As Casey station positions itself to enjoy the last two (and somewhat frantic but ‘normal’) weekends of October, we can’t stop our minds subconsciously anticipating the impending transition from winter to summer in early November. We are presently in a peculiar place – the 24/25 summer season is still ‘far enough away to not seem real’, while we eagerly anticipate the mass return of our local wildlife around station. Patiently. Phlegmatically. And concurrent to these mixed emotions are ever-present and anticipative thoughts of returning home to family and friends.
As our sea ice makes a final last stand of defiance before retreating closer to the coastline, there are many who remain vigilant to sight the first penguin (for real – not via the station’s telescope!!), pupping of seals and getting to know our resident leopard seal, who will start to ‘hangout’ around Shirley Island. (Around the same time as the penguins return… nom nom nom… you get the picture!!). With an increasing abundance of sunlight now exceeding 13 hours a day, the rush to travel around and off station is on the priority list for most expeditioners, alongside everything else that needs to be done to ready the station for summer. What might have been a Winter Groundhog Day syndrome for some, is well and truly now in the rear-vision mirror.
Our Wilkins Team have been working tirelessly since middish-August to ready the aerodrome to receive the first intercontinental Airbus flight to open our 24/25 season. It’s been ‘Hard Yakka’ for them (see our mid-winter WIFFA movie to truly understand the lingo), constantly fighting the elements and other setbacks to keep their heads above snow, snow out of buildings, and the runway ‘ice-blue’. We’ve been lucky to have had a very recent helicopter visit to station (facilitated by RSV Nuyina) to drop off medical stores alongside some fresh Wilkins personnel to assist with the task ‘up the hill’. Not sure if the station appreciated this extra help arriving over the special delivery of Tim Tams however, which was a ransom payment for the safe return of Nuyina’s frog “Go”, who had stayed at Casey over the winter.
August onwards has been a continuing metamorphosis as the days gradually lengthened, people’s spirits progressively increased, and the station’s collective beer and wine stocks slowly diminished. There’s been a few eventful happenings along the way though: the Winter International Film Festival of Antarctica (or WIFFA), where Casey won the best 48 hour movie (another shameless plug!); the inter-station darts competition where Casey won the title; an on-line chat with Australian astronaut Kath Bennell-Pegg; preparing to assist another station with a complex (inter and intra) continental medical air retrieval; a deep field traverse deployment to Law Dome; re-purposing a wooden cable spool into outdoor furniture - just to mention a few of the many. Where Casey has definitely lucked out however, has been frequent aurora sightings. Given 2024 was to be the year for exceptional aurora australis activity (due to the Sun's 11-year solar cycle peaking), Casey was either blanketed in cloud, or clear skies were floodlit by a plenilune or over-enthusiastic moon. Can’t complain – we still got a few special moments to savour.
We still have a few weeks to see things through to fruition however. Our station’s community has had a great winter, made the seemingly impossible possible, and achieved some fantastic milestones along the way. It has been a marathon but we are now nearing summer’s sprint finish, and it’s just around the corner. Just as Groundhog Day was not that long ago.
Dave Buller – Station Leader
