Our supply officer, Alan, reflects on how even small breaks from the daily routine can amaze. The station also has a lot to do this week, with a successful deep-field trip to Taylor Glacier, filming for the Winter Film Festival, and a birthday dinner for our chef, Nick. (Also - a LOT of photos this week!)

Sit back and appreciate just how amazing this place is!

After living and working in the same location for a number of months, it’s all too easy to get into the same routine day after day, walking 2 minutes to and from work and getting the occasional good throw in a darts game of an afternoon. Still, a slight change in the daily grind, which could be anything from a blizzard rolling through, a trip off station, or just an unusually calm day, can make you sit back, take it all in, and just remind you how amazing it is to be in such a place.

Recent weeks have seen me travelling inland to Fang hut, across sastrugi harsh enough to vibrate your back into alignment, across the sea ice to the east at Auster Rookery to see the emperor penguins, and then out west to see another colony of emps at Taylor Glacier, and further out to Proclamation Point, where the Mawson claimed the land near on 92 years ago.

With temperatures sitting closer to -30° recently, it can be detrimental to equipment and hands alike. Getting only a few moments to try and take a picture before the fingers go numb, or using a heater to heat a heater to warm up a remote hut is all part of the adventure.

Alan (Mawson Supply Officer)

A number of large, emperor penguins are in a group close to the camera. They are standing on ice and there is a large ice berg in the distance.
On the horizon the glow of sunrise can be seen against a dark blue sky. An ice plateeau stretchs into the distance with a rocky mountain range visible.
The orange glow of sunrise can be seen on the horizon against a line of clouds, across sea-ice that stretches to the horizon. There are a couple of rocky islands visible in the distance.
The head of an emperor penguin, turned to the side, is centre of frame.
A blue Hägglunds vehicle is on sea-ice that stretches into the distance. There is an ice covered shoreline in the background to the left of frame.
Snow built up into sastrugi lays over ice. In the distance is a rocky mountain range and the sun is very low on the horizon casting an orange glow.
An emperor penguin is scratching itself with its beak. There are icebergs in the distance.
A glacier is on the left of frame stretching into the distance. Close to the camera is rubble ice formations and a Hägglunds vehicle is parked in the mid-distance on the sea ice.
A Hägglunds vehicle can be seen in the distance travelling over snow formed into sastrugi on sea-ice. There are ice bergs and a rocky island in the far distance.
A large crack in the sea ice stretches away from the camera. It has started to freeze back over. In the distance an iceberg is frozen into the sea-ice.
An red/orange van on sleds is parked on a rocky shore. In the distance are more rocky islands and the sea is frozen ice.
An electric heater is on the floor in front of a gas powered heater.
A jade coloured iceberg, surrounded by white icebergs, is frozen into the sea ice.
An old rectangular hut is tied down to a rocky island. In the background is a red half-dome hut and two Hägglunds vehicles.
A metal plaque is mounted on a wooden board standing on a rocky landscape. There is a bamboo cane just behind the board.
A dart is stuck into the back of another dart on a dartbord near to the bullseye.

Taylor Glacier, Proclamation Point, creation of a film, and a birthday celebration – a busy week at Mawson!

This week has seen plenty of activity here at Mawson. After waiting over a month for the sea ice to the west of the station to thicken enough to allow our Hägglunds vehicles to travel safely, we once again set out to reach Taylor Glacier, over 90 km to our west. Knowing that the first 15 km at least was solid, the six of us loaded up into our two Hägglunds vehicles and set off before sunrise to ensure we had as much daylight as possible on our side once we reached untested ice! It was, therefore, with great relief when we reached the point where, a month earlier, we had been forced to turn around due to ice only 50 cm thick. We now found that it had thickened to over 85 cm.

Where previously there had been wide cracks with open water, now lay solid, rafted joins of sea ice. From there, we pushed into the unknown, stopping to check ice thickness at every crack and after every kilometre. While the entire distance to Colbeck Island near Taylor Glacier had ice over a metre thick, it was tough going on the vehicles and our kidneys. I am now not entirely sure which is the most uncomfortable: sastrugi is relatively smooth but delivers a battering as the vehicle slowly climbs over its odd angles and we swerve repeatedly trying to find a way through the pattern of snow drifts; rafting forces us to get out and smash sharp ridges with our axes to allow the Häggs past; and rubble delivers bone-jarring travel no matter how slow we drive. A trip that in past seasons has only taken three to four hours, took us eight!

As the sun starts to set, we finally reach Colbeck Island, and we use the last of the light to unpack and set up the hut and van for the three nights ahead. The next day, we set out on the short trip to the emperor penguin colony at Taylor Glacier. As an Antarctic Specially Protected Area, the rookery at Taylor is only visited an absolute maximum of three times a year, and we take every precaution to avoid disturbing the penguins in any way. By doing this, we are able to study a colony that has had almost zero interaction with humans. The team splits up, with two going to check on the unattended cameras that operate throughout the year, taking regular photos of the colony, and two of us walking around to take long-distance photographs of the colony from next to the glacier itself. As the sky clouds over and snow begins to blow, it is with relief that – having completed our missions – we make it back to the vehicles and head back to our huts on Colbeck Island.

On the third day, we took the opportunity presented by the clear, calm weather to prove the ice further west around Taylor Glacier. We also have the privilege to visit Proclamation Point at Cape Bruce. It was here in 1931 that Sir Douglas Mawson stood as leader of the 1929-31 British, Australian, and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) and claimed the land for the King. On the site was erected a mast with a metal plaque, and a copy of the declaration was left in a metal tube under the rocks. The plaque reads: The British flag was hoisted and British sovereignty asserted on the 18th day of February 1931. It was two years later that Britain passed the territory to Australia. After writing our names in the logbook that is kept next to the declaration (a copy now as the original was deteriorating and therefore taken back to Australia for safe-keeping), we got a group photo and spent a little time exploring the area before once again heading back to our warm, cosy, accommodation at Colbeck and a wonderful meal of reheated, vacuum packed, leftovers. (Although it might not sound it – when it is Nick’s cooking, even leftovers are spectacular)

Our return trip to station passed without incident other than the occasional stop to admire the beauty of the coastline. Upon our return, it was Nick’s turn to be cooked for. In our absence, Jimmy had cooked up a wonderful birthday dinner, while Marissa had baked a fantastic birthday cake! It was also with amusement that we drove through the film set of Mawson’s entry into the Winter International Film Festival of Antarctica. Each year, all the countries’ stations are invited to provide a short film (no more than 5 minutes long). We only have 48 hours to film, edit and submit the movie, and it must contain five specified elements – a sound, an action, a quote, a character, and an object. No spoilers will be provided yet as release and voting are still a couple of weeks away – but suffice to say, the team have done a great job!

Cat (Mawson Station Leader)

An inside photo of a Hägglunds vehicle. A man in a heavy red jacket and wearing beanie and goggles is in the drivers seat.
The camera is looking down on a rocky, snow covered island. Two Hägglunds vehicles are parked and there is a dark orange hut and van on the island.
The sun is setting behind a rocky island. There are two Hägglunds vehicles parked and a dark orange hut and van on the island
There is a large number of emperor penguins huddled in the distance on a rocky island. A glacier rises to the right of frame.
A man is looking towards a large huddle of emperor penguins in the distance. A glacier rises to the left of frame.
Two adult emperor penguins are looking down towards a penguin chick that is on the feet of one of the adults. There is a large huddle of penguins in the background.
A woman wearing beanie and reflective pink goggles is looking at the camera. In the background a blue Hägglunds vehicle is parked on the ice
The Milky Way is visible clearly in the night sky over a hut that has a glow in the window. A woman can just be seen standing in front of the hut.
A green, orange and red aurora is visible against the night sky. There are two Hägglunds vehicles parked on the snow.
The sun is setting on the horizon. The camera is looking down from a high point over a rocky, snow covered island. There are two vehicles, a hut and a van on the middle part of the island.
In the distance, over sea-ice, are rocky peaks rising from the shore.
Five men and a woman are gathered around a plaque mounted on a wooden post, set into a rocky landscape. A glacier rises in the background
A smooth ice slope rises towards a glacier to the right of frame and into the distance. A rocky landscape is to the left of frame in the distance.
A green and a blue Hägglunds vehicle are on the sea ice on a brightly lit day. In the distance an ice plateau can be seen
Two men are at the bar. They are wearing brightly coloured shirts, beanies, and dark sunglasses and smiling at the camera.
A black and white photo of a man walking towards the camera in a dark jacket, beanie, and wearing dark glasses. There is a Hägglunds vehicle parked to the left of frame.
on