I always get asked what do you do at Macquarie Island? The question should be - what don’t we do?

Shane'o the Dieso

I always get asked what do you do at Macquarie Island? Well the question should be - what don’t we do? With our main role aside (mine is the station mechanic or 'dieso”'he way) we as the expeditioners are the town postie, the camera man, the journalist, the barber, the market gardener/green grocer (hydroponics), the 'Slushy '(kitchen hand, Sadie the cleaning lady, assistant cheffie) - after a day doin’ dishes my hands go from dieso hands to slushy hands smooth as a baby’s bottom. We are firies, rescuers, nurses, and of course our own garbos and recyclers. We are pretty self-efficient. 

There are many weekend hobbyologist’s amongst us here at Macca - the wood workers, the metal workers, photographers, knitters, artist (not the verbal kind), musicians, and vocalists - some very talented people. We are also teachers, personal trainers, yoga gurus, climbers, hikers, all encouraging health and fitness.

We also get to do cool stuff with the Tas Parks rangers and biologists, assisting in seal census’ and penguin counting and tracking, removal of marine debris washed up along Macca’s coast line, locating burrowing petrel nests, and recording locations for future surveys, albatross monitoring and tagging, and even guiding and talking to tourists who come to the island between December and February. Jobs that we would not normally do back home.    

Our season is ending and it’s been a privilege to have spent the last 12 months here at Macquarie Island amongst the diverse wildlife and landscape. Highlights have been the solo field travels, walking and talking to the local residents on the way to work (See Icy News 4th October 2024), orca sightings on a regular basis, or assisting the rescue of a king penguin tangled up in kelp and a fur seal tangled in marine debris.

Our attention now turns to our return to Australia and what comes next. Some of us have jobs to go back to, some are travelling the globe, building houses or just catching up with family and friends. Since we get home in winter, first stop for me is a bungalow on a beach in Bali with a bucket of Bintangs and a hammock soaking in some much-needed vitamin D. And hopefully a couple of AFL games to see the Bluebaggers get up!

Until next time, Shane’o

Machinery Shed with excavator on left and JCB parked on right
Station IRB on trailer parked in machinery shed
Man standing between two diesel generators smiles and raises one very dirty hand palm forward to camera
Man smiles to camera as he stands beside a huge pile of washing up in a kitchen sink
Close up of two clean hands held up in air, kitchen in background
Three red inflatable boats and crew pulled up onto rocky beach
man stands holding bundle of fishing line amongst grass tussocks
Grass tussocks leading down to rocky coast, a number of fur seals positioned amongst grass tussocks. Across the bay the station in the distance.
Man in foreground, smiling to camera, wears yellow jacket, black beanie and carries field pack. In the distance grass slope down to black sand bay and hills to horizen.
Person in the distance carrying pack and walks along a grass walking route through a valley
A 'pile' of 6 elephant seals, all looking to camera, one seal top left has flipper pressing down on face of another seal
Close up of two grey, black and orange penguins, from shoulders up, both facing inwards, yellow markings on neck, chest and beak are bright against their grey and white feathers.
on