When faced with the opportunity to work and live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, one starts to dream about icebergs, penguins and auroras. So far, Antarctica has delivered.
While Mawson has been our home for only a short time, we’ve already been treated to beautiful views across Horseshoe Harbour, dozens of Weddell seals lazing about the station, the occasional whale and Emperor penguin and a few cranky Adélie’s. The Red Shed itself is warm and homely, with enough activity to keep us busy during our precious downtime.
As we all come down off an adrenaline-filled first few weeks, most of us are settling into routines and working through the aftermath of a busy resupply. For me, that means ferrying loads of boxes between the green store and the medical facility, and then setting to work to ensure fresh medical supplies are ready as needed for the coming year. Throw in some essential medical facility maintenance tasks, a few medical reviews and some core training, and a week quickly slips away from you.
The months ahead will be filled with more of the same. I look forward to working with a team of Lay Surgical Assistants who have bravely put themselves forward to assist in the (hopefully very unlikely) event of a medical emergency. I’m humbly reminded each time I set foot on the continent of how lucky I am to work in such a unique environment under the expert guidance of the Polar Medicine Unit; and how much longer everything takes here compared to the real world!
Fortunately for us, creature comforts are available in abundance, with our past week’s hard work concluding with an amazing semi-formal dinner on the weekend. Our exceptionally skilled chef delivered beyond expectations, producing a delicious three-course menu. It’s been a wonderful start to our year at Mawson, here’s looking forward to a safe and successful season.
Marissa (Mawson Doc)