Last Tuesday was the best day ever, lots and lots of good things happened and only one bad (more bittersweet) thing. I will explain.
Last Tuesday the French Icebreaker L'Astrolabe visited us on its way to the Antarctic Station, Dumont-d'Urville. It dropped off nine new Macca residents, took three home (☹) and delivered mail, some fresh food and essential supplies (the air fryer didn't make it, how will we go on!)
Everyday life down here is filled with a beautiful sense of community, wildlife and access to adventure. What more could you want? I wasn't even hankering for anything, then sometimes out of nowhere a cracker day just knocks you, and for me that was last Tuesday.
Tuesday started with a station meeting to discuss operations for the day. We then headed to our posts – such as cooking, running biosecurity, plant operating and inducting our new crew. Fitted in amongst this was the boat crew roster, where most of us were rostered for short shifts away from our primary post to be crew on the IRBs. The IRBs would be taking people and cargo from the ship to the shore, captained by our brave coxswains Doc Pat and Pete.
My first stop in the day was to head down to Landing Beach with our three departing winterers – this is the bittersweet part of the day. Luckily for you, valued readers, we can get it out of the way early and then sink our teeth into the positive content. Amy, our Ranger in Charge; Annette our chef and Jamie our Leading Hand Carpenter were all ready to board L'Astrolabe on their winding journey home. They were all dear friends and a delight to have here. Jamie and I had wintered together previously and I was not ready to say goodbye to my old friend. Amy and I had become great friends and there was just that feeling that six months wasn't long enough together. Annete and I were thick as thieves, slushy days with her in the kitchen were the highlight of my month. Spending the day laughing and swapping stories.
The time had come, and it was time for them to board the IRBs. There were hugs and waves. Bye for now but not forever.
The next thing you know there are new people arriving and you're meeting strangers for the first time in six months. With the crew change-out complete it was time for cargo. The conditions on the east coast were challenging and deteriorating, which is unusual with our swell and wind typically coming from the west. On an average day the island's geography provides protection on the east coast. But this day was not average! The swell was 2m and increasing. Only a few cargo trips were completed before it was deemed unsafe to continue operations. We all headed in for an early lunch.
During lunch our illustrious coxswain Doc Pat cast her eyes westward and observed the conditions on the other coast might be more favourable. We quickly looked up the forecast, discussed and voilà we were pivoting. L'Astrolabe sailed around North Head to station itself in Hasselborough Bay. We moved the IRBs to the other side of the isthmus and we were ready for take 2. I was in the second rotation of the boat crew. I donned my dry suit and headed to the west coast landing location.
Pete was our boat’s coxswain and Pat B was my fellow crew member. Pat used all our names to give our team a fitting title – Hankering for a pitter-patter (Peter Pat-er). We are all a bunch of silly buggers but ‘serious when you need to be’ type of people, so I knew we were in for a good time. We got the IRB in the water and ahoy we were heading out to the ship to receive cargo. The sun was shining, and the vibes were immaculate. Zooming in our little IRB it took us about 10min to get out to the ship. Pete pulled up to the side cargo door. We started our sweet, albeit clunky, communication with the French-speaking crew. Pat and Pete each grabbed a rope to tether us to the icebreaker. Pat and I opened a bulker bag as best we could. The boxes started being thrown in. If it was too big or heavy to throw, we would time the waves and catch or grab it. I don't think time has ever moved so fast. Boxes were coming thick and thin. I felt like I was packing my groceries at Aldi but an extreme marine version. One of the first boxes was a box of ozonesondes my team needed to continue our ozone monitoring program for the season. It was great to see it was going to make it ashore. Once the bulker bag was filled, we would close it up and head back to shore.
Once the bag had been offloaded, we would head back out to the ship. The second trip we received mail bags. You should have seen Pat's face light up – his new watch was in there – sorry his timepiece. We went to great but safe lengths to ensure all the boxes went into the bag. A nail biting moment was when a box containing numerous bags of corn chips split mid descent, Pat and I ninja grabbed them all so they wouldn't land in the water. Secondly, a box of tomatoes broke open as I put them in the bulker bag. My heart sank, fortunately all the wounded tomatoes were turned into pasta sauce. I think we did seven or eight trips in the end. Each time we got more slick. By the end we were marveling at our ever improving techniques – professionals would probably not agree but for a sparky, plumber and weather observer we felt like we were crushing it.
When our rotation on the boats came to an end we headed back to the shore. A hot shower couldn't come soon enough. Shortly after, a message came out stating that our mail was ready to collect. We all headed to the post office to collect our loot. We had gifts from family and friends, online purchases and treats from the motherland. Dinner rolled around and we spent the meal getting to know our new crew members and hearing what everyone scored in the mail. Oh what a day! Some bittersweet goodbyes, some extremely fun times on the boats, receiving some long-awaited treasures and the arrival of new friends. It was the best day, unlike all the rest, and it's days like these you're reminded how lucky we are to be here. Sometimes you're collecting watches and avocados from a French icebreaker. The next day you wake up a little sunburnt and stiff but more stoked than ever to be here. Thank you to the crew of L'Astrolabe for making 30 people on an island in the Southern Ocean very happy. And thank you to our Macca team for a fantastic day – everyone chipped in and did a stellar job.
Hana "Hank" Glencross, Weather Observer & deep ocean cargo wrangler.
P.s. Special note and thank you to the mystery person who sent the station a stack of Phantom comic books, very thoughtful. Your written thank you will be in the mail ASAP (June 2025 - logistics permitting).