. When there was no wind, we would use a small Petter diesel generator. Photo: Bob McKerrow

For hygiene purposes, our toilet at Vanda Station was outside. Here is Tony Bromley on the thunder-box. When it got below - 40 degrees Celcius. it was dangerous as ones backside would stick to the painted seat and rip skin off. To solve this problem we made polystyrene seat covers to protect our bums. Photo: Bob McKerrow

On reflection, the 13 months I spent in Antarctica were among the best of my life.

I remember vividly the last helicopter leaving us in early February and we knew it woulld be at least nine months before we saw anyone else.

At the end of the long winter's night where it was totally dark for four months, I looked in the mirror and saw myself for the first time in five months. I wrote in my diary " A man without a woman about him is a man without vanity."

A few weeks later while reflecting on the winter, I wrote " I turned 22 in March, it is now September. During the past five months I have got to know and understand my worst enemy, myself."


The Wright Valley, View north through Bull Pass into Victoria Valley. The small stream flowing west (into Lake Vanda) is the Onyx.
On reflection, the 13 months I spent in Antarctica were among the best of my life.


The view of the Wright Valley taken from the survey station on the summit of Mt Newall (which now has a micro-wave tower on it).


We did long trips on foot in the late Autumn, throughout the winter and early Spring. Bob McKerrow left and Gary Lewis right, with frozen beards and faces. Photo: Bob McKerrow




Bath time at Vanda Station. Gary Lewis having a bath after six months Photo; Bob McKerrow


The old hand painted sign outside Vanda Station

There was also the poem I wrote just before the long winter's night ended.

I journeyed south to an icy cage
The sun never shone, there was no day
When I looked into the jaws of night
Far off I saw the threads of life
Twisting themselves into an eternal web
That stretched unbroken from dawn to death
It was the Aurora that gladdened the eye
A frenetic serpent that snaked the sky
Pouring mellowed colours that sparkled rime
On icy pendants soon to sublime.
Yes high above towers all form
Soon will come the first blush of dawn
My life has changed my dash is done
O welcome the King, O welcome the sun


The Aurora Australialis

So today I will raise a glass of red to my old comrades who I wintered over with at Vanda Station, in that remore dry valley in Antarctica: Gary Lewis, Tony Bromley and Harold Lowe.

Off to Otipua and Aoraki. Reflecting on Christchurch and its connection with Antarctica.

I've been in Christchurch for just over 3 days and I am heading off to Otipua, a small community west of Timaru, to stay with my daughter Anita and her three children.

After six days on the beaches in the Bay of Plenty and the bush of the Urewera region last week, I want to see the big mountains. It is only an hour and a half from Otipua to Aoraki Mount Cook so hopefully during a fine spell, I will travel to Mount Cook.

In the last few days, I have been out walking with Ruia and we have taken a few photo that I have posted below that exemplifies why I love New Zealand. Lyttelton and Christchurch have a close connection with Antarctica, and I have been reflecting a little on the 13 months I spent there many years ago. In the winter of 1970, we were the smallest group at that stage, to winter over in Antarctica.

When I walk among the ferns in the forests, I feel protected.

I think it was Shakespeare who wrote, " That time of year or when yellow leaves or none do hang.... The bare branches and falling leave tells me it is winter.

The Kowhai is my favourite native flower and I have three trees flowering in my house in Christchurch along with the daffodils and Camellias.



I love walking over the Port Hills and around Lyttelton as is a sort of 'Turangawaiwai' for me. My Father was born here, my grandfathet ran a fishing boat here, and it was the port that Shackleton and Scott departed for Antarctica.

I saw Tui in the Urewera but in Christchurch, I see only sparrows.

While strolling around the Port Hills and Godley head, I thought of those soldiers, men and women, who defended our country here and abroad. On Godley head there are many coastal defence artillery posts built in 1940. I could hear the voices of the men and women who built and kept these posts during the war years.


The entrance to Lyttelton Harbour where Scott and Shackleton departed for Antarctica. I walked over these hills on Monday. See reference below.



Morning, Discovery and Terra Nova at the Port of Lyttelton during the British Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1904.

Scott and Shackleton chose the Port of Lyttelton as the New Zealand base for their Discovery, Nimrod and Terra Nova expeditions. Scott was reportedly given two choices of base for his first expedition: Melbourne and Christchurch - each of which had a magnetic observatory. He may have chosen Christchurch simply because it was closer to the Antarctic, but the presence of his cousin, R.J. Scott, a Professor of Engineering at the University of Canterbury, may also have had an influence. As in Port Chalmers, there were generous offers of goods and services from the Harbour Board and local businesses. Scott and Shackleton were rewarded with similar generosity on their subsequent expeditions, as was the Australasian Antarctic Expedition when its ship the Aurora called at Lyttelton in 1912.


Shackleton's ship Nimrod,which used Lyttelton as a base.


A 2007 study carried out by Lincoln University estimated that Antarctic-related activities directly contribute $88 million each year to the Canterbury region, with an indirect benefit of $155 million. They directly contribute $133 million to the New Zealand economy, with an indirect benefit of $282 million.
It wasn't until the initial stages of Operation Deep Freeze that Christchurch began to be heavily used again. Harewood Airport, now Christchurch International Airport, was the base for 14 of the aircraft involved in the first flights between New Zealand and the Antarctic in December 1955 (four others were based at Taieri Airport, near Dunedin), while Lyttelton was the base for seven supporting United States Navy vessels. Operation Deep Freeze was subsequently supported by many New Zealand ports, but its New Zealand base remained in Christchurch. Regular support missions continue to be flown from the airport, while the port is used to refuel and replenish supply vessels.

In 1969 as a 21 year old, I flew from Christchurch to Antarctica where I was a science technician and wintered over at Vanda Station. So Christchurch has been a departure point for me on a number of expeditions throughout the world. In 1968 before my departure to Peru on a New Zealand mountaineering expedition, I stayed with Harry, Hillary Pene and Ben Evison in their home in Scarborough. From their home we could hear the booming buoy that warned ships of danger. Two days later I left Lyttelton on a ferry to Wellington.

Christchurch has a special place in my heart's history.

13 Months in Antarctica - a few photos, a few thoughts

The excitement of being selected to go to Antarctica when I was 21 years of age seems as vivid and stimulating as if it were yesterday.
The first Antarctica sea ice I saw was from the window of the Super Constellation plane that flew us from Christchurch to Antarctica in October 1969. Photo: Bob McKerrow

It was May 1969 and I had to undergo three months training in Seismology, Geomagnetics, Earth Currents and micro-meteorology at the DSIR in Wellington and Christchurch, plus a one week training course on Mt. Ruapehu. Originally I was picked to be a science techician for one year at New Zealand's Scott Base, but a few months after arrived, I was offered a chance to go to the smallest wintering over station in Anartica, Vanda Station in the Wright Valley. There were four of us, two science technicians, Gary Lewis and myself, Tony Bromley,a meteorologist and a leader, Harold Lowe. Why we needed a leader, I'll never know.


I had read about the great leader Ernest Shackleton before I went to Antarctica, and the joy when spending a day in his hut at Cape Royds, the base from his 1909 attempt on the South Pole, was overwhelming. Photo: Bob McKerrow

I was in charge of Seismology, earth currents and magetism which measured the changes of the earth's magnetic fields. When I moved to Vanda Station I carried on these projects but also took over measuring ice thickness on Lake Vanda and assisted with 3 hourly meteorological readings.


While at Scott Base I frequently accompanied field parties to their drop-off points and acted as a safety coordintor to ensure the field parties were carefully tracked and picked up at the correct destinations. This is a drop off on the head of the Robert Scott Glacier, about 130 km from the South Pole. Photo: Bob McKerrow


Frequently I accompanied biologists and geologists on short field trips around Scott Base. Checking seals. Photo: Bob McKerrow


Penguins at Cape Royds. Photo: Bob McKerrow


US Coast Guard Ice Breaker cutting a passage for cargo ships into McMurdo Sound. Photo: Bob McKerrow


While at Scott Base, I used to assist our dog handlers Chris Knott to care for the dogs and we would often drive one team each after work for 3 or 4 hours. Sometimes in the weekend we would do long trips and overnight on the sea ice. Here are two of the lead dogs, that came from Greenland in 1966. Photo: Bob McKerrow


Chris Knott leaving on a trip with the dogs. Photo: Bob McKerrow



In mid-January 1970, I arrived at Lake Vanda where I spent 10 months as a science technician. Photo: Bob McKerrow



Our laboratory at Vanda station. For electricity we used a wind generator to charge our 12 volt Nicad batteries. When there was no wind, we would use a small Petter diesel generator.


For hygiene purposes, our toilet at Vanda Station was outside. Here is Tony on the thunder-box. When it got below - 40 degrees Celcius. it was dangerous as ones backside would stick to the painted seat and rip skin off. To solve this problem we made polystyrene seat covers to protect our bums. Photo: Bob McKerrow


The Wright Valley, View north through Bull Pass into Victoria Valley. The small stream flowing west (into Lake Vanda) is the Onyx.
Photo: Antarctic Images Library, Josh Landis. Halfway up to the lower contact of the "Basement Sill" is a ledge of "Pecten Conglomerate" marking an old sea-level.


The view of the Wright Valley taken from the survey station on the summit of Mt Newall (which now has a micro-wave tower on it).


We did long trips on foot in the late Autumn, throughout the winter and early Spring.
Bob McKerrow left and Gary Lewis right. with frozen beards and faces. Photo: Bob McKerrow


Bath time at Vanda Station. Gary Lewis having a bath after six months Photo; Bob McKerrow


The old hand painted sign outside Vanda Station


Bob McKerrow on his return to Vanda Station after a trip in early Autumn to the Dias meteorological station. A five hour return trip.


On reflection, the 13 months I spent in Antarctica were among the best of my life.
I remember vividly the last helicopter leaving us in early February and we knew it woulld be at least nine months before we saw anyone else.

At the end of the long winter's night where it was totally dark for four months, I looked in the mirror and saw myself for the first time in five months. I wrote in my diary " A man without a woman about him is a man without vanity."
A few weeks later while reflecting on the winter, I wrote " I turned 22 in March, it is now September. During the past five months I have got to know and understand my worst enemy, myself."


There was also the poem I wrote just before the long winter's night ended.

I journeyed south to an icy cage
The sun never shone, there was no day
When I looked into the jaws of night
Far off I saw the threads of life
Twisting themselves into an eternal web
That stretched unbroken from dawn to death
It was the Aurora that gladdened the eye
A frenetic serpent that snaked the sky
Pouring mellowed colours that sparkled rime
On icy pendants soon to sublime.
Yes high above towers all form
Soon will come the first blush of dawn
My life has changed my dash is done
O welcome the King, O welcome the sun



The Aurora Australialis