[2] On that trip he purchased the whaler SY Aurora and in London he loaded it with the many items of specialist equipment he was able to obtain there and 48 sledging dogs procured from Greenland.

On the trip Ninnis soon formed a close friendship with Dr. Xavier Mertz, a Swiss mountaineer who joined the Expedition in London and who was also appointed to handle the dogs.

A base was built at Macquarie Island and a small party of five men were deployed to man a radio relay station and to conduct research.

The summer was spent building a hut at Cape Denison for the 18-man Adélie Land base party to winter in.

"[8]Ninnis would eventually be selected to be a part of the three-man sledging team, the Far Eastern Party, together with Mawson and Mertz.

Six dogs, most of the party's rations, their tent and other essential supplies disappeared into a massive crevasse 480 km east of the main base.

"[11]Without the extra food and supplies for the remaining men and dogs, the situation proved dire for both Mawson and Mertz.

The first memorial is a wooden cross erected at Cape Denison by members of the Australasian Anatarctic Expedition as a tribute to both Ninnis and Mertz.

[12][13] The members of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition spent some time in Hobart en route to Antarctica via Macquarie Island.