Antarctic Territory

Australian Antarctic Territory

The four bases managed by the Australian Antarctic Division that have postal operations (and postmasters) are Casey, Davis, Mawson and Macquarie Island. All but Macquaire Island Station are on the Antarctic Continent. Macquaire Island is a sub-antarctic island. Casey is near the Wilkins Runway which allows direct flights to reach the Antarctic mainland from Hobart in Australia. Flying time from Australia is 4 hours but the runway is only open during the Antarctic summer months.

Postmaster XXXXX Station Australian Antarctic Division 203 Channel Highway KINGSTON TAS 7050 AUSTRALIA For XXXXX substitute the station you wish to contact: Casey, Davis, Mawson or Macquarie Island

The AAD website contains very detailed information regarding shipping schedules. After browsing them you should notice right away that the window for getting your covers down there and back is small, particularly for Mawson. There are a few flights that carry mail to and from these bases also.

I believe you can use Australian stamps on your AAT covers (I have never tried but I have used AAT stamps on mail sent from the Australian mainland) but I prefer to use Australian AAT issued stamps. Australia Post produces an AAT issue at least once a year but be warned that if you plan to buy stamps directly from Australia Post, they tend to only make their stamps available for a short period of time, usually never more than a year.

Recently, a post office has been in operation each year at Cape Denison. This is the location of Mawson's Huts: buildings used by the Australian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-1914, led by Sir Douglas Mawson. Preservation efforts have been on going at this historically significant site for some time now. The post office is only open for a brief time during the austral summer. For more information, contact the Mawson's Huts Foundation