Well it's now all official I'll be staying on for summer so that means you have another 6-7 months of blogs which should keep you all entertained. Starting out as a Summer Plant Operator, turning into a Wintering Dieso and now i'm jumping the fence again and going back to science. I'll be working on a project with a bunch of guys doing stuff ive never done and i'm really excited about it too also means I wont be a summerer though, I'll be a lingerer or the left overs from winter! LOL
So lets start of with a pano I took on Friday. The moon setting at close to 7:45 am 24 shots stitched into a nice one. The actual file size is 150mb but obviously i've had to shrink it down a little to allow me to put it up here.....
So the weather over the last couple weeks has been from very warm (-10c) to a little cooler (-30c). The cooler temps make for interesting scenery with the plumes of steam from the MPH (Main Power House) from the generators working to make the power needed to keep us warm. The exhaust steam seemed to hang in the air for a long time.
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
There is some amazing colours too and even more breathtaking sunrises and sunsets too. This sunrise
we were pleasured by sundogs.
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| Pic Michael Goldstein. |
The sun definitely has some sting now and have already been sunburnt a couple times in the last week, which is the first time Ive seen any colour on my skin in the last 6 months. That sun we have been getting has enough sing in it that its been melting the snow as well through the day and the re-freezing it overnight. This is making it for a rather treacherous walk to work in the mornings. Last week Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, three days in a row I had nice little falls and the last one I managed to finally do a little damage in a sprained ankle and twisted my knee a little.
Couple weeks ago we made another trip up to woop woop and got a couple pics from that journey.
Under a Hägglunds on the ice of the plateau.
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
All the different designs on the ice....
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
Looking down into the Vestfold Hills and we were treated with a light covering of fog over them.
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
Here in front of the Hägglunds it doesn't really look that bad but believe me looks can be deceiving. The sastrugi or lumps in the snow are sometimes up to 1m high and hard packed snow. This made for a very slow trip home and very rough.
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
Thought that one looked good too very proud to be working for an organization doing wonderful things!!!
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
This pic was taken with my iphone. I was walking past the ice bar we made sometime ago and someone had put an icicle on it. The wind had polished it and with the sunset in the background reminded me of a pic i saw that a good friend of mine too her winter, thanks Geezer for the idea think its almost as good as yours!!!
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
Now
onto something that's dear to my heart. A little over 2 years ago I lost my
mother after a very long battle with breast cancer. It's still very fresh for
me and emotions bubble very close to the surface whenever talking about
it.
October for me is a particularly sad time of the year for me
as on the 1st of October was my Mother's birthday. I was at Macquarie
Island at the time I received word that
I needed to get home and what the AAD did to get me back home was something my
family is very thankful for.
October 1st
is also the start of Breast Cancer Awareness month, in 2016 it is estimated
that16 084 new cases of breast cancer will diagnosed, 150 men and 15 934 women
(data from https://canceraustralia.gov.au/affected-cancer/cancer-types/breast-cancer/breast-cancer-statistics). To increase the awareness the super special guys I work with at the
Australian Antarctic Division Social Club have been working very hard with
BreastScreen Tasmania to unveil a new piece of kit for us down here
at Davis Station Antarctica, the Pink Hägg.
With the
support of BreastScreen Tasmania one of our beloved Hägglunds has undergone a
makeover and is now PINK! The boys down in the AAD
workshop have been working hard to get it ready for its unveiling at the AAD Pink Breakfast.
The Hägglund will travel down to Antarctica on the Aurora Australis, hmm just a bit of a colour clash there with pink and orange, thankfully there are black tracks in between the two. But that being said I’ve done an artist’s impression of the AA in pink and not the orange we are all use to ....... What do you think???????
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| Artist impression Michael Goldstein |
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| Another Artists impression but the same artist Michael Goldstein |
Before it leaves on its adventure south those at the Australian Antarctic Division in Kingston will have the opportunity to leave a tribute for a family member or friend who has survived, is living with or who has lost their battle with cancer on the inside of the Hägglund. It’s going to be departing on Voyage 1 bound for me where I’ll be doing exactly that for my family. You'll be able to follow the travels and adventures of this special Hägglund by searching for the hash tag #wheresthepinkhagg but definately on Absolute Antarctica and the Absolute Antarctica Facebook Page and I’m sure to be taking it out for a spin, where I’ll probably have a sombre moment or three!!!!
Haven't seen the a picture of the Hägg as yet so again I put on my "artist" cap again and thought i'd give you an idea what it's going to look like.........
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
So we are now looking at some 6-7 weeks before the ship is here for the V1 resupply. Its hard to beleive as time has gone so quick. Its going to be different as normally its me on the ship coming in and im excited at the prospect of new people coming in, the new role ill be taking on and seeing old friends. Im also sad in a way as these 16 very different people have really in many ways become family and with V1 arriving many will be departing.
The blogs have slowly become more and more difficult to find the motivation to write too i might add. The Absolute Antarctica FB page is going gang busters with 800 likes in such a short space of time really surprises me. For the last while Lauren a friend from the Division has been helping me with posting different things on the page and together i think we are making promoting and educating all things Antarctic in a way that most seem to be liking. Its an easy place to fall in love with and when the day comes that i'm unable for whatever reason to come back to Antarctica it will hold my heart forever!
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| Pic Darren White |
I hope this finds you all well
Take Care
Michael
P.S..........Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Ralph
Waldo Emerson
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