I grew up on the family farm called “Willigobroke” in Wondalga NSW with my mum and dad, brother and two sisters, of which I am the youngest, as well as my uncle and grandma. Hopefully, we can change the farm name to “Wearentbroke” soon.
There are two homes on the property, the family home and my uncle’s new home – I will talk about how that came to be shortly. My dad and uncle were orchardists, and we had a Mitsubishi FM tautliner truck that my dad used to drive to Canberra several times a week to deliver fruit to the local shops and markets, we also had merino sheep which needed to be mustered on the motorbikes, drenched, crutched, shorn every year and the lambs marked.
Dad was a self-taught mechanic, and on the weekends I sometimes used to help dad service the truck and work on tractors around the farm, which must have inspired me to become a mechanic. I still remember dad telling me while driving me to an apprenticeship interview, "If they ask you what are hand tools made from? Tell them 'Chrome Vanadium,' and if they ask which way do hacksaw blade teeth face? Tell them 'the teeth face forward.'” And fair dinkum they did ask about hacksaw blades in one of the aptitude test questions. So at least I got one question right, thanks dad.
Dad taught me about firearm safety and how to shoot, which is one of my most favourite hobbies besides 4WDing, camping and cruising. My best friend Jon introduced me to pistol shooting which I have had great success at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Club Championships and ISSF State Championships. My uncle pushed out the apple orchard after working on it for over 40 years and we concentrated on the livestock. Sadly, dad became ill and passed away on the 4th of September 2000 from motor neurone disease (MND). 24 years ago, yep seems like yesterday.
I completed my apprenticeship with Tumut Shire Council in 2004 and in 2007 applied for the Workshop Team Leader position which I was appointed to. During the typical week we can work on anything mechanical from brush cutters, road graders and trucks right through to sewer pumps and we also service and repair private customer vehicles.
Sam, my friend and work colleague's father had purchased our old truck which we had previously sold, and in 2019 he brought it into work for repairs and I once again was working on dad's old truck. Some 23 years later, bringing back memories of dad and going on trips to Canberra with him in the truck.
Fire
The family was home for Christmas, and we were watching the news about a virus in China and bushfires around the state. On the 4th of January 2020, our family farm was almost 100 per cent burnt out during the Black Summer bushfires from a fire that started at Dunns Road, 27 km away. I watched the smoke grow thicker and the glow get brighter for several nights hoping that the fire would continue south, but the wind turned and pushed the fire east towards our property.
Jon was helping me on the farm move out some of my possessions just in case and to try and prepare for the incoming fire. The fire was so intense coming from the neighbouring pine forest, that we heard on the UHF that all the fire units in the area were ordered to pull out. Jon and I watched 12 fire trucks drive straight past the property. We looked at each other and said what chance do we have with 800 litres of water and some equipment. I cranked on all the sprinklers I could around both homes and Jon said "it's time to go" and we left the property. Leaving the family property to the unknown was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. So far.
The next day, after eventually persuading the roadblock to let Jon and me back to the farm, we were faced with my uncle’s house burnt to the ground. Somehow my house survived with just some minor damage but everything around it was burnt. We lost several stock but were lucky that there wasn’t much grass at that time of year where they camped under the shade of the trees. As well as our shearing shed, we later heard that our neighbour’s friend tragically lost his life helping to defend his property and of the widespread devastation the fire caused through the region. Jon and Sam’s properties were also burnt.
There were a lot of generous people donating food, clothes and hay after the fires, but we had to sell all the stock as we had no feed or fences to keep them in, no stock yards and no shearing shed. We have had a lot of help from Blaze Aid and our cousins, and we have been spending most weekends rebuilding about eight kilometres of boundary fences, cleaning up dead trees etc with a lot more work to go. My uncle now has a new home and we will hopefully restock again soon.
Ice
I had thought about applying for a job at the Australian Antarctic Division for several years. Every now and then I had something pop up on Facebook or the news asking for mechanics to travel down to Antarctica to live and work. I thought “why not apply?” I talked about it with my workmates, and they said to go for it. They were a bit more enthusiastic about it than my family were at the time. I talked with my boss about how it could work and what my options would be, and I was eventually granted 18 months leave without pay.
The reason I applied for a job at the AAD was to challenge myself, to use the skills that I have learnt over the past 23 years with council, to gain new skills, to meet some amazing people, to experience something that not many people would ever get the chance to take part in and, I guess, have a new perspective of life. With that I started my new journey. The recruitment process was one of the most involved things I have ever taken part in. When it came to the medical, my local pathology collector didn’t even know what some of the blood tests were and had to find out! I started watching Thommo’s videos on YouTube and it helped me understand a lot more of what I was going to expect down here. Cheers Thommo.
I was fortunate to be selected as one of the winter expedition mechanics (dieso) at Casey research station for the 77th ANARE and started two months of pre-departure training in Hobart, meeting, working and living with people that I would be spending close to 14 months with and started to create a bond with my new extended family.
Once I set foot on the ice, I was totally amazed at how beautiful but hostile Antarctica is, and seeing all the abundant wildlife around during summer was something to appreciate. Seeing the odd aurora here and there if the weather cooperated was also an added bonus and I quickly realized how privileged I was to be here.
Working in Antarctica brings a lot of new challenges like clearing snow after blizzards just to access the workshop, de-blizzing vehicles, digging out shipping container doors, fuel pumps and valves and having cold fingers, which is not good for a mechanic. You just tell yourself that’s the “A” factor and look around at where you are. I don’t think I will ever complain about the weather when I get back home.
I have worked on a lot of different equipment since I have been here - Hägglunds, snow groomers, Quadtracs, cranes and skidders – but everything follows the same principles, it just looks different to what I’m used to. The typical dieso work week involves servicing and repairing station plant and equipment, weekly fuel transfers to the main power house (MPH) settling tanks, also servicing, daily observations and checks of the MPH if you are on the roster that week, fire team duties and clearing snow when required.
There are a lot of incredibly talented people at Casey with the gifts that were made for Christmas and Midwinters celebrations! We have had so many events take place over the year, with some of the highlights being Christmas celebrations, summer swim, Australia Day, Anzac Day, midwinter swim, NSW winning State of Origin, winning the 'Winter International Film Festival of Antarctica' (WIFFA) and the inter-station darts competition, taking part in the medical space research projects, talking to Australian astronaut Katherine Benell-Pegg as well as the many other parties that we have had.
The weeks go by so quickly down south, it is hard to believe that it’s nearly time to start packing our bags again to return home to loved ones that we have been away from for so long and to start another chapter in our lives.
I have lived and worked with so many amazing people over the last 10 months at Casey Station, I am very lucky to have been here to share our experiences together and I have made lifelong friends.
Cheers
James Breward
Casey Station Expedition Mechanic 23/24 Season
If you would like to find out more about MND please visit www.mndaustralia.org.au
