Game on Casey!
A question we often get from people back home is: What do you do in your spare time? Do you ever get bored? And in the middle of winter, with no sunlight, how do you keep yourselves entertained?
As a sports fanatic myself, I asked the same thing before coming down. How would I cope without my usual sports and activities? But when I arrived, I quickly realised there are endless opportunities to stay busy — and plenty of ways to rope others into the games and activities I love, using whatever equipment or space we can find around station.
When we first arrived, temperatures sat around –10° to –15°, and the outgoing crew were outside every sunny arvo — beers in hand, frisbees flying, some even in shorts and T-shirts! A few of us braved the cold to join them, still acclimatising. It was clear from day one that there’s always something happening at Casey, and seeing the outgoing crew still out there as a team after a full year was inspiring. I knew we’d be the same.
We’ve got big weekend events on the calendar, but it’s the little day-to-day rituals that really keep us going. Craig “Goody” Goodman and I started the year with 6 a.m. chess games, thinking it would “get our brains working.” That soon escalated to late-night Queen’s Gambit binges and YouTube strategy videos — until it got too competitive (and I got sick of losing).
By midday each day, the table tennis table cops an absolute thrashing. Some claim it’s seen the fastest serves on the continent. Cue more late-night YouTube tutorials and me wondering if a $250 paddle would finally help me topple Casey’s undisputed champion, Lee “Shang King” Mason. (Spoiler: it didn’t. And yes, we had to switch it up again… because I kept losing.)
Evenings often mean board games — mostly Ticket to Ride, which now goes by its Casey nickname, “Trains.” Haydn “The Doss” Da Silva introduced it, and soon we had Meg “Trains” O’Connell deep-diving Reddit threads at night to find new winning strategies. I went on a winning streak, which some say ruined the fun. Should I have let someone else win? Maybe. But that would mean I lost — and that clearly wasn’t an option.
One Saturday, we woke to find a mini basketball hoop had been installed in the main thoroughfare to the mess. Goody, a basketball tragic, declared it the perfect way to dunk on unsuspecting people heading to lunch. Soon we were pulling off elaborate alley-oops over passers-by — occasionally spilling coffee in the process.
These days, one look across the room is all it takes. Jerseys on, game to 11, shots from different spots worth different points. My ball handling started to resemble Kyrie Irving’s (well, in my mind), and we turned station meetings into fundraising challenges — every basket meant Andy “Nice Guy” Warton donated to our stair-climb fundraiser. Did we take advantage of Andy’s generosity with some carefully chosen balls and rapid-fire shots? Possibly. But all’s fair in love, war, and station basketball.
Darts are a cornerstone of Antarctic station life, and after our triumphant 9–0 interstation win, we couldn’t leave the board alone for long. “LEGUS” (Lee + Angus) and “HOODY” (Haydn + Goody) are locked in an epic rivalry, with LEGUS now storming ahead 15–7. When will HOODY wave the white flag? Unclear. But the competitive spirit is alive and well.
As the sun returns, the games have moved outside: kicking the footy, frisbee sessions, and the now-legendary “Beer Darts,” where you sit 20 m apart and lob darts at each other’s drinks. Hit one? They drink. Haydn also invented a frisbee-can-off-the-pipe game that quickly drew a crowd. And yes, the HOODY vs LEGUS rivalry carried over — with mixed results (and the occasional rogue frisbee).
Why does this all matter? Well, keeping busy and entertained is what you make of it — and we’re lucky that everyone here shares the same adventurous spirit. People are willing to try new things, get out of their comfort zones, and say “yes” when someone puts an idea forward. That’s what builds community. Nothing beats setting up a night of fun and seeing 30+ smiling faces all join in.
Haydn ('The Doss') Da Silva
Carpenter
Casey Station 78th ANARE
