What’s your Antarctica?

Yes, this is about Antarctica but much more than that because each of us have to find our Antarctica. What’s your Antarctica? simply means ‘What gives your life meaning?’

Special Forces.

Back in 1994 I was a highly trained Australian Army Special Forces soldier sitting in the back of an Army truck on my way to join a Hercules aircraft that would parachute me into somewhere unknown. Just another day in Special Forces. On that truck ride I was talking to my friend, John, about how I had a feeling that I had spent the first 35 years of my life for me and that the next 35 would be for the planet, though I didn’t know what form that would take.

Life would take me down some strange paths after that.  I left the military and travelled to the Middle East searching for the role that I could play to give my life meaning. I met the people, explored the castles of the long dead crusaders, had a wonderful time but I didn’t find a purpose there.

After all, isn’t that what most of us want? To feel that we mattered, that life wasn’t just an experience of work, pay bills and die, over in a blip, and nothing to show for even being here.  Don’t most of us want to be more than a cog in the system that will use us up and toss us out in the end, no better off for all the material goods we acquired? 

I returned to Australia, went to university, met a woman, but a few years down the track I reached a low point in my life, with a failed relationship, a beautiful five year old daughter, no work and a deep depression.  It was at that point while leaning against the doorway of my daughter’s room, watching her sleep that a voice came out of nowhere and said ‘There are children her age being abused in South East Asia’.  Just like that. I remember thinking ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ but I remember also thinking ‘If I could do something about it I would’

Child Rescue

Sometimes the Universe holds you to your word. A week later the Army put $15,000 in backpay into my account. This was money I had applied for two years earlier and they had lost the paperwork… twice!.  The money suddenly appearing in my account I took as a sign.  I promised my little girl that I would rescue five children from traffickers even though I knew little about the subject. As selfish as it sounds now, I was still depressed and for me it was a one way mission.  I never thought I would come back alive but rather than take my own life I was letting the world do it for me.

Two weeks later I was in Thailand chasing paedophiles and child traffickers.  I started helping hill tribes with education for their children and a few months later I woke up in my bamboo hut in northern Thailand and I realised something strange was happening. I was smiling and happy!. Lesson 1: Happiness comes from helping others and yourself at the same time

I rescued those five girls and returned to Australia realising there was more to do. So with the help of two friends I set up The Grey Man organisation that would go on to rescue 176 women and children from sex trafficking and prevent the trafficking of another 600 as an all-volunteer charity (see below)

I had found purpose and loved what I was doing but ‘action always brings opposition’ and not everyone was happy with our rescue operations.  We were effective but stepped on a lot of toes. In 2012 we rescued 24 children from a village in northern Thailand who were on their way to brothels down south, but in doing so we embarrassed a powerful Thai NGO (non-governmental organisation) who had been telling people that they had stopped trafficking in the north.

They brought in a tame British reporter to the village where we had kept the children to do a story on the rescue, which they were claiming was fake.  It wasn’t, but that didn’t stop them from putting an article on the front page of the ‘Weekend Australian’ newspaper which pretty much destroyed a charity that I and others had spent seven years building.  They claimed that we were under investigation by the Australian Federal Police (we weren’t, even though I asked them to investigate us) and supposedly by the Thai Department of Special Investigations, which seven years later, has not produced a single report.  (Lesson 2: Don’t believe the media, they are not very good at the truth)

But what about Antarctica.  This series of events threw me back into depression.  Originally I planned to fight it but I was burnt out so I stepped down as president of the charity and went on to other things.

Survival

Many years back (1995) I was a guest of the Swedish government, invited to teach survival in the Arctic at the First International Survival Symposium at Jukkasjarvi, Northern Sweden.  There I fell in love with the polar regions of our world.  Standing on my skis on a frozen river, 200km north of the Arctic circle, I thought to myself that in another life I would have chosen to be a Polar explorer.

There is something about the vastness and the quiet of the Poles that speaks to our souls.  At night sitting in the arctic wilderness in front of a fire with my survival mate, Ray Mears, we sipped pine needle tea and chatted under the glow of the Aurora Borealis.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

The goal – Antarctica

I returned to Australia, not known for its polar weather, and put the idea of Polar exploration on hold, but read everything I could about the Arctic and the Antarctic (especially the Antarctic).  At the time that I was going through depression after the collapse of The Grey Man, but I was inspired by Sir Douglas Mawson and his tale of Antarctic survival, and so I decided that my goal was to reach Antarctica and from that moment I started to come out of depression. 

After a few years I finally made it  to Antarctica, and camped on the Ross Ice Shelf, in the footsteps of the heroes of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, and with a wonderful group of early career scientists. (Lesson 3: A purpose, a tribe and adventure are a big part of happiness)

Antarctica is under threat.  It’s a magnificent place.  Worthy of our respect and protection.  It protects us by reflecting the sun’s rays, it influences our weather patterns and ocean currents and it is our last true wilderness.  If Antarctic goes, we will regret its loss and we will suffer for it. It protects us so we should protect it, even if just from enlightened self-interest.

Remember I wanted to do something for the planet.  Yes, rescuing those kids was something and it was perhaps the best thing I ever did but it was localised.  I decided to go for something bigger.  The loss of Antarctica will affect everyone on this planet so I decided to become Captain Antarctica and share what I learnt about Antarctica with other people in the hope that I can inspire the same love for the Polar regions and our planet that I feel.

To bring attention to the threat to Antarctica by our actions and to encourage the use of renewables I set myself the goal of flying an electric aircraft from Scott Base to the South Pole. The technology is not capable of getting me there yet as the distance is 1300 kilometres but new battery breakthroughs are occurring each week. I am not attached to the outcome but the journey, regardless of whether I make it or not, will be a grand one.

A large proportion of people don’t trust science any more. Too many vested interests have muddied the waters about climate change to serve their own ends and the public are confused. Captain Antarctica’s job is to clear the confusion, to educate, entertain and inspire people to protect this great continent that is Antarctica. That’s the reason for this blog, webpage and my Facebook page. The time is now.

This is my thing.  Antarctica makes me want to get up in the morning.  Antarctica gives me joy.  It makes my heart sing and I love learning about it and its multi-faceted nature. Antarctica is the thing that gives my life meaning.  What thing in life would do that for you?

What’s your Antarctica?