tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15485421971236981532024-03-05T16:16:01.820-08:00South of 54Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479149923221412188noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1548542197123698153.post-17477827224352590802017-02-04T21:42:00.003-08:002017-02-05T00:40:10.526-08:00Part 2. Coloured Lego Block Buildings, an Orange Roughy and Yellow Chip Packets in a White Winter Wonderland – the Colourful World of Casey.<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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Well here I am again on my
computer typing away, I try and sit in a different spot each evening as my room
in the West Wing is dark with no natural light as it has no windows (great for
sleeping), is small and keeps houses my peanut butter stash! Tonight (when I wrote this line a while ago) I’m in the
wallow, the common room/lounge area of Casey which has a floor to ceiling
window which looks out towards the bay and the icebergs. Ferret, one of the
plumbers down her for the summer, kindly told me to stop typing so loudly the
other the day and then suggested that my blog is work. Ahhh he does not know
the true Wisey who is known for her dedication to her work including, Greg
Hince close your eyes, visits to the lab to deal with the Gas Chromatograph
otherwise known as MOFO.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two Docs out on field on survival training, Doc Elise on the left.<br />
(Photo courtsey of Dr Elise Roberts)</td></tr>
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So let’s get back to Part 2 of
Coloured Lego Block Buildings, an Orange Roughy and Yellow Chip Packets in a
White Winter Wonderland – the Colourful World of Casey and we’re definitely up
to the next part of the story, Yellow Chip Packets! For those that have
ventured south to an Australian Antarctic Station you know exactly what I’m
talking about – it’s survival training time. For the lucky readers out there
that received my newsletters home last time I was down at Casey you’re probably
thinking – why are you doing survival training again. Your training only
remains current for 3 years and so mine was just out of date meaning that it
was time to do a refresher, it’s a good way to get off station and meet other expeditioners
not in your own team. Our group of Lucas, Wei, Lenneke, Felicity (All ICECAP), Linda,
Georgia (Inventory Program), Dr Elise and myself would be heading off with FTO
Paula and we would be doing this while the ship was still carrying out
resupply. Linda, Georgia and Elise had recently arrived from the ship where
they had been residing during resupply and had only just settled into their
rooms before they were “whisked” away for survival training.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting gear for our packs ready in the Field Store to head<br />
off, all ready to survive!</td></tr>
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In order to go out into the field
you have to be survival trained and you need to take certain things with you.
Not all of these items you will find in your issued AAD kit, some is in your
survival bag, but the extra bits and pieces you need are found in the Field
Store, off we traipsed down to the Field Store to get extra bits and pieces.
One of the first things you need for survival training, well it makes life a
lot easier, is a pack. This year I had bought my own pack down with me, the
division does supply very good quality One Planet packs however, I know that mine
fits me perfectly. Next on the list is a pack liner (dead dog bag), sleeping
bag, liner, mat and a yellow chip packet (otherwise known as a bivvy). The
challenge is to then roll up the mat inside the bivvy and keep it small enough
and neat enough, no extra bits and pieces to flap in the wind. This then gets
attached to the outside of your pack and it kind of helps to do this first
before putting things onto your pack. Next goes your sleeping bag and liner.
Other items obtained from the field store include microspikes (chains with
spikes which go over your boots to give you better grip), pee bottle (different
colour to you water bottle), maps of the area, a compass with a whistle
attached (so no light to attract attention) and last but not least an ice axe.
Inside your pack along with the sleeping bag and liner (well again I always
bring my own down) a spare pair of thermals and socks, extra gloves, goggles,
balaclava and my synthetic puffer jacket.<br />
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Before we could leave the Field
Training store we got a lesson on some map and compass work, it’s always good
to have a refresher on this and remind yourself how to find a bearing and how
to give a grid reference. It was then time to head downstairs but before we
could head off into the big bad outside we had to pick up tonight’s dinner –
ration packs. These ration packs are dehydrated meals in a sealed bag that you
add hot water to in order to get a delicious meal ... I had been warned my
first season at Casey not to get the pack with tuna which I remembered so I got a Veal Italienne,
a tomato based meal. Also on offer were some muesli bars, packets of milo and
the all important chocolate. We also picked up some tea and tim tams from the
mess for “dessert” after dinner. We then had time to ditch any unwanted items
we had back in out rooms before meeting in the wallow where we would be leaving
from. Upon meeting in the mess we learnt the etiquette of leaving station. In
order to leave station there are a few things to do before you can actually
depart which I’ll list here:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<ul>
<li>Pick up a first aid kit from the
Docs.</li>
<li>In the mess turn your tag from
white (meaning you’re on station) to red and write what your intentions are on
the board along with when you are expected back and what radio channel can be
contacted on.</li>
<li>Go to comms in the Operations
building and collect a hand held GPS with spare batteries, radio and spare
battery, EPIRB and in some cases a sat phone.</li>
<li>Write your intentions on the
board at comms including who is in the field party, where you are heading to
and the time which you will sked in with
them in the evening (a bit like a check up call).</li>
<li>And finally as you leave the
station limits you radio into comms letting them know you are about to leave
station – the call sign for Casey is “VNJ Casey”.</li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snow Petrels putting on an aerial display at Reeve Hill</td></tr>
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So with everything that we needed
collected we radioed into Comms and we were on our way making our way along the
cane line. Our first destination would be down towards the sea ice which
connects the Bailey Peninsular, where Casey is, to Shirley Island, home to a
rowdy group of Adelié penguins. But first Paula got us to use our maps to make
sure we were going in the correct direction by looking at the landmarks around
us. One prominent feature at Casey is Reeve Hill which bears a cross in memory
of Geoffrey Reeve who passed away at Casey 1979 of exposure after he became
lost in a blizzard at Robinson Ridge some 10 km away from the station (thanks
Goldie for this information). The hill and the cross are clearly marked on the
station maps and can be easily identified when you are walking around the
station.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little Tuxedoed visitors from<br />
Shirley Island</td></tr>
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With our bearings we made our way
forward, I admit I hung at the back as I could clearly remember how to get to
the edge of Shirley Island from the last time I was here at Casey. We headed
along straight before we took a right and headed down towards the entrance to
the sea ice towards Shirley Island. It was here that stopped and put our
microspikes on to ensure there were no unwanted slips and slides or falls on the
way down. At Casey you have to be careful and keep a good distance from the
edge as there are many overhanging cliff faces that could give way. We actually
stopped half way down as coming towards us up the slope were a group of curious
Adeliés. Now there are set distances that you can approach the animals down
here and these can increase if say penguins are sitting on eggs or the animal
has young, you can read about these distances <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/environment/environment-policy-and-management/code-of-conduct/field-work/guidelines-for-animal-approach-distances" target="_blank">here</a>.
If you are too close or within the comfort zone of the animal there are very
clear signals and displays they may exhibit to let you know that you need to
step back! However some of the critters down here are just as curious about us
as we are about them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A curious Adelié</td></tr>
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We sat down very quietly and sat
still watching out little black and white tuxedoed friends make their way
toward us. They’d often stretch their necks out as if to be saying I’m
interested but I’m still not so sure about you! Now the colony from where these
little guys came is across the sea ice on Shirley Island. However the sea ice
starts to deteriorate in late spring and then into summer at Casey the sea ice
is notoriously unstable and a big blow is sometimes enough for the sea ice to
disappear. For this reason the sea ice is closely monitored and is shut for
travel at the hint of any deterioration or rot by the Field Training Officers
who are responsible for checking things like this and the state of the vehicle
travel tracks. Due to these reasons the sea ice to Shirley Island had been
closed and we were unable to make the trip across. That and the Adelié eggs were either very
close to hatching or had <o:p></o:p><br />
indeed hatched and there were now chicks, hopefully I
might get to see the fluffy little ones if I get out on an iceberg cruise in
the coming weeks from a distance.</div>
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With our penguin experience over
it was now time to do a little bit more navigation this time it would be
compass vs GPS. So half of us used the good old method of GPS and map and the
other half pulled out their GPS, just like the ones you use Mum and Dad for
geocaching (link to geocaching). We then headed off to the receiver hut in the
antennae farm using our trusty implements. It’s always interesting to compare
the two and while we got there by both methods it highlights that in order to
get your GPS to correctly point in the right direction you need to be moving. So
after arriving there we had a quick discussion before going to the campsite way
point in the GPS and heading off in the direction towards where we would be
staying the night. While it wasn’t freezing cold and the sun was <o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Successful navigation!</td></tr>
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out it didn’t
mean that we didn’t have to be careful where we walked. There were areas
melting out which could result in very wet feet if we didn’t watch where we put
them and patches of blue ice under a very thin veil of snow. Blue ice is very,
very slippery and I’m very nervous walking on slippery surface post the
rupturing and repair of my PCL. So in order not to come a cropper you walk on
the patches which are not light blue instead you walk on the snow and little
shuffle steps much like a penguin.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MSR stove lighting 101 in our ice kitchen</td></tr>
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Down we went passing what looked
like a small melt lake on the right before heading up and then down to where
the survival camp was. It was obvious where the camp is as it still had the remnants
of previous survival camps in the form of the ice breaks you make to lie your
bivvy in to protect you from the wind. The first thing to do after taking our
packs off was to go and grab the bags that Paula and I had dropped off the day
before. These bags contained the MSR stoves, tent (for Paula to sleep in),
shovels and various other bits and pieces. So task number 1 was to learn how to
light the MSR stoves. Compact and light these Shellac fuelled stoves are an
excellent way to make water. Make water I hear you say – well we melt snow to
get liquid water but note you MUST have a some water in the bottom of the pot
with the snow otherwise the pots don’t like it very much. So those who had
never put together and lit one of the MSR stoves took it in turns, it’s always
good to do a refresher as well. So without snow melted and water boiled it was
time for a cup of milo or tea.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Survival camp site already for "sleep".</td></tr>
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After this it was time to put up
Paula’s sleeping quarters for the night, the dome/tunnel tent. While we
wouldn’t be sleeping in this tonight it was important that we knew how to piece
it together, especially the ICECAP guys as this type of tent is carried in the
planes as part of the emergency/survival kits. Once this had been erected it
was time to put together the sitrep for our sked which would was scheduled for
1900. There is a set formula for the sitreps that you follow. Now before I
start for those that have been to Macca where the nightly skeds have a relaxed
format the ones here on the continent are quite formal and follow a very set
format. So without further a due here we go:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<li>Alpha – Position information. Can
be a lat/long, grid reference or feature or hut name.</li>
<li>Bravo – Health of party: number,
health and fitness of party.</li>
<li>Charlie – Condition of vehicles,
in our case not applicable.</li>
<li>Delta – Intentions: what are
going to be doing in the next 24 hours.</li>
<li>Echo – Weather, cloud cover which
is reported in octas and if you know your clouds what type they are, wind
direction, horizon definition.</li>
<li>Foxtrot – State of track, is it
firm, melting, thin ice etc …</li>
<li>Golf – Other information or
requests, stand by for the next blog to see what request we put in on a trip
out in the field <span style="font-family: "wingdings";">J</span></li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting patiently for food to rehydrate.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
While some of us prepared the
nightly sked the others started finding areas and digging into the snowy ground
to create a nice little area to sleep in within the bivvy. 1900 rolled around
and Dr Elise gave our sitrep to the comms operator - the smooth sultry tones
over the airways this season are operators Robyne Chawner, Andy Merlot and
Nigel Corey (funny story here Nigel knows my cousin Mark from their jobs in the
RAAF in air traffic control, rumour has it they worked together too). Sitrep
given it was time to eat dinner: first thing first melt snow and boil water,
next make cut towards very top of ration pack, take out paper bag containing
meal, place dehydrated meal in bag, add one cup of hot water, stir before
folding down the top and sealing, keep like this for 12-15 minutes then unseal
and eat. Now there are a few tricks you need to make sure the cut across the
top is as close to the top as possible otherwise it becomes very, very
difficult to seal! The next kind of important thing will ensure that you don’t
have a meal that is crunchy – you have to be patient and wait the full time
given on the packet. So my cut may have been a little not as close as it need
to be to the top and there was a little leakage but that’s okay. With it sealed
I waited my 15 minutes, well close enough, before tucking into my tasty little
meal and yes that is it there in the picture and yes it was actually tasty. We
then washed up out cutlery and mugs – all you do is wipe out the utensil and mug and then rinse with hot water.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dehydrated goodness ready to eat!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pee Bottle - orange in<br />
colour so not to mix up with<br />
your water bottle.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The tim tams then came out for
dessert before we set about finishing our sleeping abodes for the night and
putting out our chip packets. But first I can hear you ask umm what about
visiting the toilet before sleeping. Let me introduce to the pee bottle, this
one is orange but some white, they are basically a very different colour to the
water bottles we are issued which are transparent blue. And yes you pee into
the bottle as you are only permitted to pee into a tide crack, into your pee
bottle or the pee drum when out in the field. A little different to Macca where
you go down to the beach. Number 2’s go into a double lined bag which you throw
talc in with. All this goes back to station where no 1 if in pee bottle can go
down the toilet or if it is a pee drum down to the Water Treat Facility, fondly
known as the WTF, No 2 go to Warren for incineration, yes the incinerator has a
name in fact all the incinerators at the Australian stations are known as
Warren. As a side piece Warren does not like aerosol cans.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNyJjyXV-4OKJN8eRVmlV886_lgXQQnrZbtq_0_cA0onExiSxzgBdsCjgrwz7L-V12CMtYaF3RLSwP13Kh0nlTQzgQNUGnMIXFG9H-gUVNXLsJPrEmIDkdzR6EOfyU7pN_YWyuo_vOMiM/s1600/IMG_3064.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNyJjyXV-4OKJN8eRVmlV886_lgXQQnrZbtq_0_cA0onExiSxzgBdsCjgrwz7L-V12CMtYaF3RLSwP13Kh0nlTQzgQNUGnMIXFG9H-gUVNXLsJPrEmIDkdzR6EOfyU7pN_YWyuo_vOMiM/s200/IMG_3064.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Packed in like a sardine in my chip packet ready for a<br />
"restful" night ...</td></tr>
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Okay so with that taken care of
it’s time to jump into bed, well I still had to put mine out which I did so in
the kitchen area. Now everything fits inside your chip packet and I mean
everything: sleeping mat with bag on to, pack, spare clothes, boots, water, pee
bottle (one of the party did use theirs in the bivvy it is possible) and of
course yourself. You then pull the draw string close however you leave a small hole
which is propped up and open with your ice axe, this also ensures the bivvy is
not directly on your face either. That night, a night of 24 hrs of light with a
weird twilight period, I fell asleep to the snow falling on the outside of my
bivvy and the sound of some gentle snoring from one of the nearby chip packets.
This time around I got more sleep than the first time I did survival training,
I think I got about 5 hours which is more than what I normally get at home.<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time to pack up and head back to the Red Shed.</td></tr>
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We all woke around 6 ish to a
brilliant sun lit sky and began packing up. There was a thin layer of ice on
the inside of the bivvy which forms from the condensation of the water in my
breath, during the night some of it fell onto my face. I then got to start a challenge
I love the one of getting dressed and then packing everything inside my bivvy
into my pack before I emerge from my cocoon before I roll up the chip packet
and place it back on my pack. Most people get out of their bivvy and pack from
the outside. The advantage of being able to do this process inside the bag is
that you minimise your exposure to the environment and everything that needs to
stay dry stays dry – mission accomplished. With the camp packed up it was time
to head back to station for breakfast – Elise and I had some fun taking photos
of our shadows in the snow as we headed back. Back on station everything is
done in reverse from when you leave: call in to let comms know you are back on
station, return GPS and spare batteries and remove intentions from the comms
board and then change your fire tag back to white. We then headed down to the
field training store to hang our chip packets, mats and sleeping bags to dry
and air. We would collect these in a couple of days as we were to keep hold of
these for the rest of the season. It was then time to eat breakfast and have a
shower. For most people they take the afternoon off but I went to see what
needed to be done on site, we all know I’m bad at sitting still.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What was left of the camp site ...</td></tr>
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The end of survival training also
coincided with the final stages of resupply, with the next day very late nearly
the next day the Orange Roughy turned her back on the station and headed out of
Newcomb Bay off to the Mertz Glacier to conduct science and collect krill for
the krill aquarium back at Kingston. With the end of resupply bought about the
realisation that what I was here to do was about to start. While we had worked
a little during resupply I was about to get back into all things remediation
here at Casey, back into the field after 2 seasons back home in the lab at
Kingston. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And like resupply being over so
is this post, I’m writing listening to two friends practise an acoustic set in
the music area, it’s what I needed today to help me finish this so thanks guys.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See you later Aurora Australis.<br />
Thanks for for the visit and the cargo!</td></tr>
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“It’s your place in the world;
it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want
to live” – Mae Jemison (NASA astronaut, 1956)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Next up Meet the Remediation
Team, plus Crib, Christmas and New Year all rolled into one!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479149923221412188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1548542197123698153.post-38038504032130546432017-01-12T05:15:00.001-08:002017-01-28T19:24:27.910-08:00Part 1. Coloured Lego Block Buildings, an Orange Roughy and Yellow Chip Packets in a White Winter Wonderland – the Colourful World of Casey.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ice on the water's surface down at the wharf during resupply.</td></tr>
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<br />
When I was writing this on Saturday evening I was sitting in the library in the bay window here at Casey looking up at
the moraine line and it’s beginning to blow outside – the snow is being whipped
up into the air and passing quickly past me outside as I write. It’s almost
reaching speeds that are a “No Wisey outside speed”. Tomorrow, on Sunday the 8<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> of January, it’s meant to gust up to 70 knots,
perfect Wisey flying weather if only was allowed outside. We have different
levels of travel here at the Australian Stations: Green - Normal (unrestricted
travel); Yellow – Caution (outside travel restricted to station or camp
limits); Red – Danger (Outside travel restricted to movement between buildings
within station limits or camp limits with Station Leader or Field Leader
approval) and Black (No outside travel permitted). It’s very pretty to watch
the snow bow past but you can see why it becomes dangerous when the wind is
blowing there is snow being blown around – the potential to become
disorientated and lost in these unforgiving conditions is real. Currently I can
only just make out Penguin Pass which is about 1 km out from station as
you head up towards the A line (sort of like an Antarctic Highway) out of
station and can no longer see the moraine line.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUlrN-e4DdPByqiH_tdTeuYwMqSNY_K2V1xpgHZNkWccDI6LkOqzDUsmIh0_-Qs7n4nye3zuNKdZ0fyyqRGODysQgMT4fuFmUeNw8s-0SgPrlm2qM74zx2U6VZkWraRK6ZTIsSqk0DFHk/s1600/IMG_3511e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUlrN-e4DdPByqiH_tdTeuYwMqSNY_K2V1xpgHZNkWccDI6LkOqzDUsmIh0_-Qs7n4nye3zuNKdZ0fyyqRGODysQgMT4fuFmUeNw8s-0SgPrlm2qM74zx2U6VZkWraRK6ZTIsSqk0DFHk/s320/IMG_3511e.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Travel Conditions for various weather conditions in Australian Antarctic Stations<br />
Note: No going outside when wind speeds above your weight e.g. 58 - 59 knots is my limit!</td></tr>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxQZ5bn-ZqA6ntLhK6AQ-ZAjMvsKrl-8dvihfNynhgCwpUP3EcBC7QylJILQPzYzuw4k3am8kJTzAFF6v_Ztw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>So let me pick up where I left
off last time. I’d arrived safely at
Casey after a trip down in the Blue H<span style="color: #252525;">ä</span>gg from Wilkins, for the record a H<span style="color: #252525;">ä</span>gglund trip is not
smoothest or quietest of trips, a bit bumpy and lumpy but loads of fun – well I
think so anyway. I didn’t put this in the last post but here is a very short
clip of what it’s like to ride in a H<span style="color: #252525;">ä</span>gglund (hopefully it works if not you'll have to wait). No sooner had my feet touched the ground at
Casey and I was well and truly back in the mix being thrown into Slushy the
very next day, as one person commented to me “It’s like you’d never left”. Before
we could venture and where outside the red shed we would need an induction by
station leader Paul Ross.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEillWLyvZHjIa7kDtoubQY3NLFnpJjMa_CReGWHuZ9mdgtbC-FiUYcCF3d1YVxRkX5usQEcW5IuUmYG0_pFuTUlqbB6RzS-HMEG0vwug91YtGnQDHvweB_YsfdjwI8t301Rx5BH-_NAeAo/s1600/Wilkese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEillWLyvZHjIa7kDtoubQY3NLFnpJjMa_CReGWHuZ9mdgtbC-FiUYcCF3d1YVxRkX5usQEcW5IuUmYG0_pFuTUlqbB6RzS-HMEG0vwug91YtGnQDHvweB_YsfdjwI8t301Rx5BH-_NAeAo/s400/Wilkese.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wilkes Station in February 2014 covered under snow and ice.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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But before I launch into anything
else perhaps it’s time for a quick history lesson on Casey as the current
station was not the first in this area. Casey station as we know it today is
located on the Bailey Peninsula overlooking Vincennes Bay on the Budd Coast of
Wilkes Land in East Antarctica. However
the first station in the area was the American station Wilkes. This was built
during the International Geophysical Year, 1957-58, the main part took 16 days,
yes that’s right a very short period of time. However in February of 1959
Australia took custody of Wilkes station from the Americans however the
location of the station was less than ideal as it was subject to being buried
in snow and ice. So it was decided to build another station across Newcomb Bay,
this station was known as Casey Repstat (Replacement Station as I have just
learnt). In 1969 the new station was opened and Wilkes was decommissioned, the
station remains and is covered in snow and ice, during the melt the station becomes
slightly exposed and in big melt events the whole station and old tip site can
be seen. As part of the Human Impacts program we visit Wilkes to observe,
photograph and record the tip site and station so standby for a blog post on
Wilkes at a later date.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE94DA0SqHT221O_jhDNLnfnfcvGmRAn6K-_qLc3IlQnSoo_-oNRfDK-dtNkuOPcOXzTtJCHZ5q6HItnuc0alngERnnGZBkVQsfR18ts0w5zjDJHXSmLFH_FCdd5y0FlXi1IwUGCxgF5U/s1600/IMG_2982e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE94DA0SqHT221O_jhDNLnfnfcvGmRAn6K-_qLc3IlQnSoo_-oNRfDK-dtNkuOPcOXzTtJCHZ5q6HItnuc0alngERnnGZBkVQsfR18ts0w5zjDJHXSmLFH_FCdd5y0FlXi1IwUGCxgF5U/s320/IMG_2982e.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The construction of Casey Repstat
started in 1964 and as mentioned was completed in 1969. In order to combat the
build-up of ice the construction of the station including placing the buildings
on stilts with the hope of encouraging the wind to blow beneath as well as
above. The buildings were connected by a corrugated iron tunnel, leading the
station to be known simply and fondly known as “The Tunnel”. However with time
it became evident due to corrosion that Repstat would need to be replaced and
in the late 1980’s construction of the current Casey Red Shed commenced. The
Red Shed was prefabricated in Hobart and was erected on the wharf on Hobart as
a trial before it was dismantled, packaged and shipped to Casey where it was
erected during the summer months. My friend Jason fathers was one of the trades
people who were involved at Casey in the construction phase. The new Casey
station was first occupied in 1988 and over the coming years Casey Repstat was
dismantled, all that remains of the station are some iron bolts in the rocks
and the old chippy’s workshop<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. Casey as it currently exists comprises of the “The Red Shed”
with the West and East wing extensions (the east wing is yet to take occupants)
where all the living quarters are including bedrooms, mess, theatre and
Doctors’ surgery there are various other coloured buildings – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaOu3svkA9qbKR47Dp3sLhCckL4RSz3uRbZk1MrZN7wo_zsTq2MbUJViMAooXjmbovWW514Fer_lGPrcB1F4Epj2OAesLqpigiV6MnIFfu_RcQvpoOw6kErZ_CD16Dfh8tcUZ3ObHA3c8/s1600/5M8A1019e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaOu3svkA9qbKR47Dp3sLhCckL4RSz3uRbZk1MrZN7wo_zsTq2MbUJViMAooXjmbovWW514Fer_lGPrcB1F4Epj2OAesLqpigiV6MnIFfu_RcQvpoOw6kErZ_CD16Dfh8tcUZ3ObHA3c8/s320/5M8A1019e.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Green Buildings of the Water Treatment Facility and CUB<br />
and the Blue Emergency Power House.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Green: the green store (where all the frozen, refrigerated
and warm store foods are kept plus various other supplies), the water treatment
plant and the new Casey Utility Building which is currently being constructed;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Blue: Main and Emergency Power Houses and Ring mains<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Yellow: Operations Building which houses the Comms Team
(Comms Techs and Operators) and the Met Team and the Science Building, home to
all things boffin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Red: Emergency Vehicle Storage (EVS), fire Hägg and also
has the dress ups and band area upstairs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Orange/Yellow: Home to the Field Training Store, and the
workshops for the Sparkies, Chippies, Plumbers and Diesos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">As you can probably imagine the Casey footprint is quite
large. It is however about normal size for an Antarctic research station with
the exception of the American Station McMurdo which has 1100 people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">And where does the name Casey come from?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSE-49Qf-bN8KkCnCQ-1PbBQbPyjSj5zrVKBCL5EXuOPnAzMzzBYjHHN7Ke0SfMe9_LfW4Y3FNa6DzoMJyvmX7vwzp5WOBxNpqvkjzuUowPBWZihakko99zY46ooD8_r1aqAdAfwe0RY/s1600/Lord+Caseye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSE-49Qf-bN8KkCnCQ-1PbBQbPyjSj5zrVKBCL5EXuOPnAzMzzBYjHHN7Ke0SfMe9_LfW4Y3FNa6DzoMJyvmX7vwzp5WOBxNpqvkjzuUowPBWZihakko99zY46ooD8_r1aqAdAfwe0RY/s320/Lord+Caseye.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lord Casey and the plaque for the opening of Casey Repstat<br />
(Old Casey) located now in the Wallow at Casey.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #252525;">Casey Station (Repstat and the current establishment) is
named in honour of Lord Richard Casey served as Australia’s 16</span><sup style="color: #252525;">th</sup><span style="color: #252525;">
Governor General from May 1965 until April 1969. Lord Casey was the member for
the seat of Latrobe in the Menzies' government which came into power in 1949.
He held various ministerial positions including the Minister in charge of the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organisation, what we know as CSIRO.
During this ministerial position Casey became a keen supporter and advocate for
the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) which had been
established under the Labour government in 1947. Stations had been already
established at Heard and Macquarie Islands but not on the continent. As chairman
of the ANARE Executive Planning Committee Lord Casey worked closely with Dr
Phillip Law, the head of the Antarctic Division at the time, and in 1953 he
announced that Australia would send an expedition to Antarctica. This
expedition in 1954 determined the suitable location for a station and in the
December of 1954 saw the establishment of Mawson station. Davis Station was later
established in January 1957. I remember talking with Nod Parsons just before I
left where he told me of being on the ship in 1955 on the way to Mawson to
winter and going into Prydz Bay and at the possible locations for second Australian
station. I feel very fortunate to have met and spent time with Nod hearing him share
and recount his Antarctic and sub-Antarctic stories.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_oanGz3aVxHjBxJxkK53udxgH9r2AAIowZEjSvF2UsrPPoDvCjlWheBEbWJm5LMbs1o5k0IGxgP_mRxSTQsb0_GvjVBKCyATmlv53keAdlFwmPFIG1Fx84rM-kiHVnbisl1deZmjr1Jg/s1600/IMG_2923e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_oanGz3aVxHjBxJxkK53udxgH9r2AAIowZEjSvF2UsrPPoDvCjlWheBEbWJm5LMbs1o5k0IGxgP_mRxSTQsb0_GvjVBKCyATmlv53keAdlFwmPFIG1Fx84rM-kiHVnbisl1deZmjr1Jg/s320/IMG_2923e.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stacking fresh fruit, vegies and eggs from the ship in<br />
the cool store.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Now back to business once we had received the station
induction from the station leader and gone for a walk around the station with
one of the scientists we would be allowed to walk around the station limits and
the recreational limits which include Reeve Hill, the Ski Loop (ski here not
really for walking) and down to the wharf. Although for now the road to the wharf
was a no go as the following day we would be graced by an orange ship in the
bay. Low and behold that Saturday
morning when I got up and headed down to the mess and looked across into the
bay there she was the Aurora Australis in all her safety orange glory packed to
the brim with goodies for the station including food, work equipment and over a
million litres of fuel for the station. Everyone gets assigned duties during
resupply whether it being helping down at the wharf with the containers coming
off the barge from the ship to unpacking the food reefers as the come up to the
Green Store to being part of the refuelling roster. However today I would be in
the kitchen on Slushy which involves washing the dishes from the chefs (we have
three here at Casey over the summer), wiping down tables and benches in the
mess, restocking food items as requested by the chefs, cleaning the common area
in the wallow, doing any additional chores as required by the chefs such as
prepping vegies plus choosing/inflicting station with your music choices. Now
there is more than slushy as with over 80 people on station you can imagine the
number</span>of pots and pans that end up being used in preparing food for everyone,
today there were 3 as there would be old stock coming over from the Green store
to make way for the new food stuffs coming from the ship so a pair of extra
hands would be required.</div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeioMQtghqE7ONC8sXkzCBlmgNdm9E3sfEgCBhff6HmfdnbEWA36_-5s1i1AMunScvQ-Q46A5MblegRfQkGKJfD1limerw-W3YIPoLmKeQfPulbmMWlOyGeQtZMQiKgXFh0MI7D8tXzqM/s1600/5M8A1122e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeioMQtghqE7ONC8sXkzCBlmgNdm9E3sfEgCBhff6HmfdnbEWA36_-5s1i1AMunScvQ-Q46A5MblegRfQkGKJfD1limerw-W3YIPoLmKeQfPulbmMWlOyGeQtZMQiKgXFh0MI7D8tXzqM/s400/5M8A1122e.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marine Scientists came ashore with some flags made by school children<br />
from Kingston, Tasmania.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Mari</span><span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">So let me now tell you the story of Casey Resupply, all
the ins and outs. If I give you the simplified version first: ship arrives; ship
discharges cargo; station receives cargo over multiple days certain containers
are unpacked straight away like food reefers and personal effects which makes
expeditioners very happy; round trip scientists visit station to conduct work; fuel
line is deployed from shore to chip; fuel is pumped to fuel farms; fuel line is
pigged (terminology used to remove any residual fuel from the line prior to
retrieval of the line); fuel line retrieval; Cargo for Return To Australia
(RTA) is sent back to ship over multiple days; ship completes discharge and
acceptance of cargo; ship secures load; ship departs Newcomb Bay – Happy Days.
But it’s never as smooth as this little things like the weather get in the way
and change the course of resupply. During resupply at Casey in my first season
here (2013/14) I remember getting up to do my refuelling duty on Christmas Day which
was walking the fuel line to check for leaks and finding there was no line
there – the line had been pigged. The ship had been called to respond to Maritime
distress call by the<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-07/antarctic-research-delayed-after-aurora-australis-diverted-to-h/5189466" target="_blank"> Akademik Shokalskiy who had become stuck in ice in Commonwealth Bay</a>, the Aurora was one of three ships in the “neighbourhood”, the
other two being the Chinese icebreaker Xuelong and the French vessel Astrolabe</span><span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. The Aurora Australis
returned later with a few extra passengers including one very important
addition - <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/plastic-pooch-still-guarding-antarctic-subcult-20100117-medq.html" target="_blank">Stay</a> </span><span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">to complete
refuelling and resupply duties, it did have to leave the bay one more time
during that resupply as the winds picked up for a couple of days. It was a long
and drawn out event and we were all glad to see the tail end of her that
season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGmzMx0R2y3I-28d4fpwMQkKy6CqnlWd_Z1kpvgNt8uIyV1sx12YQe4WolBYKPlzMHW_NE-HRGS5RRj6DOBIJs3c1Q8dNvo2K_sjQqdiXWBhMTyj2qOcn8O7LMeweMkQJxCYUw6Bs38w/s1600/5M8A1011e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGmzMx0R2y3I-28d4fpwMQkKy6CqnlWd_Z1kpvgNt8uIyV1sx12YQe4WolBYKPlzMHW_NE-HRGS5RRj6DOBIJs3c1Q8dNvo2K_sjQqdiXWBhMTyj2qOcn8O7LMeweMkQJxCYUw6Bs38w/s400/5M8A1011e.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Peter Gormly makes its way to the Aurora Australis to collect another<br />
load of cargo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Resupply this season ran smoothly like clockwork and was
not a repeat of what seemed like the never ending resupply I encountered in
13/14. Each station employs different methods to get cargo to shore. M</span><span style="color: #252525;">acquarie
Island where I have spent two summer seasons uses <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/living-and-working/travel-and-logistics/small-watercraft/larc" target="_blank">LARCs</a> (Lighter, Amphibious, Resupply, Cargo)</span><span style="color: #252525;"> and helicopters for ship to
shore operations and then helicopters to resupply and collect RTA from the
field huts down island. At Davis resupply is done over ice with some early high
priority cargo flown off before the ship reaches its fast ice position, later
in the season a top up resupply is carried out using helicopters. Cargo at
Casey and Mawson is transported from ship to shore via a jet barge, this year
the lucky barge to make the trip to Casey was the Peter Gormly. The cargo is offloaded from the ship
and brought to shore using the barge where it loaded from the barge onto trucks
using the crane at the wharf and then bought up to station where the container
is unloaded. Now depending what the container/cage pallet holds then depends
whether it gets unpacked straight away or it is left until after resupply. In
the case of the containers which have the food (which come in reefers at -18 or
+4), the station alcohol and personal effects, these are unloaded straight away
or as soon as possible. Other items which get unpacked immediately is anything
which may be required in an operational sense. Casey unlike the other 3
Australian Antarctic Division stations is fortunate to have the A319 and C17
flights and gets fresh food top ups, needless to say I am slowly making my way
through the oranges and pears that came in on resupply.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPc3CvFq7MF8TkZP7Q4ARghWgUoxztmSw_3eJtHzGvn2hpm3SVnriH8usCZ-QWhkVSY9iIfNtUdag5Pm09t3j3xNF9bonQ7j8b6uCTHby65ehvX7VPw81cC9BDy2J3XfsdjfcmYDExJE4/s1600/16_12_21_refuele.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPc3CvFq7MF8TkZP7Q4ARghWgUoxztmSw_3eJtHzGvn2hpm3SVnriH8usCZ-QWhkVSY9iIfNtUdag5Pm09t3j3xNF9bonQ7j8b6uCTHby65ehvX7VPw81cC9BDy2J3XfsdjfcmYDExJE4/s320/16_12_21_refuele.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fuel line going from ship to shore with the IRBs patrolling<br />
the line and pushing bergy bits out of the way.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ZbYnuvVW1Zg-f1pxouBsUYsEc_f6vXiT2MSkU4_u0-dPlkuWqV3ylFUcV3Fr2x5mNizF_l8V6BNklzJu3PTBdPa9xxokE60mRyeX_xo4_DGhleGJC18td5L_oaqMkiwCYl5GIjfp7Xg/s1600/Pat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="color: #252525;">Now one of the big and very important tasks of resupply is
refuelling the station! In order to carry out refuelling good weather is
required for the period. Unlike Macquarie Island where I am used to seeing refuelling occur in a single day with about 8
hours of pumping (a lot less fuel is transferred at the Sponge), refuelling at
Casey requires a couple of days and pumping of the fuel is done around the
clock until the job is complete, endless days during summer help with this.
Casey has two fuel farms, the lower and the upper farm where Special Antarctic
Blend fuel is stored to run the station and Wilkins Aerodrome, fuel is
transferred and transported up to Wilkins every couple of weeks. During
refuelling there are various jobs which are carried out: setup and pressure
testing of the fuel line, on the IRBs pushing bergy bits off the line and checking the line for leaks during the
pumping, walking the fuel line to check for leaks and the monitoring at both
upper and lower fuel farms. This season I had drawn the upper fuel farm
monitoring, my partner in crime for this would be none other than Dieso Pat.
Pat works up at Perisher during the winter maintaining their plant up there, he
trained the guys form the AAD on the maintenance, fine tuning and operation of
the groomers and other equipment used at the </span><span style="color: #252525;">Wilkins, Casey and Davis ski ways
and last winter. I still remember one of the first conversations I had with
Pat, he asked if I’d been to Perisher as he knew the snowflake necklace I was
wearing came from the Alpine Bear. </span><span style="color: #252525;">We had good chat about snow sports, where to
go skiing/boarding and what he did at Perisher.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ZbYnuvVW1Zg-f1pxouBsUYsEc_f6vXiT2MSkU4_u0-dPlkuWqV3ylFUcV3Fr2x5mNizF_l8V6BNklzJu3PTBdPa9xxokE60mRyeX_xo4_DGhleGJC18td5L_oaqMkiwCYl5GIjfp7Xg/s1600/Pat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ZbYnuvVW1Zg-f1pxouBsUYsEc_f6vXiT2MSkU4_u0-dPlkuWqV3ylFUcV3Fr2x5mNizF_l8V6BNklzJu3PTBdPa9xxokE60mRyeX_xo4_DGhleGJC18td5L_oaqMkiwCYl5GIjfp7Xg/s320/Pat.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pat the Dieso, partner in crime for Upper Fuel Farm monitoring.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">There are various shift times for the refuelling roster
and we’d also been allotted 12:00 – 16:00 and then 00:00 – 04:00, not the most
pleasant of times but for someone who doesn’t require huge amounts of sleep
worked out just fine. An added advantage of having a room in the West Wing is
that your room is sooo dark, no windows, it makes it much easier to sleep
especially when on shift. Our first shift was at 12:00 and while mainly
uneventful, however we did help with collecting the hose from the barge and
bring it to shore before it was towed out to the ship to be connected. Brad
Collins is in charge of station refuelling so Pat, Lucius and I worked with him
to bring the fuel line up over the ice – we didn’t go on the ice we pulled it
up using another rope which it had been attached to and placed there by the
field training officers (FTOs). Once at the connection point Brad and Pat
connected the hose. The line was then pressure tested before it was time to
pump the SAB to some of the ISO tanks down at the lower fuel farm, once these
were filled they began pumping to the upper fuel farm, this happened on our
first shift. Prior to this though Franz and Brad had come down from Wilkins and
needed to fill up the fuel tank to take back up the hill, this was done before refuelling
started. Once refuelling commenced the person on the focsle would radio in
every fifteen minutes for the level in the tank we were filling. The first tank
we needed to fill was not empty so within that first shift we to</span><span style="color: #252525;">pped up that
tank before opening the valve to the next tank - I learnt a bit about how the
fuel tank system operates. Pat and I did a quick calculation and worked out
that we should have one more shift before the upper fuel farm was completely
full. This season Brad would be trying to pump 1 million litres of SAB fuel to
station, that’s a lot of fuel!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh018RV0wqPpCN5-xNzDXOC2tcki4ElwksgqysjD0VtOsFhCK2A6AUBM3eQTpNUuS2LJyYQm6JaX_JuqUauIQXFsVO44dmm3tUpLB3EWSqn85bJnOasQmYoxtzJ47wbL3UqN2MyzlVu3EE/s1600/Berg2e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh018RV0wqPpCN5-xNzDXOC2tcki4ElwksgqysjD0VtOsFhCK2A6AUBM3eQTpNUuS2LJyYQm6JaX_JuqUauIQXFsVO44dmm3tUpLB3EWSqn85bJnOasQmYoxtzJ47wbL3UqN2MyzlVu3EE/s400/Berg2e.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The colours in the wee hours of the morning on a berg way in the distance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">So with our first shift over is was back to the Red Shed
for some rest, I went to the gym before getting about 4.5 hours sleep. At about
10:45 there were a group of blear eyed people in the mess eating “dinner”
before heading off to their respective refuelling duties. Pat and I headed back
to the Upper Fuel Farm – standing on top of the tanks you are quite exposed to
the elements so it can get quite chilly up there but you also get the most
amazing views. Yes it did cool down during the early morning shift, my index
fingers are always the first thing that go numb and start to get painful but
the pain was dulled by the amazing colours in the sky and the snow petrel
flying display we were treated to in the wee hours of morning. The sky was pink
with a purplish hue in colour and the water was like glass the reflection of
the ship almost mirror like. There was not a ripple except for those caused by
the IRBs as the carefully manoeuvred up and down the lines checking it and
pushing little bergy bits that could pierce it. One of the boat operators on
this shift was Noel Tennant whose job back Kingston HQ is in operations in
particular he works with the chefs on station, why mention Noel as I’d like to
thank him for not finding my peanut butter and eating it, thank you Noel!!! As it drew close to the end of the shift Pat
and I noticed a change in the water, it looked like there was a breeze across
the top of it but it wasn’t. Ice had started to form, this ice is known as
grease ice and forms before pancake ice forms, interested to know more about
ice formation in the sea check out this link: </span><a href="http://aspect.antarctica.gov.au/home/about-sea-ice/ice-formation">http://aspect.antarctica.gov.au/home/about-sea-ice/ice-formation</a><span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. It was then time to tag with
Woll and Lenneke and head off for a bite to eat and bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3Lgla0uWxVbhcOt91dUuy_l4m4PuQLaVi7YwSJyEPim0__Ojmk2fRAozQqMwTNPdJrfVzslTCYPk2U4D4_KxZs3sIqI9BdqncMDRZ6UgfbOSkkzXClLs46vEFSZQb0RVMhcgX66lFck/s1600/AA+in+evening+glowe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3Lgla0uWxVbhcOt91dUuy_l4m4PuQLaVi7YwSJyEPim0__Ojmk2fRAozQqMwTNPdJrfVzslTCYPk2U4D4_KxZs3sIqI9BdqncMDRZ6UgfbOSkkzXClLs46vEFSZQb0RVMhcgX66lFck/s400/AA+in+evening+glowe.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taken about 3:00am in the morning from the Upper Fuel Farm,<br />
so still and quiet and amazing colours.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The next day refuelling to the upper fuel farm had been
complete so we walked down to the lower fuel farm to help out on anything that
we could, also my body clock was out from the shifts. Pat helped out on filling
the ISO tanks and I gave a hand switching in between the tanks which were being
used to fill the ISO tanks. At the end of that shift I got a ride back up to
station with Johan who was driving the Mack Truck, I was even allowed to blow
the horn – no it doesn’t have one on the steering wheel it has a pulley </span><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> As refuelling had been completed
in the upper fuel farm Pat and I were now stood down from the refuelling roster
which meant I could go back to duties on the Remediation site. But that wasn’t to last for long as it was
time to do this little thing called Survival Training or as I like to call it –
“How much sleep can you really get in a Chip Packet?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4TrUOy4W0YGQycTK_jJzsZmE9sm1aQIfy8Nwlj1u7UW_okgpgf4uK6z8SpuMGufAY1zPArE0GTL5E_Hm_sJpOLFXhSuhWW9R47R2H4W-XUwZjrS6Yg0IOVMsEpE51bbGo8SX4D028XU/s1600/Mack+Truck+Timee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4TrUOy4W0YGQycTK_jJzsZmE9sm1aQIfy8Nwlj1u7UW_okgpgf4uK6z8SpuMGufAY1zPArE0GTL5E_Hm_sJpOLFXhSuhWW9R47R2H4W-XUwZjrS6Yg0IOVMsEpE51bbGo8SX4D028XU/s320/Mack+Truck+Timee.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big Boss, Little Boss and the Mack Truck.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">But you’re just going to have to wait for that in part 2
as I’ve managed to drag part 1 on for way too long and I’m worried about you all
falling asleep out there. So wait you must for part 2 and the quote as they
will come together with the tales of the Gobbledok monster (for those of you
unsure what I’m talking about click on this <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobbledok" target="_blank">Gobbledok</a></span><span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">). So until then - Chiiiipeees or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Cookies-by-Julia-1123897544292756/" target="_blank">Penguin Cookie by Julia</a> in this case!!!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><br /></span><span style="color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi12UmOf3zWFESE0u5_BeEhVEliv8QIpvRYpvkZtbCTW0uQU-Z53DpaePz5SS5ss9zFZr26RDdU9L10LoAFNlAjqBmzqOD8se2wOGvCBevfQ285vnCNVka195qj57uPL7W114z1zjQgTh0/s1600/Mel_cookie2e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi12UmOf3zWFESE0u5_BeEhVEliv8QIpvRYpvkZtbCTW0uQU-Z53DpaePz5SS5ss9zFZr26RDdU9L10LoAFNlAjqBmzqOD8se2wOGvCBevfQ285vnCNVka195qj57uPL7W114z1zjQgTh0/s320/Mel_cookie2e.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hmmm Penguin Cookie and some Orange Ship.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<o:p></o:p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479149923221412188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1548542197123698153.post-26494273765627084472017-01-04T05:19:00.001-08:002017-01-04T05:19:35.074-08:00See you when I see you, not if I see you first - Never ending goodbyes and Valpen returns to the ice.<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56eUTM040HncgjttpRZhexW__Cr6uEt42DuYc8rInUhx1Mq6qEtxK-KP2W-SPzV4empZlHEhY3dHfWfvmeRtHIBmRoB-1XKhTTRRkEPR3M-EjxfLAszwINo-FErDlYRKAT7gsE2YrQz8/s1600/5M8A0999e.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56eUTM040HncgjttpRZhexW__Cr6uEt42DuYc8rInUhx1Mq6qEtxK-KP2W-SPzV4empZlHEhY3dHfWfvmeRtHIBmRoB-1XKhTTRRkEPR3M-EjxfLAszwINo-FErDlYRKAT7gsE2YrQz8/s320/5M8A0999e.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How far away are you from Casey?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Well when I started writing this
I was two hours into the four and a half hour flight down to Wilkins aerodrome
from Hobart airport – it’s taken me over two weeks to finish writing this blog
post! Normally passengers for the Australian Antarctic Program who fly to the
continent go on the A319, affectionately known as Snowbird, however this was
not the case for me. I was fortunate enough to go on the chartered RAAF C-17A
Globemaster III. The AAD began using the C-17 last year (15/16 season) where a
number of proving flights were conducted. These included a simulated medivac,
transporting back to Hobart from station a Challenger tractor for service and
various cargo bits and pieces – the lads may have had a hit out of cricket at
Wilkins at the time. Fast forward to the 16/17 and there are several C-17
flights scheduled for the season. The first C17 flight of the season took the helicopters
in for the glacier work that has been conducted at Casey: <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2016/impact-of-east-antarctic-glacial-melt-on-sea-level-rise" target="_blank">Impact of East Antarctica glacial melt on sea-level rise</a>, the
third saw the successful deployment of 40 drums of fuel in to the Bunger Hills, check out the video here: <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2016/deep-field-air-drop-supports-antarctic-science" target="_blank">Deep-field air drop supports Antarctic science</a> and the one that I am on currently (16/12) has a little
cargo going in but its main priority is to collect the helicopters and bring
them back to Hobart. Yes it’s taken me a while to finish this one!</div>
<br />
But let’s step back in time a
couple of weeks – how long can you stretch out good byes? Well if you’re me it
can be a while. It all started when one Sunday (27/11) I realised it would be
my last Metafit Class with the Sunday crew at the Kingborough Gym before I
headed to Casey. For those who have never heard of Metafit it is high intensity
interval training which takes a mere 30 minutes (that’s one of the longer ones
to!). Due to other bits and pieces over the next couple of Sundays were filled
up with other engagements. So at the end of the Hammer Fist Metafit it was time
to say bye to Tamara and the rest of the crew. I would have one more Metafit
session the following Thursday. The Friday that week also saw the finally time
for 2016 I would attend Power Hour with Lisa O – things were starting to begin
to feel real, time was running out to get everything done before heading south.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpFKOKrtRR3vMQDApJejXwgnPX2xuBRK9Z2W7jcOKMNwb5dG5u_400eeKITKwBtOn4YJqABktyn3A-JQ8U-WbYoezv2r9jUYnPsbtqc3uTJI13Fvize5k-3W6UGqZ55238hSSxEuvuTDI/s1600/Nod.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpFKOKrtRR3vMQDApJejXwgnPX2xuBRK9Z2W7jcOKMNwb5dG5u_400eeKITKwBtOn4YJqABktyn3A-JQ8U-WbYoezv2r9jUYnPsbtqc3uTJI13Fvize5k-3W6UGqZ55238hSSxEuvuTDI/s320/Nod.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nod and Jennifer Parsons at Nod's ANARE<br />
Club life membership presentation.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The following week I had lunch
with Nod Parsons and his wife Jennifer, Nod was an ANARE expeditioner who went
to Macqaurie Island in the early 1950s and in the mid 1960’s as well as to Mawson
in the mid 1950s. I met Nod when I was asked to present his ANARE Club life
membership in early September this year. Nod was an auroral physicist that ran
the cosmic ray huts at both Macquarie Island and Mawson. Nod has a great array
of stories including when the cosmic ray hut was built at Macca where they
started construction from both ends and no there was not a gap they actually
had an overlap. The only remnants of the hut at Macca is a single concrete
block on the west side as the hut burnt down some 4 to 5 years after it was
constructed.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My next set of goodbyes would be
at Cath King’s place where a few of us had gathered to say good bye to the one
and only Helena, aka H/H-Bomb. Helena has just embarked on a very exciting adventure as part of the
<a href="http://polar.epfl.ch/page-131984-en.html" target="_blank">Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE)</a> voyage which set sail on the <span style="background: white;">Russian research vessel Akademik Treshnikov </span>from Cape Town in South Africa in late
December.
The ACE projects is comprised of 22 projects, 55 researchers and 19 countries.
A number of different projects from biology to climatology to oceanography will
studied to gain a better understanding of Antarctica and in turn the whole planet.
If you want to keep a track of this what is going on you can follow the journey
on twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/ACE_Expedition">https://twitter.com/ACE_Expedition</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4s5nFQlRGQCSU8SutHDNIl8xsG8vPiE2tvlOjFaX_8_GX8PIZI7jzeHYHjUv_BA47DltWNOM8EhozST_4xz0JgpNa-JFsEtpXCM7rwTUpuhzvxid81W51_rqbwnhAlWmeNqmmTZAG9Wo/s1600/Big+Boot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4s5nFQlRGQCSU8SutHDNIl8xsG8vPiE2tvlOjFaX_8_GX8PIZI7jzeHYHjUv_BA47DltWNOM8EhozST_4xz0JgpNa-JFsEtpXCM7rwTUpuhzvxid81W51_rqbwnhAlWmeNqmmTZAG9Wo/s200/Big+Boot.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louise and I at the Big Ugg Boot, Thorton</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The very next day I headed north
to the big island up to New Castle and then onto Maitland for my good friend
Danielle’s wedding in the Hunter Valley. Danielle was a PhD student who was from Macquarie
University in Sydney who did part of her studies at the AAD and I was fortunate
to spend the summer of 2013/14 at Casey with her – we were known as the Pocket
Rockets. So arriving on the Friday at New Castle airport it was a tad warmer
than Hobart then it was hurry up and wait for the bus to take me to Maitland
East. Across the runway at New Castle airport is the RAAF Williamtown Base, so
while waiting for the bus to show I got treated to a Spartan flying over and
two Hornets doing a little bit of a fly by, they were buzzing around. And I
also got to see the aircraft that would take me down to the frozen continent
the next week – the C-17 Globemaster III. To cut a long story short the wedding
was amazing and it was good to catch up with a few of the Casey crew. Whilst
also in the area Louise (forecaster with BOM who has been to Davis, Casey and
Macca) and I also visited the big Ugg Boot in Thorton It was then back to
Hobart to put the finishing touches on preparations prior to heading south. And
over that weekend something else unfolded – I found out that a good friend
would be returning back to Australia from Davis for medical reasons, just the A
Factor hitting early. Lucky for Goldie that he’d get back before I left so he
could be greeted by the small welcoming committee that was Cliff and myself at
the airport – not sure he’d call it that though he might use other words
instead!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhov-LkEgRKJxQrOey3DZMY9tYIoT9ejCQ6Q0EPnxy96yZbXZMOcXIgG4NvJjqIxUSgNCmp-P3Wgo3vcfjIIqB0VJ7bpqHrk__msbR9-SzXqSNi4PhWYIvNnwhK0EGdKfuRJtItXIaB1t4/s1600/Danielle%2527s+wedding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhov-LkEgRKJxQrOey3DZMY9tYIoT9ejCQ6Q0EPnxy96yZbXZMOcXIgG4NvJjqIxUSgNCmp-P3Wgo3vcfjIIqB0VJ7bpqHrk__msbR9-SzXqSNi4PhWYIvNnwhK0EGdKfuRJtItXIaB1t4/s320/Danielle%2527s+wedding.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danielle and Reese's Wedding</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Before I knew it Thursday rolled
around and it was time for the preflight briefing. This consists of a series of
short presentations including cleaning your gear prior to departure (the motto
is take it clean or take it new) and is important in ensuring alien species are
not introduced into Antarctica, about and how to prepare for the flight and what
to expect on landing at Wilkins Aerodrome. We were then also briefed on
additional safety items specific for travelling on the C-17 before being told
we would need to be at the airport at 5:30 am the next morning for a 7 am
departure, not too bad but still early. Later that evening we got an updated
departure time of 5 am which meant being at the airport by no later than 3:30
am!! This meant I should have had an early night but those that know me well
know that this is next to near impossible. After the preflight briefing I
returned back to my place to do the final bits and pieces and catch up with Mum
and Dad, thanks Geoff for my awesome Christmas present of Family Feud the game.
After wood fired pizza from Lower Sandy Bay I then put the final touches on my
packing before toddling off to bed, but as is the case before I leave on any
early morning flight sleep was minimal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the ungodly hour of 2:15 am my alarm went off it was time
to extract myself out of bed, get dressed and move on out to the airport, a big
thank you to Goldie for collecting me and taking me out to the airport at that rather rude hour. The reason for the time
being bought forward was that the weather was meant to crack up later in the
day and there were two helicopters that needed to be transported back from
Casey/Wilkins to Hobart. Leaving earlier meant that the weather time frame
would be more amenable to operations. So at the hour of 3:30 some 10 or so
bleary eyed people collected at the Virgin Check in area at Hobart International
Airport. It was here that Micky from the AAD handed me the newspapers that I
was to hand over to the lads at Wilkins Aerodrome. Micky then loaded us and our
gear onto the bus and we made the very short journey to the where the C-17
would be waiting. But before boarding our winged chariot we went into a small
building with all our kit where we were informed that they would be checking
all our kit bags. We filled out a dangerous goods declaration and then it was
time for the check which was painless and quick – talk about efficiency. All I
had to show them was the spare batteries for my cameras which were packaged
correctly with their terminals sealed. We then grabbed our gear and all filed
back onto the bus where we sat for about 30 minutes while the flight crew, load
masters and technicians completed their checks. We then drove less than 300m to
the beast and loaded ourselves and our gear on up through the rear hatch of the
plane. Sorry I have no pictures of the plane myself but here’s one from the RAAF
web page to give you an idea of the size of the beast.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09_t2zde8H_HgV9cTq_8XtQ0TjqAwityPAt3Bm_x7AznvXCEnitbhIK6vMGjyZydXTEqzNV1UuG3vaXtCN7o4K77jPZGgkudzaYag27ui9yrhMY3FuD-KDyX8ZQZhg7_PjXaVYy8jTNI/s1600/C-17A-Globemaster-III.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09_t2zde8H_HgV9cTq_8XtQ0TjqAwityPAt3Bm_x7AznvXCEnitbhIK6vMGjyZydXTEqzNV1UuG3vaXtCN7o4K77jPZGgkudzaYag27ui9yrhMY3FuD-KDyX8ZQZhg7_PjXaVYy8jTNI/s320/C-17A-Globemaster-III.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C-17 Globemaster III picture from RAAF webpage:<br />
http://www.airforce.gov.au/Technology/Aircraft/C-17A_Globemaster/?RAAF-h0719xJ/eXjMFO8eLULT2D7U+C9pXnFB:</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the final checks all done we
were then sealed into the plane with tail hatch being closed. This was followed
by the RAAF crew briefing us on emergency procedures and the locations of items
such as personal flotation devices, oxygen masks, toilets and the all-important
eskys with food. With our bags, including our red survival bags, and the cargo
secured safely to the floor down the centre of the plane it was then time to
take our seats which were located on the side of the plane. We belted up and
began to move, it was very disorientating sitting in a large space with not
many windows not know which direction you were travelling or when you’d hit the
end of the runway ready for take-off. At about 4:50am the noise coming from the
C-17 stallion jet engines changed and the speed of the large craft increased,
the sudden movement pushing us sideways in our seats – you definitely knew when
we had left the ground as it felt like a steep climb upwards into the sky. Like
a normal civilian aircraft when the Captain turned off the fasten seat belt
sign we were free to move around the large, spacious “cabin” – advantage number
1 of the C-17, oodles of space to stretch out and move around. However there
are a couple of down sides: the noise (noise cancelling head phones are an
essential) and lack of windows. There were four larger porthole sized windows
that you could look out of lucky for us it was pretty cloudy the whole way, but
on the whole it was a very enjoyable flight down.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZycYGa38k2mM00izvZQ8MlcsbTYW-cj7gfGh_dGtz4nl_qL8cgbd4R0S7w1s61POyPnooEarTZfCaKT5JfL6EXtAOTkeE36qG8UnU1Kbh4MEeoslwfOIdN0rDwV93r_rkRCRo0Z7rok/s1600/Arrival+at+Wilkins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZycYGa38k2mM00izvZQ8MlcsbTYW-cj7gfGh_dGtz4nl_qL8cgbd4R0S7w1s61POyPnooEarTZfCaKT5JfL6EXtAOTkeE36qG8UnU1Kbh4MEeoslwfOIdN0rDwV93r_rkRCRo0Z7rok/s320/Arrival+at+Wilkins.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back on the ice at Wilkins Aerodrome with a couple of<br />
flying machines in the distance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW0b8sPQntGO92e1e6wJ3_Jrw9MIWfHwca-lGRgvBpufPJoWIMeAxKSA5agPhqi-PEcBNBh0MviL78MJfZHR7TjIpSU3a1OlmlmIB0vFzoCD_6-Rw6Ju0KCKoVzpRC3-oPhj1FsKHdB0/s1600/Jelly+Beanse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>As we approached Wilkins and we
began to make our descent it was time to get into our warm gear and survival
outer layers. Not too long after you could feel the plane pitch as it changed
direction and its speed slowing as it made its final approach to the blue ice
runway. The sound of the landing gear being deployed signalled the soon we
would be touching down and just like that the wheels hit the ground and the
plane began to break. Now I learnt from Sealy (William Seal) who is the diesel
mechanic up at Wilkins that the C-17 takes nearly 2/3 of the runway to slow
down completely. In order to aid this the ice run way has snow mixed into it to
give it a higher friction rate enabling the plane to come to a safe stop. We
waited for a little while before the Wilkins manager, Jeff, boarded the
aircraft and gave us a briefing on the conditions at Wilkins. Three years when
I arrived at Wilkins I had recently ruptured my PCL and was wearing my knee
brace and was instructed by then Wilkins manager Micky to be very, very
careful. Jeff said the conditions were fine and boot chains would not be
required – I was still uber careful as I made my way down the steps, departing
the plane from the front this time as the cargo was being discharged from the
tail.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW0b8sPQntGO92e1e6wJ3_Jrw9MIWfHwca-lGRgvBpufPJoWIMeAxKSA5agPhqi-PEcBNBh0MviL78MJfZHR7TjIpSU3a1OlmlmIB0vFzoCD_6-Rw6Ju0KCKoVzpRC3-oPhj1FsKHdB0/s1600/Jelly+Beanse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW0b8sPQntGO92e1e6wJ3_Jrw9MIWfHwca-lGRgvBpufPJoWIMeAxKSA5agPhqi-PEcBNBh0MviL78MJfZHR7TjIpSU3a1OlmlmIB0vFzoCD_6-Rw6Ju0KCKoVzpRC3-oPhj1FsKHdB0/s200/Jelly+Beanse.JPG" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Window won't stay shut, try<br />
Stu's Jelly Bean Method! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We then made our way to the Ops
building where I handed over the precious cargo of newspapers to Wilkins chef
Adam. I was then greeted by Jenn (a senior AGSO from Casey) who was returning
home, I’d left a mango on the plane for her as a treat. I then encountered a
masked individual in a blue Carhartt jacket who according to Jenn I apparently
knew. It took the peeling back of a neck warmer to see the ginger hair which
belonged to my good friend Stu – YAY Stu would be driving me down to station
along with Lucas and Wei Wei from the ICECAP Team in the blue Hägg, K14 I think from memory, which
came complete with jelly beans to hold the passenger’s window closed. After a
quick chat it was time to depart for station. As we turned our back to head off
the Wilkins lads continued to unload the plane and then load the two heli
resources helicopters on board ready for their trip back home.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2X8D2OQFm_M5zdWZeAMkZ_VzSvoXbIv0H6G16OsoAdS24cIaDqqNPy-_7JaAZ_ndO9nmTnQpDT8hB-AjqwcYR11HJlNPvu8Rflxt0l-YOGn6LDqkv_NSC2M0I4cYSBeL4s6sPw0fUwOo/s1600/Race+Karts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2X8D2OQFm_M5zdWZeAMkZ_VzSvoXbIv0H6G16OsoAdS24cIaDqqNPy-_7JaAZ_ndO9nmTnQpDT8hB-AjqwcYR11HJlNPvu8Rflxt0l-YOGn6LDqkv_NSC2M0I4cYSBeL4s6sPw0fUwOo/s320/Race+Karts.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mario Karts Antarctic style - meet two of the Casey Hägglunds</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was time for the Mario karts
of Antarctica, the blue and green Hägglunds, to make the 70 km journey to
station. Stu led off and we had a good chin wag on the way down – you use
headsets to talk to each other as it is quite noisy inside the machines. Not
only is it quite noisy but it’s also quite bumpy there is no nice sealed
highway down to station. The A-line down to station is marked with GPS
way points enabling people to travel if they need to in white out conditions, no
need on that day as the sun was out and there was great definition between the
blue sky and the white land which seemed stretch on forever. Now the I soon
realised that one jelly bean was insufficient to keep the window from sliding
open so this was upgraded to two – I think the combination of one black and one
orange worked the best but am still open to other options as the window still
likes to come open as we found out recently on a field trip to Jack’s Donga
(more about that in couple of blogs time).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu9Cmbe5LFR5VEnusF4pxESokkTKQHHFKLSlSyhp1jiihR1hq1bztvM4myi0BE5Y7gDvcaXOMVhs1w8Uxi7PamtSejDA4VFphr-g8BtnjRapzOVhccfRkq1uEtMVucKGvCDvdJIlivMQ4/s1600/Ustrasanae.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu9Cmbe5LFR5VEnusF4pxESokkTKQHHFKLSlSyhp1jiihR1hq1bztvM4myi0BE5Y7gDvcaXOMVhs1w8Uxi7PamtSejDA4VFphr-g8BtnjRapzOVhccfRkq1uEtMVucKGvCDvdJIlivMQ4/s320/Ustrasanae.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a bit of a stretch on the way down to Casey,<br />
it's hard with all that gear on and Sorel boots!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now we could have ploughed through to station not stopping
on the way, which takes about 3.5 hours, but instead we stopped at the
Antarctic circle for a break and photos – kind of like when, for those that
live in Tasmania, you stop at Campbell Town to stretch your legs as you make
your way from one end of the state to the other. So it was here I decided to do
have a stretch and broke out Camel Posture (ustrasana) – thanks to photographer
Stu for capturing this moment. It was then back into the Hägg and with Tripod’s
Hot Dog Man blaring out the head sets we got back to the task at hand and got
back on the white road with icy aqua blue patches to the side and headed down
to station. As we made our way down on the left hand side we started to see the
ocean and the ice cliffs in the areas nearby. One rocky outcrop with two large
antennae looked familiar and when I asked Stu if Robbo’s was over in that
direction he said “Yep!”<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0gJT0ZY9gh30U8l6fDgUldpdXlakpcDZ3FgLyNeJ9NHRqcuQuSD9ASPmAhfXwfqQg4sDS0uMERK-UwaWILMgXjXooRbelnYPWq9opk1LD0yFQgv8nugmspxEFe3WvTeLryr_rzHdtCH8/s1600/Lola.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0gJT0ZY9gh30U8l6fDgUldpdXlakpcDZ3FgLyNeJ9NHRqcuQuSD9ASPmAhfXwfqQg4sDS0uMERK-UwaWILMgXjXooRbelnYPWq9opk1LD0yFQgv8nugmspxEFe3WvTeLryr_rzHdtCH8/s320/Lola.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May favorite cafe,<br />
Cafe Lola, makes it to Antarctica</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We then passed the turn off to
Browning and then as we made our way closer a Basler aircraft passed over the
top of us, I knew that meant we were close by the ski way. We then passed the
sign to Jacks and at this point as we started to head down the hill I could see
forever changing blue sea (tonight, 1/1/17, it is a grey indigo blue) with the
stark white ice bergs in the distance and the bays in front of me that Casey
Station, which is situated on the Bailey Peninsular, looks out onto. I saw the
familiar shapes to my right of the moraine line and the rocky outcrops which
lead the way to Wilkes Hut and the old Wilkes Station. And in the distance on
my left I could see the coloured buildings that make up Casey Research Station.
As we approached Penguin Pass I remembered when I helped my friend Zbyněk, a
remote sensing biologist, with some of his work on Antarctic moss in <a href="http://www.ats.aq/devPH/apa/ep_protected_detail.aspx?type=2&id=40&lang=e" target="_blank">Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) 135</a>,
which was on my right. Stu then radioed into station to let Comms know we had
arrived on station.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We then drove up to the Red Shed,
the living quarters, at the heart of Casey Station and out we tumbled, tired
but I was pleased to be back. We made our way in, found our rooms in the West
Wing and then had a bite to eat – our luggage would arrive latter with the rest
of the cargo. At lunch I was greeted by some familiar faces in the remediation
team – B (Bianca), Bec, Ness, Jack and Jake and I got the biggest hug from
Johan. Later that afternoon we had a station induction which meant we could
leave the confines of the Red Shed. Being tired from an early start and a day
full of travel I just took it easy, well easy for me. Unlike last time I was
here where resupply was at least 2-3 weeks after I arrived when I would wake
tomorrow there would be an orange ship in Newcomb Bay meaning no rest for the
wicked – I was back and on slushy that very next day. But you’ll just have to
wait for the “Tale of the Orange Ship and the Gobbledock Monster that slept in
a Yellow Chip Packet” until next time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVMs0zW6YoOHsRMiw2ajYuXmbqm71SMx_ZNE88_EAxIq_IwuRJrFmlLeNl7nZk0Yk3LRojZivEJ0IPaSSFm1rOYGqsYCD4rnqUF2Dv3KcKKFtaWxGGoAYmak10p4rcoywfN2xuFlVQxI/s1600/Last+pice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVMs0zW6YoOHsRMiw2ajYuXmbqm71SMx_ZNE88_EAxIq_IwuRJrFmlLeNl7nZk0Yk3LRojZivEJ0IPaSSFm1rOYGqsYCD4rnqUF2Dv3KcKKFtaWxGGoAYmak10p4rcoywfN2xuFlVQxI/s320/Last+pice.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Yellow Chip Packet and Collective Hub,<br />
only in Antarctica!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For so many years as a child, teenager and adult I lacked
belief in many things convincing myself that certain things were impossible and
it was no use even attempting them. I now look at all I have achieved and
contributed to and know that the impossible is not otherwise I wouldn’t be
where I am today – back here on the ice. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I’ll leave you with this quote as it sums up some of the thought patterns I’ve had over the past couple of years. Until next time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
“It always seems impossible until
it is done” Nelson Mandela<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479149923221412188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1548542197123698153.post-27359010149560571162016-12-12T19:51:00.003-08:002016-12-12T19:51:28.114-08:00The Clothes Horse Rides Again ...<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The Clothes Horse Rides Again ...<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When I was in year 12 this was a discussion that would quite often happen between my father and I (haven't let you down Dad managed to acquire something waiting for my flight the other day).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“So what did you do during your line off Friday afternoon this week young lady?” Dad<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“A bit of study and then went to
the Mall with the girls.” 17 year old Lauren<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Ahh the Clothes Horse.” Dad<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTV2c1brXyYVmDLvjk2sTmHV4aCbRSJHUVun4x9u2WOH7pVJ6tZ1O6wks_bxShAaJ7V2BcwkPebmWYilMzwXkyHHqKsbYz0-RpaxD5QNZ_eXZ06uHH0Oy7ANcdgC37UWM-BS142Ijbao/s1600/Swild-upper16121308450_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTV2c1brXyYVmDLvjk2sTmHV4aCbRSJHUVun4x9u2WOH7pVJ6tZ1O6wks_bxShAaJ7V2BcwkPebmWYilMzwXkyHHqKsbYz0-RpaxD5QNZ_eXZ06uHH0Oy7ANcdgC37UWM-BS142Ijbao/s320/Swild-upper16121308450_0001.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dad helping me in the Drive Thru in<br />
Devonport on McHappy Day about 20 years ago</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At the age of 15 I got a job at
McDonald’s when it opened in Devonport in order to fund myself on my school
French trip to New Caledonia. I worked there handing out brown paper bags and ice cream cones hanging out the window of Drive
Thru until I left the North West Coast for University. In year 12 at The Don
College (Is Don Is Good) I had a free line and the chemistry class I was in had
our scheduled hour off Friday afternoon. This often resulted, probably once a
month, in a trip down the hill and to the mall to the shops where the Clothes
Horse was in her element. It’s okay I did study as well otherwise I wouldn’t be
where I am today, Mum knew I did as she taught at the College I attended, no
hiding there.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
To this day this statement of Dad's still holds true
statement. If you were to delve into my wardrobe and
drawers you’d find the following all segregated on a shelf or in a drawer (yes
I am a bit OCD when it comes to segregating my gear, makes it easier when I’m
in a hurry): hockey uniforms (playing and umpiring) plus training gear; running
clothing; yoga wear; cycling attire for both road and mountain bike; swimmers
for both pool and beach; gym wear; skiing kit; hiking stuff not to mention my every
day wear and dress up attire – yes I occasionally might wear a dress but it’s a rare occurrence. So where am I going with all this well the one category I left
to the end was all my warm clothing that I have and get issued for heading down
to Macca or Casey.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7FZinSnvrWAs-OY3rqb-IPJn5VRWL6tQf7Y7oMtMShmuPl7jFYqN8V69uQOQSlN74Efnt1pkMlJUBhmFTuEDRSZGjihcxEVn-GKsaITi1JfH0EYlDMvbqEkF1o6lVJNUG-XOB8DESys/s1600/IMG_2683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7FZinSnvrWAs-OY3rqb-IPJn5VRWL6tQf7Y7oMtMShmuPl7jFYqN8V69uQOQSlN74Efnt1pkMlJUBhmFTuEDRSZGjihcxEVn-GKsaITi1JfH0EYlDMvbqEkF1o6lVJNUG-XOB8DESys/s320/IMG_2683.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meet Mana who'll kit you out from head to toe! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Let me introduce to you <a href="http://acecrc.org.au/news/mana-inoue/" target="_blank">Mana Inoue</a>, provider of all your Antarctic and sub-Antarctic clothing attire. But I’ve known Mana before her
days hidden in the depths of the clothing store. I first met Mana during my season at
Casey in 13/14 where she was a PhD student and part of the <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/science/climate-processes-and-change/antarctic-palaeoclimate/aurora-basin" target="_blank">Aurora Basin</a>
campaign. Mana’s main focus for her PhD was the interpretation of a 97 year
climate record from an ice core from Mill Island. This core was 120m drilled in
2009 and is from one of the most northern locations in Antarctica. Due to this site's extremely high snow accumulation it contains a very high resolution climate record, pretty amazing stuff hey!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quick peek behind the doors of the field store </td></tr>
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Mana is heading down on V2 which departed Hobart last week and will be assisting with the marine science
component of the voyage. V2 is also the resupply voyage for Casey station so
hopefully I’ll get to see Mana across on station when the Orange Roughy rocks
into Newcomb Bay a few days after I arrive on the RAAF C-17A Globemaster III, I’m
a plane nerd for those of you who weren’t aware but that’ll be saved for
another blog. I had a ball sitting waiting for the bus recently at Newcastle
airport right next to Williamtown RAAF Base, just a bit of plane spotting – 2 airborne
F/A-18 Hornets as well as those resting in the shade under their
shelters (seen from inside the plane as I landed), one C-17A Globemaster III
preparing for take-off, an airborne C-27J Spartan and a couple of E-7A
Wedgetails on the ground. If you‘re interested in some more information of the
planes in the RAAF check out <a href="http://www.airforce.gov.au/Technology/Aircraft/?RAAF-nMfLhE/ppITHEkch5e7PfopYCzwKfhNg" target="_blank">RAAF Aircraft</a>. While Mana is away Luca Vanzino
will be looking after everyone’s kitting needs. Luca, along with the wonderful Sue Hillam, works in the
field equipment store which manages and looks after all the gear required for
the field. From tents, to sleeping bags,
packs, survival kits for the various aircraft and all essential pee bottles
these guys keep things ticking over.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just one of the rows of kit in the clothing<br />
store at Kingston</td></tr>
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I should stop digressing from
what I’m here to do and get back to the task at hand – clothing and kitting.
What to wear when you’re faced with temperatures which are at the opposite end
of the spectrum to the 40 degree Bikram room. Now working for the Australian
Antarctic Division we are very fortunate that we are provided with gear that
has been carefully selected to suit the work we do in the temperatures we work
in. As we’re not able to be able to trap air between layers of feathers or fur
and don’t have a thick layer of blubber to protect us from the cold like the
animals which live down here do. Instead the secret to us keeping warm, no not
staying inside in the warmth of the red shed, is indeed the age old trick of
layering. I definitely prefer lots of thin insulating layers, don’t ask me how
many thermals, thin merino tops, mid fleeces, light insulated jacket then the
higher rated outer jackets I have because there are a few. Comes from running
the gauntlet training for hockey in the middle of a Tasmanian winter when the
pitch can turn into an ice skating rink, and for those interested yes I have trained, played and umpired whilst it has
snowed. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's in the red survival bag</td></tr>
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So what do we get issued with?
Well that does depend on the work which you are heading down for. One of the important items that is uniform
issue to all expeditioners is the red survival bag and its contents. So what
does this contain - well instead of me writing out I’ve taken a picture of the
card which is found in the outside pocket of the bag. As with all good layering
systems it starts with a good set of merino thermals, followed by a mid fleece
layer (rest assured the pants will never take off in the world of fashion) and
then to top it off you have a water and wind proof outer layer. You then also
have what are called bear paw mitts, a balaclava (remembered that most thermal
heat is lost through your noggin) insulated boots and boot chains - my feet
like my height are not long enough to fit into the Baffins usually issued so
I’m issued with good ol’ Sorels.<br />
<br />
<br />
Now back to that final outer layer if you’ve
ever wondered what it might be like to dress up as one of the Bananas sans
their Pajamas then look no further – may I introduce to you Lauren the human
banana and no I don’t chase bears or have a friend called Rat in a Hat. When
getting kitted it’s important to try on all these layers to ensure all the
sizes are correct – too big and you’ll lose heat and if at Macca have gaps for
the rain to come in, too small and it’s uncomfortable. This can be a bit of
chore in itself as layering up inside a 20 degree room soon gets quite warm and
you just want to get dressed and undressed as quickly as possible. Also found in <b>my</b>
survival bag is my essential survival food – Ye Ol’ Spikey Bridge Peanut
Butter, thanks Ash and Terri.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ever wanted to look like a Banana sans pajamas<br />
then look no further. Geez I have short legs!!!</td></tr>
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As I mentioned not everyone gets
exactly the same items. Trades are issued with Carhartt jackets and pants which
are robust insulated gear great for working outside, while scientists get down
jackets and if you’re on marine science you’re going to need a whole lot of
different water proof gloves and clothing for conducting work on the ship. We
all get trusty Hard Yakka pants and florescent orange hi-vis work shirts and
vests, oh so attractive but essential for being visible to the plant operating
in and around station. So once you’ve tried things on and are happy with sizes
you have the joy of packing everything into bags and then signing your life
away for items you have received. Some of the items such as thermals you get to
keep but many items are returned to the field store at the end of the season where
they are inspected and cleaned ready for issuing next season. When I saw Mana
for kitting she had kitted some 350 expeditioners, the total number for this
season is somewhere between 500 and 550. Now that’s a lot of kit to get ready
and a lot to receive back at the end of the season and sort!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Packing at home - all laid out ready to go into bags.<br />
Note magical blankie all ready to go - enables good night's sleep</td></tr>
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But let’s be honest no one really
wants to wear thermals, work pants and hi-vis at the end of the work day, I
only choose to wear hi-vis when umpiring hockey (hmm that's not so much a choice really either), so taking some casual gear
down with you is always advisable. It’s amazing how putting on your own gear
from home can make you feel more like you’re at home. In my case it’s a matter of
deciding what to take and what to leave behind at home. There’s the obligatory
jeans and comfy trackies (pair of much loved Roots Canada pants from my friend
Bec), my snuggly Tigerlily jacket, a few dresses (yes believe it or not I
own more than one), and t-shirts of various colours and patterns. I also got
a new pair of felted slippers with corked rubber soles for this season which will
come in quite handy, my beloved ugg slippers are a little to worn and battered.
A little side story about my new slippers/shoes the lady that was looking after
me in the store when I was looking at them actually wintered at Casey in 1990
as the station chef, it’s amazing who you meet. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merrimaking Hood -<br />
An Arctic Fox in Antarctica<br />
<br /></td></tr>
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For those that know me I like to
have things all organised even right down to how I pack my clothes. I have a
multitude of different coloured dry bags in which different categories of
clothing gets pack – one for sports/gym/yoga wear (not Bikram unfortunately),
work gear, casual lounging stuff, nice stuff for special occasions, socks,
gloves and beanies all in one, then an important one that contains my blanket.
Yes that’s right I take my mohair blanket down with me. I’m convinced it has magical
powers as soon as I pull it up over me I can fall asleep. Also in my bags
you’ll find my runners (2 pairs one for the gym and the other
for running outside), a plethora of cables and chargers, swimmers for the spa
and Australia Day, a couple of furry animal hoods like the one in the picture
from Merrimaking in the UK and my toiletry bags - yes there are multiple this is me we’re
talking about after all!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Extra bits and pieces going down on V2 - Peanut butter and<br />
Tadhg the toucan safely packed in top left box.</td></tr>
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But wait I can hear some of you
say – what about that pink hippo costume? Well late in October I packed a few
boxes and consigned them in on Voyage 2, the Casey resupply voyage. These
contain: some dress up costumes (pink hippo onsie, thank you Danielle) for
parties on station; bulk toiletries (I suffer from eczema so take things in I
know I won’t react to including clothes washing detergent, thanks Brendan);
bulk vitamins and supplements; 3 tubs of Spike Bridge Peanut Butter to get me
through the season (I’ll leave one for the winterers at the end of the summer)
and some bits pieces for a secret Santa present. There might also be a rather
large inflatable toucan by the name of Tadhg in there as well … watch this
space for his appearance. I’m trying to remember what else I packed but am
struggling, it will be like Christmas when the boxes turn up. Funny thing is
they will turn up around Christmas time as resupply at Casey commences not long
after I arrive, the big orange ship will rock up into the bay and it will be
all stations go for about 7 days while the station is restocked, refuelled and
return to Australia (RTA) cargo is loaded. If you’d like to follow the progress
of the Aurora on her way down you can follow the site reps and track in this
link here.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">H gives Tadhg Toucan the thumbs up for comfort factor</td></tr>
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I can hear my Dad saying though,
“Where are your cameras and lens Lauren?” Don’t worry these precious items
along with my work lap top will be safely packed into my small backpack (the
one most of you have seen me lug around Hobart so maybe not that small) which
will travel with me and along with my survival bag. My replacement field weight
as I call it, my new Canon 7D Mark II (the Mark I’s shutter mechanism died
earlier this year), will make its maiden expedition this season and is completed
with a couple of lenses plus my little point and shoot. Oh and a couple of hard
drives to store the pictures on (second is for a back-up, lessons learnt while
writing a 300 page plus thesis). They also contain viewing material to keep me
entertained in the evenings when I’m not writing this blog, as well as any
documentation which I might need – recipes, knitting patterns, random
information I have stored away!<o:p></o:p></div>
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So with that I think we’ll leave
all things clothes and kit related there, please feel free to send me any
questions you may have about what we wear down on the continent and why. I’ve currently just returned from a wedding of a close Antarctic friend in
the Hunter Valley and am in the process of doing the final packing of my bags, they are
mostly packed. Actually they have been for over a week, I’ve been doing what I like to call fine
tuning.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bags nearly all packed ...</td></tr>
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I’m going to end with this little
rhyme, it contains shoes, but really it’s more about you being the one who
decides your own adventure and no one else and I’m about to embark on my next
one.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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“You have brains in your head,<o:p></o:p></div>
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You have feet in your shoes,<o:p></o:p></div>
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You can steer yourself in any
direction you choose.</div>
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You’re on your own, and you know
what you know.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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And you are the guy who’ll decide
where to go.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dr Seuss</div>
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So get ready people the next
adventure of the Pocket Rocket is about to begin - up next “See you when I see you, not if I see you First! - the never ending goodbyes” (Yes I stole this line from the movie Gallipoli)<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479149923221412188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1548542197123698153.post-63342640990295304282016-11-19T02:07:00.003-08:002016-11-20T02:09:01.353-08:00The Long Road Back<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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I’ll warn you now this is a long entry and as my Dad always reminds me “You
started talking at 3 months and haven’t shut up since” – welcome to my blog, South of 54. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0LwUqad3TxQ985nGY4Ngr2izbBz3a6k4H-v93gcwE0ZnmsYq7iV3eKJfojOcKVkHbDFObWPQSyjls22baZmnJhdWt_BqoCYh64Sm8wItFJnYiYbLgTNeFVtdqesJs8esCXs28xLWxqk/s1600/MJZX6965.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0LwUqad3TxQ985nGY4Ngr2izbBz3a6k4H-v93gcwE0ZnmsYq7iV3eKJfojOcKVkHbDFObWPQSyjls22baZmnJhdWt_BqoCYh64Sm8wItFJnYiYbLgTNeFVtdqesJs8esCXs28xLWxqk/s200/MJZX6965.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m Lauren more commonly known as
Wisey in some circles. A short, curly haired energiser bunny, a chemist who
works at the Australian Antarctic Division and can’t sit still, well not very
often and it’s a challenge. I have a pretty amazing job that not only allows me
to do what I love, being a chemist, but also has allowed me to travel and work
in a couple of amazing places – sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island (the Green
Sponge) and Casey Station, Antarctica. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve
been south and I’m about to embark on the next adventure back to Casey. But before
we start on that journey I’d like to share with you my journey back there, the
long road … So let’s begin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpPccOazYiuY8f5TCM1hZiYk-Va-v4A9h2FaAYQ8Ok2l7BEC3-fhL42jghh5wXHTg6cn9bnOWrxzQAk0_b-eUxt_JmrLSGMG-Z3SwkjvGu4M9YDoQDOMGDaUocstPfRw0UZe-Qr7WglF8/s1600/IMG_6605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpPccOazYiuY8f5TCM1hZiYk-Va-v4A9h2FaAYQ8Ok2l7BEC3-fhL42jghh5wXHTg6cn9bnOWrxzQAk0_b-eUxt_JmrLSGMG-Z3SwkjvGu4M9YDoQDOMGDaUocstPfRw0UZe-Qr7WglF8/s320/IMG_6605.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Post
10km KBA Memorial Cup Run, Casey 2014</span></td></tr>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='page-break-after:avoid'>
<span style='mso-fareast-language:
EN-AU;mso-no-proof:yes'><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_192" o:spid="_x0000_i1031"
type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:297pt;height:198pt;visibility:visible;
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<v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\Lauren\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image003.jpg"
o:title="IMG_6605"/>
</v:shape></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoCaption>
Figure <![if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>SEQ Figure \*
ARABIC <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'>1</span><![if supportFields]><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span><![endif]>
Post 10km KBA Memorial Cup Run, Casey<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>2014<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>
<o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<![if !mso]></td>
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<![endif]></v:textbox>
<w:wrap type="square" anchorx="margin"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;">On October the 20<sup>th</sup> 2013 I
ruptured the posterior cruciate ligament in my knee playing touch football 4
weeks before I was due to fly out to Antarctica for work. I can still remember
the pop sound when the ligament tore as I went over the top of two players, lying
face down on the field with the words “Greg’s going to kill me” coming out of
my mouth. The outside of my calf felt red hot and throbbed. It was so warm I
asked my friend Doug “Is the bone sticking out?” Of course it wasn’t. I
remember the feeling of beginning to go into shock while I waited in the club
rooms on a stretcher for the ambulance to arrive to take me to emergency. It
wasn’t until the MRI a couple of days later and then a follow up with the
orthopaedic surgeon that I got the news I had completely torn my left <a href="http://kneeandshoulderclinic.com.au/knees/surgical-conditions/posterior-cruciate-ligament-tear/" target="_blank">PCL</a> (Grade 3) - I'd done it good and proper. I’d still
be able to go south with intensive physio and a brace, this would come to be
known as my crustacean exoskeleton. So I was a good girl and did what I was
told, physio exercises and wearing my brace. In late November I was cleared to
go south to Casey Station, Antarctica – the first time I had gone to the icy
continent. But that’s not where the story ends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So I got back home late February
and pretty soon I worked out that something was still not right. Back to my
physio who encouraged me to see the orthopod again – this time I got a not so
great response, “you need surgery but I’ll refer you to my colleague in
Melbourne”. So mid-April I headed to see Mr Trivett in Melbourne where I was
told that he would reassess the situation some 5 months on and then determine if I
still needed surgery. In the meantime he wanted me to try and build up more <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/vastus%20medialis" target="_blank">VMO</a> and quad strength even though he said “you already have really good quad
muscles”. I was also told no more running something which had become an important
part of my life, I was clocking over 110 km a week prior to the injury.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLomXCvi9EECYZdR6zkSHi65cqUMK85NA9ZVABFUug7rhhVov5Cujv_PombFCUBr_1ldfn1K7EA1NysXKqKBuId7BvutatiarKQia4ZkZaiPXsLgd2Hf4gasOg5QyWn2bgN4Vm-D_qa0/s1600/n%252B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLomXCvi9EECYZdR6zkSHi65cqUMK85NA9ZVABFUug7rhhVov5Cujv_PombFCUBr_1ldfn1K7EA1NysXKqKBuId7BvutatiarKQia4ZkZaiPXsLgd2Hf4gasOg5QyWn2bgN4Vm-D_qa0/s320/n%252B1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoCaption">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">n+1 rule for bikes, there's another inside on the trainer
...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So what did I do?? I purchased a
road bike, got back into the pool, hit the gym and on the 20<sup>th</sup> of
May 2014 I did my first ever Bikram yoga class at the <a href="http://www.bikramyogatas.com.au/" target="_blank">Bikram Yoga Tasmania studio</a>. Now the reason behind me
originally going to Bikram was that I didn’t want to lose my flexibility. I’ll
never forget my first class with visiting teacher Andrew (T is for yummy Tim Tam
and no room for light or air like a Vegemite sandwich – these will always stick
with me and of course Mumma give me money). I had to miss hockey that year but the team sure didn’t miss out on me being
there. I was at every training picking up balls and doing stick skill work and
was still part of the team, even if it was partly for my cupcakes - Bec, Hannah! In those 5 months I
did everything possible that would give me the best outcome in preparation for
surgery or not, that was in the hands of my surgeon. Now some would say I
probably over cooked it and yes I probably did in hind sight but I’m never one
to back down, determined my mother would say.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I went to my appointment in
September where it was confirmed the draw (technical term there) on my tibia
was so bad that reconstruction was the best option. On the 1<sup>st</sup> of
October 2014 I went into Cabrini Brighton for my third ever surgery (first was
wisdom teeth removal, the second was to realign my nose after a collision with a
hockey ball – who’d play sport I tell you). Mum said I was apparently the talk
of the theatre prep area because of my Antarctic and sub-Antarctic adventures
(Not only have I been to Casey I’d also spent two long summers at Macquarie
Island). Needless to say that the Antarctic circle is small and the team at
Cabrini Brighton asked if I knew of Dr Anne Waterhouse who not only works at
Cabrini but has also worked as an Antarctic medical practitioner. I was a bit
amazed at the number of people in the theatre: Mr Trivett (orthopod) and his
assistant, the anaesthetist and her assistant, theatre nurse and her assistant,
an orderly and an observing orthopod registrar – PCL reconstructions are a rare
occurrence. I can still taste the metallic taste in my mouth as the anaesthetic did its work and I drifted off to sleep.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU_8KF9IBxlB154e5pp0VGKOhjWHRYRq8vY7fWvugmQIpW89hShq7LvT9GSrq42zT9VZwhZ17ylicDzA7yDyHgWANXGZRsstyVkcjvgaODYzdh5Z6OdyQjPwklfDFKra_zmDa_Funy8Js/s1600/20141003_091655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU_8KF9IBxlB154e5pp0VGKOhjWHRYRq8vY7fWvugmQIpW89hShq7LvT9GSrq42zT9VZwhZ17ylicDzA7yDyHgWANXGZRsstyVkcjvgaODYzdh5Z6OdyQjPwklfDFKra_zmDa_Funy8Js/s320/20141003_091655.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Check
out my Cankle!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">About to be released from Cabrini</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Waking up after the op and it was
now time to face the reality of the road to recovery, the surgeon and anaesthetist
saw me that evening. I was told the pins and needles in my leg were normal
given they’d given me a nerve block as well as a general and that my
temperature dropped during the operation but what I wasn’t ready to hear, and
the words still resonate with me, was “The operation went well but we need to
talk about some things we found when you come for your check up.” I wasn’t to
see Mr Trivett for another 6 days just before flying back to Hobart. For the
next two days I was mainly confined to bed, I think the staff and Mum were
happy that the pain medication made me drowsy in that respect as I’m an
extremely bad patient. I was only up and about for physio. Have you ever tried
to step up and down a box correctly with crutches? Talk about frustrating but
that was only the start, later on I would need to learn to walk again – I still
grimace at the memory of someone who will remain nameless taking the piss out
of my weird walk, lucky my hockey stick was not in reach! For once the Lauren
that went at 110% had been slowed right down. Out of hospital and into accommodation
nearby Mum soon learnt that there was no way I was staying put. I did numerous
laps of the main drag in Brighton which must have amused the locals and even
caught the train out to Brighton Beach making my way to the headlands looking
over the beach houses.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Check-up day, the day before
returning home – so Cecelia, practice awesome nurse, trimmed the stitches (best and
neatest surgical stitches I’ve seen) and put new dressings on them before Mr
Trivett came into see me. I forgave Mr Trivett for the Geelong footy poster on
his surgery wall only because he did such a great job. The news he wanted to
tell me was about the extensive cartilage damage he had found in my knee
during the surgery, I’ve got pretty pics taken inside during the op if you ever want to see and your stomach can handle it. Some of the
areas of missing cartilage are the size of my small finger nail, that’s large
for me! It was the end of my long distance running days, especially on hard
surfaces – “What’s the shortest distance you will run to get what you need?” I
said 5 – 6 km, knowing from the look in his eyes he really didn’t want me to
run again. I would be allowed to play hockey again but the key to my recovery
and longevity would be cross training. To this day I still do the following:
Road cycling and Mountain biking (as much as I can fit in), Bikram yoga (3
times a week), yin yoga (once a week) swimming, (2km 1 -2 times a week), gym
cycle class (once a week), Meta fit – high intensity interval training (2 times a week),
a couple of weights sessions and yes I still run (1-2 times a week). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYovPZDAGK2ZnWOsNqKdugT8paPxIh0AWhetOP4HFjA0aWsC4j_A1ufiYh7UzOapLiiIIMcBFcXQMxFCpi7A1Q-azV9-yNCAIBiSOIUpozB6E0Zj-UsSFBwmyQaFSulk499d-YXNNvaY/s1600/20141011_115023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYovPZDAGK2ZnWOsNqKdugT8paPxIh0AWhetOP4HFjA0aWsC4j_A1ufiYh7UzOapLiiIIMcBFcXQMxFCpi7A1Q-azV9-yNCAIBiSOIUpozB6E0Zj-UsSFBwmyQaFSulk499d-YXNNvaY/s320/20141011_115023.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Meet
Skinny and Fatty, at one stage a </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.8px;">whopping</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.8px;">4cm difference in circumference.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I returned home the next day and within two
days had released Mum from her Lauren care. A week later and I was back at work
terrorising everyone! But now the next challenge began the lengthy rehab –
weekly visits to my awesome physio Dave, new exercises, measuring the
difference between fatty and skinny (the names I gave my quads) all while
trying not to tire myself out. I got known as the girl who would get around the
neighbourhood and to and from work on crutches, so much so about a year later I
got a cab and the driver asked if I was the girl who got around on crutches - he
is without a doubt my favourite driver in Hobart! I’d got back in the pool and
was water walking and by the start of November, one month post-surgery, I was
back at Bikram – it was a challenge. But what I found most frustrating was
learning to walk again and being told to stay on crutches for 8 weeks. I’m glad
my surgeon never saw what I got up to at home – climbing the shelves to be able
to reach things and not using my crutches. But the day came and my physio
released me from the sticks, they did have their uses but were restrictive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For the next few months it was
the same saga – physio once a week, measuring fatty and skinny, how far could
we bend, how was the draw on the ligament? It was small steps but eventually I
was allowed back on the trainer, then swimming laps in the pool and then …. I
was allowed to start light jogging on the dreaded deadmill, the two of us have
never seen eye to eye and I refuse to get on one and run, I’d prefer to run
outside in the pouring cold rain any day! With that also came change of
direction work which coincided with the start of the hockey season. Yes I would
be missing another season, well half of one. So instead of collecting balls I
was doing change of direction work and then skill work – the change of
direction worked I’m still not convinced about the skill work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7E2iQj9IJ71i5tLx1fGxSpsiS2WpdzS9dmsamotbCqn43Rrik8tzz-rkEWx2XiZM3pg5L66abCeeQtF5BVWaY4iNIsaErH8DM2XbLRz5x82m-MF0B9IsZAT7NGFm7Sd0dPzV97wmLIA0/s1600/Wise+and+Fez.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7E2iQj9IJ71i5tLx1fGxSpsiS2WpdzS9dmsamotbCqn43Rrik8tzz-rkEWx2XiZM3pg5L66abCeeQtF5BVWaY4iNIsaErH8DM2XbLRz5x82m-MF0B9IsZAT7NGFm7Sd0dPzV97wmLIA0/s320/Wise+and+Fez.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pre umpiring
the 2016 Premier League Grand Final with Alissia </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At about the same time I reacquainted
myself with my roadie and yes it was like just getting back on the bike, even
if it was in cleats which I still get nervous about! In my rehab program I acquainted
myself with the bike rider rule of n+1 and somehow a mountain bike was added to
my family. If I could no longer run the distances on the trails I may
as well ride them instead. In June I took to the hockey pitch for my first game in one and a half years, heavily strapped
but my physio and I were ready. It was a step by </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">step progression and towards
the end of the season I was nearly back to full games and was umpiring as well.
The 2016 season just gone I was back playing full games and umpiring Women's Ones and Premier League
including the Premier League Grand Final plus a few games at the National Masters
Championships – not bad for a comeback kid. The coaches still keep an eye on
me and I hate the heavy strapping I have to wear for every game, think
I need shares in a tape company.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbJ7a4zUc1ynFt6UAl7RN0lpsDUZodHYJWbiqIjCVI5Gnk1FWczqOIpNDFpK3RZdWCn8iJff9g-7ZagfgS6RNlJYoogCkfq_1i_zPnuwArbVCo1ti1rE5QC0LZyBi7DCFaaBkIw3xNcyo/s1600/Backbend2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbJ7a4zUc1ynFt6UAl7RN0lpsDUZodHYJWbiqIjCVI5Gnk1FWczqOIpNDFpK3RZdWCn8iJff9g-7ZagfgS6RNlJYoogCkfq_1i_zPnuwArbVCo1ti1rE5QC0LZyBi7DCFaaBkIw3xNcyo/s400/Backbend2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Just a bit of yoga on my beach at the Rock</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">All
the while I’d still being going to Bikram, the standing balancing series was a
real challenge but with persistence, perseverance, practice and the support of
my Yogi family I’m nearly back to where I was before the surgery. Actually on
reflection I’m further in some postures the fact I can balance on one leg and
sometimes get my head to my knee reminds me how determined I was to not be
beaten, m</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">aybe there’s a hint of stubbornness thrown in there too for good
measure. I practice 3 times
a week plus one Yin Yoga session a week and it’s not just about the physical
aspects any more for me but the mental strength, the ability to let go and
accept things are the way they are, not to judge, be present and do the best I can with the body I have today. I’m now in my 3rd year of practise and can certainly attest to that every practise my body and mind are different.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcQdRM80WC_GORcaASwirutOK1DxK7-l3hE8XNOt2qipunwTr09FhoIsNgCxUeSPi5o_T1dJuezsE39Q3II5hx-2VC0U9vC6OexZ4z_QiGQ91_3gy2iYNpUkA739hn6FcPfKff_JYWLU/s1600/IMG_1993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcQdRM80WC_GORcaASwirutOK1DxK7-l3hE8XNOt2qipunwTr09FhoIsNgCxUeSPi5o_T1dJuezsE39Q3II5hx-2VC0U9vC6OexZ4z_QiGQ91_3gy2iYNpUkA739hn6FcPfKff_JYWLU/s200/IMG_1993.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stronger,
fitter, smarter, just not faster</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So let’s come forward to now – it’s just a
month out and all things going well, no tripping whilst running in the Murrell, no flying off
my bikes, no falling off elevated objects (those that know me well know I’ve
always had tendency to dance on elevated surfaces) and I’ll be heading back down to
Casey. I’m excited to return but with me there is a slight feeling of empty as
I leave behind so many people who have been there and helped me on the journey
back to where I am today. And that’s why I’m writing this blog so you can all
be part of this next chapter, so you can see what I see and be part of what I
am doing. It’s my way of thanking all of those people, and there are way too
many of you who have supported me over the past three years to get back to where
I am today. So I invite you to ask questions, set me challenges (yes yogis seal
pose with a seal in the background somewhere is on the list, keep them coming) and be part of
this adventure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'll bring this to an end with two quotes from one of my favourite movies - Lola Rennt, Lola is one of my nicknames given to me at Macca due to my running obsession and my red wig. The quotes below are actually from German footballer Sepp Herberger but I find they sum up how I approach things in my life today</span></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Der Ball ist rund
und das Spiel dauert 90 Minuten”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">“Nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel”</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"> </span></i></span><i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Look out Casey the Pocket Rocket/Mighty Mouse is coming back …
stronger, fitter, smarter but not faster - well maybe not as fast as I used to
be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzNe0hMy5IzN0pQAWa-23CRwwu32qIe2-LGwqJ-82r80NJ0_ea3FrFvouIwj1VF3C5cWgPLdqeX79WU1oRTmzEy8V8ZPb6Db06DsFXrpqOtFTAbSZTtHLNN48pW0pHxVWUYf-hfb9tyI/s1600/lach089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzNe0hMy5IzN0pQAWa-23CRwwu32qIe2-LGwqJ-82r80NJ0_ea3FrFvouIwj1VF3C5cWgPLdqeX79WU1oRTmzEy8V8ZPb6Db06DsFXrpqOtFTAbSZTtHLNN48pW0pHxVWUYf-hfb9tyI/s320/lach089.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Christmas" 2013 at Casey Station Antarctica. Photo Credit: Lachlan Mason</span></td></tr>
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Coming up next - The Return of the Human Clothes (thanks Dad for these great quotes, I never knew they would come in so handy)</div>
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