Summer is coming.
As you may have seen and read in the last couple of icy news articles from Mawson, change is happening here. We have now received three flights bringing some welcome change, and signs that summer is approaching fast.
As a mechanic on station at Mawson the incoming flights brings some new drive to our season. We start to take a bit more of an interest in the weather to prepare our selves for any incoming flights. Questions like, how much fuel will the plane need? How much cargo has to be loaded into vehicles to make the short trip across the sea ice to station? Is the tide crack safe to travel across in vehicles that do not normally travel on the sea ice? Will there be penguins on the landing area? You might not think that penguins on the landing area is a big deal, but for some reason the penguins know when a plane is coming and will seemingly appear from nowhere. First-world problems, right?
With the flights now arriving, bringing some fresh fruit and veg, mail and we even have three new faces walking around station. Fresh fruit and veg - if you have spent a winter in Antarctica you know how big of a deal this is. The mail is also welcome. New clothing gifts from friends and family or something ordered in the middle of winter online, which you thought was a good idea at the time, but now realise that maybe online shopping is not the way to go when you have been away from society for so long.
Three new people on station and maybe four by the time this hits the news, with a mix of experienced expeditioners (taking it in their stride) and a new Antarctic expeditioner (wide-eyed and excited) which brings a new vibe to station and has me looking forward to the rest of the summer team that should be turning up over the next month.
Summer is big change for station life. The auroras have given way to 19 hours of sunlight, the emperor penguin chicks and seal pups are getting bigger by the day, new people arriving and more on the way. Not going to lie about getting a little excited for what the next four months will bring.
Crabby, SMS Mawson
