Having only just finished our first week here, there has still been a lot of ‘catching up’ to do. Co-ordinating rosters for Bureau work and getting some continuity in our work has been one issue, but taking care of hydroponics (we have two small portable rooms in which those who are interested are helping to keep a little bit of greenery in the diet), making up some fire drills and co-ordinating those guys, and trying to fit free time and sleep in somewhere have also proved difficult.
As part of our Bureau change-over we got given the keys to what I like to think of as the diabeties draw...
One interesting aspect of life here at the present is the amount of daylight hours we get. Its only spring but already we’re getting almost 14 hours of sunlight a day, and that’s not including the amount of twilight hours… for example walking home from work today the horizon was still blood orange at a little after 11pm! For those of you who don’t see too many sunrises, we have between 7 and 8 hours of sunlight in Newcastle (35 degrees south) during spring.
This (above) was the sunshine reader for today. Add up the hours
On my days of work, I work… it’s a pretty full day, but there are gaps in it where I can take a few photos, go for a bit of a walk, read, run fire drills... you know, relax. Yesterday it was my turn for “slushy” duty, which is a system where everyone on station is rostered for a certain day to help our two chefs in the kitchen. It’s good actually, good to work in a kitchen where the chefs vocabulary consists of more than the one ‘fancy’ adjective.
Throughout our week we have a few certain events by which to punctuate things. On Saturdays, for example, we have a ‘formal’ dinner, where the chefs go that little bit further with the meal, putting out tablecloths and candles etc, and even the tradies are encouraged to iron their flannelettes.
Throughout our week we have a few certain events by which to punctuate things. On Saturdays, for example, we have a ‘formal’ dinner, where the chefs go that little bit further with the meal, putting out tablecloths and candles etc, and even the tradies are encouraged to iron their flannelettes.
For Sundays we have started a 16mm film night. At the back of the small theatre we have is a film projector and a fantastic selection of films! It’s a little like stepping into a museum. Last Sunday we kicked off by watching a 1940s version of Pride and Prejudice, screen-written by Aldous Huxley. 
On Saturdays we have a Station Duties afternoon, where everyone is allocated a job such as taking rubbish to the burners, cleaning certain communal living areas, tending to the hydroponics, or… if you didn’t guess… fire training (it’s an important side of Antarctic life as you may have gathered). This and being slushy is a good way to have everyone contribute, and also keeps people domestic in a way. The thing is that down here you don’t have to call a plumber and get them to fix your toilet, chances are they’ll already know because you’re evidently using theirs. Or if you need an electrician to change a recently blown capacitor for a power supply, or light bulb, they’re here (I haven’t gone through the specifics, but im pretty sure standing on a chair to change a bulb would require a ‘working-at-heights’ certificate, and im not qualified for that…) We’ve also got mechanics, chefs, communications operators (a polite way of saying nerds), and chippies here, so there isn’t a lot we CAN do!
One thing I can and have done is go cross-country skiing (within station limits of course). Ive been twice already and its great fun, despite the restrictions (no helicopters or double backflips im told). The but the snow is melting fast at the moment, and after another perfect clear day today and lots of sun the terrain is starting to emerge from under the white.
On Saturdays we have a Station Duties afternoon, where everyone is allocated a job such as taking rubbish to the burners, cleaning certain communal living areas, tending to the hydroponics, or… if you didn’t guess… fire training (it’s an important side of Antarctic life as you may have gathered). This and being slushy is a good way to have everyone contribute, and also keeps people domestic in a way. The thing is that down here you don’t have to call a plumber and get them to fix your toilet, chances are they’ll already know because you’re evidently using theirs. Or if you need an electrician to change a recently blown capacitor for a power supply, or light bulb, they’re here (I haven’t gone through the specifics, but im pretty sure standing on a chair to change a bulb would require a ‘working-at-heights’ certificate, and im not qualified for that…) We’ve also got mechanics, chefs, communications operators (a polite way of saying nerds), and chippies here, so there isn’t a lot we CAN do!One thing I can and have done is go cross-country skiing (within station limits of course). Ive been twice already and its great fun, despite the restrictions (no helicopters or double backflips im told). The but the snow is melting fast at the moment, and after another perfect clear day today and lots of sun the terrain is starting to emerge from under the white.
This is just our Meteorology (met) area, but you can see the exposed rock that Is starting to appear. Looking in certain directions you can almost see rolling hills of rocky outcrop after rocky outcrop along the coastline, which is something I never imagine seeing here. Infact the station becomes almost completely rocky during the height of summer judging by some of the photos ive seen. Right now seems to be the perfect time to visit actually; not too cold but still lots of snow around, nesting penguins and snow petrels, and a fair amount of sun.
I would point out though that the photos I post give a somewhat biased idea of Antarctic weather, the photos here are generally taken on days where, come sunset, you’re convinced that this one is even more amazing than last time, only to find you’ve now got 10 identical photos. But while there have been some really beautiful days, we’ve also had a few blizzards already, and only Wednesday we had a maximum wind gust of 88knots! (163km/hr). Im told the rule of thumb is that you generally try not to go out in a wind that is greater than your body weight… being a little less than 70 I had to trial this theory. I’ll just say that I wouldn’t want to have been out for too long.
This was only a 45knot wind or so, but still a blizzard, and still quite strong.However tomorrow is meant to be another nice day, and being my day off im going to make the most of the snow cover and utilize the cross country skis again.
Till next time.
PS I managed to snap off this shot of Tod's first balloon lanch where the electroliser (makes hydrogen for the balloons) disagreed with the way he was doing things...
