How to survive 365 days on ice
Allan Rose will share his experiences from a 365-day stay in Antarctica with South Canterbury school pupils.
Rose, who was raised in Timaru and now lives in Australia, worked in Antarctica, at Australia’s Casey Research Station in the Windmill Islands, just outside the Antarctic Circle in 2018. He will return to Timaru in March to share what life was like at the station.
The 47-year-old, a rigger/boilermaker by trade, was hired as a rigger but picked up a set of new skills during his time on the frozen continent including field survival, firefighting, surgical assistance, search and rescue, and watercraft operations.
His latest pursuit put him among 25 staff working with the Australian Antarctic Division’s programme over winter. The number swells to 130 in summer.
The working conditions were challenging, especially in winter due to the location of the research station, he said.
Rose said the experience was a massive learning curve which he wanted to share with school pupils.
‘‘I am planning on returning to Timaru in March and speak to students at Mountainview High School and Grantlea Downs, schools I attended.
‘‘The nature of the speeches will be about my time living and working in the Antarctic.’’
Rose was instrumental in getting South Canterbury’s Pass2Pub mountainbike event established and says it was the Southern Alps that inspired his love of outdoor pursuits.
Brisbane-based Rose found out about the Antarctic programme through an acquaintance and went through a gruelling two pre-selection interviews process.
‘‘We left Antarctica on November 2 and arrived in Hobart in the early hours of the morning; we were all a little mesmerised with seeing different sights we hadn’t seen in 12 months, trees, city lights, different people other than ourselves.’’
Rose said he spent a few days in Hobart for a series of debriefings then took a 3000-kilometre road trip home to Brisbane.
He flew back to Timaru in late November to catch up with family and friends.
‘‘There were so many learning experiences,’’ he said.
‘‘The first time you look out the window of the plane at 30,000 feet and see the ice building up is a big moment and then landing on the ice.
‘‘Although we were well looked after we were still away from home for a long time and that was probably the biggest learning curve.
‘‘The selection and station leadership of such a small group living together for so long and so remotely certainly played a huge part in our successful year for the 71st Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE).’’ Rose recommended the experience. ‘‘Go for it and don’t stop trying.’’