Luscious food, extreme golf, snowboarding and a trip to Wilkins Aerodrome — all from Casey station this week.

Birthday celebrations

This Sunday we celebrated Joe’s birthday, his second one while in Antarctica. As always, Eddie our chief impressed with an amazing Saturday night pre-birthday dinner consisting of fresh made chicken liver pâté served with brioche, a caramelised onion and tomato chutney, followed by Joe’s requested main of a 500gm+ premium OP rib steak, and finishing with a light white chocolate mint mousse.

On Sunday while Eddie made Joe’s requested black forest birthday cake, Cary decided to try his hand at baking, coming up with a very unique second birthday cake (a tribute to Joe’s fascination with anything radioactive and dangerous!).

Entrée of pate and brioche plated up and ready to serve pâté
A large cooked beef steak served with vegetable and gravy
A martini glass filled with white chocolate mousse, topped with mint leaves and chocolate
A man with a beard sits with two birthday cakes in front of him, one with lit candles
Close up of a black forest birthday cake that says ‘Happy Birthday Joe’ and is covered with lit candles
Close up of a square yellow cake with a hazard sign drawn on with icing on top

More sunlight = more outdoor activities

During the month of July, sunlight hours have doubled from just under three hours per day to six hours. Despite daytime temps of around −20°C, the weather has been reasonably good allowing many of us to get out and enjoy some outdoor recreational activities. This week, a few of us have ventured out on the Casey ski loop while others set their sights on a round of Antarctic golf, and found out that golf balls really aren't designed for use in temps of -25°C. Steve, Cary and Matt also joined in on the fun, dusting off their snowboards for a run down the wharf road.

An expeditioner lines up a golf shot in Antarctica, surrounded by ice
The sun is low in the sky as an expeditioner is seen just after hitting a golf ball, his club raised high, he is surrounded by ice
Close up of a bright pink golfball that has split into pieces due to the cold
An expeditioner on skis, surrounded by snow and ice, with a flag pole to the right of the image
Portrait of an expeditioner with only their eyes showing, taken outside in Antarctica
A landscape photo of Antarctica showing low landmasses jutting out from the snow
Four expeditioners snowboarding in Antarctica

Trip to Wilkins Aerodrome

Every few months, Steve McInnerney and Cary head up to Wilkins aerodrome to check on the buildings and equipment. On this trip, a few of us tagged along with the intention to camp out around Wilkins in tents. After a long bumpy ride we arrived at Wilkins just in time for strong winds and blowing snow to set in, with the wind chill dropping temperatures to around −50°C. Wishing to keep all our fingers and toes we opted not to pitch our tents but ‘camp’ inside the Wilkins mess building which had been sealed up for the winter. Inside, temperatures were still around −30°C but we were happy to be out of the wind.

After enjoying a three course dinner, we all settled down in the relative comfort of the lounge room, and even watched a few movies on Stu’s iPad while attempting to stay warm in two sleeping bags each.

The next morning, the winds had dropped and while breakfast was being cooked, Steve and Cary ventured out to do their building and equipment checks.

Sunset on the way to Wilkins in Antarctica shows a flat expanse of snow and ice with a touch of sun on the horizon
Fog inside the Wilkins buildings, near Casey station, Antarctica
Inside Wilkings mess, near Casey station, Antarctica, three expeditioners try to keep warm in the living room area
Outside at Wilkins aerodrome, near Casey station, Antarctica, shows a small building and three tracked work vehicles on the flat ice
Sunrise over the Wilkins plateau, near Casey station, Antarctica, shows the windblown ice and snow bathed in deep blue light
Two expeditioners enjoying the silence and isolation of the Wilkins aerodrome surrounds, near Casey station, Antarctica
on