This week at Davis: 4 July 2014

As Nick is currently in the field we don’t have one of his sensational illustrations to include in this weeks newsletter. Next week our talented Nick will be back…

Despite the −30 degrees and the dark midwinter months, supporting our science projects is always top of mind.

During the past few days our scientists and support teams have taken water from Ace, Deep and Organic lakes and set up the mobile science lab at Ace lake. Sarah and Alyce are currently at Rookery lake apple (a hut) which will be their home for the next few nights.

Dave and Paul focused on their weekly sea ice measurement task and downloaded water temperature data from a site a few hundred metres from station.

PJ, Stu and Dave visited Adams Flat for maintenance work on an ‘automatic weather station’ and spent a considerable amount of time digging out the data logger buried deep in the snow.

After reviewing the permit to visit Hawker Island (a protected areas due to being a breeding site for giant petrels during the summer period) Dave and Stu drove to Hawker Island to retrieve camera cards from the permanently placed bird cameras and to also check on the condition of the cameras. They then drove to Kazak Island to remove the automatic weather station and to retrieve the cards from the sea ice monitoring cameras.

Last week one of the engines in our ‘main power house’ decided to pack-it-in and it didn’t take long for our mechanical team to come to the conclusion it need to be replaced.

The team, led my Mark, completed all the necessary JHA’s, involved all trades personnel on the plan to ensure the change over would be done efficiently and safely, and when all were comfortable with the plan the work commenced first thing Monday morning. What usually can take a good few days this job was completed comfortably in one day. Everything went to plan perfectly and the new engine is humming along perfectly.

Well done to all involved.

We are often asked by family and friends who is responsible for all the community duties such as cleaning, peeling potatoes, restocking food shelves, etc, ie all the general housekeeping duties.

We’d love to say all those necessary and important housekeeping tasks which keep a station running efficiently are done by fairies but surprisingly that’s not the case. We have rosters, many of them — however these rosters ensure we share all those common duties and our living quarters are always clean and tidy.

What did you do before this?

Moved around. A lot.

I work full time for BOM and I’m based in Perth however I haven’t really spent much time in the state. Last year I did a six month posting on Willis Island so I was spending my time on a beautiful remote tropical island collecting weather data.

Why Antarctica?

I love adventure and I wanted to challenge myself. I am so lucky to be in a job that allows me to travel and have adventures. Apart from Australia, this is the first continent I've been too! I suppose I’m knocking off the hardest first.

Previous Antarctic experience?

Does getting locked in a cool room count?

How do you spend your time down here?

Aside from work, I have begun completing my MBA so I am in my room hitting the books and trying not to fall asleep…

Apart from that you can find me in the gym (and the spa is included in a gym session), helping the chef or cooking up something sweet, making cocktails and chilling in the cinema. I love to play games like scrabble, chess etc and take on anyone who’s willing!

Mushrooms

Going to music gigs

Family and friends

Beach

Not necessarily in that order!

Best thing about being here?

I think the weather is pretty cool (never tire of that pun) but it’s also the challenges that you face that can change your perspective, give you a deeper appreciation for something, or leave you experiencing mother nature better than you ever imagined.  One of my fav moments was when we were out doing survival training and we were walking back to Davis with our heavy packs and had slept the night in a bivy (so you can’t really say that you slept…). My body was tried and aching and the wind was relentless. I was cursing in my head but for some reason we stopped and I just happen to turn around and look at the guys behind me when I gasped. I was walking on a frozen fiord with the wind sweeping loose snow around our feet and the sun was shining down. The scene was magical and beautiful, yet so harsh and physically and mentally challenging. Sure, you can sit on your couch and watch moments like this but “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…”