This week at Casey: 24 July 2020

This week at Casey we were treated like Austrian Kings and Queens by our favourite chef Hermann.

On Saturday, our dining area was transformed into an Austrian oasis with landscape pictures, red and white table clothes, the Austrian flag and Herman in his traditional ‘get up’. We had brunch, dinner and of course DESSERT in which Hermann made us his one of his many specialities, ‘kaiserschmarrn’.

I could spend a lot of time explaining how brilliant the food was, but the thing I appreciated the most, was Austrian’s love for meat and bread (drooling face emoji).

After recovering from the food coma which lasted the entire Saturday evening and Sunday morning, we were treated to some very interesting and unique artwork which was sent down here by Gϋnther Schafellner (Hermann’s brother).

Safe to say they have one very talented family.

Thanks Hermann for an amazing weekend from your Casey family!

Will, Casey Mechanic

Since making it past the shortest day of the year on June 21^st, I’ve been eagerly anticipating the return of the sun.

While Casey is not far enough south for us to actually have a full day with no sun, we did get down to a measly 2 hours, 28 minutes and 57 seconds of actual daylight. And that day we managed to score ourselves a blizzard, so didn’t get to see much of it anyway.

Having wintered before, I didn’t think I would be so affected by this lack of sunlight, but every time you come to this magnificent continent, it’s a totally different experience. Every time the sun rises above the horizon, I welcome it back, and hope for a break in the gloomy, grey, winter weather so that I can enjoy just a few moments more.

Just yesterday, we received five full hours of sunlight. And on the last day of July, we’ll bath in its gorgeous hues of orange and yellow for a full six hours. A quarter of the day! The sun is inching its way above the horizon and we’re getting around seven extra minutes every day.

It’s a drastic change from day to day, and it can have a huge impact of the mood of everyone on station. As soon as the skies clear and the sun beats down on us (well, it really is trying too, but is still too low on the horizon to have any real strength) there is an air of positivity around station. There are smiles all around. People actually want to spend time outside for pleasure – there was a ski trip down from the plateau on the weekend – or sit in front of the big windows in the Red Shed and soak in the warmth while reading a good book.

Who doesn’t love that in the middle of winter?

To a new day,

Jane, Senior BoM Observer