Exciting times at Casey meant a slight delay of the news due to an influx of the summer expeditioners! Photos of the planes plus Casey’s ‘ski school’ included. Somehow we managed to slip in a few cute baby Weddell seal pics to boot.

The plane, the plane

After a few false starts, the summer expeditioners started arriving at Casey on Wednesday morning. The 54 incoming expeditioners had been at the US McMurdo Base since the early hours of Monday morning awaiting the right weather window to make the four and a half hour journey across to Casey in two USAF LC130 Hercules. The weather finally played ball on Wednesday morning and the first 40 people came off the plane at about 9:00am local Casey time. Twenty four hours later the second LC130 arrived carrying the remaining 14 people and the bulk of the incoming cargo. Whilst very little cargo can actually come into Casey this way, there were some very important items including a few sought after food stuffs, paper towel and presents from home for the winterers (as well as the results of late night internet shopping excursions). 

Amidst all of this, the twin otter arrived from Davis with Capt Bob, Perry and Scruffy to regale us all with stories of polar aviation and remind us of how good we are at darts. 

Very quickly the station was out of its winter hibernation and buzzing with people and activity. For the first couple of days there was little to be done other than settle into the accommodation, catch up on some sleep and undertake the various safety inductions and familiarisations to the station itself, the kitchen and workshops, vehicles and other facilities where people would be living and working. And then the start of survival training, field training, hagg training etc so that people could commence their off-station work.

It is now only a week after everyone arrived and already it is hard to remember what the place was like for all those months of isolation. Casey is hopping again. It’s summer! 

Baby seals!

Baby seals in Penney Bay, ‘nuff said. Just look at the photos!

Ski school

Well summer has started and as much as it is important to work hard it is also important to have some fun. After the success last summer of Bec and Johan’s ski school it was no surprise that within a couple of days of everyone arriving, the 2012 version was in full swing. On Sunday we were treated to a beautiful blue sky day with temperatures on the comfortable side of minus 10 and only a slight breeze. Bec and Johan, with some help from Canadian Dan, gathered the eager summerers (and the odd winterer) together in front of the Red Shed for some nordic ski instruction and subsequently (because it’s Casey) for some competitions. Once people had worked out how to put on their skis and the basics of moving forwards (and falling over only infrequently), flags were set up for some sprint races. Whilst not everyone achieved the complete package of style, speed and technique, almost everyone had mastered at least one of these important elements by the end of the afternoon. It looks like the ski loop will get plenty of use after work this summer.

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