A Station Leader's reflection - the 78th ANARE
If personal growth happens when you step outside your comfort zone, then I’ve been on a meteoric rise since accepting the station leader role.
Living and working at Mawson station has truly been an achievement I’m proud of, despite all the things sacrificed along the way.
- I’m grateful for being able to lead a community of people who also took the plunge and accepted the challenge.
- I admire this group for their constant good humour, work ethic, selflessness, optimism, care and tolerance.
- I rate this group for their resilience, initiative, capability and diversity of thought and experience.
- I’m humbled by their support, commitment, generosity and collective wisdom.
Mawson station is the ideal Antarctic station. It has the history linked to the Heroic era expeditioners, lead by Sir Douglas Mawson, the pioneering era of the early ANARE days, and now we add our names to the group of Australians that have responded to the call, and applied our trade in this awe inspiring, dynamic landscape.
The 78th ANARE embraced the expeditioner challenge. Our journey to Mawson started with a 42 day voyage via Casey and Davis, before arriving at our destination. The approach into Mawson, through 'iceberg alley', those imposing Mountains of the Framnes Ranges, the glacial cliffs framing the station, and the emergence of brightly colour buildings amongst a setting of dark granite stone and white brightness of the Mawson Plateau, was jaw dropping. This was our place for the next 400+ days.
It’s Home, It’s Mawson.
Twenty-one people willing and able to explore every inch of the place, take on every opportnity, commence and complete task after task, live, learn and grow together. What an intense experience. Something I’ve found hard to explain to family, friends and colleagues who have been supporting and watching from afar. It’s so much more than the social media photos posted every now and then (when I remembered). It’s the intangible challenge of adjusting to your environment, your situation, your particular issue and the ever-present uncertainty that you are doing the right thing, at the right time in the right ways.
I won’t single out individuals, because it was the sum of all our parts,the diversity, the quirky, the differences and the total package that made the 78th ANARE. The wintering team, plus the summering team, plus this Antarctic continent, wrapped up in this imperfect but comfortable and now familiar station, makes for a life changing set of circumstances, memories, achievements, lessons and yarns to share.
We owe a great debit to our families and friends who always supported, sometimes tolerated, continually encouraged and always showed genuine interest in our journey and stories. And we have plenty of stories.
I’m glad I pushed myself to exit my comfort zone and enter that growth zone. I certainly appreciate what I have and who I am a lot more, which for me is the single most important outcome of this crazy journey.
Mawson station, Antarctica, the pleasure and honour has been all ours – the 78th ANARE.
