Lisa's year at Casey - 2008/09: March 2009

Monday, March 2, 2009

Snowboarding in Antarctica

Soo much fun - 1 km run not entirely gnarly, but still fun just the same. Sastrugi makes awesome kickers!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

I returned home way back in December to face this... a room full of Bereau of Meteorology balloon! Yes, there are jokers here at Casey. Fortunately for me, the one responsible for this little beauty has returned back to Australia, so I should have no more trouble from him!!! I have to admit to seeing the funny side, but it took ages to deflate!

Heat trace - spawn of the devil

This is the dreaded sewerage outfall line that some of you readers may remember from summer 2005/06... seems over winter the heat trace (cable that heats up to stop the plumbing pipe full of sewer outfall from freezing) crapped but was covered by nearly 2 metres of ice. Unfortunately for myself and Allen the melt didn't quite happen as much as we had hoped and it was time to bite the bullet and get on the shovels to unearth the pipe and start fault finding. To date we have half finished the job, it is a work in progress... i seem to be making a career out of this one! It is definitely time to get the big machines in to do some digging!

Moulting Adelies and Moss

Signs of life in this harsh climate - Juvenile Adelies are losing their cute fluffy brown kiwi fruit feathers and being replaced by the black and white mature feathers ready to go to sea, and mosses endure around the rocky areas around Wilkes. It is nice to see green, even if in small areas like this.

dinner by candelight at Wilkes

Nice ambience i think! What a fantastic and refreshing weekend!

around Wilkes

Here is some of the old buildings and rubbish found around Wilkes - a case of Velvet soap. I was tempted to steal it as we don't have bar soap on station only this combination shampoo, conditioner, and bodywash - yucko!

exploring old Wilkes station

In the 60's the old Wilkes station was abandoned as it became impossible to operate due to constantly being engulfed by snow. When the station was abandoned, it was simply left as is. Now we find heaps of rubbish everywhere and things left intact in boxes and cases. It is very interesting wandering around, but it is hard to overlook the fact that it is simply rubbish that is now listed as heritage... i'm not so sure about the heritage value, but like I said, it is interesting for us to wander around having a look! Nick even managed to crawl into an old building (just) that was 2/3 full of ice.

Roughing it - Wilkes style

Yep, i know, i'm a tough hardened intrepid Antarctic explorer. Doesn't mean i can't enjoy the finer things in life like pizza and rack of lamb! Fantastic, all washed down with a few glasses of vino, yum!

Wilkes Hilton

Yes, even Antarctica has a Hilton - maybe not quite as 5 star luxury as the next one but pretty fantastic on the scale of huts in Antarctica! Even comes complete with Hilton slippers and robes! No Paris in sight though! Thank goodness!!

See ya Nazza

This is myself and Narelle. It really is amazing how quickly you make friends down here. Nazza and I enjoyed the party nights around here because it gave us an excuse to do girlie things like makeup and hair.. I am very thankful to Naz for leaving me a heap of extra beauty products for both me and Vicki to rifle through! CYA Narelle!