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Another sensational day out here on the ocean off the east coast of Tasmania. The sun is shining and the sea and and swell are being kind to us. Currently cracking on with Marine Science trials, doing a series of trawls and testing other equipment in preparation for Voyage 2.
Hopefully the trials will be concluded sometime this evening and we can commence our final passage to Hobart. For those not involved in the trials the last three days have dragged along a bit, punctuated by only three highlights, breakfast, lunch and dinner. That all comes to an end tomorrow when we arrive at Macquarie Wharf No 3 at around 0800. Two more highlights to go!
Last night, as predicted, it was standing room only for Sprunky's famous Crop Circles presentation with the audience left contemplating these mysterious phenomena. Then, this morning, reports came flooding in of a number of these perplexing circles suddenly appearing in cabin entranceways. Alas the mystery was soon dispelled with a simple taste test, it was sugar! The circles soon disappeared in the cleaning frenzy associated with the last day at sea, but not before photos were taking for use when Sprunky next presents, look out Voyage 1!
As this is our last sitrep for this voyage, we would like to take the opportunity to say a big thanks to the following:
To the Captain and crew of the Aurora Australis thanks for all your efforts in allowing us to successfully achieve our objectives despite some trying conditions,
To the Macquarie Island Station Leader and his team, thanks for their help during the rushed resupply operation and the support you gave to the round trip programs,
To the watercraft operators, thanks for putting in the hard yards to ensure that all the priority cargo and fuel got into Macquarie Is,
To the Marine Science Support Team, thanks for all your efforts during the long hours of preparation and during the trials to deliver outstanding results,
To the Communications Team, thanks for keeping the 'lines' open and the 1 & 0's flowing between the ship and shore,
To the voyage Doctors, thanks for keeping us in good health, despite the cheesecake and tim tams,
To our Round Trippers, thanks for pitching in and helping out when you could and for your camaraderie and support over the past two weeks, it was greatly appreciated, and
Thanks to Ash and Gus for rekindling distant memories of when dogs played an important role in Australia's Antarctic endeavours, as well as providing hours of entertainment on the Heli deck!
That is all from the Trials Voyage Management Team!
Vessel to be alongside M3 berth at Macquarie Wharf at 8am tomorrow morning.
Regards
Rob and Aaron.
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.