Despite all these difficulties, "Aurora" set out from Sydney on 15 December 1914, bound for Hobart, where she arrived on 20 December to take on final stores and fuel. On 24 December, three weeks later than the original target sailing date, the "Aurora" finally sailed for the Antarctic, arriving off Ross Island on 16 January 1915. Mackintosh decided to establish a shore base at Cape Evans, Captain Robert Falcon Scott's headquarters during the 1910–1913 "Terra Nova" Expedition, and to find a safe winter mooring nearby for "Aurora". Joyce called this decision of Mackintosh to winter the ship—which would have serious ramifications later on—as "the silliest damn rot that could have possibly occurred". It was the first of a number of decisions by Mackintosh that Joyce disagreed with.