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Last night the sky was lit up once again with dancing and shimmering ribbons of light. The majority of the ships lights were off which allowed those who were up to marvel at the night's sky without light pollution.
Today was a blue sky day, a perfect day for flying. As the team gathered for the morning meeting and weather briefing the helicopter engineers were on the back deck blading up the machines. By 9:31 both helicopters were in the air and on their way to Mawson, with more essential cargo for the station. It is rumoured that the chief pilot had a small stow way on this first flight ... a small furry Wookie like creature that answered to the name of Walter who returned to the ship safe and sound after his adventure.
Once again teams of expeditioners were hard at work moving cartons of frozen food and personal effects from one area to the next for payload consolidation. These teams are like well-oiled machines moving efficiently at an even tempo, without missing a beat to get the job done. This work was made even more enjoyable by the minimal wind and the sunshine that bathed the back deck of the ship. The helicopters continued to pick up and ferry the loads that were prepared to station bringing a smile to the faces of the Mawsonites. By the close of the day we had moved another 3MT of cargo ashore, bringing the total to around 12.7MT.
Tomorrow we will start early, in order to get 2 sorties in, and then allow sufficient time to pack up the helicopters and place them into their container hangers before the bad weather arrives. We will all therefore have a well earnt break before cracking back into flying operations on Friday the 26th of March.
Tonight's Sitrep concludes with a very special message from the Voyage Management Assistant who would like to wish her niece a very Happy Birthday for tomorrow, 22nd of March, all the way from Antarctica.
REGARDS: Andy, Jenn and Lauren
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.