Ice Coffee: The History Of Human Activity In Antarctica

In 1983 Australian glaciologist Trevor Hamley joined a Soviet traverse from the Russian coastal station, Mirny, to Dome Charlie, high atop the Antarctic plateau. Bouncing about in the back of a T-55 tank converted into a living quarters/galley/dining space/lab, recording locations on audio cassette tape, wielding a hammer, and ignoring the ideological and political drivers of the cold war in the name of survival, camaraderie, and science, Trevor experienced Antarctica in a unique context at a unique point in history. His book, "Vodka in a Vegemite Jar" recounts his experiences during the preparation for and during the traverse in compelling prose that keeps one eye on the immediacy of the narrative and another on the forty year perspective 2023 affords on his time in the back of a Kharkovchanka. Introduced to Trevor by Jeff Wilson, who recounts his own Antarctic tale in episode 151, I spent an afternoon with the Hamleys after reading a galley proof copy of the manuscript. I listened intently as Trevor mapped