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The 72nd ANARE winter crew were all aboard by 1400, briefed and ready to go by 1500, and the ship surged into life at 1600, smashing its way through our cargo laydown area which had served its purpose brilliantly. The Captain had us turned around, and pointing in the right direction in 55 minutes (about an 11 point turn), and we were making our way back out to the open water. Heading north-ish we retraced our inbound track through the refrozen icy rubble, sidestepping the occasional seal that had hauled out onto the ice. The final treat of the day was Gerry O's iceberg cruise, which had us passing some majestic castellated and tabular bergs in bright sunlight and almost no wind. Mirror smooth is no exaggeration. This morning we've been battling with a particularly sticky sea ice floe which had us hung up for a while (about 32 charges), but we're now making good progress in more open conditions. All on board are well, and looking forward to a BBQ on the trawl deck this evening.
Kind regards, Doug & Misty
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.