I'll have a number 27 with fried rice thanks

Well the most significant event to occur since writing my last blog (with the exception of Christmas I guess), has been a visit from the Chinese Antarctic research vessel, Xuelong.  There also happened to be some Chinese on board so over the course of the day we were inundated with over 90 Chinese tourists crawling over the station.  The thing they found most impressive apparently was the green store.  God knows why.

Later in the evening however, a small group of Davisonians were invited aboard (me included) for a meal and a tour of the ship.  This turned out to be a lot of fun, particularly the helicopter ride across the bay to the ship.  The ship itself was impressive and a lot larger and far more salubrious than the aging Aurora.   The Chinese were incredibly hospitable and friendly as well and we were all made to feel very welcome.  The evening drew to a close with many photographs being taken with the ships inhabitants and some rather odd stuffed toys!

 

 

I also managed to set off my first hydrogen alarm the other morning too.  Here at Davis, Team Met release two weather balloons a day, one at 4:15am and the other at 4:15pm.  So unfortunately the other morning, I had a "premature balloon launch".  After the balloon had broken free of my "never fail knots" inside the shed, several hydrogen sensors sprung into life and proceeded, at 4:30am, to alert everyone on station of the deed with a high pitch squealing noise.  Happy campers all round.  They all eventually made their way back to bed though and I was grateful that that alarm didn't sound every other time something premature happened!

Back on the bike

During the last week I have at long last got out on the mountain bike and am now enjoying the freedom and sometime solitude that comes with it.  It is surprising how the feel of the landscape is transformed once you are beyond audible range and out of sight of the station hum.  I'll have to be honest and say here that Davis Station isn't exactly an architectural triumph and instead resembles something more like the pieces of plastic that I used to play with as a kid.  It hasn't earned the name "Lego Land" for nothing I guess, but like Lego, Davis is functional, it serves a purpose and thankfully can't get stuck in your windpipe!

I'd have to say that getting out on the sea ice for a ride has been the highlight so far and was quite possibly the most fun I've ever had on a bike.  We ended up riding only 15 km or so, but it felt much further by the end of the evening.  The patches of snow on the ice made it feel more like a hill climb at times, I don't think I've ever had to get out of the saddle and crunch the granny gear when riding along a flat surface (maybe I haven't been riding enough).  The majority of the riding however was slick and fast and surprisingly stable (except when attempting wheelies).  I suspect only the Huskies could've given the bike a run for its money in terms of experiencing the landscape, a far cry from the current noisy weapon of choice, the quad bike.  I wouldn't like to carry an extra 100 kg of equipment on the back of a mountain bike though (although I reckon I could fashion a sled towing system somehow... ).

 There seems to be a trend down here that any one who is having too much fun must be doing the wrong thing, which is justifiably the case sometimes, so we were a little worried when the Station Leader sat us down afterwards for a talking to.  Okay, so everyone fell through a tide crack and went over the handlebars at least once, but there were no broken bones (this time).  No need to worry there though, instead of taking the bikes away he wanted to give us more.  Apparently they're not as dangerous as quad bikes, unless I'm riding them that is.

I get paid for this?

Well the last couple of days have seen me tick the boxes on our obligatory 24-hour survival training course.  This training is compulsory if we wish to move outside of the station limits, for which I’ve been itching to do ever since unpacking my mountain bike.  We managed to strike it lucky with the weather and consequently had a couple of great days quad biking on the sea ice in the fjords and hiking in amongst the hills and lakes.

The main training component was to familiarize us with the quad bikes, navigation and sleeping in emergency bivvy bags, which I’ve discovered (even in sub-zero temperatures) is a great way to camp.  Our camp for the night was on a gravel beach on the shores of Deep Lake (52 metres below sea level), which I believe is the lowest open body of water in Antarctica.  So, now I've done the training thing, it's time to hit the mountain bike.  After that, I might even decide to ride it.

The year begins

Hi everyone.

For those that are interested, I thought this blog would be a good chance to keep people up to date on the various shenanigans that go on down here, but not all of them!  The story so far is that after 3 weeks on the Aurora Australis, rough seas and bad sea ice we finally reached our destination, Davis.  The purpose of getting here of course was to commence resupply of the station and change over the current wintering personnel for the new incoming winterers, for which I am one of.  The past week and a half on station has been spent busying ourselves with resupply, unpacking gear, finding our alcohol consignments (very important), oh yeah and getting into the swing of work (I knew I was here for something)!

My job as a weather observer basically involves providing data and observations of the weather to forecasters and pilots.  Our observations also contribute to the long term climate record of Antarctica and provide upper air observations (via weather balloon) of winds, temperature, humidity and ozone to meteorologists back home in Australia and around the world.

I am also armed with a professional video camera and the obligatory SLR camera and hope to document and explore some pressing Antarctic issues over the next 12 months.  We'll see what I can come up with I guess.  Dinner time now, must go, Squeeze (one of the chefs) "accidently" ran over a seal in one of the utes today, so we're having a special bbq.  That's a joke by the way!  Dinner's not for another 20 mins.