Rachael Robertson led the 58th successful expedition to Antarctica.By Melissa Meehan
ONLY two women in the world have led an expedition to Antarctica.
Former St John’s Regional College student Rachael Robertson is the most recent.
But for Rachael it was almost like she came upon the expedition by mistake.
Before her trip to the most southern point of the globe, Rachael was a park ranger. She noticed an advertisement for a Station Leader for the Mawson base in Antarctica, with a list of personal qualities the applicant must have to be considered.
The job was to lead a group of 18 scientists and tradespeople to the base where they would work for nine months in total isolation.
“So I applied,” she said.
“I didn’t actually want the job, but I wanted people with the same list of qualities to work for me, and I thought I’d be able to see how they judged it in the interview.
“To my surprise there wasn’t actually an interview process as such.”
In place of an interview applicants were invited to take part in a boot camp – fire fighter training in Tasmania to be exact.
What followed was to be an experience Rachael would never forget.
After being given the expedition leader role, Rachael and the others left for Antarctica. She told her story at the Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce’s business breakfast this month.
As station leader Rachael was responsible for all aspects of life on station, from the safety and welfare of more than 80 others, to the delivery of the Australian Government’s $10m science program.
Her trip on the Aurora Australis once it left Hobart was not one of fond memories.
“I was really sick on the trip over,” she said.
“This disappointed me because I promised myself as the leader and a woman I was not going to get sick. But I wasn’t the only one.”
Once arriving on solid, freezing ground, Rachael and her crew lived a life in almost a different world.
They had no television, no newspapers and no way to communicate with anyone off the continent.
“We missed the Boxing Day Tsunami, the pope passing away and Hurricane Katrina,” she said. “So naturally little things became quite important.”
Rachael then smiles to herself and recounts the “Bacon War”.
“There are only two ways to cook bacon, and when you’re isolated with the same people for that long it can cause quite a few arguments,” she said.
“So I had to work out a time table where one day the bacon would be served soft and the next crispy.”
Her people skills and leadership were refined on the trip – something she believes will stay with her for the rest of the life.
