Sitting on my veranda in tropical North Queensland over the Christmas break, a bit burnt out from the heat and a busy second half of the year, I was looking for a break somewhere cool, and then an ad turned up on social media.
Bureau of Meteorology Technician, Antarctica. Perfect, cooler weather, a new adventure, something else to do. Never really contemplated coming to the deep south for work or recreation, this could be fun.
No access to my laptop, I filled out my application and reviewed my resume there and then on my phone. Submitted and forgotten about, I returned to work in the new year.
A quick email mid-January and the whirlwind began, eight weeks of attending medicals and assessments, and a verbal job offer via a messaging app while on a tropical holiday, in case I did get the job, for Bureau Technician for the Winter Season at one of the Antarctic stations, woo hoo excitement plus.
Three months of Training in Melbourne, a quick break, then to Hobart for the AAD Training with the Mawson Team. Fire Training, Station Week, Search and Rescue and updating existing qualifications to see out the period of deployment.
Onto RSV Nuyina mid-December, a trip, via Burnie, Casey and Davis station and we were at Mawson station two months later for our hiatus from the real world.
Every day there is something else to embrace, and it's hilarious to watch the antics of the Adele penguins, the best way to describe them is emotional 7-year-olds. I quietly watched on my way to work, calling out to each other from opposite sides of the station, to having a barny when the finally waddled over to each other. Parent and offspring perhaps?
The walk to work on some days can be challenging and others a reward in itself. Sunrises, sunsets and the moon rising at sunset. Blizzards are fun while trying to make your way to another building, the odd encounter with a couple of penguins heading about their business squawking at each other. I often stop and take it all in.
From the first day in sunny and warm Queensland, idly scrolling through a media app on my phone, to trying to keep it and me warm at −30 in Antarctica, so I can squeeze another special memory into the storage. My smartphone has made an amazing opportunity happen and allowed recording special moments; to date I have 4000+ new photos on my phone in three months. We use apps for communication and operational needs and staying in touch with those back home. Able to use navigation apps to confirm location when out for an adventure. A smartphone is an essential item for my Expedition to Mawson station, Antarctica.
Bureau of Meteorology Technician, Antarctica
