The humble Aussie pie is explored this week at Davis. Field hut trips would not be the same without the famous* Fray Bentos pie! The sea ice can’t stay away and the Bureau of Meteorology building received summer upgrades. *to expeditioners

For the love of Fray Bentos

Fray Bentos are an Antarctic dining tradition. On the shelf they resemble something I’d more likely feed my dog so naturally I was sceptical when told that I couldn’t visit an Antarctic field hut without also experiencing this culinary delight.

To my surprise, after opening them with a can opener, the tinned horrors of indeterminate age were transformed into tasty and visually spectacular beef and kidney (but not so much kidney) pot pies. Paired with their ‘old friend', instant mashed potato, I now understand why this Antarctic tradition lives on.

A stack of six tinned pies commonly eaten in the Antarctic before cooking
Four meat pies are removed from a small oven inside an Antarctic field hut

And so the ice returns

After strong winds blew all the ice away from in front of Davis Station a calm period brought it all back in.

Stunning white rafts of sea ice in the dark waters of the bay in front of Davis station
Broken up sea ice in the sea and along the shore on the sand in front of Davis station

Bureau of Meteorology building upgrade

The team pictured below spent the 2015/16 summer season at Davis station upgrading existing gas, fire, electrical, mechanical, heating and ventilation systems throughout the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) building.

This upgrade was achieved by working closely with BOM staff to ensure building services stayed online, allowing twice daily upper atmosphere weather balloon releases and around the clock critical weather reporting, and forecasting throughout.

The team are posing in the mandatory cotton calorific suits used for hydrogen balloon releases, whilst Dr John Parker releases one of the last helium balloons for the season, before the team switch back over to hydrogen production.

Kirk Allison

Expeditioners stand outside of a shipping container office, one holds a large balloon
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