ANARE Club ACT Branch Mid Winter Dinner

Saturday 21 June 2025

At the National Press Club, 16 National Circuit, BARTON, ACT 2600

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There was a hum of excitement in the hallowed confines of the National Press Club on the evening of Friday 20 June as Malcolm and Kit welcomed 50 expeditioners, friends and families for the 2025 midwinter dinner. Antarctic authors, Trish Burgess, Annette Carter and Bernadette Hince laid out their new publications and Rosalie and Michael Pearson supervised our new book exchange table.

The room hushed when the bell rang at 7.00 p.m. and toasts were raised to ANARE, absent friends and to King and Country. Our new Patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn, AC, Governor-General of Australia, welcomed us from the big screen with an inspiring short speech from Admiralty House in Sydney that was well-received. Her Excellency is an impressive figurehead, and we hope to be able to catch up with her in person at some stage during the next twelve months. After all, she does live locally.

Entrée (“the best entrée I’ve ever had,” the legendary Tony Hall was heard to exclaim) was followed by the Antarctic Division’s annual video presentation. Regrettably these videos, once the highlight of the evening, have changed over the years from enlightening us on scientific and support work being undertaken to simply a generic marketing tool.

Our guest speaker, Daniel Bornstein from the National Museum of Australia, gave a spirited and fascinating presentation on, among other topics, the curatorial aspects of the Antarctic heritage huts in and around the area of the New Zealand Scott Base in McMurdo Sound. Daniel had spent several weeks with a group of young “explorers” hosted by the NZ Antarctic Heritage Trust who had been given the opportunity to visit the huts, undertake restoration and curatorial tasks and generally immerse themselves in the historical aspects of early Antarctic expeditions. Daniel shared a snapshot of the history of the historic explorers’ huts and their early conservation, which laid the groundwork for the Antarctic Heritage Trust’s current Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project (RSHRP).

Certificates of Appreciation from the ANARE Club were presented to Simon Cowling and John Hyslop for their services as convenors in Canberra for many years up until 2019.

Our traditional Calling of the Years session brought forth usual and unusual anecdotes as expeditioners recalled many of the fascinating episodes and escapades of their years in Antarctica. Tony Hall (DUKWs 1953-55) took command of the rostrum to deliver his anecdote (another beauty too, this time on a reunion in Singapore with other Duckies a few years after his Antarctic adventures) and as usual was the last man standing half an hour later.

A great evening enjoyed by all who attended. Our dinner for 2026 is scheduled for Friday 19th June.

Malcolm Robertson
Convenor