This week Jimmy, one of our electricians, reflects upon passing the halfway point of a season in Antarctica. Our team also recovers from last week's deep field travers with a long weekend and with the imminent arrival of 24-hour sunlight, we take every chance to photograph some of the last visible auroras of the year.

Inside the Snow Globe

It seeps into the pores and creeps into the bones; no not the cold.

But the comradery, empathy and the reliance of the small community become family, operating so isolated in what seems like an alien planet and its conditions.

This exciting opportunity has and will continue to change us all. Will we look to pursue this strange level of peace and hostility a Yin yang if you will?

The small things too, like the ease of getting a plumber or no wait time to see a doctor.

The sometimes stark but pristine environment devoid of the unnecessary.

Replacing the refreshing silence of this environment or the thrumming yet orchestral cacophony of a penguin colony at its peak for the sounds, sights and smells of a couple a million people and everything that we associate with that.

How will the unusual facets that make up our life down here translate back to the real world in six short months’ time.

Ah time…

Consequently, it’s a mad scramble to soak up all the serenity and scenery that makes Antarctica and Mawson such a special place. Here Mother Nature respects those that that persevere, the people that hold their heads high but can admit to being humbled.

Not least patience and respect, and in turn, she will occasionally nod her head, bare her soul and share her magic in the form of images of frozen beauty seared and stamped into the mind for posterity’s sake.

But with a full schedule and so much room for activities, few have reflected on how it will feel to be standing aft of the Nuyina. Watching the last of our summer sunshine fall upon what we now consider to be our home, our responsibility, helpless as it slips from our sight.

It will be bittersweet but welcome for most as friends and family have long lingered in our minds, responsibilities, and relationships a world away must be tended for they dwindle and wither.

The thing is, this place rubs off on you, and in turn, you leave a little of yourself behind.

I think this is what calls people back.

Jimmy (Mawson Electrician)

A maintain range with snow being blown across it is visible in the distance eover an ice plateau. In the foreground are more rocky mountains.
Some rocks are in the foreground with a vast ice plateau stretching to the horizon. A rocky mountain range is seen in the far distance and the glow from a sunset highlights the horizon.
Two people are in the distance on a vast ice plateau. In the foreground to the left and right of frame are two large rocks.
A rocky, snow and ice covered island is visible rising from a frozen sea. The sky is cloudy and a muted white colour with the sun visible as a white dot through the clouds
Four emperor penguins are sliding on their bellys towards a colony of a very large number of penguins
A rocky, hilly, island rises from a frozen sea. In the sky a bright green aurora is visible against the stars and clouds
A man is standing against a ship's railing looking at the sea. In the distance the sun is low on the horizon and there are icebergs silhouetted against the sunset

A long weekend, a birthday, and the last of the night

Last week, six of our team were finally able to head out nearly 150 km over the sea ice to our west to conduct a census of the emperor penguin colony at Fold Island. With their triumphant return, it was fortuitous that we were also able to choose to take a long weekend. While the station generally follows the same public holiday schedule as Hobart, there are times through the year when operational requirements take priority. When these override a public holiday, that day can be held and another day taken in lieu later in the year. Without any real surprise – the station usually decides as a group to add such days to a weekend to get some extra relaxation (and hopefully even a sleep-in!)

Saturday was also the birthday celebration for Scott, one of our electricians. With yet another fantastic meal and birthday cake, we also gathered in the living area for some light competition over a few games. While the skill level shown for lounge room lawn bowls left some considerable room for improvement, the pure concentration and steely nerves shown during the giant Jenga game easily made up for it. As for the radio racing – imagine a cockroach/toad race but with vibrating handheld radios making their way towards a finish line (and an infinitely more ethical version of such a race to boot!)

We also marked another step in our season, with Tuesday night being the year’s last official period of ‘full night’. Full night is where we get the best opportunity to see the stars and auroras without any pesky glow of the sun on the horizon. Over the coming eight weeks, we will also progressively see the loss of astronomical, nautical, and civil twilight until the last sunset for the year on the 29th of November.

With the knowledge that we are losing the darkness, we took the opportunity to get out and try to put what little some of us have learned about photography to the test and get a few more shots of the Aurora Australis for our collections. Tuesday night provided clear (but cold) conditions, and some fantastic photographs were taken from around station. Then, on Wednesday night, Jess and I also finally managed to get the opportunity to head up onto the ice plateau with our dream of capturing the aurora reflected in the frozen surface of Lake Lorna. Trekking from Rumdoodle Hut by Hägglunds to Fearn Lake and then a kilometre or so of walking to Lake Lorna, we first conducted a reconnaissance in the afternoon light before heading back for dinner in the now toasty warm hut. It wasn’t until nearly 11:00 pm that we finally had enough darkness to head back out and set up our cameras on the lake for their time-lapse. Hopefully, once we have sieved through a few thousand photographs, the resulting video will be worth the lack of sleep!

Cat (Mawson Station Leader)

A woman is standing on a highly reflective, frozen lake. There are rocky hills in the background to the left and right of frame
A man is leaning against a rock and signing his name in an old logbook
A blue Hägglunds vehicle is struggling to drive through a deep snow drift on the sea ice
A man is kneeling next to a proclamation marker and reading a rolled piece of paper. In the background a glacier rises against a rocky landscape
A snow and ice covered rocky island is visible with a large number of emperor penguins gathered in a colony in a hollow formed by the island's hills
A bright green and puple aurora is visible in the sky above a large red building. In the distance two icebergs are visible locked into a frozen sea
A curved wall of ice rises to the right of frame with a rocky landscape just visible to the left of frame.
A woman is standing on a large frozen lake. There is a rocky hill rising in the background
Frozen lake water highlights rocks in a frozen lake. Colours reflect upon the frozen surface.
A woman is standing on a frozen lake. In the sky, the bright greens and purples of an aurora are visible.
A man is setting up a camera on a tripod on a frozen lake. In the background rocky hills rise against the horizon and the bright greens and puples of an aurora are visible in the night sky against the stars.
A man is standing on a frozen lake. In the background is a rocky landscape rising from the ice.
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