 She departed on 19 January, heading west to find a location for the western base, which was eventually sited in what is now known as Queen Mary Land, on 1 February 1912.After the western party was established on the stable ice shelf, "Aurora" left on 20 February, arriving in Hobart on 12 March.In December 1912, "Aurora" returned to Cape Denison to find that the sledging expedition of Mawson, Xavier Mertz, and Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis was overdue.