This week Macquarie Island is abuzz with resupply activities and the changeover of winter personnel to the 70th ANARE team.

Macca resupply

Welcome to a ‘new’ edition of station news, proudly brought to you by the ‘new’ Macquarie Island team of the 70th ANARE.

The 15–strong new team arrived at Macquarie Island on Friday 17 March, following a pleasant 2.5 day voyage from Hobart aboard the Aurora Australis. The purpose of the voyage is resupply of the station and changeover of winter personnel. Following some inclement weather Friday, the resupply operation commenced in earnest Saturday morning.

Resupply is an incredibly busy time. As well as personnel changeover, there is also a large cargo exchange between station and ship of essential winter supplies, station refuelling, key maintenance to station facilities, along with an influx of scientific researchers. All of these activities are supported by multiple helicopter and boat operations.

Some of the key projects being conducted over the resupply period include installation and replacement of telecommunications antennas, collection of invertebrate samples for ecophysiological forecasting of environmental changes, observations of flora and fauna for geoconservation surveys, and water quality testing.

In addition, the island has seen the presence of Australian Antarctic Division Director Nick Gales and members of the modernisation team, who are conducting critical site survey tasks as part of the project plan for building the new Macquarie Island station.

At the time of writing, the resupply operation is progressing well and is expected to be completed by the end of the weekend.

On behalf of the ‘new’ team, we would like to send our best wishes to all our family and friends who are reading; we have arrived safely and are settling in well to our new home!

We look forward to sharing our experiences with you over the coming season via station news.

Kyle Williams — Station Leader Macquarie Island — 70th ANARE

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