Settling in
The hostel area
After the ship sailed and the flurry of excitement of the changeover had faded away, we could sit back and take a good look at our surroundings. The liveable part of the island could be divided into three parts. The living area, the Met. area, and the farm.
The living area had a large main building called the hostel, which had several bedrooms, a lounge, dining area and kitchen. An additional bedroom block was built alongside. Various storage buildings were scattered about. Short distances away were the workshops, generator shed, more storage etc. The hostel actually occupies much the same spot that the Bell family's house did. Indeed the vegetable garden in front of the building could well be the same one dug by Thomas and his daughters in the early 1900's
The site is on Fleetwoods Bluff about 50 metres above and overlooking North Beach.
Another look at the hostel area
During the first couple of weeks we settled in, sorting out bedrooms, moving in, deciding for whatever reason it was not suitable, and moving to another one. We stored stores then re-stored them more efficiently, got to know our work areas, while the Met. boys set up rosters and continued the regular observations and balloon flights. In my case I checked out the electronic equipment, found that everything was going well and that the technician I relieved had been doing a good job. The gear was all operational, which meant I did not have to worry about fixing faults, at least not right away.
Before moving on to the more settled routine of daily life, I will mention the party that was held to farewell the outgoing crew and welcome the newcomers.
Things went along nicely till refreshments ran low. Our group of incoming residents didn't want to use up the year's supply in the first week! However the outgoing mechanic had kept a brew of orange wine which he had made some time before. He produced this and everyone agreed that it was very nice.
The wine had been kept in a stone jar, which had originally contained navy rum, which was standard issue to all Expedition members. The wine started to run low and someone upended the jar to get the last drop.
Out tumbled half a dozen pickled cockroaches!
Not surprisingly the party ended soon after. No one seemed any the worse for wear, and from that time on we always made sure the stopper was firmly in place in our own jars.
When everything quieted down and routines began to be established, time could be spared to take a look around and see just what our environment was really like, and how we were going to cope with it for the next 12 months.
The "Street" Generator shed first right.
THE PEOPLE
MAC The Officer In Charge.
Mac was a bit of an enigma. On our first meeting he seemed a likable enough person though I didn't feel entirely comfortable with him. We hardly saw him during the trip to Raoul as he kept very much to himself.
When we landed he worked hard and was a good organizer so things went along pretty well. This did not last long, as I shall explain later.
His background may not have been entirely suitable for the job he was asked to do. I understand he was ex-British army and then in charge of a rubber plantation in Malaysia before coming to New Zealand and getting the Raoul job.
We had been settled in for a couple of months and everyone had a routine going when Mac began to wield a bit of authority. We had been told in our briefing in Wellington that we were an expedition and therefore we did not have to work an 8 to 5 routine.
We were expected to work any time, and all the time if necessary, to keep the program running. We were also told we were responsible for our own area of expertise and that we could do our job as we liked, as long as it was done and did not interfere with, or prevent, the others doing their jobs.
Mac did not see it this way and started to tell people when and where something had to be done. He objected when some of us took an hour off to go swimming after lunch, which we did most days. That hour and more would be made up many times over as work was often undertaken at night or over weekends. Mac wanted it to be more structured with weekly reports and so on. We tried to explain but he insisted, so the eventual outcome was that people simply ignored him.
Eventually he said he was going to report the whole thing to Wellington. He came to me and asked me to connect the scrambler to make his call private. The scrambler was a complicated device that had to be carefully set up. This at both ends.
Consequentially it was never used. I was not sure if it was even operational. So I simply told Mac it was not working.
Mac then announced that he was making the call and that no one was to go near the Met office until he had finished. This suited us. We all repaired to the hostel where I tuned in the short wave receiver in the lounge to our contact frequency and we relaxed and listened to the whole thing.
It was the best entertainment we had had for quite a while. Wellington would have nothing of Mac's tale of woe, and advised him to relax and let things flow, that his job was only to pass on Wellington instructions and generally keep an eye on things.
All ended well, as Mac changed completely after that and he became a well liked and respected member of the party. He never knew that we had listened to his call and no one ever told him.
Chris myself and Horse
CHRIS The senior Met officer.
Chris was a friend of mine, whom I had known whilst we both worked over a two year period at Nadi Airport, Fiji, and also at Whenuapai Airport.
We shared a liking for diving and spearfishing and I think we got on pretty well together, though he did have a tendency to the "glooms", as he used to call it. However these did not last long and he was soon back to his usual cheerful self. Chris fitted in very well with everyone, liked reading, fishing, exploring and enjoyed his photography as well.
MERV Met officer.
Merv was another friend, though in this case I got to know him at Whenuapai where he worked with Chris. He was a very likable chap also who got on well with everyone. Again spearfishing, or any fishing for that matter, was his interest, and also photography. He was good at sports and usually beat me on the tennis court. Unfortunately Merv tangled with the fan of one of the Lister diesels half way through the year and had to be taken off the Island.
HORSE (John) Met Officer
Horse, I think I can safely say, was the character of the party. Very gregarious, he got on well with everyone. Always ready with a quip or joke, he did a lot to keep our sense of humour on an even keel. I cannot remember seeing Horse in a bad temper, and because of his nature he was a very valuable member of the party.
KENT Met Officer.
Kent was not an original member of the expedition but came up to Raoul to replace Merv. This meant that Kent had to get to know us quickly and fit in with the established system. He did this very well and in no time was part of the crew. He was a very keen Met. man and hugely enjoyed the interesting work that went on with an expedition of this sort.
PETE Radio Tech.
I like to think that I fitted in reasonably well with the others, though I know at times I must have been a bit of a pain. There were no real rows, except perhaps with Van, the new cook with whom I went some two months without speaking. All a bit silly on both our parts. One reason this happened was when I was duty cook . We took turns cooking on the weekends to give the cook a bit of time off.
On this particular occasion I became overly ambitious and decided to fry some fish.
Simple enough but I wanted to deep fry in batter. Things did not go well. Making the batter seemed to work OK though it caused a hell of a mess and used a lot of utensils. The fish did not fillet well and worst of all when I dropped the battered fish in to the fat all the batter floated off. I was getting really hot and bothered by this time and Van chose that moment to walk in from where ever he had been.
" What the hell have you done to my kitchen" were his opening words. I was in no mood to be polite, so I rather impolitely told him to remove himself while I tried to salvage something edible from my efforts. That started the freeze, and it was not helped when he later accused me of deliberately taking too long in the shower when he was waiting. I did not know he was waiting, and was not in there long anyway.
Silly things really but I guess once something like that happens it is hard to just stop, step back and perhaps just say "sorry". Actually as the year passed, someone, at one time or another, was on the outer with someone else. On the whole they were minor things, simple misunderstandings, that anywhere else would hardly be noticed. Taken overall we really got on very well with each other.
BILL The Mechanic.
Bill was a good member of the party. Always ready with a joke, he fitted in with everyone and was a good worker. He kept our diesel generators in tip-top order, as he did all the rest of the mechanical equipment. He had responsibility for the two flying foxes and believe me the easiest way to get Bill upset would be to do some sort of damage to one of them.
DICK The farmer
Dick was the youngest member of the party and came in for a bit of kidding at times from all of us. However he was always cheerful and very likeable. He was a good farmer and kept us well supplied with meat and vegetables. Dick and his dog enjoyed their sojourn on Raoul very much.
He was a great chap to work with and I spent quite a bit of time helping him around the farm when my own work was up to date.
NOEL The handyman.
Noel was a typical outdoorsman. He was fairly quiet and was happiest while working away on one of his projects. He was always helpful and nothing was too much trouble. He got on well with everyone and did great work keeping the buildings, roads, tracks, etc in great condition.
George. The "old cook".
George was an Englishman and had been a ship's cook. He was invariably cheerful and a good everyday cook. His one failing in that department was his bread, which had to be eaten fairly soon after baking. If left too long, like one day, it went as hard as a rock. It was something he never managed to get right.
VAN The " new cook".
Van came onto the scene at the time of the midyear servicing, and replaced George who had done his full year. This was because the previous year's cook broke his leg in a boating accident at Denham Bay and had to be taken off mid year so the cooks were out of sync with everyone else. Van was a South African and a pastry cook by trade. One thing in his favour was that he could really bake bread. Bread of all types was beautifully made. In fact his cooking was excellent as far as baking pies etc went, but not so great on the ordinary everyday meat and three vegetable type meals. Still we ate very well indeed the whole time I was there.
Van was inclined to get a bit surly at times but I think that was mainly with me. He got on OK with the rest of the crew and towards the end with me as well. I think we both mellowed a little.