ANARE Club Message to Macquarie Island Expeditioners 2026

To the expeditioners of Macquarie Island,

Members of the ANARE Club send you our warmest good wishes and support as you prepare to leave Macquarie Island earlier than expected. We recognise that this is not how you envisaged your season ending. In April you set out with plans, ambitions and a commitment to contribute to one of Australia’s most remarkable stations. Since then, you have lived and worked in a place few people will ever experience, shared the challenges and rewards of station life, and become part of the long and proud history of Macquarie Island.

As events unfold around you, there is a risk that the circumstances of your departure may overshadow everything that came before it. We hope they do not.

By the time you return home, you will have spent many months serving on the island, carrying out important work, supporting one another, and contributing to Australia’s ongoing presence in the Southern Ocean. You will have accumulated experiences, friendships and memories that will remain with you for a lifetime. Those achievements deserve to be recognised and celebrated.

The value of an expedition is not measured solely by whether every project reaches its intended conclusion or whether every plan unfolds as expected. Success is found in commitment, professionalism, adaptability, teamwork and service. In all these respects, you have much to be proud of.

Those who have gone south before you understand the strong connection that develops with a station, its people and its surroundings. We know that leaving before you are ready can bring a sense of unfinished business. Yet we also know that no early departure can diminish what you have contributed or what you have gained from your time there.

You are now part of a community that extends well beyond a single season. The friendships, shared experiences and sense of belonging that come with being an expeditioner endure long after the journey home. Macquarie Island will remain part of your lives, and your place in its story is assured.

In years to come, we hope you will look back not on an early departure, but on a remarkable winter amongst an extraordinary community in one of the world’s most special places. That reflection resonates among all of us as the ‘Spirit of ANARE’. May the achievements of your season be remembered first and foremost and may the friendships and memories it created stay with you always.

With friendship, respect and best wishes,

Rebecca Jeffcoat
President, ANARE Club Inc.
On behalf the National Council and Members of the ANARE Club