As the Davis winter Plant Operator, each week I get to play in the snow, clearing around station walkways with a shovel. It is a great way to keep warm first thing in the morning.
I am regularly out in the field in remote locations on my own, so communication is very important. For safety reasons I have to check in on the UHF radio every hour to ensure, all is OK.
The Cat 966 loader with snow chains on makes easy work of clearing roads of snow both on and off station and the access tracks to drill sites for the Davis Aerodrome Project (DAP) around the Vestfold Hills.
This week I have been removing some monitoring sites with my fellow DAP colleague Rachel and station Communications Technician Jay. This involved trekking across the new powder snow with a high lift jack and sundry of tools to pull water temperature sensors & CTD Diver installations out of the ground for remediation.
One of my monthly tasks is to drive around the Vestfold hills and take ‘Points of Interest’ photos and lake levels in certain areas. We have some stunning locations so it is hard to call it “work”.
Other activities on station are varied with plenty of options to keep most entertained and actively engaged, such as guitar lessons, computer programming, climbing wall and mountain biking just to mention a few.
With the sea ice recreation area opened last weekend, walking and skiing trips across the ice to Anchorage Island and Gardner Island are proving quite popular.
Rachel & I were lucky enough this week to be able to get a day of quad bike training to assist us with some of our DAP fieldwork. It was a great day of practical training covering dynamic riding required for the Antarctic field conditions. Rachel rode like a pro; you would not have known it was her first time on the quads.
Regards & Stay Safe,
Wayne
