This week at Mawson: 12 April 2013

The doc takes another of his regular wanders around station and records what he sees.

A mini-blizzard over the last few days dumped lots of soft snow around the station, leaving heavy snowy deposits outside doorways and on the lee side of buildings. However, immediately after the recent blow, Mawson turned on several days of windless, sunny magnificence. If only we could bottle this weather and sell it. Several people took advantage of the good weather to get off Station for some field training. 

After morning tea, the plumber had to give the station leader instructions on how to siphon washing-up detergent so that he could wash the dishes.

The chef showed his masterful trait of brilliance by turning on yet another cleverly decorated birthday cake this week.

Meanwhile, life carries on outside the living quarters on another of our magnificent windless, sunny days. Although the sea ice is now freezing around Mawson, it is not yet open for travel. To the west of Mawson, the brilliant sunlight highlights the dangers of crevasses just a stone’s throw from the station.

And whether the weather is good, bad or ugly, small plants in the form of mosses and lichens cling to life in whatever little sheltered spot they can find, defying the years of exposure to freezing temperatures and severe blizzards which Mawson can throw at it.

A pair of Sorrell boots has been noted, concreted deep into the foundation of an old building. It is hoped that the expeditioner to whom they belonged is not still wearing them.

All expeditioners are required to take part in extra duties around station as a normal part of life living and working in Antarctica. There are many varied jobs that need to be carried out on a daily, weekly and monthly basis and these are spread between all expeditioners. Some of the more basic jobs including vacuuming, rubbish collection, mopping cold porches etc are done on a rotational roster with everybody having their turn. There is also a large list of jobs and support roles which we could volunteer for if interested.

One of my primary support roles is hairdressing. I have to admit that I hadn’t volunteered for the hairdressing position but it was on my list of pre-departure training so I gave it a go. After a short one-on-one training session at TAFE in Hobart I was armed with some pretty basic knowledge and a hair piece to go with it.

When asked to perform my first hair cut of the year “ever” I must admit I was a little nervous but as everybody knows there’s only a week between a good or bad haircut.

My first two clients were Chris and John and both were very pleased with the end result, with no complaints about the price. I have attached the before and after photos for proof.

Peter Cubit

Jeremy recaps on the summer. 

A common theme of recent station news stories from Mawson can leave the reader under the impression that we all arrived on V3 in February. While this accounts for the vast majority of our team (12), there remain a few of us that do not fit under this umbrella. Geoff and I arrived at Mawson at the end of November, sailing to Davis on V1 and flying over a few days later, while Cliff turned up just after Christmas after spending time working at Casey over the summer. Spending the summer with an outgoing crew came with great advantage, at least for me, (Geoff being a seasoned Antarctic veteran, although don’t follow him in a blizzard, you could end up anywhere!) it afforded me the time to acclimatize and familiarize myself with the station life and the climate, and also to get out and about and see some of the sights while the weather was fine and the sunlight in abundance.

Thanks to the outgoing 2012 winter and the 2012/13 summer expeditioners for a fantastic summer.

And Happy Birthday to my little sister Sophie for Sunday!