Neil, one of our plumbers wows us with some photos, and the station gets into Hägg and quad recovery training on the sea ice

Neil's turn for our Station Update

Hello everyone!

For anyone that has read my station update before, you’ll know that anything over a paragraph and I’ve lost interest and click straight to the photos. So with all that said, here is a few pics of what I have encountered on my way down to Mawson and so far while being stationed here for winter.

Enjoy and see you on the other side!

Brownie out
(Mawson plumber)

A brightly coloured sunset is in the distance over an vast field of ice
A man is standing on a frozen lake with a rocky peak in the background
A Hägglunds vehicle is parked on the snow outside a small green hut with the Australian flag painted on the outside. A rocky peak can be seen to the left of frame
A vast ice plateau stretched into the distance with the sun surrounded by a halo in th sky above.
A bowl with noodles frozen solid as if being eaten with the spoon frozen into them sits in front of a bust of Sir Douglas Mawson
A yellow ship is tied up in a natural harbour while a blue and white ship sits in the water outside the harbour. There are island and icebergs in the distance.
A rock is balanced precariously on the ice with the plateau stretching in all directions. A multi-coloured sunset lights the sky
Two men are walking across a frozen lake. There is snow and ice built up on the left of frame and a rocky mountain in the far distance and to the right of frame.
A bowl with noodles frozen solid as if being eaten with the spoon frozen into them sits on the edge of a blue insulated box. In the distance the sun is close to the horizon
A night photograph of a wind turbine in the foreground with a brightly coloured Aurora stretching across the sky and the milky way visible in the top right of frame

Braving the cold, the station continues to train for travel on the sea-ice

Making the most of the last hours of sunlight here at Mawson, a number of expeditioners have been braving the cold and windy conditions to complete their sea-ice vehicle training. Quad bikes are used sparingly on station for specific operational and scientific requirements, particularly those that require movement over sea ice at the beginning and end of winter. To ensure the safety of such activities, expeditioners who received training on the bikes before departing Australia conducted several additional drills to ensure they knew how to handle the bikes on ice and also how to recover them if they got bogged or stuck in ice cracks. Thankfully, with the application of a few simple principles of physics, all quickly got a handle on how to fasten ice anchors and set up ropes and pulleys to easily move the bikes over uneven terrain.

It was then onto the more significant problem - how to move a Hägglunds vehicle across the ice, or in the worst case, recover it back onto the ice after it breaks through (Hägglunds are designed to float when they break through, so it isn't quite the disaster you may be imagining!). Eventually, the entire team will be trained in these skills; however, for now those that are down to travel to Taylor Glacier in a few weeks to check on the breeding male Emperor penguins are first in line. Small ice screws, which did the job on the quad bikes, were replaced with heavy metre-long ice anchors; ropes were replaced with steel cable; and simple hand-over-hand pulleys were replaced with heavy manual and electric winches. Ensuring everyone understands the hazards involved in moving multiple tonnes of vehicle across the ice is vitally important to protecting everyone involved.

Balancing the seriousness of all this training, our wonderful sparkies Scott and Jimmy did a fantastic job setting up an indoor mini-golf course throughout the Red Shed. With some holes that should probably have been a par 12, the course took over the hallways, stairwells, cinema, dog room, and bar area. Replete with an active wind turbine and UV lights in the back corner hole, everyone had a great time. Afterwards, while some watched Happy Gilmore on the big screen in the bar, others played a highly intense game of Texas Holdem. Surprisingly intense considering that the only prize up for grabs was bragging rights until next weekend!

Cat (Mawson SL)

Multi coloured buildings lay on a snow covered rocky landscape with a rising ice plateau behind it, sea ice to its front and the moon just on the far horizon
A man is pulling a quad-bike using a rope, pulley, and anchors drilled into the ice
A man is pulling a quad-bike over snow covered rocks with a rope. Brightly coloured buildings, a radome, and a wind turbine are in the background.
Ice anchors and tow lines are laid out to practice recovery of a green twin cab Hägglunds vehicle on the sea-ice. A wind turbine on a snow covered rocky hill is to the left of frame in the distance
A man is using a drill to drill down into the ice while another man is watching on. Ice cliffs are in the distance
Three men stand posing for the photo in front of a quad-bike on sea-ice. There are ice cliffs in the distance.
Four quad-bikes are moving across an ice covered harbour with the orange glow of sunset in the distance
Four men are playing mini-golf on a makeshift course in a hallway with closed doors on each side
A stuffed toy dog is on the floor looking towards a mini golf hole made out of plyboard
Six men are sitting around a card table playing poker
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