The Hugglund BV 206 is one of the main forms of transport we use here. It is a tracked vehicle with a front and a rear section. Each section has driven tracks and it steers by adjusting the angle between the front and the rear section. They are known as Haggs for short.
Today we took two Haggs out to look for a way on the the Antarctic Plateau after the summer melts had changed the slopes. We need a path to get up to the skiway (snow runway) to do maintenance on it.
Last night we had a wine tasting evening. This was organised by our 5 star chef Kim. He ordered in a bunch of wines on the last ship and set up this evening where we could all try them all along with some fantastic food.
Spaggers had to slip his own favourite 'wine’, Ricadonna in as he has been trying to convince everyone that it is the best wine available. Perhaps he was hoping he could recreate the 1976 Judgment of Paris and gain some recognition for his loved Ricadonna.
The list of wines Kim had ordered was vast. It consisted of the following:
The Ned Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand.
Mc Henry Hohnen Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc 07, Margaret River WA
Crabtree Riesling, Clare Valley, SA
Jones Road Chardonnay, 06, Mornington Peninsular Victoria.
Narkoojee Lily Grace Chardonnay, 08 Gippsland Victoria.
Charles Melton, Rose of Virginia, Rose 2009 Barossa Valley SA
Cigale GSM ( Grenache shiraz mouvedre ) 07 Barossa
Balnaves Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra, 07
Penna Lane Cabernet Sauvignon Clare valley, SA
Bent Creek Mc Larenvale Shiraz 06
Taitiarra Shiraz 08 Heathcote Vic
Warrabilla Durif, 08, Rutherglen NSW/Vic border region
Kim gave a speech about each wine and explained how the different areas provided different flavoured wines.
Needles to say we had some great food to go with the tasting. Mains consisted of filet mignon with prawn skewers accompanied with a duck side salad. This was followed by summer pudding for desert.
It was a great night and as you can imagine everybody was slightly tipsy after all that wine.
Well, at least for walking on.
This meant is was now possible to walk out to the islands again. A group of us decided to take the opurtunity and walk out to Anchorage Island.
On the way we came across a hole in the ice and while we were debating about what could have caused it, a seal stuck its head out. The settled the debate.
The last few days have seen an accumulation of snow about the station. Most snow we see at the station does not fall, it is blown from the interior of the continent. This has the effect of leaving deep piles of snow behind any wind break such as a building or vehicle, as the wind keeps most of the other areas clear of snow. These lines are called Blizz Tails.
As the time draws closer for the sun to set for 6 weeks we have been seeing some amazing sunsets. Sunset is at about 4:30pm, so you have to be on the ball to take pics or you miss it.
A few weeks ago I showed you all the Medical suite, if you remember this was located in the SMQ.
SMQ stands for Sleeping and Medical Quarters. As you can guess we sleep in this building. It also houses a few other things will tell you about.
To look at it is not the most stunning of buildings, just a big green rectangle. Like most building down here to get inside you go though a cold porch. This is basically and room that is used to stop all the cold going straight inside, and also a place to leave you outdoor clothing.
Once inside the SMQ is two stories tall. Half of the bottom floor being taking up with the medical suite. The rest is mostly bedrooms.
The bedrooms are in a ring around the outside of the building so everybody has a window, with the inside containing bathrooms.
Upstairs their is also a laundry and drying room for washing clothes, and a small rest area with a kettle and some chairs.
Upstairs also has a linen room, a sewing room for fixing any clothes or making costumes (as some people seem to do) as well as Woollies. Woollies is where we go to get any supplies we might need like shampoo, de-odorant, tissues etc.
Downstairs houses a dark room, which does not see much use, but before digital photography was in high demand (the doctor still uses it to develop x-rays though), along with a computer room (people have their own computers in their bedrooms though), and under the floor a dress up room, where costumes are stored for fancy dress nights. Also under the floor is the brewery, but I will cover that another time.
My bedroom is on the downstairs floor, this is quite handy as the enclosed link to the LQ (where we eat and hang out) is on the downstairs floor also. I will tell you about the LQ another time.
Last night I went outside to try and get some more aurora shots. I got a few but also just took some night time shots of the station.
Ok, another walk to Watts Hut. This time Mark, Spaggers, Linc, Kim and myself headed for three days. The night before had seen some heavy snow fall, so luckily we managed to get a lift out along dingle road in a Hagg (over snow vehicle) thus saving ourselves 2-3 km of walking.
Once we arrived at the hut, Kim (the Chef) had been planning to make us bangers and mash for dinner, but alas there was no Deb to be found in the hut. I order to prove his culinary supremacy, in true Macgyver like fashion, using only some soup packets to go with the snags managed to make an amazing sausage curry.
After dinner we settled down and had a few drinks and a yarn.
Day two and we headed on a walk up and around the back of Watts Lake, to Lebed Lake. This was a magic day with bright sun, clear skies and a coating of snow over all the rocks giving a what a Imagine to be Switzerland like feel to the place.
Day three and it was time to head home. We had some strong wind that made for hard walking but the trip was enjoyed by all.
