The first few days

The first few days I had on station were actually very busy. There was resupply going on (that is where all the supplies for the next year are unloaded off the ship and unpacked). Hand over's had to take place where I had to learn all about what was going on with not only my primary role here of telecommunications, but also my other jobs, such as brewing and amenities.

On top off all that there was still the stations telecommunications infrastructure to keep running, and my desire to get around and see everything.

 

On the first Saturday night on the station we had a big BBQ in the mechanical workshop to say goodbye to the old crew who were leaving on the ship we came in on. Why the mechanical workshop, well it is the biggest indoor space on the station.

The two incoming chefs along with the outgoing chef combined their forces to make an amazing BBQ with salmon steak, normal steak, sausages, kebabs and all kinds of amazing salads.

The old station leader presented medals and plaques to all the outgoing crew and we heard some funny stories about what went on during the year. One such thing involved people raising the legs of the station leaders bed a couple of cm each week, and him not noticing, but always complaining about how hard it was to get into his bed.

Also I was pretty keen to get out and see some things around the station, however until you are field trained (basically learn how to be safe and deal if a blizzard comes in etc) you are not allowed to go outside the immediate surrounds of the station without somebody who is trained.

Luckily one of the FTO (field training officers, yes it is a big organisation, and yes like any other they like their acronyms) was taking a group of people out on a walk to Gardner Island about 3km out across the sea ice, where there is an Adelie penguin colony. We were going to drive out to the ship, and leave from the ship for this walk, which would make it quite a bit shorter though.

We met quite a few penguins and also were able to get pretty close to some ice bergs on the way across. It is amazing how many different expressions penguins can have.