At Macquarie Island we are now within 2 weeks of our scheduled station resupply and station crew changeover. So our focus of station activities is now on doing all the things we need to do to get our station into a good condition for the hectic resupply activities and handing over to the new station crew.
This week, under the direction of Chef Kerryn, we got stuck into the major annual clean-up of the kitchen and mess, and the mandatory annual clean out of our wonderfully productive hydroponics unit. The hydroponics unit is emptied, cleaned, and sanitised annually as a biosecurity measure, as well as for good horticultural reasons, and then handed over to the incoming hydroponics enthusiasts to set up for themselves. A highlight of our hydroponics unit this summer has been a very productive chili “tree”, the output of which has kept the taste buds of the spicy food connoisseurs amongst us, well satisfied! We have also benefitted from a steady supply of fresh salad vegetables which has been greatly appreciated, so a big thank you to our hydroponics team!
We also held our “end of summer” celebratory dinner last weekend, to mark the end of our summer season together, and the end of their year on Macca for our 10 over-winter expeditioners. These people received their Australian Antarctic Division winter medallions from Station Leader Ivor and Deputy Station Leader Kerryn, to mark their achievement.
