Beautifully written account of the Southern Ocean

OCEAN NOTORIOUS<br>Journeys to lost and lonely places of the deep south<br><b>Matt Vance</b><br><i>Awa Press</i>
OCEAN NOTORIOUS<br>Journeys to lost and lonely places of the deep south<br><b>Matt Vance</b><br><i>Awa Press</i>

The Southern Ocean has been a source of fascination and awe for many people for centuries, particularly for New Zealanders, who live so close to it.

Lyttelton writer Matt Vance has been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time surrounded by it, firstly as a tour guide and latterly as communications adviser for Antarctica New Zealand.

In what could perhaps be described as a collection of essays, he explores a wide range of topics on our oceanic neighbour.

First he has to deal with the fact the Southern Ocean doesn't actually exist.

Between 1919 and 1953, the forerunners to what is now the International Hydrographic Organisation gradually altered the ''official'' southern extents of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans until they reached Antarctica, and the Southern Ocean was no more. But most people who travel there still use the term.

The essays are arranged in order of latitude, and divided into three headings: Islands, Oceans and Ice.

Under Islands, he traverses such diverse tales as the remarkable but ultimately tragic saga of sailor Gerry Clark whose yacht Totorore disappeared while on a research voyage to the Antipodes Islands; the World War 2 Coastwatchers on Auckland Island; and the sitka spruce tree on Campbell Island which is claimed to be the world's loneliest tree.

Vance clearly has a special place in his heart for Macquarie Island (which I can appreciate), a place he's visited before, during and after the massive effort to remove rats, mice and rabbits and seen the positive effects on the vegetation and wildlife.

But it's not all history and wildlife, the topics usually associated with the Southern Ocean.

One chapter describes his encounters with the late Phil Cox, a Dunedin surgeon who was ship's doctor on a voyage Vance guided on.

Cox couldn't let his seasickness interfere with his duties, so Vance had the role of surgeon's mate, the main duty of which was to hold the bucket.

Another tale is about an ambassador (country not stated) who arrived by helicopter with an entourage at Ernest Shackleton's Cape Royds hut, and - claiming to be short of time - insisted on going into the hut despite being told that New Zealand photographer Laurence Aberhardt was taking a photo with a one-hour exposure, which would be ruined by someone walking through it.

Interestingly, Vance doesn't hold Shackleton in the esteem which he implies is currently fashionable.

He says that the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition - the one in which the Endurance was crushed in the ice and Shackleton and companions sailed an open boat to South Georgia - ''only proved further his ability to attract disaster and get away with it''.

He also makes a claim that American Richard Byrd, who in 1934 spent several weeks alone in a hut on the Ross Ice Shelf, was suffering isolation-induced dementia, and states that the usually accepted explanation, carbon monoxide poisoning, was the ''US Navy's spin''.

Vance writes beautifully, and I think anyone who has been to the places he describes will agree that he evokes them well.

The book is possibly a little slight, considering its price ($40), but is certainly a nice read.

David Barnes is a Dunedin writer who has travelled in the Southern Ocean region.

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