Macquarie Island’s trades team is gearing up for a busy year of renovation and reconstruction. About 400 tonnes of building materials were delivered on RSV Nuyina’s annual resupply voyage in May and extra tradespeople are on site to install temporary accommodation pods and overhaul the cramped and dingy living areas known as Garden Cove and the Bunkhouse.
The work itself is straightforward. Getting materials there is anything but.
“This project is really a logistical operation,” Macquarie Island Modernisation Program Lead, Paul Farrow, said.
“The construction techniques are quite simple. But the ship to shore logistics and the constraints with weather and wildlife and dealing with the Southern Ocean are very problematic.
“I can’t emphasise enough how difficult it is.”
The accommodation pods, which will house five expeditioners, had to be craned from RSV Nuyina onto Lighter Amphibious Resupply Cargo (LARC) vessels and then driven through the surf to the station. They’ll take about ten weeks to install and include laundry facilities and quiet rooms.
The pods will mean people living in other accommodation blocks on station will be able to spread out across two rooms.
“This is a trial this season,” Mr Farrow said.
“We’ll get them up and running and then assess the feedback. What worked? What didn’t work? Then we may go on to potentially install another one or two complexes.”
