Our new plant operator, Paul, tells us about his arrival on the Nuyina, and after nine months, the Mawson 76th winter team finally sees fresh faces!

A grand entrance back to the continent

Australia’s new icebreaker RSV Nuyina is a traveling experience like no other!

We’re into the 2023/24 summer season and 69 expeditioners of different skillsets board the Nuyina in Hobart, setting sail for the frozen continent. We’re trained and ready.

The ship is full of excitement, with 54 expeditioners bound for Davis and 15 on their way to Mawson, with the assistance of a flight from Davis in a Twin Otter aircraft.

I’m off to Mawson for the summer/winter as a “planty” – a term used to describe someone who operates heavy machinery. This season is an opportunity to see the emperor penguins raise their chicks over winter. A dream comes true.

On this voyage, ice trials are performed to test the Nuyina’s ice breaking capabilities. A team disembarks the ship and works tirelessly on the pack ice, chain sawing and break testing the ice. The Nuyina responds by performing different manoeuvres with ease while we watch from the ship at every possible advantage point.

A real surprise on the Nuyina voyage is the abundance of emperor and Adélie penguins coming over to the ship to say hi. Their curiosity and inquisitiveness is both astonishing and welcome. A real treat. 

Often, they just hang out, swiming in the waters at the stern and then just disappearing out on the seamingly-endless pack ice in groups, sliding on their bellies. I witnessed one Adélie following the ship for what seemed like kilometres, keeping up as the Nuyina effortlessly broke through the fast ice up to two metres thick.

Arriving at Davis engenders a sense of awe as the ship navigates around icebergs and through thick fast ice. It’s breathtaking. Seeing land is exciting and reassuring but only once I disembark the Nuyina onto the 1.7 metre ice and see her up close and take the photo do I appreciate the journey we’ve taken.

Last summer, I called Casey home, arriving by a C17 Globemaster. This was an experience I thought could never be matched, until this entrance to this amazing continent.

Paul Schwarz (Mawson Plant Operator)

Fifteen smiling people in bright cold weather jackets and most in beanies pose for the camera
A man is sitting on the sea ice in front of a large red ice breaker
Two people are walking towards a large icebreaker in the distance. They are pulling a sledge with a generator and other equipment on it.
A broken path through the sea ice left by an icebreaker stretches into the distance. The sun is low on the horizon.
Looking from the side of an icebreaker, the sun is setting on the horizon over a sea covered by broken sea ice
A large group of people in bright yellow cold weather jackets are posing for a group photo on the helicopter deck of an icebreaker ship
A man in black cold weather jackets is smiling at the camera. In the background is a large, four engined, cargo aircraft
Two emperor penguins are on the sea ice
Four emperor penguins are gathered together on the sea ice

How do you talk to new people again??

It has been a busy week on station in the lead-up to welcoming and farewelling expeditioners. With a heavy blizzard hitting the station on Friday and continued clouds in the area, we eagerly awaited a break in the weather that would allow the Twin Otter aircraft to fly over 600km from Davis Station to our east. That break finally came on Sunday, and many of the team gave up their day off to help see the aircraft safely land on the sea ice of Kista Strait.

With the weather closing in on Davis, the aircrew needed to hang out here at Mawson for a few hours until it cleared. The aircraft was securely tied down to the sea ice, and we all made our way back to station. It is somewhat surreal for us to have new faces on station, and there were a few of our team who were completely lost for words when they walked into the mess and saw strangers. Over the last nine months, we really have become a family, and it is only when faced with making small talk to someone new that you realise just how comfortable we have become with each other.

Nonetheless, Addison and Sarah both enjoyed a couple of hours of relaxation (and snacks) before getting the weather window to make the hop back to Davis. The excitement certainly didn’t stop there though, as they had graciously brought our long-awaited mailbags! Letters and gifts from home – along with a few judicious online purchases – were all placed for collection on the pool table upstairs. How exactly do nineteen people get this much mail?

Just 48 hours later, the aircraft was back with the first passenger flight, delivering five fresh new expeditioners to the Mawson team. Over the coming days more flights will come in, and those arriving will be provided a thorough tour and induction to the station before being let loose to start a hectic couple of months of summer work.

Cat (Mawson Station Leader)

A pure white snow petrel is sitting on a rock. Blurred in the background appears to be a red building
Two snow petrels are facing each other on a rocky landscape and appear to be yelling at each other with beaks wide open.
A woman and a man are leaning against a blue Hägglunds vehicle that is parked on the sea ice. In the distance is an ice plateau with a rocky mountain range on it
A twin engined light aircraft is coming towards the camera to land on the sea ice. There is a wind sock on the left of frame and a rocky island in the distance.
A man is refuelling a twin engined light aircraft while three men and a woman pose in front of a blue Hägglunds vehicle
A clean bedroom with towels and chocolates laid out on the duvet.
Three men and two women are posing and smiling at the camera. They are standing together in front of a ute and a twin engined light aircraft.
A man is receiving a presentation from a woman in front of a twin engined light aircraft. There are three men watching and clapping.
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