Chef Justin reflects on the summer past and looks ahead at the winter to come

A Month of Sundays

The calm has descended on Casey station. Colder temperatures outside signal the beginning of winter.

Only a few days ago our population was halved again by the Airbus A319: 34 summering expeditioners said their goodbyes to the magical continent, close friends, and a summer season full of ups and downs.

I could rattle off a bunch of statistics and accomplishments that would sum up the months surrounding the summer solstice. Things like a 30 day resupply, science projects supported and goals achieved, kilometres traversed for the KBA challenge, Häggs bogged, water consumption kept within the limit of 113 L per person per day, close to 50,000 plates washed up after 5 months of meals.

I could call out the fun times had such as Xmas, New Year’s, farewell dinners for summerers, costume parties and ‘doof doof’ music in the Emergency Vehicle Shelter.

Adding to this, I could tell you how we raised over $40,000 at a charity auction, built a snow man or two, boated around the nearby islands in inflatable rubber boats taking hundreds of photos, had an arts and craft display showcasing the amazing talent on station, or I could tell you how many jigsaw puzzles were completed, guitars strummed and chess pieces moved, or even about the hearts that were given away.

Instead I’m going to look to the future.

Auroras dancing overhead, footy games being streamed, enjoying hikes through the Browning Peninsula, photographing elephant seals, watching movies, playing games, having formal dinners and parties, moving clock hands, pitching tents, gaining qualifications, baking bread, fermenting kombucha, listening to talks, building igloos, viewing seal pups, reading books, attending training, winning inter-station darts competitions, digging snow, doing polar swims, solving crosswords, bragging over footy tipping, scraping windscreens, shaking hands, wrapping gifts, gazing at the stars, and making friends.

The future for us at Casey during the next 8 and a half months will be full of ups and downs, just like home and work always are.

We’re about to complete a month of Sundays, and to get through this we’ll look after each other. We’ll take care of ourselves and those around us. We’ll take care of the environment and the jobs that brought us down here.

And through the various social media outlets, you can join us on our journey through this month of Sundays.

-Justin Chambers (Station Chef)

A Basler aircraft, bright orange with a white underside and ski apparatus fixed to its front wheels, is parked on a flat, snowy plain under a clear blue sky
An elephant seal, large and round, faces the camera. Its yawn shows a wide, pink tongue and four yellowed canine teeth. There are some dustings of snow on its coat and its whiskers are coated with ice
The front end of a large, red icebreaker ship, showing a mast, a crane, and a short walkway extending forwards from the prow. A person in high-vis clothing stands in the centre of the walkway. The name "Nuyina" is painted in white letters on the ship's side. A cargo ship and icebergs can be seen in the distance
A view of the station, looking down from higher ground at a distance. The station appears as an assortment of rectangular buildings and containers in bright red, yellow, green and blue, spread over a rocky peninsula. In the background, the smooth, pale blue ocean is littered with large and small chunks of ice
An orange camping tent pitched on smooth, snow-covered ground surrounded by partially snow-covered rocks. Long shadows on the ground suggest it is late in the afternoon
Three people in red and black safety suits are riding in a red inflatable boat driven by an outboard motor. The water is crammed with pack ice and tall, jagged ice formations float nearby, filling the background of the scene. Two of the people in the boat are respectively holding up a camera and a smartphone to take pictures. The third person stands near the motor to steer the boat
A few small islands in a calm ocean, with low, rocky peaks and snow-covered shores, surrounded by floating ice sheets. Small groups of penguins are gathered together on the edges of some ice sheets. Tabular icebergs can be seen in the distance. A golden-bronze sunset light fills the sky and is reflected in the water
Two people in beanies and thick winter jackets are kneeling on a snow-covered slope on a murky, cloudy day. Several metres in front of them is a group of about 20 Adélie penguins on the march. One of the people is holding up a smartphone to take pictures of the penguins
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