 After completion of his bachelor's degree, Elkins joined the ANARE team that wintered over at Mawson Station in Australian Antarctic Territory, East Antarctica in 1960.The wintering party comprised 33 expeditioners including 12 members of the RAAF Antarctic Flight; the Officer-in-Charge was Hendrick Geysen.That year, Elkins was part of a mechanised and sledging field party that travelled from Mawson Station to the Napier Mountains in Enderby Land, East Antarctica.