A Change in the Air
As the warmest time of the year draws to an end, daytime temperatures at Davis station have consistently been a few degrees below zero since the start of February. This is also a rather transitional time of year for operations. As the temperatures are now cold enough, the Wilkins runway at Casey Station is starting to receive planes from Australia. Therefore, we will say goodbye to several expeditioners this week as they head to Casey to fly back home. And in return we’ll have some new arrivals from Australia. We recently had several expeditioners fly to Mawson Station with the skilled Canadian pilots from KBA. This is in preparation for our beloved helicopters moving to Mawson for the rest of the summer season.
We have enjoyed having helicopters at Davis for the summer, as it has allowed many distant field operations, and has enabled us FTOs to take groups out to the far corners of the Vestfold Hills for Survival and Field Travel Training and training the Search and Rescue team. The Vestfolds, an ice-free area extending at least 30 km from Davis Station, has such a wide variety of terrains from long fjords to craggy summits, it’s a great place to teach expeditioners navigation, how to travel safely through the terrain, and with huts in various locations, just enjoying the hiking and incredible scenery and wildlife
The stunning rivers and waterfalls that have occurred over the warm months are now slowing down and beginning to freeze again. Elephant seals are gathering on the beach out the front of station, and several Adele penguins have found little sheltered spots around station to wait for their summer moulting to be over so they can head back out to sea.
Other recent goings on include our summer swim which saw many of us brave the chilly sea. Many at station took on the human-powered KBA challenge, whether running, walking, cycling and even climbing the 10km distance (the 10km climb was a group effort on the Davis indoor climbing wall, with some keen climbers clocking up 100 laps up the wall in one afternoon!). And our summer auction raised over $20,000 for charities, with some amazing works created or donated by most expeditioners, from crocheted beanies, a quilt, and sewn bags from us FTOs, to huge wind chimes, clocks, and KBA and Helicopter Resources merch, and so much more in between.
Us summer FTOs are winding up some of our regular work such as teaching rope rescue skills to the Search and Rescue team, field training and other field operations, and soon we’ll pass on the baton to the wintering FTO when he arrives on station. So some of our recent activities include taking people on ‘glamping’ trips, running twice a week climbing wall sessions, and we even gave our Field Store a spruce-up with the help of chippie Ray, with a fresh sealant on the floor.
The change in the air feels like our summer season is coming to a close. But with still one month before the Nuyina arrives to take us home, there’s still lots to do, hikes in the Vestfolds, and time spent staring out at the icebergs.
Gemma, Flynn and Simon - Field Training Officers
