Steeped in history and tradition there is much to a Midwinter's celebration

A Midwinter celebration

Midwinter is a special time on our stations and has been since the Australian Antarctic Program ventured south of 50° many years ago. Steeped in history and tradition, there are many elements to the celebration.

  • Sending Midwinter dinner invitations outlining outrageous methods of transport for those who choose to accept,
  • Sending a Midwinter greeting to other stations all over the Antarctic and subantarctic,
  • Preparing for the Midwinter swim including a medical, safety and wildlife briefing ... and then when the weather cooperates actually taking the plunge,
  • Hanging the flags of other Antarctic nations around the dining room,
  • Ironing of tablecloths and linen, polishing of glasses, preparing fancy menu cards, and laying out fancy table decorations,
  • The biggest day on station for our chefs and a magnificent feast often weeks in the planning and preparation,
  • Dressing in our finery, a wonderful change from hi-vis, steel caps and “Ice Man” gloves,
  • Toasts and speeches throughout the dinner to: The Commonwealth; family and friends; the Chef; and fellow expeditioners at Mawson, Davis and Casey,
  • Pausing to remember those who didn’t make it home from their expeditions over the years – we remembered by name at our dinner those who hadn’t made it home from Macquarie and Heard Islands,
  • The giving of gifts – everyone drew a name out of a hat during predeparture training,
  • The sharing of creative RSVPs to Midwinter invitations including some video replies,
  • Printing out the colourful midwinter photographs sent from other Antarctic nations.

During the dinner, we also reflected on the Midwinter celebrations of Mawson, Shackleton and Scott and discovered that not much has changed except that we didn’t partake of Buzzard Cake, seal soup, or savouries of anchovy and cod’s roe as did Shackleton’s crew. Nor did we play ‘Snapdragon’ (look it up) and follow through with a bout of lancing.

We also looked at the wintering photographs of those who had been here before us and reflected that we join a select and privileged few in celebrating this occasion together in this wild, beautiful place.

Karen Pye, Station Leader

A digital screen showing the wind at zero knots and the air temperature at 0.2 degrees Celsius on Friday 20th June at 7:04am
A group of people in colourful swimming attire including accessories such as surfboards and life rings
Two men in black dry suits and red and yellow life jackets stand next to a man in a bright orange jacket who is holding a life-ring. The backdrop is the beach.
A group of people in colourful swimming attire run into the water on a beach.
A women in a bumblebee costume and a man in a Kermit the frog costume give a thumbs up after taking a swim.
A smiling woman holds up a blue coloured piece of fabric with prints of whales on it.
A long dining table set with plates, knives, forks and glassware with fancy folded napkins and dinner invitations. The walls of the dining room are adorned with flags from different nations.
A gold rimmed plate with a menu and purple folded napkin. Silver forks in the foreground.
A dinner menu detailing Canape's, Mains, Dessert and a Cheese Board
A group of well-dressed, smiling people behind a set dinner table with flags of different nations behind them.
A smiling women wearing a pink scarf makes a speech at a dinner table.
A smiling man makes a toast at a dinner table
A list of names of the people who served at Macquarie and Heard Islands and never returned home
A smiling wearing a tie man sits behind a bar.
A smiling man looking very relaxed sits in front of a bar.
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