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We are on our way back to Hobart after what has been a very busy four days at Davis. Ship to shore helicopter operations ceased at approximately 1630hrs yesterday when the final outgoing passengers from Davis were flown to the vessel. Once the helicopter was safely off the deck again all the ship's crew then had another 2 odd hours of cargo securing, equipment to stow and general preparations to make to ensure the vessel was ready for sailing. We departed Davis at around 1915hrs, with all passengers out on the heli deck catching the final glimpse of the station for this voyage. The personnel on station could be seen in front of the LQ to wish us farewell.
The last four days of operations have been completed incredibly well, which is a credit to all the personnel on the ship and on station, who have worked extremely hard to run an extremely slick operation. The facts speak for themselves really, over the last four days we conducted 229 ship to shore flights with the helicopters, deploying both personnel and cargo to station.
Cargo wise we deployed over 151,000Kg of cargo ashore, and back loaded cargo for return to Australia. So to all involved in this operation, congratulations and thank you for a job well done!
We'd also like to wish our friends at Davis all the best for their summer and winter stays, we hope you stay safe and enjoy your stay in Antarctica, whilst welcoming aboard the Davis and Mawson expeditioners who are returning to Hobart with us.
Last night was a magic run through approximately 100nm of open water and late in the evening numerous whales were spotted from the bridge. Today we find ourselves in the sea ice again, weaving through flows with sea birds flying beside the ship escorting the way for us. Once through the ice the weather isn't looking that great, so we'll see what that brings over the next few days.
Cheers,
Andrew and Mark
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.