This week at Macca it was all about finishing resupply and handover.

Final Days of Resupply

On Wednesday this week the wind finally dropped and the swell moderated. Boating operations resumed and all the remaining cargo for station was delivered. 

Two inflatable rubber boats beside the RV Aurora Australis off shore at Macquarie Island. One is loaded with several passengers ready to be ferried to the shore
A LARC (Light Amphibious Resupply Cargo vessel) coming ashore at Landing Beach, Macquarie Island, with the RV Aurora Australis in the background during sunny and calm conditions
An image taken inside the wheelhouse of a LARC as it is driven into Macquarie Island station
Lionel Whitehorn on a tractor removing a bundle of cargo from a LARC at the area behind the fuel tanks set aside as a biosecurity area on Macquarie Island
A small terrier named Nui trained to sniff out vermin checks out cargo that has just arrived on Macquarie Island with his handler Biosecurity Officer Sue Robinson while BSS’s Dave Brett and Tim Kerr look on
A JCB Telehandler loading a cage pallet of recycling onto the deck of one of the AAD LARCs ready to Return to Australia for processing
An AAD LARC heading down a bouldery Landing Beach on Macquarie Island
An AAD LARC in the surf off Landing Beach, Macquarie Island heading towards the RV Aurora Australis. In the foreground some expeditioners are watching beside two Inflatable Rubber Boats

Handover then home!

Thursday morning saw the last of the recycling and waste taken to the ship to be returned to Australia on the calmest morning of this resupply.

With operations drawing to a close, outgoing Station Leader Kyle Williams and the 70th ANARE handed over the key to the station to incoming Station Leader Ali Dean & the 71st ANARE.

Biosecurity team Sue Robinson with dog Nui and Andrea Turbett returned from a quick overnight trip to Brothers Point and Sandy Bay to check for vermin before joining Kyle and the winterers on the last passenger trips by RIB out to the ship.

The Aurora Australis with all boats, expeditioners and return cargo on board expertly lifted the anchor, sounded the horn, turned and headed towards Hobart. 

Outgoing Station Leader Kyle Willliams hands a large brass key to incoming Station Leader Ali Dean during a handover ceremony on Macquarie Island
Kyle Williams at the Macquarie station gate on his way to the ship
Outgoing Ranger In Charge Andrea Turbett hands a wooden staff to Incoming Ranger In Charge Chris Howard
The Biosecurity Officer Sue Robinson and Nui the dog wearing his life jecket head for the IRBs at Landing Beach, Macquarie Island
The area on station where Return To Australia cargo is stored now empty
The two LARCs staying at Macquarie take the final loads of RTA to the ship before returning to station.
The last inflatable rubber boat leaves the island with the watercraft operators for the ship while SL Ali Dean kicks one leg into the air
An nflatable rubber boat with the last of the watercraft operators heads for the ship after finally finishing the Macquarie Island resupply
Danielle McCarthy holding an anchor and looking out towards the AA in the distance
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