For the new Davis team our first week was one of fantastic weather. It really couldn’t have been better conditions for those working to refuel the station, deliver water and cargo from the ship, manage the constant flow of cargo ashore and to the ship across the sea ice and work in the field on geotechnical and seabird surveys.
A highlight was seeing our brand new Hägglunds vehicle in the livery of mental health charity Speak Up Stay ChatTY unloaded from the ship and trundle across the ice to station.
Jock led a team including Trevor, Steve and Dean to drive snow grooming vehicles and an accommodation module on a sled from station through the frozen fjords and then up to the plateau ski way at Woop Woop ready for summer flying operations.
A big shout out also to the crew of the Aurora Australis and the voyage management team from the Division for their great work to make it all happen at the ship end.
The outgoing team gave us a brilliant handover and had the station in perfect condition for us, despite the 22 blizzards of their winter!
Along with all the operations mentioned above we also practiced our fire team response, learnt how to manage power outages and came to grips with the myriad of things we need to know to live and work in this amazing place, all under the tutelage of the outgoing team.
It’s a day off today so most can recharge batteries before we start work tomorrow to get all of our our emergency response systems and capabilities in place and then crack on with our summer program.
Stay tuned!
Robb (station leader)
