Sir Douglas Mawson Exhibition - SA Museum

From the air it looks like a picture Postcard, the majestic sweep of Antarctica, the frozen continent. From up here you can marvel at this sea of ice, but down there the extreme weather conditions are legendary and have taken many lives. Sir Douglas Mawson knew more than most, that this was an environment to be treated with the utmost respect. He's one of South Australia's favourite sons, a hero in every sense of the word and a man whose life has become an inspiration for those involved in scientific exploration.

Mawson was a geologist with broad interests, which throughout his academic career, took him to places like the Flinders Ranges to study glacial activity in South Australia. Soon his thirst for scientific knowledge would take him from the searing heat of South Australia to the windswept cold of the frozen continent. These were the days of Empire, when science and discovery were inextricably linked.

How strange all of this must have seemed to those who first ventured down here at the turn of the century. You get a sense of the mystery and danger confronted by Sir Douglas and his colleagues at the newly opened Mawson exhibition at the South Australian Museum. If he were alive today, no doubt this scientist would have approved of the role modern technology now plays in explaining one of his greatest passions, the Glacier.

"Here you can see the snow building up and what happens with a glacier is that such an enormous amount builds up that the pressure builds up like a river of ice and it flows out to sea like any other river but it grinds rocks and things on its way. So as the ice slowly moves, small rocks grind away at the bedrock and create huge gouges and we can see these out at Hallet Cove".

In fact, it was this fascination with glaciers that brought Mawson to the frozen continent of three separate expeditions. Cinematographer Frank Hurley was there with his trusty camera to record these scientists at work whether on the ice or above it. It's a visual record which highlights the extreme conditions these men worked under. Conditions which ultimately took their toll on much of the equiment and sometimes lead to tragedy.

"Mawson and two companions, Mertz and Ninnis, were doing their scientific exploration when Ninnis and the sledge with most of their supplies, fell down a crevasse and he's still there - they didn't recover him and the supplies and the dogs were all lost". "So Mertz and Mawson were reduced to eating their dogs and surviving in any way they could to try and get back to base. Unfortunately Mertz didn't make it. So Mawson had to struggle by himself in the end".

Mawson was more than one hundred miles from his main base and in a weakened state. To lessen the load, he used his pocket knife to cut his sledge in half and continue on his epic journey.

"And even on his way back he was still recording weather information even though he was probably fairly convinced he was going to die, but his records would be there for other people to follow". "So he was the scientist, no matter what the circumstances?" "He was definitely driven by science, he wasn't driven by adventure but his science was made very adventurous". "What happened when he got back?"

"Well he got back the same day his relief ship left. Fortunately some of the people who had volunteered and bothered to stay behind and look out for him and they had supplies. So he had to stay another year in Antarctica".

"So his fiance Percita had to wait two years before he came back and they got married on his return".

In his later years Mawson settled back into life in Adelaide, in fact his old hand cart was used for hauling wood at his property in Meadows. Now it's one of many fascinating artefacts on show at the Mawson Gallery in the South Australian Museum on North Terrace in Adelaide.

It's open daily from 10am to 5pm and it's free.

For more information you can email info@postcards-sa.com.au