This is our final week at Mawson for our winter/summer season. The Nuyina is making great progress on its journey west from Davis station and should be here on Sunday to start the resupply.
So please enjoy some of our expos favourite photos from this season at Mawson.
This was my first season down in Antarctica and I started as the winter station mechanical supervisor in the workshop. Come the summer, our station leader had to return home so I began my role as station leader for the summer season!
And what a summer it was! Scientists deep field at Bechervaise Island, isolated for over 50 days, tracking Adélie penguins and recovering trackers over three years old. Several flights landing on the sea ice in Kista Strait to the north of station. CHINARE Rings flight landing at our ski landing area up on the plateau near Rumdoodle, an IRB retrieval of the Bechervaise Island research team, the drilling of the Bollard on West Arm, Burea of Meteorology observations daily and the clockwork timing of the weather balloon release without fail.
Then there were the extra phenomenal efforts of the trades and support teams around the station. The main powerhouse annual shutdown and engine replacement was one of the smoothest in Mawson’s history, the renovations by the carpenters in the Red Shed, Ops Building and even the painting of ARPANSA were all completed in record time and in unusually sunny weather. We never knew a summer could be so nice in Antarctica.
The pull down of the old waste water treatment plant tanks and the efforts of our boilermaker in dismantling them ready for their return to Australia. Water was pumped early every morning by our plumbers and never a fault not rectified and the power never went out, unless planned by the electricians. All our medical needs were monitored and cared for by the ever-energetic station doctor Dee. Supplies counted, forecasted and distributed around station by the station supply officer in the Greenstore. ICT optic cables were run and terminated in each building, ready for the next stage of the project. Plant operators forever on call to lend a hand or bring their machines to assist and help in the infrastructure upgrades. Field work and survival/search and rescue training conducted around station and in the field by our station field training officer. All of this work constantly monitored by our comms team, VLV (the station's call sign) on the radio and ready to assist whenever needed.
Everything that has occurred was supported and fuelled by our chef, Nick. Always awake before us and always there at dinner making sure everyone was accounted for and their bellies full. Truly the glue of a station is the chef, and the key player in our first layer of defence against the cold!!
From all of us here at Mawson Station this season, thank you for enjoying our weekly Station News submissions, letting us tell you our stories from down here at the greatest station in Antarctica. We will leave you in the capable hands of Ali Dean and the 77th ANARE.
Ben John, Summer SL
