Each of the two huts measured just 5.5 x 6.5 metres. One was selected as a dwelling, the other became a storeroom. The Living Hut had a double floor and walls lined with sheets of papier-mâché as an insulating material. A small cold porch had a cramped room off each side. One room, originally intended by Borchgrevink as an office, was used for taxidermy, the other as a photographic darkroom and to store instruments. The ceiling, which was just 2.1 metres high also formed a double layer and a trap-door provided access to a loft used for storing instruments and bottled provisions. Borchgrevink later used the loft as an office. Inside the hut at one end, was the ‘mess stove’ on wheels, manufactured by the Military Equipment Stores and Tortoise Tent Company Limited. An L-shaped table was against the west wall and bunks, two high, each with their own shelves, were constructed along the north and east walls and against the darkroom. The bunks were designed so that they could be closed with sliding panels about which Borchgrevink wrote:
… the bunks were closed after the plan followed by the sailors on board whaling vessels, with a special opening, leaving yourself in an enclosure which can hold its own with our modern coffin; and, like this, it is private … It was by a special recommendation from the doctor that I made this arrangement ...
In the end, only the bunks occupied by the Lapps were constructed in this manner, the remaining men being content with curtains, although the English surveyor and magnetician, William Colbeck, isolated himself from Borchgrevink and Fougner by vertically attaching a mattress to his bunk.
Supply depots were established on top of Cape Adare and at the base of the cliff behind Ridley Beach. The Stores Hut consisted of a single uninsulated room. It also had a loft in which were stored tents, stoves and additional clothing while the main area contained provisions, clothing, medical stores and a pantry. It was occupied from time to time by the Norwegian, Nicolai Hanson, when he became sick.
Finally, with the Shore Party ensconced in their huts, and winter fast approaching the Southern Cross sailed north. The ten men were alone, an entire continent to themselves with no chance of rescue until their ship returned. Through sheer tenacity Borchgrevink had finally got his expedition to Cape Adare and his attention now shifted to his grandiose plans for the great feats they would achieve. But, as winter set in, the reality for the men was life in a crowded, dirty hut surrounded by piles of equipment whilst outside the weather raged and the savage sled dogs fought and killed one another.
The expedition was plagued with personality problems from the outset. As any psychologist, looking at the makeup of the Shore Party, would point out, there was nothing homogenous about the team. They were from different nationalities and social positions, which was very important at those Victorian times, with correspondingly different outlooks.
Much of the time the ‘English element’, as Borchgrevink referred to the two Englishmen and the Tasmanian physicist, Louis Bernacchi, kept together and spent many hours walking along the beach. Cards, chess and drafts were played and the men indulged in shooting contests. Bad weather sometimes meant the party stayed indoors for days and tensions developed.
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