G’day,
So last week I went through my field travel and survival training which was a great experience and a heap of fun. It took about half a day to get ready as our Field Training Officer (FTO) Mark slowly took us through everything we need to do before doing a trip out into the field from checking the weather forecast, filling out trip plans and logging the route we will be taking, organising food/water and our Human waste containers (all our waste has to be bought back to station as we can’t just dump it anywhere). Then we had to load all of our gear onto the quads, give them a quick check over and then finally get on our way – it was was after lunch before we actually set off. After a couple of hours riding we reached our first stop of the trip, Fang hut, conveniently located in a secluded and sheltered(ish) area at the base of Fang Peak. These huts are not at all big. Once I stepped inside the hut with four other blokes and all of our gear on I just thought “now what? ” There was barely any room to move but once we sorted ourselves out it was pretty good made all the better by Mark stating that more people have climbed Everest than been to Fang Hut. The hut is equipped with gas to be able to cook so we were able to heat up the meals the chef back at station had cryovaced for us. Considering where we were and what we could see of the weather outside (before the condensation from our breath froze on the window and we couldn’t see out anyway) being inside the hut was absolute luxury. The next morning Mark took us for a walk down the hill a bit to the base of the mountain range to a frozen lake created by the heat absorbed by the rock melting the ice from the plateau. We stood at the base of this massive wall of ice which had to be about 100m high which Mark used to point out that we had ridden our quads not too far from there and in poor visibility if we strayed too far from our GPS waypoints could ride straight over things like that. A slightly humbling thought. Ha!Ha! 😬 Once we returned to the hut we packed everything up and got the quads loaded up to head off to our next location. But one quad wouldn’t start, but that’s ok, we had two recovery kits with us with jumper leads and its not unusual for the quads to need a jump start in really cold weather. Except this one wouldn’t jump start. We gave it a little while to try and charge the battery off another running quad but it still wouldn’t fire up. Eventually I had to take the battery out of the quad while the other guys opened up the hut again and got the heater going. We sat the battery in front of the heater for probably about 30 mins to warm it up. I then went to put the battery back in when I dropped one of the bolts for the terminals somewhere into the frame of the quad. 6mm bolts are not the easiest things to handle with gloves on. So after searching everywhere I couldn’t find the bolt so I had to pull the battery back out and sit it in front of the heater while I searched the quad for a bolt I could rob from somewhere else. I ended up just grabbing one out the front guard. We had an early lunch then to warm back up and settle down a bit. After lunch I put the battery back in and bolted up the leads (very carefully). Not gonna lie, I was pretty happy when the quad fired up after that. So from there we travelled to our next destination, Rumdoodle Hut with a couple of little stops on the way to test our navigation skills. We each had to take turns leading and navigating. Rumdoodle was really nice as it was refurbished this last season because it was destroyed by a blizzard. We had our dinner outside as we had to practice cooking from the field stoves and eating dehydrated meals from packets which wasn’t too bad actually. But unfortunately as nice as it was we were not allowed to sleep in Rum Hut – it was part of our training requirements that we spend one night out sleeping in a ‘Bivvie Bag’. A bivvie bag is kind of a big wind proof sleeping bag sock that in a survival situation we could set each of our selves up in and get out of the weather. The bag also has a thin foam mat in it to help us get up off the snow. This mat is almost the width of my shoulders and almost as tall as me. It’s definitely for survival not comfort!!! The main idea being you find a spot on the ground, have your feet end going into the wind, throw your field pack into the bag and then climb in after it. Once inside you unpack your bag, get your sleeping bag out, I took off the thicker outer parts of my clothing and then get inside the sleeping bag and try and not roll off the mat and end up sleeping on the snow. So one kinda cool thing (I say cool now that its over) that seeing as these bags don’t breath too well they fill up with condensation which then freezes and then I find that by morning my own breath is now snowing me and I had awoken the next day from a deep and recharging 45 mins of sleep. Thankfully though I was warm enough but just not particularly comfortable. Though one awesome thing was at one stage in the night I looked out my bivvie to see a really great Aurora taking up about a third of the sky. The next morning one of the first things I did was see if that troublesome quad would start … it would not, so I got the battery out and had it inside again while we had breakfast as we got our selves ready for the day. After breakfast we quickly went through how to set up ice anchors to pull out a bogged quad and then packed ourselves up and made our way back to Mawson. The return trip was much nicer as we were travelling with the wind rather than against it. All in all it was a great trip and a massive learning experience though I slept for about 10 solid hours that night we returned. The day after was also kinda busy for me as I had to replace that dodgy battery in that quad and a few of the quads had hand warmers that weren’t working properly so I had to sort those out before the next group heads off on Monday.
Love favourite always-sleeps-indoors-from-now-on Son

Sorry its taken me so long to pass on photos of the facilities but at least I eventuallty geotags around to it. 😁 So following resupply we had the Friday, most of Saturday off and Sunday is a usual day off anyway so that tied it off quite well with a decent rest and a chance to settle in properly. I’ve finally started to get into a routine as we start our first proper week of work. We officially start at 7.30am so at about that time I will head out to the fuel farm to do the daily inspections on the tanks and then make my way to the power house to the first set of observations on the generators. Each day we have to log information on how the power house is performing at 8am, 12pm,5pm and 9pm. My boss and I take turns on doing the observations and we run it as whatever week you are on the rostered fire team is the week you are doing observations as well. Once we get the electricians trained up they will do it too so at least we will only have to do it once a month. We’re still sorting out a lot of parts and consumables like oils and other fuels so that’s been keeping us busy as well as taking people in small groups and inducting them as to how to operate the Haggs and pre start checks on the utes. Its a bit of a work out just walking around the station especially with no snow cover at this time of year because the station is on a steep rocky section of land. The wind is constantly blowing from the south as it comes down off the plateau behind the station out to sea so walking back to the red shed from the workshop is up a steep hill and always into a head wind. Fun fact: Earths gravity is actually stronger at the poles. The living facilities are pretty amazing! There are two gyms, one inside the red shed where the living quarters are which is pretty much just set up for cardio. About 100m away in the Green Store there is a weights gym. Next to that gym is also a sauna and spa as well as a rock climbing wall and basketball hoop. Back at the red shed there is a bar (with a brewery underneath the kitchen) and a living area with a dart board, pool table and football table as well as a Library and Cinema. There’s a small room next to the living area named the ‘dog room’ which is just a bit of a museum with artefacts and history about the dog sled days which ended in 1991 with the signing of a new Antarctic treaty saying countries can not bring foreign animals into Antarctica. This room also doubles as a music room. Basically it ain’t too shabby!!! Each month we have to go and see the doctor who just takes our weight, blood pressure and waist measurements and has a chat about how we’re handling it all. My appointment was today so I went through that no worries. Hopefully soon we will be able to get into doing our field training after which we will be able to get out and travel around the place and get a better look at more inland areas. Winter is on its way as it’s gradually getting dark earlier (That being when I got here the sun set at about 11.30 and now its setting at 9.30 but still light for a while after) and I’ve been keeping my eye on a few spots on the shore and they are icing up little bit by little bit so the sea ice is on its way.
That’s it from me for now. Hope you’re all well. 😉

So I needed a little time to explain this story properly: A part of tradition on the Aurora is that once passed the 60th parallel new expeditioners pay their respects to King Neptune in a little initiation ceremony. This ceremony consists of the appearance of King Neptune and his entourage (cast by a very enthusiastic crew of the Aurora) where King Neptune gives a speech and then, when called upon, each of us new expeditioners come forth, kneel before the King, Kiss a fish (they literally thaw out a salmon from the freezer) and receive a ‘Gift from the Bottom’. This gift was made up of rotten fruit and I’m pretty sure left over desserts from the previous few days and other unidentifiable ingredients. All of which was scooped up and poured over our heads and smothered down our back. Because there was quite a few of us newbies they called us up in groups of three to move us through a bit quicker. Naturally I was called up in the first group. But it was all good fun and a bit of an experience. The lady next to me was a Navy Hydrographer, she struggled quite a bit but I could not stop laughing. After our turn I shot off to take a shower and then race back so I could watch the others. One of the ships crew was on her first voyage and she was certainly not immune, they saved her for last. After one of the crew calling “we catch and kill our own!” they picked up the whole bucket of what was left and dumped the lot on her head. Following the ceremony they issued each of us with a certificate to prove our initiation into the southern seas.Needless to say after all this the captain lifted the ban on alcohol for the night and we were all allowed three drinks … we pretty sure earned them!!!

So resupply is finally over!!! YAYYY! All together it took 12 days to complete after we lost a few days to high winds in which the cranes could not operate. This time was well spent catching up with our out-going counterparts to do a decent hand over and get a good feel for the place.During cargo operations I spent most of my time at the wharf as the dogman slinging up containers from the barge to one of our cranes on shore to be transported to the station as well as sending cargo back to the ship to be returned to Australia. All the refuelling operations went well and we successfully transferred over 800,000 litres of fuel to the station. We worked in 4 hour shifts and had all the fuel transferred in two days. We put in a long day the second day and didn’t finish until 11.30 pm by which time it was getting bloody cold standing on top of the fuel tanks but this gave me a chance to try out different combinations of the equipment they provided to keep me warm so it was good to see what works. The added bonus which made it all worth while being out that late on a clear night was that I was able to see my first Aurora although unfortunately I was not able to snap any photos of it as I don’t think my camera is quite set up for that sort of photography. Even though I stayed out there until 1.30am there was still the faintest bit of sunlight on the horizon. Mooring the ship in the harbour was a bit of fun. They had three shore-based teams of three at a few different places to attach 6 mooring lines to the bollards. One person in each team had to wear a dry suit and life jacket in case we ended up having to get in the water. I got this job. So when the boaties came across from the ship in small zodiac boats towing the mooring lines they had to toss a tag line connected to the mooring rope to us then we would haul the whole lot up on the shore. The bloke who tossed us the rope threw an absolutely shocking throw and the whole lot just ended up in the water so then I had to jump in the water up to about my chest to get it. Thankfully those dry suits are so good I didn’t get wet or cold at all. Yesterday the last of the outgoing people returned to the Aurora and those of us left behind walked out to the other side of the harbour and waved goodbye to the Aurora with flares for the last time as it completes its final voyage to the Antarctic continent. Today has been our first day of much needed rest after the chaos of resupply. It’s a slightly strange sensation after having so many people bustling around the station and now just the few of us left casually go around finally able to unpack in their rooms and just chill out a bit. It does feel good to finally get settled. Adeline penguins are a really common sight around here. For the most part they’re not at all bothered by us. It’s quite comical to watch them try and walk around on the rocks but they are like bullets in the water. Because the station is on quite a rocky area with a lot of loose gravel and steep slopes I’m constantly looking down rather than up as I’m walking around which more than a couple times has almost ended up in me just walking into a penguin. Seals are never far away and we can often see them sleeping on the rocks near the station and orcas come through the harbour every few days as they patrol the area.
Mum, I’ve only just unpacked my cargo I sent down so have only just now got my weighted blanket out. I’ll let you know how it goes. I’ve not yet had a chance to look at the blog but I’m sure you’re doing an amazing job.
Anyway all good on this end and hope everything is great back home.

How’s everything going back home? Everything is going pretty well over here at the moment. The temperature during the days has been ranging from about -3 to -8 though during the mornings it can be very windy bringing on a lot of wind-chill but I seem to be handling it pretty well. We have been going through the resupply operations so I’ve been spending a lot of time down at the wharf dogging up containers to either take off the barge or put containers back on the barge to send back to Oz. The days have been fairly long so I’m pretty tired of a night time but am enjoying adjusting to my new environment. We’re planning to finally start the refuelling process tomorrow which should take maybe 3 days and they think the ship should be ready to make the trip home by about Friday. I’ve got quite a few photos to send through which will probably require a bit of explanation so I’ll send those through after I’ve had a bit of spare time to let the dust settle but there’s more than enough pics for you to look at for now. Ha! Ha!
P.S. Unfortunately I was never as close to the Orcas as it looks in the photos – One of the water craft operators sent it through however every couple of days the Orcas come through the harbour in front of Mawson and I’ve still been able to watch them from the shore about 300 metres away.

I have FINALLY arrived!!
Feels pretty good to get boots on the ground after 20 days at sea. So we arrived here this morning then had to get all our rooms squared away before we left the ship. Just after lunch we had to get all dressed up and climb our way down from the ship into a barge which ferried us into Mawson. The out going station leader was there to greet us and then escorted us to the red shed (main living quarters) where we went through our induction to the station. After that we had about 30 minutes to grab our stuff, locate our room and briefly get settled. Then we met up with our corresponding out-going supervisors who took us on a bit of a walk around which included a walk through our work shop and power house and also started to help get things ready for the refuelling operations which I think we will need to continue setting up tomorrow and begin refuelling the day after. Pretty chuffed at the moment … this is a beautiful area with an ice glacier right next to us, a plateau right behind us and right behind that huge mountains. I promise to send through some more photos when I can get a chance to run around and take then but things will be a bit hectic for the next week and a bit while we get through the resupply.
FYI: in the last photo the red building you can see is the workshop and just to the top right of the middle of the photo you can just see the Aurora parked up just outside Horseshoe harbour. Both of the last two photos were taken from inside the mess – What a view!!!

Hope all is well.

Yep all the living conditions are going pretty well & Adam and I get on pretty well with no dramas. He’s got HEAPS of video games on his laptop which has ended in us hosting more than a few tournaments of Mario Cart and Mario Golf in our cabin during the day. Then at meal times we often have people coming up and jokingly asking us “you blokes have been playing games again haven’t you?” Apparently the uproars and laughter can be heard from quite a way away though no one seems to mind as they say its good to hear people laughing and usually gives them a bit of a giggle too. Everyone on board seems to be fairly happy with everything and just enjoying the down time though the general feeling is that they could quite happily just get there already. I reckon by the time we get there we will be going on about the three weeks at sea. Though the new fella we picked up at Davis brought about 25 Terabytes of movies and tv shows with him which he has left for everyone to access which has brought about a bit of excitement. I think I’ve been doing fairly well at keeping my weight in check. I’ve gone to the gym every morning since we left and I’ve been pretty careful with what I eat. I’ve only had one desert the whole voyage – they wheeled out the pavlova on Australia Day. Also stayed away from all the chips, wedges and the fridge full of Tim Tams. But even after all this I know I’m still eating too much for how little we’re doing all day but whatchya gonna do? Everyone’s been behaving themselves. The Chefs name is rocket. He doesn’t have to help in the kitchen at all but I’ve spotted him reading a few books on home brew HA!HA!. I think I’ve been pretty lucky as I haven’t felt seasick at all. I know Adam felt a bit sick one day when we first hit rough weather but other than that I’ve not heard of anyone having a bad time. Even in the little bit of rough weather we have had its not actually been that bad. I’ve heard stories of far worse voyages and even the veterans say we’ve had a really good run. When do you find out whether you’re in the state crew? I’d bet both your races were pretty good – you’re just nit picking again! HA! HA! Yesterday I got to do a tour of the engine room which was pretty cool. It was really good to actually see everything that is happening behind the scenes and gave me a much greater appreciation of what keeps the hole thing going and all ties together. Though funnily enough I went down just after reading in the book I got about the first fire that happened on the Aurora which was down in the engine room. But it was very interesting down there.
Anyway hope all is well,

Yep all going good on the voyage. We’re off quarantine now so this morning we returned to Davis and dropped off the Navy Hydrographers and picked up a couple people. One is actually a plant operator that will be wintering with us. So we are now on our way to Mawson Station but we are taking our time. Apparently there is still too much ice sitting out the front of Mawson however they are pretty confident it will blow out by the time we get there. So they are stalling the time by going to visit and replace a couple whale research buoys on the way then we will travel back out a bit then back through a ‘lead’ (kind of a broken path easier for the ship to travel through) to better approach Mawson. If the ice doesn’t blow out we will be helicoptered off the ship but that will mean we will be very limited with how much cargo can be removed for the resupply and wont be able to do any refuelling at all. This will be less than ideal because they want to try and get two years worth of fuel onto the station because they are unsure when they will be able to refuel again. But again they are pretty certain if will blow out. We spent the last two days going ‘Hove-to’ as we waited for a storm to pass over us and we slowly travelled up and back past the Taylor Glacier. We were not allowed outside as winds got to about 70 knots with 4-5 metre swells. Despite how extreme and hectic it looked outside it really wasn’t all that rough inside the ship.
Anyway by the sounds of things we’re about another 4-5 days away from Mawson. Also have just discovered the disadvantage of resizing ALL of my photos as I take them. Unfortunately I think I have ruined the chance blowing up a lot of the great panorama shots I’ve taken thus far but hopefully I’ll still get some good ones. Hope all is well back home.

So we arrived at Davis station this morning which has been very cool to get my first look at the continent of Antarctica! The original plan was that we were going to be dropping off a small resupply as well as almost a dozen navy Hydrographers but there has been a small delay because of the Corona Virus. Not that any one has it but due to all the hype and the fact that pretty much everyone has been involved in air travel and several people have been overseas during January they have quarantined the ship temporarily. They are going to continue unloading cargo here for the day but no one from the ship can go ashore or come into any contact with any one already on station. After today we will head back out to sea for a few days until the 3rd of Feb by which we will have passed the incubation period of the virus and after that we will come back to Davis and drop off the Hydrographers and complete the resupply. No one on the ship is sick so there’s nothing to worry about its all just a precaution. Apparently they are going to release the info to the press so if you hear anything on the news don’t stress. After all this we are probably still about 5-6 days away from getting to Mawson. Apparently where the ship is going to be hanging out while we wait for the all clear is expecting 6-7 metre seas and ice bergs bouncing around so plenty of fun to be had in the next few days I expect haha.

That was just another ice berg in the distance in that photo. I’ve not actually seen any other ships since we left. We have finally hit the sea ice! Yesterday afternoon we finally came into it which very quickly created a mad scurry as everyone quickly got dressed and got outside to start taking photos. Have already seen seals and penguins. The penguins take off pretty quickly but the seals are not at all bothered by us unless we come very close to running them over. We should arrive at Davis tomorrow morning so start a resupply there and drop off about a dozen people there. We should be there about three days as they are expecting pretty rough weather but hopefully will get a chance to quickly get on shore. From there it will be two to three days to get to Mawson depending on the condition of the sea ice. Am still enjoying the cruise especially now its getting a bit more interesting but am definitely looking forward to finally getting there. It’s kind of like being on an enormous aeroplane in the sense that you end up sitting around a lot watching movies and just waiting for the next meal. Except the food is amazing and you can get up and move around pretty well. In open water we have been travelling at about 15 knots and covering just over 300 Nautical miles a day but now we are in the ice it is significantly slower. Quite often it’s just about walking pace and quite a few times we’ve actually had to come to a stop, back up then try another path through.
Anyway all good fun. I’ll keep you posted.