Jollies, SAR training and medivacs

It is surprising how much actually happens when you look back over a few weeks in your life.  At first I really didn't think there was a great deal to talk about, but there turns out to be one or two interesting things that have popped up over the last month.  A little drama that we had down in this part of the world recently was the medical evacuation of a Chinese expeditioner from the Chinese base Zhong Shan.  The expeditioner didn't come off so well after his abdomen met with an excavator bucket.  This resulted in some major surgery, a helicopter flight to the Davis region, a plane ride in a CASA to the Wilkins runway at Casey and finally a flight on the Airbus from Wilkins to Hobart.  Thankfully, after further emergency surgery in Hobart, the patient is making a steady recovery.  As I am one of the lay surgical assistance here at Davis, I was flown up to the skiway to lend a hand if necessary, in the patients transport from helicopter to plane.  There turned out to be more than enough help however.

Australia Day was also a rather eventful day, with lots of semi-naked swimming, barbecues and beach cricket.  The weather wasn't exactly conducive to swimming though, as the water temperature hovered around -1.8 deg C, with similar air temperatures.  So needless to say, I didn't last that long clad only in my mankini.  The nightmares and counselling will though, for those that were unlucky enough to see me.

And more recently the SAR (Search and Rescue) team had their first full day of training.  This involved doing cool stuff like flying in helicopters, hanging from ropes and doing some basic mountaineering techniques.  It was probably one of the more interesting days I've had since being here and is why I wanted to come down here in the first place.  The day was spent in one of the more spectacular parts of the Vestfolds and was accompanied by some beautiful weather, which consequently, has started to become cooler and more Antarctic-like in the past couple of weeks.  We now have darkness at night and we all find ourselves looking forward to a clear evening sky so that the Aurora Australis can finally be viewed.

Christmas and New Year shenanigans

Yes, it's been a while since last updating this.  So just a brief rundown of the Christmas and New Year season (I'll let the photos tell most of the story).  Both days were quite memorable, but it's a relief to have them out of the way.  I was somehow conned into being one of Santa's "little helpers" for the day and as you can see by the photos I look stunning in that sequinned mini skirt!  This was all for the effort of handing out the Kris Kringle presents that everyone had organised.  Santa (V2) didn't arrive on time for most people.  Our chefs Squeeze and Kim put on an amazing spread complete with crayfish, oysters, ham, turkey, 3000 year old glacial ice etc.  Too much alcohol was consumed, you know how it goes.

It was also Amy's 21st birthday just before New Years so I spent the majority of the morning of the 29th trying to time my pose for when the station web cam takes its 10 minute photo.  The results can be seen below.

New Years Eve was a very similar affair to Christmas Day with an equally disturbing amount of cross-dressing.  The evening had a Hollywood theme, which was complete with red carpet, security, an ice sculptured Oscar and the obligatory smoke machine and dancing lights (we do it tough down here).  Included is a photo of the Met boys.  The guy in the middle, Linc, is my supervisor!  It was then that I realised just how much trouble I am in over the next 12 months.  He did an amazing Flash Dance routine too by the way.  In case you're wondering, I'm supposed to be Caesar, I had to get inventive as a Christmas wreath and a busted weather balloon was all that I could find.  Needless to say there wasn't too much left of the balloon by the end of the night, I guess the temptation to over stretch an incredibly stretchy material was too great for some.  Thankfully the same can't be said for Linc's outfit.

So there you have it, two of the biggest days of the year in one of the remotest locations.  Next on the agenda is our mid-summer swim on Australia Day.  Is the world ready to see me in a mankini yet?

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!