Midwinter dinner menu

Midwinter in Antarctica is a special time. It marks the equinox and the slow return of the sun. The midwinter dinner of 22 June 1912 was a merry and harmonious celebration at Main Base. Walter Hannam and Francis Bickerton prepared the meal. Mawson wrote:

‘their menu de dinner to us was a marvel of gorgeous delicacies. After the toasts and speeches came a musical and dramatic programme, punctuated by choice choruses. The washing up was completed by all hands at midnight. Outside, the wind was not to be undone; it surpassed itself with an unusual burst of ninety-five miles per hour’