We ha
ve learnt something we didn’t know before, and the various point of view have been transformed into certainty. Just to sum up, a revision of Macquarie paragraph on the WAP-WADA Directory will be as follow:
All the calls for which we don’t have details of the operation’s site will be consider as WAP AUS-Ø8, thus:
WAP AUS-Ø8 –Macquarie Station will incorporate “HUT HILL” (aka-Ham Shack) & Transmitter Hut (both are 500 mts from the Macquarie’s Station buildings)
WAP AUS-Ø9 – New reference
Brothers Point Hut, Brauer Bay, Macquarie Island, 54°56’ 00” South, 158°52’56” East.
WAP AUS-1Ø – New reference
Waterfall Bay Hut, Waterfall Bay, Macquarie Island, 54°40’29” South, 158°23’37” East
While will not be an easy task to identify who did operate from the several Huts & Refuges scattered around the coasts of Macquarie Island and the dates of each one, te mail of Trevor VKØTH, forwarded on the Antarctic reflector by Mehdi F5PFP was a good surprise. Trevor says: -I operated from the Ham Shack on the hill at the Station, also operated from the Refuges at Brothers Point and Waterfall Bay-.
TNX F5PFP & VKØTH
Now we suggest the Antarctic chasers to check their cards to see if there are some details that will allow WAP to allocate a correct reference to the so many Hamcalls operating from Macquarie in the past and recently.
We kindly ask the operators who have been active at Macquarie to inform WAP by e-mail through wap_info@virgilio.it of the exact location they have been active from.
We suggests the next operators at Macquarie, to mark the location of the operation site on their QSLcards .
Now a brief information on the two new References just issued:
Brothers Point Hut (WAP AUS-Ø9) is located on the east coast, 8 km south of Macquarie Station. The fiberglass hut, known as a “googie”, provides comfortable accommodation for three people but may fit five in an emergency. It is a popular destination for short duration field trips and is also used as a lunchtime or overnight stopping point as part of longer trips heading down the island.
The hut is accessed from the station via the overland Sandy Bay track, or along the picturesque east coast, when tide and swell conditions allow. The hut is also accessible via inflatable rubber boat, however opportunities to travel on water are typically limited by the weather and availability of suitably qualified boating personnel.
Waterfall Bay Hut (WAP AUS-1Ø) is another “googie” style fiberglass hut similar to the one at Brother Point. It was installed in 1993-94 as a replacement for the original Lusitania Bay Hut located to the south.
The hut comfortably sleeps three people. As the crow flies, Waterfall Bay Hut is approximately 18 km south of Macquarie Station.
The hut is conveniently located for personnel travelling down island, and is well placed as a research base for the large king penguin colony at Lusitania Bay.
It is easily accessed via the Jessie Nichol track from the north, or the Mt. Martin track from the south. These tracks are subsidiaries of the main north-south overland track.