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Book cover featuring a picture of the Officer in Charge standing next to the author at Vostok - the coldest place on earth, with Russian signage and the title "Vodka in a Vegemite Jar: An Australian on a Soviet Antarctic Expedition" by Trevor Hamley.

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SYNOPSIS

In 1983 Australian Glaciologist Trevor Hamley (and Vlad - the team leader) embarked on a 3,000 kilometre Soviet Antarctic return over-snow traverse from Mirny to Dome C. In this memoir, Trevor reveals how fate propelled him towards this unique experience, including a visit to Vostok – the coldest place on Earth. 

At every turn, the Dome C traverse was beset by adversity yet achieved its scientific objectives. Mechanical and scientific equipment succumbed to the harsh Antarctic conditions, where temperatures plunged to minus sixty degrees centigrade. An appendicectomy was performed 1,000 kilometers from the safety of a permanent station, an unprecedented feat in the annals of Antarctic expeditions. Each leg of the journey became an exhilarating episode. But the narrative does not merely recount the logistical aspects of the traverse; it delves into the intricacies of glaciology and the profound issue of our time, climate change.

In Vodka in a Vegemite Jar, Trevor skilfully intertwines the thrill of exploration with challenging human experiences. He tells us about about an extraordinary opportunity and cross-cultural friendship.

               Trevor is available for speaking engagements               

About trevor

After completing an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering at Monash University, Trevor joined the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) as an expeditioner from 1977 to 1979 inclusive - to winter as the Glaciologist at Casey station in 1978. Immediately after, he returned to a career in engineering construction before re-joining the Antarctic Division in 1983 to participate in a Soviet Antarctic Expedition. Trevor completed a Master of Science degree in Glaciology at the University of Melbourne in 1987. He now lives in Brisbane with his wife Kerry-Lynne with whom he has two sons and three grandchildren.

THEN
Author reading a book titled "Vodka in a Vegemite Jar" standing beside a box of similar books in a living room.

2023

1983

About VLAD

Vlad graduated in Geophysics at the University of St. Petersburg, earning a PhD in space physics in 1981 by researching magnetometer data from East Antarctica. He is a lifelong expeditioner to polar regions: a veteran of 6 field expeditions to the Eastern Arctic and 5 trips to Greenland, followed by 22 trips to Antarctica (15 times to South Pole and 4 times to Vostok). Vlad lives in Maryland USA with his wife Natalie. Their son and his family live close by. Vlad still dreams of retiring.

Traverse leader Vladimir Papitashvili using a theodolite on snow with tracked vehicle and trailers in the background.

1983

Valdimir Papitashvili science program director wearing a red parka standing next to the Geographic South Pole sign in Antarctica, with an American flag in the background.

2019

Radio Interview

RUSSIAN DOCUMENTARY - BUROMSKY ISLAND

This free 80 min You Tube movie (in Russian with English Subtitles) follows a group of Russians who travel to Mirny in 2017 to restore the graves of expeditioner’s who died in the course of their duty. The scenery, subject matter and tenor of life depicted by the film (directed and jointly filmed by Olga Stefanova for Lex Films in 2020) is very similar to events I experienced in 1983, and wrote about in Vodka in a Vegemite Jar.


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