This week at Casey: 9 December 2016

The summer season at Casey is getting into full swing with a large variety of projects on the go. From shovelling gravel under the West Wing, unpacking produce that has been flown in and working on the ice runways everyone is keeping very busy!

Slushie is the most popular job on station, mainly because you can choose the music that gets played over the local radio. With three chefs on station trying to outdo each other with culinary delights there is a lot of washing up and chopping of vegetables. No one is exempt from slushie, not even the station leader!

The plant operators Glenn, Ryan and Nate have been busy digging out tonnes of snow from Wharf Road. In some areas the road is six metres below the snow surface!

It is now open and ready for resupply. The scientists are also busy doing science… I’ll leave those details up to the experts!

After a busy week, the hard working expeditioners hit the slopes to enjoy some sunshine and snow.

Misty organised the inaugural ‘Sunday Run’ with Paula and Bec as trip leaders and ski coaches. We packed our skis, runners, fat bikes and jumped on Priscilla the bus out to the ski way, with Slim Dusty cranked up on the radio.

After off–loading at the skiway and taking in the view from the top of the hill we then attempted a group photo. Expeditioners are notoriously hard to assemble in one place and this was no exception. With the photo ordeal complete we headed back down the hill for an 11 kilometre ski/run/ride to the station, followed by the team support bus.

A good time was had by all!

A group of six went off on a “jolly” to nearby Wilkes Hut on the weekend, which is approximately 30 minutes from Casey on quads. Part of the fun was finding and trying to dig out a container buried under 1.5 metres of ice, the contents of which still remains unknown! This will be a job for future expeditioners to Wilkes.

The digging took all of five minutes and then the party started to explore Wilkes and surrounds. The most exciting find was the sole remaining Fray Bentos pie in the world. For those playing at home this is an underappreciated Antarctic delicacy, a vintage crop of tinned pies from the ‘80s.

The rest of the evening was spent enjoying the views and snapping some photos. The party slept well in the cosy hut before getting up at dawn and heading back to the station.

The Christmas tree was set up in the main living area, also known as the Wallow. Nuff said.

Reading is also a popular activity in the Wallow. Our trivia night two weekends ago was a great night — albeit with some dubious questions!

Ping pong is getting quite serious and games are getting intense. Sometimes up to six onlookers are cheering on the players.

Darts is a little more quiet but no less exciting. A station competition is being organised with all the best players and onlookers getting involved.

Good shots draw admiring comments from the crowd: “Arrows!” “Champagne Darts!” “Good Darts, Lovely Darts”