Vodka in a Vegemite Jar with Trevor Hamley An Australian on a Soviet Antarctic Expedition Trevor Hamley's tale is equal parts adventure and camaraderie, and begins in 1983 when he joined Vladamir Papitashvili, a Sovet Trek leader, on a journey across the Antarctic ice to Dome C, near the South Geomagnetic Pole, some 1,500km away - a return distance roughly the same as Sydney to Perth, albeit much, much colder. And less chance of a decent coffee along the way. If you prefer your measurements in fruit, that's approximately 15 to 16.7 million bananas laid end-to-end. On this epic trek memories were most certainly made. But here's the thing about grand adventures: it's rarely the destination that sticks with you, it's the things that go spectacularly wrong along the way. And in Trevor's case, there were plenty. Mechanical equipment gave up. Like a bad-tempered mule. A tractor caught fire and had to be abandoned. Scientific gear followed suit. (See above, re: no mechanics.) An appendectomy was performed 1,000 kilometres from the nearest permanent station, the sort of thing that concentrates the mind wonderfully. This isn't a catalogue of near-disasters, it is a tale that delves into…
