Bunk Space

The 17 expeditioners were bunked around the outer walls of the hut (Mawson, the leader, had a small office/bedroom). They also had their initials on their bunk space, and in most areas there were upper and lower bunks.

In 1912 this was the area for James Francis Hurley - better known as Frank Hurley. Hurley was the photographer for the expedition and also, on his return, for Shackleton's famous "Endurance" expedition. On this expedition he was given the nickname "Hoyle" because of his encyclopaedic knowledge of the rules of card games. It appears he had the luxury of an enclosed cupboard below the upper bunk, presumably to house all his photographic gear (cine and still cameras, chemicals etc). In his darkroom he wrote on the wall Near enough is never good enough: he was an excellent and quite innovative photographer and remains one of my "photographic heroes". :) I would encourage anyone interested to Google for images of his work.