Christmas on the Ice (or Rock)

T’was the night before Christmas  and all though the house, umm station, nothing was stirring, not even a mouse.

This may be because there are no mice in Antarctica, however the rest of the station was stirring preparing for Christmas.

The Christmas tree was sitting in anticipation with presents galore below it. The tables were set, we had flags up, including a ‘special’ version of the NZ flag. We had some Russian guests coming to spend the day with us, so Mark was busy on Google translator trying to work out ow to write a suitable welcome message. (we never did find out if welcome Russian friends is written that way) Finally everything was ready and after a few evening ales it was time for bed.

   

 

The next morning everybody was up ready for a 10:30 am breakfast. We were all standing round, but wait, what was tat noise in the background, could it be the sound of jingling bells, or was it the low rumble of the Christmas haug.

Next thing we new Santa was here, and we had to avert our eyes as him and his team of helpers alighted from their sleigh.

Inside we went were a vast collection of goodies was handed out.

After this we had a wait until Christmas lunch was ready, so I took out Russian guests down to see the beer ‘plant’ which they were very keen to see, although it did turn out latter they were much more excited about drinking the beer.

Lunch was ready with heaps of food. Crayfish, ham, turkey, prawns, oysters.  The list goes on. Plenty of food and drink for everybody. Even my ‘charismas pudding’ beer came out.

Field Travel Training

The 22nd of December saw me heading off on Field Travel Training along with Manfred, Nigel and our two training officers Mike and Dave.

The plan was that we would be taken by helicopter to Trajer Ridge where we would spend the afternoon walking in the local area.  The night would be spent at Trajer Ridge Melon, followed by a walk to Watts Hut via Crooked Lake apple for the second nights stay. The 24th would then see us walking back to Davis via Marine Plain Melons in time for Christmas Eve celebrations.

 

The objectives for the three days we to get an idea of how to walk on snow and ice, along with testing our navigation skills.

 

 

Everything went according to plan and a great fun trip was had by all. The other exciting news is that my sister got married while I was out and about. Luckily I had my satellite phone so I could congratulate her. Congratulations again Daria and Marty.

A visit from team China

Today the Chinese ice breaker the Xue Long stopped in on its way from the Chinese station Zhong Shan(70km to the west) to one of our Aussie bases, Casey (1000km to the east)

It was pretty interesting. They kept Adam our postal officer busy sending hundreds of post cards. The bay was very calm out the front of the station providing some very picturesque views.

 

Pictures, Helicopters and Spit Roasts

Ok, an interesting name for for a blog, I agree, however that is what today was all about.

Firstly let me explain the pictures and helicopters section. There has been an ongoing task to take Arial  photographs of, well, pretty much all of the Vestfold Hill. The Vestfold Hills are the hills sounding Davis Station. The are an ice free section of Antarctica, however just behind them is the ice plateau, the 1200km piece of ice that stretches across the continent.

I was lucky enough to get to go on one of these flights, so I spent a few good hours up in a helicopter as people took photos. My job was to enter location information into a database, however I did get a few shots off.

 

 

 

 

Ok, now on to the spit roast. It was time for the chefs to have a break, so some of the boys cooked up a spit for dinner.

Now this is how you do a spit.

Firstly you use a skid steer loader to position a 20ft  container with opening doors for shelter. 

Bring on 45kg gas bottle (you don’t want to run out).

Grab a lamb, and some good chunks of beef. Chuck them on the spit and make sure there is plenty of beer.

The Radome

Ok, you may remember that I told you all I would try and describe different parts of the station in my blogs. Well it seemed fitting to tell you about the radome now, as it is something we look after in Comms, and it is also the place we had Friday drinks last night.

Wikipedia describes a radome as “A radome (the word is a contraction of radar and dome) is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a microwave or radar antenna. A radome is often used to prevent ice and freezing rain from accumulating directly onto the metal surface of the antennas.”

 

This is remarkably correct for Wikipedia. The radome is basically a big ball, 12 meters in diameter that houses the satellite dish we use to communicate to the outside world.

You will see it in any pictures of the station, it is the big golf ball looking thing.

 

 

 

It is a bit like the Tardis inside the radome, with lots more space than it looks like there would be form outside.

Andy and I set up the inside for Friday drinks, we had a stereo and some coloured lights, along with a table that Kim and Squeeze our two chefs covered with cheese, dips and biscuits. We also had a couple of kegs of beer inside.

And then there was none

You might remember that the area out the front of Davis station is actually sea, covered in ice.

This ice forms an important transport corridor out of Davis. It is the only way to get quad bikes out. You can not ride quad bikes on the land as they leave marks that do not erode away.  You can only ride them on ice and snow. Therefore without the sea ice the only way around the area is on foot, effectively cutting off access to the outer areas.

Well, last night when I went to bed the ice was their, however this morning when I got up (and it was actually this morning which means I have finally caught up with my blog, hurrah) the ice was gone. There were even some orca’s in the water, presumably going after the penguins and seals as they ventured in.

Well, I guess that means no quad bikes until the ice re-forms.

My first weekend away

Last weekend me and a few other decided to ride quad bikes up to Bandits Hut, the northern most hut around Davis. We id this as it is to far to walk to Bandits Hut, and we wanted to take advantage of the sea ice while we could ride bikes on it.

It was a good trip, with lots of fun had.