Whoever said it's about the journey and not the destination has never been to Mawson station. Don't get me wrong, the journey so far has been nothing short of amazing, but...
There's the build up of passing through the application process (applications are open right now, so finish reading this and then go apply!), training and kitting in Hobart, the Nuyina ship ride south is worth the price of admission by itself, but then finally seeing Mawson from the window of the Basler (re-specced DC3) aircraft tops it off.
As a summer plumber coming into an already established winter crew, it was a slightly daunting thought, as with the other stations all personnel usually change out and the new expeditioners all go in together. My thoughts were quickly relieved upon meeting the existing wintering team. Led by one of, if not the best Station Leader in the business, Ali D. There's a sign out on the end of West Arm (one side of Horseshoe Harbour) that says "It's Home, It's Mawson" and it's not wrong. Charm, warmth and a homely feel is what you are greeted with as you walk into the red shed for the first time.
The work starts quickly after arrival, as the resupply at Mawson is later towards the end of summer, so we hit the ground running learning about how the station operates. How to produce water, how to keep the buildings' heating systems operational and how to fit into the small, 30 person community. This is my fourth trip south so a lot is the same or similar to Davis and Casey, but there are also a few differences in the stations that you pick up on pretty quickly.
Mawson gets katabatic winds most days. These winds flow down from the icy plateau and hit the station most mornings and usually die down by the afternoons. So mornings are windy, about 60 km/h in strength, hence the wind turbine which supplies a good portion of our electricity taking the strain off burning diesel in the powerhouse. With wind comes the occasional blizzard. It took about three weeks to get our first official blizz day where the wind is over 34 knots for an hour, there's blowing snow and visibility is reduced to less than 100 m. We had gusts of 130 km/h making for interesting times getting around outside from building to building.
There are a range of scientists with us this summer and many of us tradies have been lucky to head out and assist with the projects they are hoping to accomplish this season. I'll leave it for them to explain what it is they're up to at another time. Even after having spent a large amount of time in Antarctica, it's always interesting volunteering for these trips as it helps give an understanding of the greater goal. I never would have thought I would be involved in spotting emperor penguins doing fresh number twos so they can be collected. We're here for science!
We now work towards the end of the year and the Christmas, New Year period and before we know it the Nuyina will be back offloading the incoming wintering team, resupplying the station and taking us home in February next year.
Ferret (Darryl Seidel), Mawson plumber
