A Quickie

There's been so much going over the past couple of weeks that I haven't had the opportunity to stop and put things in this blog. So here goes a quick rundown and in no particular order:

• A flight to Woop Woop (the name of the skiway at Davis)
• Cruising through the icebergs around Casey
• Spending a night in a field hut
• Driving these tracked vehicles called Hagglunds around in the snow
• Taking quad bikes for a swim in the melt streams

Did I mention that we're involved in research program for NASA? It's designed around the psychology of living and working with people in a remote place for a long period of time. It'll probably help them with long term exploration missions and that sort of thing.

I've also done a bit of cross country skiing, joined the band and this week we're doing search and rescue (SAR) training. There'll be plenty more acronyms to come, because that's what working for the public service is all about.

The next few weeks after this one are looking just as busy on the work front - who knows when I'll get around to doing the next post??

Are we there yet?

How'd you manage to get us bogged without any melt stream around?

Somewhere between Casey and Davis with lots of crevasses

Hey hey we're the Monkeys

Robbos hut as viewed from the boats

A large melt stream (because that's what you expect to see in the Antarctic)

The plane! The plane!

Boating around bergs!

The Deceptively Flat Ocean

Mum and Liv seeing us off.

We've arrived, resupply is done, the old Winterers have been given the boot and the place is ours (insert evil grin here).

There were some very odd signs on the ship. Apparently the Bureau keeps whales in this drawer

The trip down was rather placid with only a few people being sick over the first couple of days out of Hobart and the swell only reaching 3m. Even then, that was only on the first couple of days that the people got sick. Although that being said, as we were leaving the mouth of the Derwent, we had to turn around for some repairs to a boiler used to help prevent certain fluids from freezing once we hit the sea ice. This was a great source of jokes for a few hours. Then a couple of days later we had to stop for a second time for the same problem - this time in a dead calm ocean - and the jokes started flying again.

Where'd the swell go?

Thylacine enjoying the view

Thylacine found some friends

We were visited by King Neptune, Lord of the Seas below 60º South where we drank of the sea, kissed a fish and had sludge poured over our heads. Though the sludge represnted all the crap humans tend to throw into the sea and was full of corn, tuna, bits of plastic and condoms, it didn't smell too bad and washed out of our hair easier than expected. Plus having this cold goop being poured over my head and down my back left left me laughing and wanting a shower. Those of us being inducted into the ways of the south were lucky to escape with having the water left on for us to shower in - or so the stories go...

Splat!

The first berg

More bergs

'Nother berg

Late night berg with birds all around it. Isn't the light pretty?

Breaking berg

Adelie and and Emperor penguin playing on the sea ice

We celebrated an early Christmas on the ship too as we were due to arrive on the real Christmas day. Santa was played by one of the ship's crew who has been sailing for about 40 or so years and his demeanour was suitably crass.

Icebergs in the sea ice

Arriving at Casey to the calmest waters I've ever seen

The arrival at Casey, however, was breathtaking. With the water being dead calm, the light from the rising sun (well, the sun hadn't truly set...) and the greeting from some Adelie penguins, how could anyone breath?

Casey wharf from the top of Reeve's Hill