First glimpse of land. Wind at 50knots

 

12th December 2005. We arrive at Casey

We are here!!! We are at the Anchor point in the harbour looking at Casey. Drove past Wilkes hut as well - So cool! Unfortunatley the wind has come up overnight and we have terrible weather - blowing about 50knots, looks like it will increase to 80knots soon. Bugger! White caps all over the place. So, it looks like I have to wait just a little longer to see my new home.
Andrew and I will come back to the boat to sleep every night. Wasn't a hard decision. Matress on the floor of the Opps building - comfy bed and bathroom on the ship. Not much of a choice hey?
We are a week early so no one is ready for us on Caey and there just isn't enough room for new arrivals.

The mighty Southern Ocean. THIS was as rough as it got!

 

Results of the crossing the line ceremony. So NOT a pleasant experience!

 

80's disco night on the AA.

 

Leopard Seal and her Cub on the sea ice

 

First Penguins I saw on the sea ice

 

Great Photo by Brad!

 

9th december 2005

Today I have seen about 60 Orca whales in various pods. I have sean Leopard seals and their pups I have watched Orca - killer whales - circling an iceberg where penguins were sitting and moving in for the kill. Orcas hunt in packs and work together as a team to get their prey. Very very horrible to watch - for me anyway - but it is nature after all. I wanted to go and stop them, but of course, we aren't allowed. I love the little Adelli penguins. They are just SO COOL!!!! I have seen them on their own and in groups and in pods and porpoising (? Spelling) Been a hell of a day.
I have stood at the Bow of the ship for two hours with my headphones on encapsulated in a wonderful bubble filled with the sound of Bernard Fanning while watching the pack ice being broken up by the amazing strength of the Aurora: all the while Icerbergs of all shapes and sizes flowed by. The sky was the most amazing blue, there wasn't a breath of wind and the sun was warm. It was the MOST amazing day I have ever withnessed. (Yes I WAS dressed in my summer Antarctic coat and my bright orange beanie, but only over Jeans, a thin thermal top and sneakers) I also saw the BIGGEST iceberg, we passed it at about 200metres. It was aprox 2.5miles long, about 0.5miles wide and about 50metres high. It was the most amazing site to see.
In fact I cant even begin to desribe the wonder that has been this voyage today. It has been amazing. Until you come to this place there is no way of understanding the beauty and majesty that is down here. It is truly awe inspiring to say the least. I wish I could relay it to you, but no words could ever describe it fully and nothing could ever convey the feeling and experience of this place. I am very bloody lucky to be one of the few who are able to come here and do this.
Ha, there are two Emporer and two Adelli penguins outside my porthole right now on an ice flow. They are so funny, they look at the ship for a little bit, then get all stressed and run around in circles flapping their little wings, then they run straight over the edge of the ice into the water. So funny to watch them. Adellis are definatley my favourites! Very cool little creatures indeed?

Our First Berg was beautiful

 

Coming up to our first Berg

 

The trip down

2 hours out of Hobart I saw my first hump back whale and saw a pod of killer whales today 3rd December, 2005 at about 10am. Very cool indeed!
The food onboard the AA is FABULOUS. Have to mke sure I start going to the gym every single day as I dont want to end up fat. Have worked too long adn ahrd to get rid of it all! No seassickness for me, but some poor folk are suffering. Dont know why the sea is as calm as.

9th December 2005. It is exactly midnight and I have just been watching my first Berg. Man it was awesome. We passed right beside it. It was about 15times the size of the Aurora and about 3times as high. Then off to one side was the really cool little berg about 5 metres from the big one, looked like a little lighthouse on a shoreline. So amazing! Bloody hell, how cool is that? I have just passed an amazing iceberg in the Souther Ocean on the way to the Antarctic! Who would have ever thought I'd be here? Just think that big old berg is about 20thousand years old! Unbelievable.

Dad, Leigh and Brent come to see me off.

Greg, Andrew and I had work to do onboard

 

Leaving hobart far behind - we set off on the good ship AA

 

Finally on our way down South

Suddenly trianing was over. It seemed to have gone by so quickly.
I went home to Newcastle for 5 days to say goodbye to all my mates and it was off down South on the Icebreaker the "Aurora Austrlalis". It was a good boat and a good crew and we had a great trip down.
My father rode my motorbike over from melbourne to Hobart to see me off whihc was just fabulous. My best frined Brent - who is looking after my dog Maxy while I am away was also there ot see me off. It was sad to say goodbye but exciting at the same time.
This will be a year of adeventure the like of which very few pople ever get ot experience. I am so excited to be leaving.
Once on board, Andrew, Greg and I worked a lot of the trip down. We had Comms to set up and IT stuff to do. So we were kept pretty busy until the last few days. Then we got a chance to relax and catch up on some rest after the previous 3 months of hard work & trianing so it was all good.

Confined Spaces trianing.

 

We learnt how to do full building searches, locate and drag out victims and also how to move through a building in a team of two with a water hose, searching and extinguishing at the same time. The heat we experienced was like nothing I have known before and that wasn’t even as hot as a true fire would be. You sweat, you slip, you stumble, you feel sick and exhausted, but somehow the job gets done.

Our biggest day began at 8am and ended a little after midnight. Quite frankly it was a day in hell, complete with the heat. It was a tough day, designed to stress us all and push us to breaking point and beyond. By about 9pm tempers were fraying, stress levels were up, fatigue was a major challenge and we all basically just wanted it to end. But the team stuck together and we all managed to survive.

Firefighters really are amazing people. Who the hell would want to do this for a living?

The best thing was watching our team come together and work as one. These 11 blokes and I literally have each others lives in our hands when we go south. It is so important that we are able to work together and communicate and get the job done with as little stress as is possible in an emergency. I think a huge bond of trust and brotherhood was formed over this week. Once again I am glad of the crew we have. The boys really are fabulous and we are all starting to become a little family.

As part of the course we also did a confine spaces component. I don’t even like elevators, let alone being sent down a small drain in the pitch black!

Ready to Rock n Roll

 

The remanants of fire

 

FIRE FIGHTING

Then we were into Fire Fighting. This was on INTENSE course. It 7 of the hardest days I have spent to date. Basically it was the 12 week rookie firefighter course crammed into 7 days. Not an easy task.
I had been pretty ill. 3 weeks without a day off work and playing hard on weekends in between had seen me become a bit run down. (But you all know me, I do like to play!) I started getting a sore throat during boating and should have seen to it then. But I had no time to be sick so I just let it go. I ended up with an infected throat, mild chest infection and a bad cough. Not good when you are kitted out in full Oxygen Cylinder and BA, (Breathing Apparatus), heavy woolen firefighter suits, steel capped boots and working leather fire gloves. The gear you wear weighs about 20 kilos. While wearing that we were crawling through smoke and fire filled buildings that were so black you could not see your hand 5cm in front of your face. Try to imagine the obstacles, debris and hideous stench of the smoke and the panic and confusion that occur. All while searching for a body – not fun at all. Add to that the fact that if you start to rise more than 1 metre from the floor you are in danger of burning off the tops of your ears from the intense heat. All the while there are two big, burley fire fighters screaming at you that you are going to die in 10 minutes if you don’t move your arse and get the hell out! This was seriously scary and exhausting stuff!

We also learnt how to take a stretcher basket down and up a cliff as well. This will happen in the event of a nasty glacier or crevace accident. We all cross our fingers that we never actually HAVE to undertake a real life rescue. The odds are stacked against anyone who injures themselves down there.
There have been many deaths over the years and 5 just this year on the continent – so it can be a very dangerous place to live I have to say. But we are well trained and we are a good crew, so if the worst does occur, we will be ready to come to the aid of one of our team.

Bringing up the strecther

 

Search & Rescue Training

No sooner was boating over with and I was undergoing Search and Rescue training. This consisted of survival training in the Antarctic extreme conditions, patient care and rescue, rope skills and knot tying (Which would have been handy during the boating week!), abseiling and rock climbing. Now abseiling I have done before a number of times and it is no big deal. Anyone can climb down a cliff, it doesn’t take a great deal of skill and it isn’t terribly exciting – well it isn’t for me at any rate. But rock climbing, now that was a different matter altogether. I can see why so many people are addicted. It was awesome! I loved the mental challenge of it. You have to think quickly and constantly, planning each hand and foot hold. One wrong move and it is all over. It was very physically demanding as well. There is no help at all; it is basically you hauling yourself up the side of a sheer cliff. Once I had abseiled down I look back up the 35 odd metres I had descended and thought “How the hell do I get back up THERE?!!” The cliff was almost a sheer drop – it even had an overhang to overcome. So I set out, one hand and foot at a time and was quite surprised that I could actually do it. There were a few hairy moments on the first ascent where I felt my legs and arms giving out as I reach for a new hold. But I had no choice other than to keep going and just get over the struggle and get the job done. I ended up doing about 8 climbs because the boys all wanted to learn how to do Belay – which is the safetyman side of things. This left me abseiling down and climbing up over and over again. I was so sore and bruised and absolutely shattered by the end of it I have to say. But I enjoyed it immensely and was quite proud of myself at the end of the day.

Only a little way to go!

 

Boating skills aquired

We also learnt rescue skills like getting into the boat when you fall out and patient pickup, both static and on the move. Oh My God – I am SUCH a gumby! Not sure if anyone has ever tried getting into a Zodiac while treating water – it is extremely difficult and made even more so because I was laughing harder with each failed attempt. 15 minutes, a few muttered swear words and a broken fingernail later and I landed like a big flopping, exhausted elephant seal into the bottom of the boat. Very ungracious to say the least - the boys were in stitches over my efforts. However, they did applaud me in the end so I stood in the boat and took a bow. It was the least I could do after providing them with so much entertainment :op Then we had to tip the boat over and learn how to right it. When it came to my turn, as the boat tipped over I didn’t jump quite clear enough and the end where the motor sits – which is a massive wood and metal plate that I can’t remember the name of – came crashing down on my head. DOH! First I saw stars and almost got knocked out, later a huge egg developed on my head. I had a massive headache for a day and a half over that one. (My first aid training tells me I had mild concussion, but we won’t tell the Doc that will we?!)
Aside from the bumps and bruises - This is the best course I think I have ever done in my life. I loved it. So now down south I will be ferrying Scientists with all their science gear, as part of my duties with the boat team, out to Islands and along the coastline where they will count penguins and watch algae grow and generally carry out science stuff. I will also be taking people on Berg Cruises through Casey’s “Iceberg Alley” at night, which will be amazing. Oh and I saw my first Penguin while boating! OK, OK so it was a Fairy Penguin – but it was still a penguin. Ha ha.

Throttle control. As close as you can without touching!

 

Just alittle bit dark and spooky at times

 

Boating in Caves

 

Boating was all good fun.I have never driven a powerboat so it was yet another new experience for me. We trained in 18FT Zodiacs. The weather was not kind to us that week, which was good for training because Casey weather can be pretty fierce. Have to say it was a very hard week at the office - NOT! ;o]
I was surprised at how quickly I developed skills I never knew I had. It was a week of intensive training, spending 8 -9 hours a day on the water. First off was steering and speed control. Then we progressed to holding a boat, under power, nose onto a jetty then park it and hold it side on. This will allow people to get on and off without getting wet. Very important down south!. Then we learnt how to hold the boat against some fairly serious rocky shorelines in massive swells. We will do this to load and unload scientists and their equipment. We boated into caves and inlets and some really tight places where the only way out was to 3 point turn and head back out. We also learnt how to beach the boat by riding the swell of the surf in, not that we will do that down south, but it was part of the course anyway. There is an art in getting on top of a wave and using the throttle to stay up there and ride it in to the shore – I managed twice it but I think it was good luck more than skill. Ha Ha.
The coast line of Bruny Island and the Hobart surrounds down past Kingston are just beautiful. On our last day we went over to Shelby Island and did some serious caving and had a good look around. That was the BEST day. The weather Gods were very kind to us. The ride over was pretty hideous, with 30knot winds, a huge swell and white caps everywhere. But once we hit the island the sun came out and the wind dropped and we had a fabulous three hours exploring the coast.

Learning to drive a forklift

 

Then it was back inside for more Comms training. I did a course on the X-Ray machine, repair and maintenance, located in the Hospital wing of all the stations. That was interesting. Man if I never have to have an X-Ray again as long as I live I will be happy. I think if the general public actually knew what an X-Ray did to the body they wouldn’t be nearly as quick to rush off to a doctor and get themselves or - worse still; their children - X-Rayed I can tell you. Very scary stuff! Very much an eye opener for me I must say.

Then it was more Comms training on radios, field sets and field radios, remote and wireless radios and Comms setups. A course on the AnareSat Satellite system, its maintenance and repair and the Iridium system followed. Nothing too hard or unexpected there – all good. Then a course to obtain my International Communications Operators license. This was a bit of a mind drain. It is an externally set up and examined course with an 80% pass mark. No pass, no trip south – No pressure at all!!!

Next it was a forklift driver’s license. My first hour was hilarious! Those little buggers get stuck in full lock and just go round and round in circles. Ha ha. Then I was told off for going “A bit too fast” around the warehouse. Doh! Juas asI was beginning to get the hang of it all and have some fun as well!. So unfair ;o] I was tested on a crown electric fork as this is what we use down south but the real fun came after my writtenand the practical test was completed. At this stage I got to go outside and learn to drive the wharf loader forklift. This thing is HUGE. But I have to say it is way easier to operate than the little electric one. That was a fun day in the office I have to say.

Climbing in Hobart

 

Training in Kingston for Antarctica

I began my journey to Casey Station in Antarctica at Kingston, Tasmania in September 2005.
On the second day after arriving I was subjected to a massive IT course where I think I crammed about a years worth of IT/Network Management training into two weeks. That was a steep learning curve, but my time spent working with (and without) Manga - my IT Guru in Newcastle - combined with my studies over the last year stood me in good stead and the training all actually made sense and gelled quite easily. Oh dear, I am now well on the way to being a certified Geek – How sad is that!? :op
After the head explosion of IT training it was nice to get out of the classroom and inot the fresh air for a Riggers Training Course, which was a heap of fun. It’s been a while since I climbed a tower but once I was hooked in and started to climb it all came back. As long as you are confident in your equipment, the heights really do not matter at all. In fact I didn’t even notice – except that the view was fabulous! - and just kept on climbing to the top. Mind you, our antennas at Casey are 3 times as high as the tower I trained on.