Ok, as the weeks roll around I find I’m getting further and further behind with keeping you updated on this site. Sorry about that. ‘Winter’ as we know it is now only a few days from ending since we expect the first of the summer voyages to arrive in a matter of days, and as you may appreciate we have been rather busy around here preparing for its arrival. The past 8 months, which have in truth dragged on interminably for me at times, now all of a sudden seems to be coming to an end all too soon. A week or so ago I remember actually feeling disappointed that it was more or less over, and that I would probably never experience such extreme isolation again (being the only 19 people around for thousands of kilometres in such an environment). It was a feeling somewhat akin to how I felt the day the last ship left – sensing the magnitude of the occasion – but also different, for obvious reasons.
With the ship comes many things. I think everyone will see it as a welcome change to have some new people around – new faces and voices – but we will also receive mail, some other essential supplies, and the all important FRUIT!!! I don’t know exactly what fruit will make it to us (probably oranges, apples, some bananas, as well as a few other bits and pieces) but I’ve never had such a craving for an orange in my life! However, more significantly than all this, the coming of the ship marks the fact that we are no longer inaccessible from the outside world in the case of an emergency. If something went wrong on station over winter it was up to us to deal with it, there would/could be no help coming from anywhere. Now this sense is gone, and in a strange way it’s a little sad.
But enough of that, I’m falling behind in pictures and posts. Having left off with my sea-ice drilling trip to the Browning Peninsula in late July/early August I have 2.5 months to bring you up to speed with, hence I will try to make this post predominantly pictorial.
This is a photo of our Met barograph, taken just after a particularly good blizzard. You can see how much the pressure dropped here, getting to about 927hPa I think, but also how quickly it dropped!
August was action filled, despite once again having no less than 7 official blizzards (after 8 in July!). Tod and I took a couple of trips to the Wilkins Runway AWS to fix a few things on rare clear days, cold and icy though it was.
The AWS is a sled sat more or less in the middle of nowhere, but is very important for runway operations, as well as giving short and long term meteorology data.
On two more beautiful August days I took a work trip to Browning with Luc (dieso), Dan (comms tech) and Bob (station leader) to install a radio repeater antenna on a high ridge there. The first day we were blessed with no wind or cloud and lots of beaming sunshine.
The second day we decided to take a long walk through the Browning Peninsula, across a sea-ice channel, and onto Peterson Island (and to the Peterson Mellon) in around -20C to -25C and 20 knots wind. Depending on your chart that’s a wind chill of around -50C to -60C and probably the coldest I’ve been all year (with the possible exception of a certain refreshing mid-winter swim)!
But I still maintain that the Browning Peninsula and Peterson Island are by far the most beautiful places to visit in the greater Casey area. Lots of exposed rock, steep cliffs and tall peaks make it easily the most scenic area within our jurisdiction, and to add to this I am convinced that although just 30km south to southwest of station it receives considerably less cloud than us on the Bailey Peninsula.
Of course as if this wasn’t enough there are also the two glaciers that lay either side of the peninsula, providing the perfect frame.
Although it may not look like much, and in truth it is only an elongated fibreglass sphere, the Peterson Mellon is more spacious than you would imagine, sleeping 5 people if necessary, and warms up quicker than you might expect. It is also surrounded by the beautiful peaks of the Peterson Island, and despite appearances is a very popular destination for jolly-makers. Stay tuned for more Browning and Peterson photos as I’ve just returned from a 3 day trip to the area, and quite possibly the jolly of all jollies!
Also in August, Comfy Chair bass player (and sometimes comms supervisor), Dom, had a milestone birthday. To celebrate we decided a two-night tour to Wilkes would be a good way to mark the occasion. So we loaded a hagg with all the essentials, and as Tom and Dom set off for the slow drive, Curly and I set out on the by now very familiar walking/skiing route.
Once at Wilkes we lit up the fire, lit up the Cubans, and lit up the stage, playing to an intimate audience of none. But I don’t think it mattered because we had fun! 
We also took some time out on tour to explore the old station once again. The accumulation of snow in the building above just shows how ‘blizz’ (very fine grains of blown snow) can get in through any pin-prick hole to fill a building/vehicle over time. Even my clothing zippers sometimes let it through when walking into a blizzard.
There were a few weather phenomena in August to get us excited too. The aforementioned parhelia were back, and more amazing than ever.
This time there was not only a single halo, but an outer halo and various other tangential arcs as well. (for more info on these parhelia go here http://www.atoptics.co.uk/fz123.htm)
We also had some enormous dumps of snow in August, as you can see from the photos below, and on one particularly clear day Curly spotted what looked distinctly like an aeroplane jet stream (further below).
Was it just a weather phenomenon we don’t know about? Was it the Americans spying on us? (it moved and grew very much like a jet-stream, but what was it doing here???) Or was it a just Super Que Que (Simon) donning the cape once again for a rescue mission?
This particular photo was taken early morning the day after mid-winter (check the clock), and I somehow don’t imagine Que Que was rescuing too many people this night…
Also in early August we took part in a trans-Antarctic short film festival. I think 8 or 9 Antarctic stations (several nationalities) took part, and we were given from Friday afternoon till Sunday evening to produce a 5-minute film that included several compulsory elements:
A cardboard box
A New Guy (“fresh” or “green” Antarctic expeditioner)
Text – “What do you mean you want a day off for mid-winter?”
And a bodily noise other than speech
We had great fun doing it, and called ours “Don’t Leave Home”
The winners were:
Best Film: Tied for first PlaceRothera (UK) FNGNeumayer (Germany) Neumayer Nemesis
Best Acting: Casey (Australia) -Don't leave Home
Best Cinematography: Rothera (UK) FNG
Best Screenplay: Casey (Australia) -Don't leave Home
Best Use of Required Elements: Casey (Australia) -Don't leave Home
You can see all the films (I hope) at this location - http://cid-f32c1f3f4fb6d9e5.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Antarctic%20Movies
Now just to throw in a few random photos, here is one taken from the plateau, coming home after a days work up at the Casey Skiway (light aircraft runway, 15km or so from station). In the background you can see a cluster of buildings (Casey) sitting on the snow covered Bailey Peninsula. See how the ice of the plateau slopes down towards the coast, and that there is not really an easily definable division between the snow-covered peninsula and the ice plateau, or even the ice and snow covered bays. 
Some more random shots of ice and snow.
Well there you have it, August is now well and truly gone and Spring is on its way. I will try my best to have a September post up within the next few days, and finish with a pre-Voyage One October post before the ship arrives. But the coming of the ship has not only meant we’ve been busy work-wise, but also that jollies have been more often and more eventful (better weather etc), and the animals have at last begun trickling in. There’s a lot going on to show you.
Until next time.
With the ship comes many things. I think everyone will see it as a welcome change to have some new people around – new faces and voices – but we will also receive mail, some other essential supplies, and the all important FRUIT!!! I don’t know exactly what fruit will make it to us (probably oranges, apples, some bananas, as well as a few other bits and pieces) but I’ve never had such a craving for an orange in my life! However, more significantly than all this, the coming of the ship marks the fact that we are no longer inaccessible from the outside world in the case of an emergency. If something went wrong on station over winter it was up to us to deal with it, there would/could be no help coming from anywhere. Now this sense is gone, and in a strange way it’s a little sad.
But enough of that, I’m falling behind in pictures and posts. Having left off with my sea-ice drilling trip to the Browning Peninsula in late July/early August I have 2.5 months to bring you up to speed with, hence I will try to make this post predominantly pictorial.
This is a photo of our Met barograph, taken just after a particularly good blizzard. You can see how much the pressure dropped here, getting to about 927hPa I think, but also how quickly it dropped!August was action filled, despite once again having no less than 7 official blizzards (after 8 in July!). Tod and I took a couple of trips to the Wilkins Runway AWS to fix a few things on rare clear days, cold and icy though it was.
The AWS is a sled sat more or less in the middle of nowhere, but is very important for runway operations, as well as giving short and long term meteorology data.On two more beautiful August days I took a work trip to Browning with Luc (dieso), Dan (comms tech) and Bob (station leader) to install a radio repeater antenna on a high ridge there. The first day we were blessed with no wind or cloud and lots of beaming sunshine.
The second day we decided to take a long walk through the Browning Peninsula, across a sea-ice channel, and onto Peterson Island (and to the Peterson Mellon) in around -20C to -25C and 20 knots wind. Depending on your chart that’s a wind chill of around -50C to -60C and probably the coldest I’ve been all year (with the possible exception of a certain refreshing mid-winter swim)!But I still maintain that the Browning Peninsula and Peterson Island are by far the most beautiful places to visit in the greater Casey area. Lots of exposed rock, steep cliffs and tall peaks make it easily the most scenic area within our jurisdiction, and to add to this I am convinced that although just 30km south to southwest of station it receives considerably less cloud than us on the Bailey Peninsula.Of course as if this wasn’t enough there are also the two glaciers that lay either side of the peninsula, providing the perfect frame.Although it may not look like much, and in truth it is only an elongated fibreglass sphere, the Peterson Mellon is more spacious than you would imagine, sleeping 5 people if necessary, and warms up quicker than you might expect. It is also surrounded by the beautiful peaks of the Peterson Island, and despite appearances is a very popular destination for jolly-makers. Stay tuned for more Browning and Peterson photos as I’ve just returned from a 3 day trip to the area, and quite possibly the jolly of all jollies!Also in August, Comfy Chair bass player (and sometimes comms supervisor), Dom, had a milestone birthday. To celebrate we decided a two-night tour to Wilkes would be a good way to mark the occasion. So we loaded a hagg with all the essentials, and as Tom and Dom set off for the slow drive, Curly and I set out on the by now very familiar walking/skiing route.
Once at Wilkes we lit up the fire, lit up the Cubans, and lit up the stage, playing to an intimate audience of none. But I don’t think it mattered because we had fun! We also took some time out on tour to explore the old station once again. The accumulation of snow in the building above just shows how ‘blizz’ (very fine grains of blown snow) can get in through any pin-prick hole to fill a building/vehicle over time. Even my clothing zippers sometimes let it through when walking into a blizzard.There were a few weather phenomena in August to get us excited too. The aforementioned parhelia were back, and more amazing than ever.
This time there was not only a single halo, but an outer halo and various other tangential arcs as well. (for more info on these parhelia go here http://www.atoptics.co.uk/fz123.htm)We also had some enormous dumps of snow in August, as you can see from the photos below, and on one particularly clear day Curly spotted what looked distinctly like an aeroplane jet stream (further below).
Was it just a weather phenomenon we don’t know about? Was it the Americans spying on us? (it moved and grew very much like a jet-stream, but what was it doing here???) Or was it a just Super Que Que (Simon) donning the cape once again for a rescue mission?This particular photo was taken early morning the day after mid-winter (check the clock), and I somehow don’t imagine Que Que was rescuing too many people this night…Also in early August we took part in a trans-Antarctic short film festival. I think 8 or 9 Antarctic stations (several nationalities) took part, and we were given from Friday afternoon till Sunday evening to produce a 5-minute film that included several compulsory elements:
A cardboard box
A New Guy (“fresh” or “green” Antarctic expeditioner)
Text – “What do you mean you want a day off for mid-winter?”
And a bodily noise other than speech
We had great fun doing it, and called ours “Don’t Leave Home”
The winners were:
Best Film: Tied for first PlaceRothera (UK) FNGNeumayer (Germany) Neumayer Nemesis
Best Acting: Casey (Australia) -Don't leave Home
Best Cinematography: Rothera (UK) FNG
Best Screenplay: Casey (Australia) -Don't leave Home
Best Use of Required Elements: Casey (Australia) -Don't leave Home
You can see all the films (I hope) at this location - http://cid-f32c1f3f4fb6d9e5.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Antarctic%20Movies
Now just to throw in a few random photos, here is one taken from the plateau, coming home after a days work up at the Casey Skiway (light aircraft runway, 15km or so from station). In the background you can see a cluster of buildings (Casey) sitting on the snow covered Bailey Peninsula. See how the ice of the plateau slopes down towards the coast, and that there is not really an easily definable division between the snow-covered peninsula and the ice plateau, or even the ice and snow covered bays. Some more random shots of ice and snow.Well there you have it, August is now well and truly gone and Spring is on its way. I will try my best to have a September post up within the next few days, and finish with a pre-Voyage One October post before the ship arrives. But the coming of the ship has not only meant we’ve been busy work-wise, but also that jollies have been more often and more eventful (better weather etc), and the animals have at last begun trickling in. There’s a lot going on to show you.
Until next time.
