CROMPTON, Mark Bryan

Interviewer: Chrissy Wickes

Abstracter: Judith Christie

Interview date: 26 June 2016

TRACK ONE

00.0 Interview identification

01.0 Born in 1948

End of Track One

TRACK TWO

00.0 Self a WEATHER OBSERVER for years. Early on in life had an interest in expeditions Describes

01.0 1958 in Standard Three, father of a fellow pupil had been in the ANTARCTIC with SIR EDMUND HILLARY and visited the school and showed colour slides, sparked an interest.

02.15 1962 at BURNSIDE HIGH SCHOOL, saw article on CAMPBELL ISLAND WEATHER STATION, and decided that is what self wanted to do. Describes. End of high school in 1966, joined the METEOROGICAL SERVICE to enable him to go to CAMPBELL ISLAND. £495 ANNUAL SALARY. Accepted for CAMPBELL ISLAND EXPEDITION finally in 1969.

05.30 SAILED TO CAMPBELL ISLAND FROM WELLINGTON end of September 1969, called in to CHATHAM ISLANDS on the way. Two and a half day journey on the 800 tonne vessel HOMEDALE to Chatham Islands Describes

07.30 Spent a day on the Chatham Islands, visited CHATHAM ISLAND PUB – poker playing. 150 FISHING BOATS at anchor. Hired a Land Rover and toured the island.

09.00 When leaving ship ran into a STORM, self suffered from sea sickness. Describes. Took six days to get to Campbell Island. Danger of running out of fuel.

End of Track Two

TRACK THREE

00.00 Arrived at CAMPBELL ISLAND – describes physical appearance of the island. Sailed into PERSEVERANCE HARBOUR, freezing cold and snowing.

02.40 UNLOADING OF SHIP took four or five days. Included 400 40 gallon drums of DIESEL. Two men were already on the Island involved in OPERATION DEEP FREEZE, nine people went down, including officer in charge, a cook, a mechanic, three weather observers and two geophysics technicians.

04.20 When the boat left, self felt alone. Initially busy sorting out the stores and starting the programmes.

05.50 LARGE, RAMBLING BASE spread over 500-600 metres. Describes layout. Released WEATHER BALLOONS from a point some distance away. Small section of TRAMWAY TO CARRY SUPPLIES. Describes.

09.30 HOSTEL built between 1957 and 1958, prior to that based in the old COASTWATCHERS’ CAMP built in 1941 to report any ENEMY SHIPPING. One German ship was seen during the war (name indistinct). Describes

12.15 Two GERMAN RAIDERS operated in NZ waters during early years of war – included The COMET which sunk ships between NZ and the Chatham Islands.

13.20 STREETS ON CAMPBELL ISLAND made of steel matting, as island very peaty. Material used by Americans on airfields on Pacific Islands. Street lights.

End of Track Three

TRACK FOUR

00.00 FIRST HUT BUILT on Campbell Island in 1967 on BULL ROCK called SORENSEN HUT. Describes construction.

01.50 Another hut built NORTH WEST BAY, with views of western coast, self helped built it in 1971 with NEVILLE BROWN. Describes construction.

03.00 Next hut built on SOUTH EAST HARBOUR. Describes construction

03.30 Next hut at PENGUIN BAY, called the PENGUIN BAY HILTON at EASTERN END OF THE ISLAND, flown out by helicopter circa 1980, also MOWBRAY HUT. By the time self left, there were five huts. Self spent time camping out in the huts.

05.00 1970 – three people camped out on island, including JIM CARR. Used varying standards of sleeping bags. Also camped on southern coast at SHAG POINT – difficult to get to. Describes

07.00 Self on CAMPBELL ISLAND from 1969-70, 1971-72, 1972-73, went to RAOUL ISLAND 1973 to install RADAR, stayed on until 1974, back to Campbell 1975-76, 1976-77, then in New Zealand for five years.

07.50 In New Zealand, left Met Service, ran a small DEER FARM on BANKS PENINSULA, worked with NOXIOUS PLANTS AUTHORITY and did some HYDATIDS work.

08.15 Returned to CAMPBELL ISLAND as OFFICER IN CHARGE 1983-84, went to RAOUL ISLAND in 1985-86 and 1988-89 where built an airstrip. Then returned to Campbell Island 1989-90 and 1990-91, then a gap of fifteen years.

08.45 Returned to Campbell Island for BI-CENTENNIAL EXPEDITION 2010-11. Seven years and five months in total on Campbell Island and three years and three months on Raoul Island. Also visits to CHATHAM ISLANDS.

09.50 Always fascinated by islands and enjoyed the expedition life. LONER AT SCHOOL, went on trips to the high country with parents and went off by himself. BANKS PENINSULA deer farm at OKUTE VALLEY also very isolated – lived by himself.

11.15 Nine people living on Campbell Island - self got out of base every day by himself, and went on longer trips there.

12.30 First impressions RAOUL was it was SUB-TROPICAL – halfway between Auckland and Fiji, so very different. Tricky to land there. Describes. Island covered in POHUTAKAWA FOREST. Farm there, so virtually self-sufficient.

End of Track Four

TRACK FIVE

00.00 Family had a FARM IN TARANAKI where self spent time as a child, so enjoyed farm on Raoul Island. Raoul was a more pleasant to live, but Campbell Island was more interesting. Magic place for WILDLIFE. Self worked with ALBATROSS and PENGUINS, MICRO-CLIMATOLOGICAL work. Always busy.

02.00 On Campbell Island, RATS main pests, destroying bird life. Describes. FARM there from 1885-1932. FERAL SHEEP left, and became pests. ERADICATION of sheep in three stages in 1970, 1984 and 1990 by shooting. Describes

05.45 BASE CLOSED in 1995. In 1998 successful RAT ERADICATION programme. Describes.

06.50 On bi-centennial expedition, self noticed huge RESTORATION OF WILDLIFE AND VEGETATION. Describes in detail

11.30 A group of HEREFORD CATTLE there were also shot. Both sheep and cattle were shot for meat when self was on Campbell Island – mutton tasted very gamey.

12.40 RATS would attack the SMALL BIRDS, and the ROYAL ALBATROSS CHICKS. Describes.

End of Track Five

SESSION ONE TRACK SIX

00.00 HENS would also attack each other, and RATS would attack the hens. Rats covered the whole island. SKUAS would sometimes attack the rats.

01.10 1983-84 self carried out a study for COLIN BURKE, involving 50 trips up MT HONEY. Biologist GRAHAM TAYLOR was studying rats, and self would bring back rats for him to dissect. Describes.

03.10 Miracle that rats did not swim to DENT ISLAND, this enabled TEAL and SNAPE to survive. DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION did well to eradicate rats. Now doing the same on ANTIPODES ISLANDS.

05.15 Also CATS on Campbell Island, introduced in SEALING AND WHALING ERA, but in low numbers. When sheep were eradicated, vegetation restoration meant that cats died out.

06.45 Self WEATHER OBSERVER, doing shifts. Office staffed 24 hours a day, tasks altered depending on shifts. Released a WEATHER BALLOON, filled with hydrogen. Describes typical day.

10.30 Other staff had a more normal 9am – 5pm routine, involving MAINTENANCE on the base, upkeep of GENERATORS. Power essential for scientific programme. Three GEOPHYSICS OBSERVERS also had full programmes, studying IONOSPHERE. Describes

12.45 Large geophysics programme. MATHMOMETER (?) also operated, measuring magnetic fields. SEISMOGRAPH, and equipment to measure lightning strikes. Measurements of EARTH CURRENTS, MICROMAGNETICS. SKY CAMERA took photographs of the sky, recording AURORA.

End of Track Six

TRACK SEVEN

00.00 A RADIO TECHNICIAN maintained all the communications equipment. The COOK’S day started early. Cook BRIAN GEORGE provided a cooked breakfast with fresh bread. Some cooks better than others.

01.05 WILDLIFE OFFICERS came down on SPECIAL FIELD EXPEDITIONS for two or three weeks. 1970, when sheep shot - ORNATHOLOGISTS (CHRIS ROBERTSON, BANDING OFFICER) and BOTONISTS (COLIN MERK). In the mid-1980s, when DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION started, more officers visited working with PENGUINS AND ALBATROSSES.

03.00 CAMPBELL ISLAND naturally stormy – HOWLING 50s. PERSEVERENCE HARBOUR affected by easterly winds – 1972 self experienced a damaging howling easterly – gust of 119 knots or 200ks per hour. Describes

06.50 Some shelter from weather at the base, but gales persistent on the tops. Self’s ANONOMETER recorded mean wind speed – one recording on Mount Honey averaged 50 knots over one week. Describes.

09.15 Self worked with DIFFERENT TEAMS while on the islands. Expedition life didn’t suit everyone. Most of the times expeditions went well, but was a period in the 1970s when SEVERAL EXPEDITIONS FELL OVER. 1975-76 Officer in Charge (PETER?) had been a staff sergeant in the Army, used to people obeying orders, and he was older than most. Younger expedition members not used to authority. Describes. Self was second in charge, and First in Charge asked for his advice.

Track Seven ends

TRACK EIGHT

00.00 Further description of STAFF INTERACTIONS and CHALLENGING RELATIONSHIPS.

04.50 Another OFFICER IN CHARGE was an ALCOHOLIC – ANOTHER STONED all the time. Series of expeditions which, because of bad selections, did not succeed. People who selected the expedition participants were civil servants, some of whom had not been to the Islands – bad decisions sometimes made.

06.40 Selection for SCOTT BASE was different – more stringent criteria, although sometimes problems at Scott Base. A good team was pivotal in having a good expedition. Team would meet in Wellington pre-embarkation, and self would know quickly whether personalities would work. Describes

10.00 Most of the people who went to the islands were great people, and 90% perfectly competent. If two or three people did not cope, it made things very difficult. Important to defend your ground when on expedition, and not expose weaker sides of your character. Describes

End of Track Eight

TRACK NINE

00.12 TWO WOMEN on one expedition – ALISON BALANCE completing PhD studies at Massey and conducting autopsies on sheep, and ALICIA WARREN. Both feminists, and read a magazine called BROADSHEET. Self was castigated when made a comment about the magazine, and when other comments were made. Describes

04.30 One member of the expedition, Peter, always tried to bait self when self was Officer in Charge – important not to respond.

06.00 During the winter months teams would be thrown together more often. Self got out every day, and kept busy doing stuff in the field.

08.00 Self found it difficult to get back to island life each time. Every person important to the expedition – big fish in a small pond. Also difficult to adjust getting back to New Zealand – no longer the major part of a community. Family dynamics difficult for many returning.

10.30 Three or four members of the expeditions keep in contact still – people who were competent and good in a crisis. STEVE CROSDALE, now a plumber in Tauranga, was calm in any emergency.

12.30 Self lucky in terms of injuries – nothing major. Did three week training in WELLINGTON ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY, which was an eye opener and also dental and eye clinics. Describes

13.50 First year self on the Island, water ran very low, showers limited, generators sometimes failed. A FISHING BOAT WRECKED when on Raoul, 25 Japanese fishermen stranded.

End of Track Nine

TRACK TEN

00.0 More description of assisting Japanese shipwreck crew. Received a call regarding a ship in trouble – KANAI MARU. Ship ran ashore on DENHAM BAY, where expedition members found them asleep. Crew did not speak English. Lots of ALCOHOL on board, so salvaged. Cargo of ship hundreds of tonnes of TUNA. Members of company from San Francisco came down, but could not move the ship, so had to move the fish over the side, creating a shark feeding frenzy. Two tugs tried to pull the ship off, unsuccessfully. 01.0 End of Track Ten

TRACK ELEVEN

00.00 Identification

End of Track Eleven

TRACK Twelve

00.00 First expedition to Raoul Island – fully functioning farm on north coast with sheep, cattle, pigs, hens. Fully self-sufficient, and just had to take on to the island flour and sugar etc. Describes. Interested in farm as family had a farm in Taranaki in the 1950s.

02.15 Pigs would eat citrus fruit from orchard on the island, but would avoid lemons and limes.

03.45 Large garden in front of the hostel was a lot of work but produced lots of vegetables. Lots of fresh fish caught for the table.

05.30 Three trips to Raoul, 1974, 85-86 and 1989, when first woman, Karen Olsen was on the four person expedition – she ran the meteorological programme. Describes

07.20 One of self’s task was to build an airstrip, using tractor – at that stage most of the farm was gone. Describes

09.15 Pohutukawa at the end of the runway – Department of Conservation said no to removing indigenous vegetation, but tree was removed using gelignite. Describes.

End of Track Twelve

TRACK THIRTEEN

00.00 Self stressed when first flight to Raoul Island on plane ZKDAA landed in 1988. One pilot was John Fernall. The two pilots were very experienced, and first landing was perfect – celebrated with a bottle of champagne.

02.40 Self keen to get back to Campbell Island at the end of that year to complete field work. Nickname was Hen, shortened from ‘swamp hen’.

04.20 Took three or four days to leave Raoul Island because had to wait for wind conditions to fly out. Pilot Grant ? explained how plane flew off the island and did an aerial tour of the islands before leaving for Auckland. Describes

08.30 Travelled to Wellington following day, then visited family on the West Coast, then quickly down to Bluff then Campbell Island on the Kahuroa for two years.

09.05 Expedition to Raoul Island in 1985-86 was one where expedition members didn’t get along. However, the last expedition on Raoul Island was one where the four members all worked very well together. Visited by yachties, and made passionfruit flavoured gin.

12.20 Last two expeditions to Campbell island 1989-1991 and 2011 also went well with everyone getting along well.

13.20 Little heritage remains on Raoul Island. Bells lived there in late 1800s. Book written called Crusoe’s of Sunday Island. Oldest hut was on eastern side of the island called Duck Cove. Flying Fox there.

End of Track Thirteen

TRACK FOURTEEN

00.00 On Raoul, rust and weather meant nothing much is left. Campbell Island, can still visit relics from sealing and whaling era and coast watching camps.

00.55 Weeds on Raoul was dealt with by DOC – dedicated Officer did a lot of spraying in 1985-86 on Denham Bay. Eradication of myselthorn (?) Describes

03.10 Self worked as a noxious plants officer on Banks Peninsular – knew that noxious plants would return after getting rid of them, as seeds survive.

04.00 Mentions name of Bill Sykes, who was a botanist on Raoul Island.

04.30 Pest animals on Raoul Island– goats were shot. Cats on Campbell were very feral, but cats on Raoul much tamer. Also rats. All of these species now eradicated on Raoul and birdlife has returned to main island from outlying islands and vegetation recovered.

06.30 Pet goats kept as pets on Raoul Island and used for mowing lawns. Cook’s pride and joy was his garden of gladioli, which goats, Portland and Cement, ate.

07.30 On Campbell Island, lambs sometimes kept as pets – good eating as they were fed scraps rather than wild vegetation. A woman wrote to self from America, who had been on a cruise ship, asking after lambs, but had to be told that they had been turned into roast meat.

09.30 Movie evenings held on Campbell Island Saturday nights using a VCR in the late 1970s. Initially only entertainment were 16mm reel movies – given a dozen to last the year - run by National Film Unit. Movies became very familiar to expedition. Embassies in NZ would also lend movies, including Russian, Israeli, British, American Embassies. Ice cream and popcorn served. Describes

End of Track Fourteen TRACK FIFTEEN

00.00 Memories of everyday life has been forgotten, but little incidents carry on in self’s memory. Bedrooms on either side of corridor some men very noisy as they went to bed which was annoying. Excess noise a problem on both Campbell and Raoul. Describes

05.00 Summer of 1971, expedition was in new base which was built in 1958. Other accommodation abandoned in 1957 – was used by field parties and lasted well until 1970s.

06.15 Hamburger evening held at the old coast watchers’ base – a few days to set up. Hamburgers prepared and the whole base attended a very successful evening. Self still in contact with the person who organised the function. Describes

09.20 Self was on Campbell Island at the start of the first cruise ships – Lindblad Explorer, a Norwegian boat which sailed from Bluff. Also a Russian ice Breaker visited in 1968 as a passenger cruise ship. Lindblad Explorer had Peter Scott on board, son of Robert Falcon Scott. Also Keith Shackleton, son of Ernest Shackleton. Also several other distinguished botanists and scientists. Rolly Taylor from Ecology Division. Owner was Lars Linblad – fascinating to speak to him. Ornithologist Roger Torey-Peterson, who wrote Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Describes

End of Track Fifteen

TRACK SIXTEEN

00.00 More information about the expedition, including a DINNER ON BOARD THE LINBLAD EXPLORER put on by the owner.

03.40 Visits by distinguished people broke the monotony of ordinary life on the island. Self escorted two eighty year old ladies from New York from the Linblad Explorer on a tour around. Describes

06.40 Self will always remember the small, entertaining incidents. Also will remember the landscapes and beauty of the islands.

07.30 Self walked every day on Campbell Island, often a short walk to TUCKER COVE. In mid summer sun did not set until 10.15pm. Loved the coves on the island. Favourite walk was to NORTH WEST BAY, staying in the hut. Describes

10.20 WHALES would visit north west bay in winter, also came into PERSEVERANCE HARBOUR. Once saw them metres from the wharf.

11.10 Self also walked every day on Raoul Island, often along ORAKI BEACH.

11.45 Another favourite on Campbell Island was PENGUIN BAY, both the coastal and inland route, with wonderful views of Perseverance Harbour.

12.50 CAVES there which during the COAST WATCH years contained gear – would have been used if enemy invaded. Describes

End of Track Sixteen

TRACK SEVENTEEN

00.00 Describes BIG FRESH WATER LAKE on island. Also SOUTH EAST HARBOUR area, which contained a huge hill (Pueso?) – eerie place. Describes. Also went to Mount Honey and to BULL ROCK HUT, which was isolated from the base – would stay for three or four days, sometimes carrying out research on MOLLYMAWKS. Describes

03.45 HUT AT BULL ROCK was carried up on men’s backs. 1976-77 self helped built an ANNEX on to the hut.

04.40 Self was on Campbell for 2,500 days, and walked most days. Has strong memories of those experiences.

05.30 Self grateful to METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE for opportunity to go to the islands, also grateful to EXPEDITION COLLEAGUES. Now very difficult for ordinary people to get to those places. Campbell Island Meteorological Service now automated, Chatham Island service closed, Raoul run by Department of Conservation. Pacific Island services now run by their own people. Experiences self had would now be difficult to get – expedition era has gone and will never come back.

07.55 Scott Base is also now very different, better communications.

08.45 During 1960s and 70s, expedition members had Campbell island to themselves – special experience. Self considers himself very lucky to have been able to go back so many times, and remembers his experiences there every day.

10.40 Self now lives in HOKITIKA, walks down the beach and river there reminds him of his time on Campbell Island. Has a PERSONALISED CAR NUMBER PLATE ZLBC - identifying call sign for Campbell Island - people recognise this sign sometimes, and start talking to self about Campbell Island.

End of Track Seventeen