This week we were treated to one or two illusive auroras, although just as the splash of green would appear across the sky, the clouds would roll in and spoil our view. The weather moved in bands from west to east. We would set up our tripods, get off a shot or two, and then the cloud would hide the sky. Meanwhile behind us a gaps in the clouds would appear, and we would reset our tripods again, only for it to close out just as we got ready, with the big green slick in the sky showing itself once again behind us! This game of aurora hide and seek went on for quite a while, and it was agreed that whilst the photo ops were frustrating and our results a bit lackluster, it sure was special to be out taking a stroll in the subantarctic in the evening nonetheless.
On Saturday station celebrated ‘Isthmus in July', our Macca version of Christmas in July. Doc Marion took charge of the kitchen, preparing a turkey and pudding for Saturday evening. The dinner was complemented by handmade bonbons, complete with paper hats, bad jokes and a trinket for all. The pick of the jokes, based upon Lionel’s hearty laugh, was “What do you get if you cross a chicken with a cement mixer? A bricklayer!”.
We undertook some fire drills this week, taking advantage of some hydrant testing being undertaken by Ben, our plumber. The fire pump was turned on, and we connected lengths of hose from various hydrants around station. This was a great opportunity to understand how much hose we needed to reach each building, and also gave us chance to practice working with hoses and refresh our training that we undertook back in Tasmania. The station walkways and hard stand areas also benefitted greatly from the exercise.
A marine debris collection party headed out to Bauer Bay on Monday for the monthly marine debris collection. This is another of the activities that expeditioners can get involved in with the Tas Parks rangers on a regular basis, and make a contribution toward the island environment.
Finally, the Macca darts team met Davis station in the interstation darts tournament, via video link. Mark and Duncan took the first game in a very close match with Davis guys Dave and Mark. Justin and Rich battled to the end, in a dart by dart tussle, but the win went to Sealy and Dennis at Davis. Tied at one game all, the final game was played by Ben and Dan against Adam and Chris. The boys played a competitive game, and went down fighting against some stellar darts from the Davis guys. Current standings have Macca with a win against Casey, a second place finish against Davis, and the Mawson v Macca small station showdown in our sights next.
