Hello friends,
its been a while, I know its been quite busy here and im trying to get this one in before it gets kaotic. So what's been going on you ask, lots and where to start. Now im going to apologize now for what your going to read as its going to seem a little rushed as lots more is going on but ill get to that later.
So i've always wanted to spend a birthday down here but as a summering plant operator that's never going to happen, the only way was to get a winter and now that's happened. Thankfully there wasn't all the candles on the cake as i think 43 of them would have set the fire alarm off.....
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| Pic Jenn Proudfoot |
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| Pic Jenn Proudfoot |
What was terribly exciting about the cheesecake that Leslie made was it also included the last of the lemon rind. It was soooooooooooooooo good.
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| Pic Jenn Proudfoot |
Time here has gone soooooo quickly but I think that is a good thing as if it was going slow then possibly wouldn't be the best place for anyone. The only time for me the days drag a little is on those days that is blowing hard. That being said hard here at Davis is only anything over 30 knots and I think top speed we reached was about 70 knots. Casey and Mawson is where it blows a little worse, i've experienced 101 knots at Casey and that was an experience. Rule of thumb is 1 knot per kg and lets say at 101 im safe. Mind you below are a couple little clips I got to give you an idea.......
Vid Michael Goldstein
Vid Michael Goldstein
Since the sun has come back it seemed like we were waiting for a very long time for the wildlife to come back. I remember talking to Ali our fearless station leader about it and she mentioned that the penguins come back on the 11th October and said it as though it was a certainty. Well that was a couple weeks before and as it happens we were all together having our winters pic taken for the season to be ultimately hung on the wall with the rest of them and the location was just off station at the foot of an ice berg. Date the 11th October and what did we see.......our first penguin. That being said the "official winter" pic of the crew turned out really nice so here is the 69th A.N.A.R.E. winter Davis Station pic.
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| Pic Aaron Stanley |
Then there was time for a couple hero shots while we were there as well........
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| Pic Aaron Stanley |
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| Pic Aaron Stanley |
Since then when we only saw 5 Adelie Penguins or so they gradually became more and more visible until they were like streams of black ants making their pilgrimage back to the islands they were born at. Dont think you can ever take enough penguin shots but here is some I only took last weekend. This one is a little different as he has a white chin, normally they are black like the one below......
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
This one was a little different.........
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
While standing there there was some strange noises. Noises really stand out here so when you hear something (even being as deaf as me) it make you look and the video below and youll see what i mean..........
Vid Michael Goldstein
Seeing them sleeping is one thing but I wanted to see the pups which wasnt going to be too far away as many pregnant looking seals were turning up. So me and Paul D went for a little cruise to a place called Walkabout Rocks which is as the most Eastern point of the recreational area and along the way we got what I wanted!!!!
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
Think this one was quite new too.......
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
Not only Penguins but also birds have been coming back.
Cape Petrels like below have many nesting spots around the traps......
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
Snow Petrels are an amazing bird and probably my favourite in the flying verity on the continent as well I would think!! They find themselves a crack in a rock and make their nests in. Quiet as anything until you stumble onto them then normally you have the hardest time finding where they are as they are so deep and its so dark that you cant see them. This one was in a photogenic mood I guess!!
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
There was some nice bergs too.......am looking forward also to get out in the boats again but hoping the sea ice stays in for a fair bit longer still got a few things i would like to do.....like resupply.
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
The pic below isnt actually a berg but the tongue of the Sørsdal Glacier.....
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
Haven't really talked about work much but believe me there was lots to do. Totally different pace to the summer pace i'm so use to. Winter is more of a maintenance feel and keeping it all together then the preparation for resupply. Though id shoot a little video of one of my jobs I had to do every three weeks.
Video Michael Goldstein
In the last three weeks its been pretty chaotic in getting everything ready for the resupply. Its the first time i've been involved in getting Davis Station ready too but there is much more than just getting the roads ready. We also had to go through every machine and deblizz them. Get the engins going, take them into the workshop to totally melt the snow out of them. Make sure its all running the way they are meant to then get the roads finished. Below is a pic of the Mack truck after we had had the Herman Nelson running on it for a couple hours melting the snow from the engine bay so we could start her.
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
Had to pull the drill rig and compressor out too and service it too. Below you can see the compressor and centre of pic all the hoar frost on the air intake after running it for about 20 min to get them into the workshop.......yep it was a little coolish.
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
Then there was the pushing snow bit and we did a little of that. Here i am pushing a little mountain that i have since heard being called Mount Goldstein and it did end up getting alot bigger by the time i had finished with it.
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
We had lots of station meetings and in the last couple weeks we were having daily just to keep up with what's happening to stay on top of it. After one meeting we had a video hook up with the incoming summering folk who were at Hobart head office doing their pre-departure briefings. I took a pic of the crew from my perspective and Sharon took one from hers in Hobart.
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
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| Pic Sharon L |
The it was over.........I woke up on Sunday 6th Oct and wandered down to the workshop to have a play and when i came back for brunch i learnt that there was a twin otter in the air coming from South Pole to us. Mad scramble to get the skiway ready, flagged, the fire sled and gear ready and before we knew it we were plus three and the winter was officially over. I guess is was a soft finish with only 3 but the masses were only a matter of days away now so many were happy with getting only 3 more in.
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| Pic Michael Goldstein |
More snow pushing and getting all the gear ready and it seemed like days and the ship was in sight..........could only make it out as a shadow to begin with and they hovered out there for a day before starting to push in as it was blowing 50 knots on station.........Can you see the ship in the pic below?????
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| Pic Aaron Stanley |
Nor could I to be honest so Aaron kindly cropped the pic above to show the ship a little clearer.
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| Pic Aaron Stanley |
Im rushing through this Blog a little as i was orrigionally intending to get it done last week but as i said time has gone way too quickly. So your going to have to wait for the next blog and I promice the next one wont be that far away. Ill leave you with this last pic......
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| Selfie taken by Deveral with a camera we found on the bench which turned out to be Jen Proudfoots |
Stay tuned........
Michael
P.S......"When you come to the
end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."
Franklin
D. Roosevelt US President
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