After almost a year to the day since RSV Aurora Australis sailed north from Davis for the last time in her long career, the 2020 winter team welcomed MPV Everest to Davis station! After initially keeping the new population and voyage team seperated as a precaution against spreading COVID-19 to Antarctica, we were officially declared 'GREEN' and allowed to shake hands, hug and welcome the 74th ANARE winter team ashore and commence resupply operations in ernest.
The station will be resupplied with over 500t of cargo and nearly 1,000,000l of fuel, to enable the science and projects to continue for the winter and year ahead.
For those of us departing, this marked the beginning of the end of our journey home from Davis after 474 days at Davis and 489 days since we left Australia. Over the next week or so we will induct our replacement team into life at Davis, show them the ropes and then handover the keys, on-call phones, and station to them for the 2021 winter season. We will then venture to Mawson station for their resupply, before turning north and returning home.
It has been our pleasure to make Davis our home and we leave Antarctica with fond memories and shared experiences for a lifetime of stories. All the best to the 74th ANARE Davis winter team!
David Knoff
Station Leader 2019-20-21
