27 Rare Pictures of the First Australasian Expedition to Antarctica in 1911

A team of Australian scientists and adventurers set sail back in 1911 under Dr. Douglas Mawson's leadership, bound on a three-year journey exploring Macquarie Island and Antarctica.

James Francis (Frank) Hurley was the official photographer of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, although other members of the expedition also took photos.

Some of these photographs are preserved by the State Library of New South Wales. Take a look at some of the best of them below:

Cavern carved by the sea water in an ice wall not far from Commonwealth Bay

Left: Mawson rests at the side of the sledge, outward bound on first sledge journey in Adelie Land | Right: Ice mask, C.T. Madigan

A Radiant Turret Lit By The Midsummer Midnight Sun

F. Bickerton looking out overseas near Commonwealth Bay

Huskies pulling sledge

Wreck of the ‘Gratitude,' Macquarie Island, 1911

Shags defending the nest, Macquarie Island

Blizzard, the pup in Antarctica

A group portrait from the expedition

Bob Bage and J. Hunter at 65 miles south

Basilisk & Ginger at Main Base

Xavier Mertz leaving the hut by the trapdoor on the veranda roof

Skeleton of sea-elephant and Harold Hamilton

Hand-netting for macro-plankton from Aurora

Arthur Sawyer and sea elephant pup

Australasian Antarctic Expedition members in the kitchen

Mushroom ice formation, 1912

Sclater penguin

Female Sea-Elephant, Macquarie Island

Ice "cased" Adelie penguins after an insane blizzard at Cape Denison

Winter quarters, Queen Mary Land winter

Bage at every entrance to the Astronomic Observatory

In full sledging gear on the plateau

Unloading supplies at Cape Denison

A Dreamy Venice In Seal-Land

Victoria Penguin

Wild & Watson in sleeping bag tent on sledge journey

Reference: Artfido