With less then a week to go before we get picked up, I’m leaving Davis station with no regrets, having had some of the best times of my life over this 23/24 summer season. This was the first time I’ve left Australia, and what a place to tick off the list first. The whole experience from the training in Hobart before we left, hiking trips in the Vestfold Hills, the sense of community that’s evolved over the last six months, and even work has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. There are too many experiences to list but here’s some of my favorite highlights.
Over my summer here at Davis, I was the youngest on station. At 22 years old I was nervous to start such a dream job so young. I was also somewhat nervous that I wouldn’t be as good as the rest of the team. However, all that quickly changed once I started working and loved it. Now looking back on it, it’s a feat I’m pretty proud of.
I was teamed up with a man named Macca, who coincidentally, is the oldest on station. A rugged, stubborn, bearded 65-year-old man, we seemed to be placed together for majority of projects this season and it was a blast. Such a casual and carefree man who loves a good joke, swears just a bit (every sentence) and loves a laugh. It was a great part of the summer, and you always knew you were in for a good day when you got told at prestart each day that we’d be working together. Macca is the epitome of a hard worker and if you’ve had the chance to meet him, you would instantly agree. He is someone who starts work an hour before so it can be set up ready to go, works until dinner time even after everyone else has knocked off for the day, works on weekends and never sleeps. Goes to the workshop most nights and weekends to make things not for himself, but others. It is a true testament to his character. He’s an always cheerful and a stress-free man, everyone knows when he’s coming as you can either hear his full noise joking voice or the same old whistling tune coming from the room next door. He always greets anyone with the same “howdie doodie” and puts a smile on everyone’s face because of it.
We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to go out for hikes into the Vestfold Hills for recreational trips and stay in the huts, once we had done survival training. In early February, five of us called ‘the Matts and Brads show' – consisting of the three Matt’s and two Brads on station – set off for the biggest hike of the season so far, a five-day, 70+ kilometre hike.
We walked to a hut each night – Brookes hut, onto Platcha Hut, then off to Trajer Ridge melon and finally to Watt’s hut – before heading back to station on the fifth day. It's incredible to think to yourself, while walking over the rocky terrain, that you are actually hiking in Antarctica. On station, you are some of the most isolated humans on the planet and that's multiplied when you leave station and head to some of the huts out in the field. The highlight of the trip for all of us was the walk between Platcha hut and Trajer Ridge melon where we were able to walk across the ice plateau for the day. We had a heap of fun constantly stopping to take photos of all the ice formations, take in the scenery and even tow one another across the slippery ice patches.
One of the best moments of the trip was when we tried to climb Stalker Hill for about 25 minutes for an awesome view of the plateau and the Sørsdal Glacier. Upon reaching the top, all of us exhausted, we soon discovered we had climbed the wrong hill, Parker Hill, as Stalker Hill was straight in front of us blocking a big portion of the view! Nevertheless, the view was still 10/10 and probably the best view of my life so far. Ice bergs and the ocean one side, Sørsdal Glacier on the other, down into the fiords and hills towards Platcha Hut straight ahead.
Another highlight for my season here was darts. I'd never played before but people back at Kingston told us to buy our own darts. I always thought to myself, ‘why on earth would I do that, I'll never play darts.’ Sure enough, I did and it's actually pretty fun. We had the annual summer station tournament including singles and doubles darts, pool and table tennis, and somehow I picked it up pretty well and even managed to win the dart singles tournament.
Probably my favorite day of the season this year was Saturday 9th March 2024. Several of us were lucky enough to be split into teams and chosen to fly in a helicopter out to a number of the field huts to conduct annual hut maintenance. Each group had a plumber, electrician and a carpenter who each had specific roles to carry out on the day. We had to go through a maintenance checklist and either fix what we could or report any damage or works that need to be completed in the near future. A group of three of us got dropped off in the helicopter to Brookes Hut in the early afternoon and got straight to work, fixing what we could and completing our tasks.
While we waited for the helicopter to return to pick us up, we sat down and enjoyed a pie that we’d had cooking in the oven, with an incredible view out of the window of a frozen ocean. Once back on station, a few of us got up in the early hours of Sunday morning and were treated to the best aurora I have ever seen in my life. Just when we were about to give up and go to bed, it started. The bright green, orange and purple bands of light danced throughout the night sky lasting hours, lighting the snow green and giving off more light than a full moon, showing what I had only ever seen in photos or videos and living an experience straight out of National Geographic.
Finally, one of the hardest things about this season coming to an end is knowing the inevitable goodbyes will soon be upon us. It'll mean saying goodbye to some of the best people I have ever met and become extremely close with, having made some friends for life. Knowing that, even though I will hopefully be returning again, it will never be with the same people we currently have here.
Over the last six months, since meeting either at training in Hobart, on the ship, or just on station, we have all gone from complete strangers to making some mates for life. Some of us will be returning to Australia very soon, while the rest of the winterers will stay until the ship returns in November, braving the extreme cold and near complete darkness over the winter.
To the winterers, I would like to wish you all an amazing year ahead. To everyone, I would like to thank you all for an experience I will remember for the rest of my life.
Matt Boylen
Davis Sation Summer carpenter
