Midwinters is normally an expeditioner’s favourite day of the year, and this year at Macca was no different.
The crew had been constructing gifts for weeks, the band had been furiously putting in the hours of practice to get a set list together to get the crew up and dancing. Our chef Arvid has been stressing for months and cooking up a storm to get an ‘Around the World’ menu tested and signed off to his high standards and the green store had been changed into a mini golf course in what seemed like overnight!
The day started with a lovely brunch in the Post Office as the mess had been turned into a construction site by the chippies whilst they turned it into a wonderful dining hall for the evenings feast.
As the group gathered on the isthmus in their swimmers (or seal and penguin outfits) there were a few grumpy rumblings from some of the older members saying something like “why the bloody hell am I doing this again” and then from the younger group that were a bit more blunt about it “Geez its cold! Are you sure we need to jump in the water?”
After a bit of swearing and a lot of shivering most of the team had jumped into the water on both the east coast and west coast then finally into the spa and sauna for a few well-earned beers!
The party then moved into the Green Store for most likely the hardest round of mini golf most of us have ever played. Me personally, I think I gave up after about 150 strokes with only 2 or 3 completed holes.
Next up was the main event, Arvid had a vision for how he wanted Midwinters Dinner to look and had recruited some members to complete different parts of the night without telling anyone the full plans. Luckily the whole night went off without a hitch. After some dramatic entry music, the normally charming, but extremely cluttered Macca mess had been transformed into a completely black walled feasting hall with only the hanging country flags, colourful fairy lights, candles and the gifts providing any distractions from the feast and the wonderful company.
For the next 5 hours we journeyed around the world as Arvid and his wait staff served up an 8 course feast from France, Iran, Morocco, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and Russia. Spoken word was performed by Chris, Sealy, Joe and Alex, gifts exchanged and RSVP replies read out.
The Macca Band, ‘Budget Cuts’ then rocked out into the early morning as the crew let their hair down, accidently set a jacket or 2 on fire then danced the night away.
Happy Midwinters all, from the 73rd ANARE Macca Crew!
