Tracey In Casey - Antarctica

One of my favourite shots

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Farewell penguins

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Farewell to the home of the Wandering Albatros. It's been a blast!

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View from our porthole. The first sunrise I have seen for months - and it is just beautiful.

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And leave Antarctica behind forever

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We enter the ice pack ...

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The land slips by ...

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Those left behind, let off farewell flares as we sailed away from Casey and the snow closed in.

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John, Chris and I with Petie to the right. Snow falls as we leave Casey.

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Beth, John & I head out to the AA - going home!

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A gorgeous Wilkes shot

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JOhn, Me, Chris, Andrew. We had just been given our Antarctic medals just before leaving Casey forever.

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The Aurora Australis at Anchor at Casey

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The whole family. Back John, Beth, Andrew, Me, Nicky. Front Leo & Chris

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JD and I at Wilkes on Boxing day

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Last entry - Feb 2007. The journey and adventure ends here.

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OK, well it has been a while.
I got back to Hobart Sunday 14th January – 2007.
The sea voyage was nice and uneventful, the water was calm and the trip was quick. 9 days in all. It was a strange feeling pulling away from Casey Station. John, Chris, Beth, Leo and I stood on the roof of the ship for a long time watching the shores of Antarctica slip by. John and I stayed up there for hours, just watching the light change and the ice and magnificent Bergs flow by, knowing it would be the last time we ever saw them again. It was bitter sweet really. It was an end to the whole adventure and the closing of an amazing chapter in our lives.

It is nice to be home – I am back in Newcastle now. Maxy the Dog was SO excited to see me. For two days he never left my side, staying at my heals constantly. Then he realised I wasn't going anywhere and he relaxed once more. We spent two weeks in Hobart, then two weeks in melbourne catchin up with family and fiends, then made our way home to Newcaslte. Maxy was exstatic to be home, didn't take him long to settle in once more.

Arriving home wasn’t too great initially - The tenants I had, had trashed my house and I have had to replace all the carpets and need to re-paint most of the walls. It took the professional cleaners over 4 hours to clean the filth these pigs left behind. Also, on a NO PETS lease, these bastards had 2 dogs, 4 cats, 4 rabbits and a bird – all inside! One dog was apparently a huge monster that has destroyed my side fence, trying to get in to next doors dogs, presumably to kill them by the sounds of things. The fence is being replaced tomorrow. I am pretty pissed at all of this because I have had inspections while I have been away and the Property managers sung the praises of these tenants. Obviously they never actually VISITED the bloody house! But that is another battle to fight. I am currently taking the tenants to the rentals tribunal to try and have their bond released to me. Doesn’t come anywhere near to the nearly $5K I have had to spend but it is a matter of principle. These pricks should NOT be allowed to get away with this! I don’t even live with much hope that I will even get their bond released to me – the system sees to be on the side of the tenants, no matter how much damage they do. We shall see. But it is still nice to be back home in my own little house, in my own space. I don't return to work unitl April 2nd, so am having a much deserved rest at the moment.

On an entirely different note: a pretty amazing thing happened three weeks before I left Casey Station. John Donaldson – the PI whom is always being written about in this Blog because we are always together – and I got together. On our first day back on Oz soil – in Hobart – he asked me to marry him. Of course I will, who wouldn’t, he is an absolute darling of a man and I adore him with all of my heart and soul. We have become best friends over the past 18 months and it is lovely that we are now in love. So there you go. I had to go all the way to Antarctica to meet the man of my dreams and then waited until 3 weeks before the whole adventure was over before I let it happen. Ha ha – typical Trace.

OK, well this is the chapter closed now folks. No more to write. No more yarns to spin you, just a few pictures to show you of the last days and the trip home.

John and I are planning on hiring a motor bike in about 18 months and riding up the west coast of the States, through the Rockies and on into Alaska. So my adventures are not ending at all. Both John and I have been bike riders most of our lives, so it will be fun. Then after that, one day, we will go to the the Greek Islands (Where we will be married), Turkey and then Egypt. So there you go – a happy ever after ending to a very tough, but amazing year for me. Along the way I loved and lost, made amazing friends and had the most magical and incredible time of my life, ending with the love of the man who is my soul mate and best friend. I am very happy and very much in love. So it was certainly an adventure worth having and one I enjoyed sharing with you all.

Thanks for coming along on the journey.
I wish you all peace, love and happiness in your lives.

When in doubt – do it anyway!!

Trace xx

Bye everyone. Have a great holdiay season!

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Adelies.

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Puppy love!

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A beautiful site, Mum & her pup

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This is a site I will miss very much. Beautiful Bergs on a gorgeous day.

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Wilkes and beyond

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Looking at Casey station from the hill above Wilkes

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My Gorgeous gift from Chris and John.

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18th-24TH December. LAST EVER BLOG FROM CASEY.

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OK, well this is my last Blog update ever from Casey Station – Antarctica.
I have to start with the loveliest story. Tuesday evening Andrew, Marilyn and I were called in for pre-dinner drinks to Chris’ room. Champagne with frozen strawberries greeted us. Then, John and Chris presented each of us with a Christmas present. Hand made Bronze Ice Axes in a beautiful, lined wooden display cabinet complete with a space for our Antarctic Expeditioner medallion to sit. Chris and John have spent months making these over many lunch hours. I was simply speechless and very touched. Two nicer men you wouldn’t find anywhere and that they are my friends is even nicer. What a lovely thing to do. It is a beautiful and special gift and very unexpected. There is a wall in my dining room, where this will be hung when I get home.

This has been a busy week at work.
I went out boating Monday for the morning. That was fun, but at the end of it all my arm was totally shattered. No more boating for me I am afraid. All the fabulous work the Doc has done with his ultrasound treatment over the last 3 weeks has just been blown right out of the water in one morning. Bugger! I am now in desperate need of that second cortisone needle, but I will wait until just before I board the ship. Once I have it, I need to completely rest my arm for several weeks. That wont happen until the trip home and my time in Hobart.

I have had lots of last evers this week. Last Transmitter Farm checks and visit. Last Receiver Farm checks and visit. Last Magnetite Observations performed – thank God! and last IPS hut work. The weather has been rather atrocious and very Antarctic. High winds, blowing snow, no visibility, freezing cold, all the things I love about being here. It is a fitting thing for the end of my time I think. I love the fierce Casey weather. I would have been disappointed if it had stayed lovely until the end because great weather is very Un-Casey like.

On the non work side of life, I went and took a long walk all over Shirley Island and spent a lot of time just sitting with the penguins. I will miss these little guys. The Adelie’s are just so fun and so curious, I adore them. I was also able to sit with a few Weddell seals over on the Island, which was nice. I shall miss them as well. They are, in my mind, the most beautiful and gentle creatures on earth. My fondest memory of the whole year will always be the day I was able to help the two seals down at Williams Nunatak. That experience will stay with me forever.

I went on one last jolly. A mid week overnighter to the Wilkes Hilton with Andrew, John, Chris and three of the science girls. We had a fabulous time. Far too much alcohol was consumed and my stomach ached from all the laughter. A fabulous last jolly to be sure. The Wilkes Hilton rocks! It is a great hut. It has the only wood burning fire in the whole of Antarctica!! It is fueled by all the off cuts from the chippies workshop. We are great at recycling everything down here! Ha ha. So I had one last wander around the old Wilkes station and happy snap time.
I have nearly 30Gig of photos and that is with all the crap ones already culled! It is almost impossible to take a bad photo down here.

So now we have Christmas decorations up in the Mess and the Wallow. Lisa’s hand painted fire place graces the climbing wall again this year and the station is readying for a Christmas feast on Monday. Robbie has been cooking for a week! A gorgeous Ginger Bread house sits in one of the windows of the Mess.
My room is packed – just this PC to go in a box once I publish this post – and I am living out of a bag until I get home. Time is really flying now. The end is near.

I have taken a bit of time to read though all my Blogs this week. This is something I have never actually done. I write them, publish them and then forget about them generally. It was - strange - to read about the adventures I have been on this year. It is almost like reading someone else’s words. I was thinking – “My God, did I really do all this?” It is a pretty incredible achievement to have lived and work here for a year.
Remembering my wonder and excitement when I arrived on station; my first uncertain steps as a Tech down here were amusing to me. Now, 13 months later, it is all just second nature. As a Tech I have stretched myself way beyond my limits and am proud of my work down here. It has been a very satisfying year, full of achievements for me work wise. I have done so much, worked on so much equipment and performed so many roles this year. I have been Comms Tech and Comms Operator with helicopters and airplanes. I have been IT Guru and Computer Technician. I have climbed masts and fixed antennas as a rigger. I have done vehicle and plant installation work and replaced panels in an Anaresat Dome. Man, I have done it all – in just 13 months. It has been awesome! I can’t believe all I have learnt while being down here. It has been absolutely brilliant. Best of all I have worked with a man who has become a lifelong friend. Andrew is such a nice fellow and he and I work really well together. So that has been a big bonus. I have heard of years where the two Comms Techs hated each other and didn’t speak for a whole year. Imagine how horrid that would be?!!! And me being a “Have a chat” – I would just die! :op

Antarctic wise, reading about all of my trips and my jollies was fun. Recalling flying along the sea at speed in boats in summer then over sea ice on quads in winter: visiting seals and penguin colonies: visiting field huts: trekking up Motherway Island, around the Browning Peninsular and Robbo’s. The traverse to Law Dome and Law Dome East (aka – the ENDS of the earth!) and a big trip to Wilkins runway are up thee as well. So many more adventures had and shared: it has all been the most awesome experience. It wasn’t all fabulous though. Reading about my frostbite incident sent chills down my spine as I remembered it. Undoubtedly the worst experience of my time here. Breaking through the melt lake late in summer was the scariest experience of my life. It was 10 seconds of sheer terror as I went down, not knowing where, or if, there was a bottom to the lake. The scream of terror that left my throat very nearly severed a vocal cord! Hurting my arm has also been a downer, the pain has been excruciating at times. But all in all, the good outweighs the bad. The experiences and memories will be with me forever.

Making friends along the way has been fabulous. Lisa – my sparkie mate – is still a best friend. The “Boys”: John, Andrew, & Chris, still with me and still all doodles that I love like brothers. Then there is Robbie - my cheffie - who has taught me so much in the kitchen and is a great mate. Some people have moved in – and out once more – of my life. They have left their mark also and I am glad I had the opportunity to know them, if only for a short while.

On a personal level, I am coming home a very different person to the one who boarded the Aurora Australis at Mac 4 in Hobart on December 2nd 2005. I have made the most of every opportunity I have had while I have been here. I am pretty sure that I have seen and done it all! I have had more adventures in this one year than most people pack into a whole lifetime. I have also taken the time and mustered the courage to look inward as well. It hasn’t been easy; there was a lot about myself that needed work. Slowly, step by step I have made changes that will, hopefully, better me as a person. I have learned patience and tolerance. I have learned not to judge and to accept the world and those in it for what and who they are. Each of us is our own unique person. I have also learned that there are those you think you know who turn out to be a beast of a very different nature than you initially thought. There have been a couple of these. No matter; these are all good lessons to learn. None of it killed me; tortured me a little at times perhaps; but never fatally – ha ha.

Now the journey is almost at an end. All in all it has been an opportunity that I am very glad to have been given.

Thanks to all of you have come along for the ride with me. It has been an interesting process to publish my weekly updates and know there are lots of people; I never have and never will meet; reading my Blog on a regular basis. Actually, the anonymity is less daunting than knowing I am going home to friends and associates who now know more about me than I normally would have revealed. Hmmm, yes, an interesting process indeed – I think.
This Blog was started as a simple way of keeping track of my time down here so I could look back in years to come and prompt memories that had faded. It seemed like a good idea, as I am certainly not a diary person. In the process I have been able to share an experience that few on this earth will ever have the opportunity to undertake and that is nice. I hope you enjoyed the journey; I enjoyed the telling of it. I will update one last time – from Hobart in 2 or 3 weeks – and share with you all my sea voyage home and my first glimpse of civilization, greenery, people and Maxy the Dog.

Until then, have a Fabulous Christmas and New Year everybody.

Be good – if not – be good at it!! ;op

Trace :o]

Just hangin' on the Pagadroma, sun in my eyes, enjoying the view. What a life hey - and I get PAID to do all this?!!! Life is GOOD!

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Cool cloud formations and light over the station as we head back to the wharf.

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One of the pups is now a small adult. This Wedel was happy hanin' with some Adelie's on an ice flow.

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A Giant Albatros. A rare treat to see one of these.

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Looking into the sun near Browning.

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Adelies on the sea ice just past Robbo's.

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PorposingPenguin

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Pengies on a berg

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The Ice Edge at the wharf, two weeks ago it was solid sea ice.

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Bergs and water spray

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The Pagadroma

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12th-17th December. PAGADROMA CRUISE

2006-12-17T11:34:00.000+08:00

Hi Everyone,
It’s been quite a busy week this week.
We have had the CASA’s fly in for a quick trip. They dropped off passengers then left the next morning. I did Radio Comms for both trips. Lots of sitting around waiting for the planes to come, land, refuel, depart, etc etc. The plans change constantly and you never know from one minute to the next what is happening with them. The weather is the factor which everything hinges on down here and it changes so dramatically and quickly that you need to be on guard all the time.
We have also had, then not and then had once more, a touchdown on the new Airstrip up at Wilkins Runway. It is due at 6PM today – we live in hope I guess, though I am pretty well over it all now. Yesterday was a perfect day, weather wise, however the plane was in Sydney instead of Hobart and couldn’t make the weather window! This new airstrip is quite a debacle. Once they get it up and running I am sure it will be fine, but with so much being weather dependant I just don’t know how it can work for constant people transfer. Most other nations down here use Aircraft – sort of – reliably. Australia is actually quite behind in this area so I guess it about time we caught up. All other nations also rely heavily on their ships as well. I am sure it will all work out in the end. It will certainly make it a lot easier to get renowned scientist, who don’t have time for a several week journey each way by ship. If they can fly in, do their job and fly out we will be able to expand the pool of people we can use down here and that has to be a good thing. For tradies, I guess it will be a ship voyage still. Suits me, I love the ship journey. After 14 months here, to be back in civilization in 4 hours is a bit daunting. The ship journey gives you time to get your head space in order for coming back to “reality” and “civilization”. I am on countdown in a big way now, so roll on the big orange taxi!!! Ha ha

As I type this I am supposed to be packing up my room. It is now Sunday and I am almost out of weekend. I worked all yesterday with the aircraft. While I was with the aircraft I received a phone call at work asking if I was up for a Pagadroma Cruise after dinner. The planes were due for handover, to my good buddy Greg who is now over at Davis station, at around five-ish, so yep, Count me in!, I told Pud, the skipper of the Pagadroma.

The Pagadroma is a 28ft all aluminum working boat. It has twin 125HP diesel engines and is a real tough work horse. It is used for the dive program here at Casey and to date I have not been out on it. So this was a great opportunity for me. Two weeks ago I was quading on the sea ice, now boating has started and the ocean has changed from sea ice to open water. The season has gone from winter to summer literally in three weeks. Very quick change.

My last Berg cruise was late January in the IRB’s. It was a very beautiful and serene experience. The IRB’s toodle along with their 50HP motor close to the water and just crawl round the huge Bergs. The motors get cut and you drift in silence and just become awestruck by the bergs. The Pagadroma trip was a completely different experience. The Pagadroma is a big noisy, smelly boat. It flies along at speed and the motor is never cut. So there wasn’t the serenity of a berg cruise last night. What we lacked in serenity we made up for in distance. Where it took us four hours in the IRB’s to reach the bergs and cruise around and back in February, it took us only 20 minutes last night. We were able to cover so much ground. We headed up the coast, hugging the coastline past Jack’s Donga. Then we did a big berg cruise around some massive monsters, covering twice the distance of my last trip out. After that we headed down the coast once more in the direction of Browning and the Vander Ford Glacier. The evening was perfect. No wind, sunshine, fabulous cloud formations and a boat that can travel easily, fast and long. We swept into interesting banks and sat and watched penguins when we found them.

Antarctica is teaming with wildlife now. There are so many birds. I saw a Wandering Albatross and two Giant Petrels – a very special site. There were Skuas, Wilsons Storm petrels, Snow Petrels and of course hundreds eof Adeile’s. We were actually in search of Killer Whales, but were out of luck. A pod was spotted earlier this week, so we know they are here – somewhere. Whale season is apon us now so I may see them when I am out boating. I am on the boating team fro Casey so from this week I guess I will be helping out the scientists as much as I can by driving the IRB’s around. Another fabulous facet to working here. To think I am PIAD to be down here doing all these things. What an amazing life I am living!

So there you go, another week has passed me by in Antarctica and very quickly this chapter of my life is coming to a close. As you can tell by this piece meal Blog entry, my mind is kind of racing. I am still enjoying being here and am fitting so much in. My days are very full with work and play. At the same time my thoughts turn to home and seeing Maxy the Dog and my mate Brent in Hobart and all my friends and family. It will be so lovely to catch up with my sister when I hit Melbourne and my oldest friend Couttsy. I am looking forward to that.
I have had a great adventure, but it is now time to return home and start my life up once more and move on to yet another adventure.

Till next week, which will be my last post until I hit Hobart once more, I shall say “Fare thee well me hearties”. Have a good one.

Trace :o]

Me

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Jack's hut

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Andrew, John, Chris

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Quads safe above the Sea Ice ad jack's hut at the top of the Moraine

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The sea Ice is breaking away

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Sun on Bergs

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Ice cliff that s melting. Rocks and Ice are breaking away constantly here.

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A rock melts into the sea ice.

2006-12-10T17:37:00.000+08:00

4-10th December. FINALLY, I MADE IT TO JACK'S HUT

2006-12-10T16:27:00.000+08:00

G’Day all,
Well, at last, I have gotten to stay at Jack’s. This is the only hut to date I have not stayed at.
Had a FABULOUS weekend. Once again it was John, Chris, Andrew and I.
I had the best ride down. In fact I will go as far as saying it was the best quad ride I have had all year! It wasn’t the most fun I have had, but it was an awesome ride. The weather was warm, the wind was zero, the visibility was good and the scenery was amazing. I toodled along stopping often to take photos. I hardly have words to describe the view as I traveled along. The ocean and the bergs stretched on forever. There were broken bits and bergy bits and sun lighting up some bergs while others remained dull. It was the most beautiful site. The clouds were numerous and wild while some open blue patches still remained. It was just amazing. It was like, how many different colours and shades of clue are there? I simply haven’t the words I am afraid to convey it all. You had to be there. I was looking at this scene and even to me, being there, it didn’t look real. It was like an Impressionist painting. Never have I seen a site like it. The camera really doesn’t capture it, but it does allow me remember the splendor.

Jacks Hut sits high on a rocky moraine line directly above the ocean. It is a great spot. It is the holiday house of all the huts. Once at Jacks we headed down to the sea ice for a walk. It is really thin and I doubt it will last another week. All sea ice travel by vehicle is now banned because it is too dangerous to risk traveling on it. We walked along the edge and stopped to watch the melt in progress. A cliff has started collapsing. We sat on the ice for ages watching as ice and rocks broke away and smashed to the ground. It was pretty cool sitting there watching this site. These rocks have taken hundreds or even thousands of years of being pushed by the glacier from the summit of Antarctica to reach the final cliff edge and here we sat watching them break away and fall. How cool is that? Nowhere else in the world could you watch that happen. Even down here it is a site few would ever witness.

We continued our walk and stopped at some stalagmites then some really pretty ice formations. Then we headed back to the quads at the ice edge. A lone seal had popped out of a huge a hole close by so we wandered over to say hello. She was fast asleep. Closer inspection revealed what appeared to be some heavy fighting wounds. It was a recent attack. The wounds were still bleeding. But they weren’t too bad, so she would be fine in a day or two. We left her to rest in peace.

Back at Jacks we got out the wine and cheese and nibblies. Then had dinner, and drank and chatted well into the night. I woke with a shocking hangover, took my coffee out on the rocks and sat – with sunnies on because my eyes hurt – and took in the scenery. It was lovely. Mind you, it was past noon at this stage! Not long after we packed up and headed home. I had a great ride back – hooned all the way!

The ship has now left Hobart and is steaming towards us. It was four days late in leaving, so is due at Casey somewhere around the 1st January now. Hopefully they will do their best to make up as much time as they can and I won’t be home much later than the original schedule.
I can’t wait to see Max, my dog and also my mates in Hobart. It will be good to finally get home.

OK, till next week.
Have a good one
Trace :o]

Birds often call together. They are noisy buggers.

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Life is harsh in the wild. not all birds make it. There are many dead birds on Shirley. Often the victim of Skua attack.

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Birds mating

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A gorgeous pic by Greg. Looking past Wilkes to the Bergs, from Shirley Island.

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Rookery 22, a larger one. There are about 260 birds here, much larger rookeries are further from station.

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Rookery 18 - a very small one.

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You cna see two birds have been fighting and blood on the rock. Life is not always peaceful in mating season.

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Sitting by rookery number 21

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A male tucks his egg securely under him. He is waitign for his mate to return. The females are away feeding and will return for hatching time

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Three more little guys wander over for a chat

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A penguin comes in close to have a look and say hello

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27th nov – 3rd Dec. PENGUIN COUNTING AT SHIRLEY ISLAND

2006-12-03T09:44:00.000+08:00

Hey All,
How is everyone? I have to say – I am just FABULOUS!!!
I was more than pleasantly surprised this week to realise that I had messed up my countdown. I believed I still had 5 weeks to go. I was wrong. I only have 4 weeks until I leave. YAY!!!!!!! I am enjoying the remainder of my time immensely. In fact I am having a great old time currently, but I am still more than ready to come home. It certainly won’t be a sorry expeditioner standing on the bridge of the Aurora Australis waving goodbye to Casey Station in 4 weeks time that is for certain. I will leave happy that I have crammed it all in. (I am sure I have written that before haven’t I?)

Another station debacle occurred this week. One of the operators cut through a Mains power cable running down to the old station. This took out all of our Comms equipment at the wharf plus at the IPS site. Botheration! Power was restored with 72 hours and I did the rounds of turning all the equipment back on and running it up. Thankfully it all came up first go. The sea ice in Newcomb Bay is pretty well gone now. While I was down at the wharf I watched eight penguins playing in the water. It was a lovely site. Not a bad day at work when you can spend half an hour standing on a wharf in Antarctica watching penguins play is it?

This week saw the weather start out fairly well, then turn less than ordinary. I had volunteered to walk over to Shirley Island and do some penguin counting for the penguin science project. Typical, the day I was to head off was cold, windy and snowing where it had been warm and sunny the day before. Botheration! However, I am an intrepid winter Expeditioner! Ha Ha. So, accompanied by Brian, I headed into the wind, rugged up warmly, packs on backs to count penguins. It turned out to be good afternoon. The first hour and a half was bitterly cold with the wind biting into us. Then suddenly the wind dropped to nothing and the snow started softly falling, which was lovely. After making our way around to count ten colonies the snow changed from a light fall to a much heavier downpour so Brain and I decided four hours of bird counting was enough for one afternoon and headed home. It had been lovely to spend time with the penguins. They are very curious and love coming up for a look. If you sit in one place long enough they gather around in groups of up to six birds. Then one will suddenly race away and seconds later all the others race after it. Slowly another set of birds will come up to you and settle for a while, only to race away quickly for no apparent reason. They really are clowns these little birds. I love being amongst them. They have none of the grace of the magnificent Emperor penguin; however I enjoy them more because they have such character and are a lot of fun to be amongst.

There are fifty-eight known colonies on Shirley Island and each year counts need to be made of birds arriving at the island to nest and mate. This count is done prior to December 5th. Another count is conducted in February of both birds and chicks after hatching has completed. Overall the population on Shirley Island has tripled in the last ten years. This shows that Casey station, rather than having a negative impact on the birds, is really having no impact at all. There are nesting sites closer to the station that now lay abandoned; however there are more sites and more birds on the rest of the island. I have to say, being over at the Receiver farm; which lies opposite the edge where Shirley Island is the most distant from Casey station, is a pleasure. There is no generator noise and no plant equipment noise. If I was a penguin I too would move away from the constant hum of the diesel generators to the quieter suburbs of Shirley Island also. ;o]

I was on Comms all weekend while Andrew went away and Ian had the weekend off. Being confined to station working, it was a great opportunity to start packing up my room. I am now living in a box cupboard! Ha ha. In the next few days I will get all the boxes down to the green store, ready for their long trip home. I have a busy last few weeks coming up so had to pack up early. I also took the opportunity today to give myself a facial and hair treatment. A girl has to look after herself. Ha ha. Actually I look a little like Buddha at the moment; I have a bit of a pot belly from not enough exercise. ;op It wont take long to get back in great shape once I get home, so I am not at all concerned. Running Maxy the dog every day will soon whittle off the 3 kilos I have put on.

Next weekend I am off to Jacks for two days, the weekend after, I have been invited on a Girls Only weekend at the Wilkes Hilton. That will be a hoot. The girls here at all lovely and are a lot of fun to be with. The weekend following that is Christmas and then I am OUTTA HERE!!! Goodness, not long to go at all. Being so busy, the time will simply fly by.

Typical of Casey weather, the day after I went bird counting, the sun came out and the skies were blue. The weather warmed and the rest of the week was postcard perfect. I took several walks around the extended station limits after work. Over to Reeves’ hill and also down in the direction of the wharf and Thala Valley. It is a beautiful place to explore and I do enjoy being here. I am getting my last fill of the sights and surrounds so they last me a lifetime once I depart from this amazing and wonderful playground I have been lucky enough to live in for more than twelve months.

With a bit of luck next week I may get to go over to Whitney Point for some more penguin counting. Whitney Point is on the tip of Wilkes and is an ASP (Area of Special protection). So unless you have a scientific purpose for being there you never get to see it. It looks no different to anywhere else down here but it is always nice to visit new places regardless.

OK, I still have boxes to pack so I am off till next week.
Have a good one.
Trace :o]

The Flyover of Wilkins Runway. Next is a test landing - hopefully - in a few weeks time.

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Casey Station and Newcomb Bay from the air

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Willkins Runway from the flyover aircraft. Running 4Km, it is the longest runway in the Sourthern hemisphere

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John, Andrew, Chris. All four of us will be mates for life.

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Getting read to ride! John in the foreground, Chris & Andrew behind.

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Being Intrepid! Chris & Andrew on the porch of Robbo's Hut

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Pyramid tents - the ideal all weather tent for adventuring.

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"Snow Coffins". They keep you warm if you have to Bivvy out.

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Both CASA airplanes at S1 Skiway. Photo by Tricky.

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Leaving Robbo's for the last time - I rode the skidoo home.

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A lone Adelli by the sea ice edge in Penny Bay

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Adelli Penguins out for a walk.

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An Emporer Penguin on the ice edge at Penny Bay - Robbo's.

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William's Nunatak Creche

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How could you not love these beautiful, gentle creatures?

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Skua's - Antarctica's scavengers. A beautiful bird despite their savagery.

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No longer pups, this little guy now is half as big as his mum.

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Now THIS is a beautiful face!

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A very special place

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Robbo's - my favourite place in Antarctica.

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Manhandleing John's quad out of the slush

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Trying to tow out John's quad saw the second quad bog as well.

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Monday evening - nearly 11PM. Pink sunset reflection in Newcomb Bay. Very pretty.

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Penguin COlony on Odberd Island. All this ice is now open water.

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Some of the Fire Team

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The weather has been so nice I have retired my big red coat and bought out my light weight summer blue coat.

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Touchdown

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What's wrong with this picture?

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"Hey George, what do you reckon these humans are doing this time hey?"

2006-11-26T19:58:00.000+08:00

20 – 26th November. A VERY BUSY WEEK INDEED.

2006-11-26T19:45:00.000+08:00

Goodness, this has been a busy week. We have had lots of debacles as well as lots of extra activity, so this will be a bit of an epic Blog.
Firstly there was the skidoo that went through the sea ice and is now sitting on the bottom of the sea floor at 65+ metres in depth. It isn’t being retrieved any time soon – or probably ever for that matter. 65metres is too deep for the divers to reach safely; also there is no light at that depth and no way to get light down there.
Oh and just for the record – I had NOTHING to do with that debacle. I was actually covering Comms back on station while a group of boys went for a trip via the sea ice to Wilkes at the time. The sea ice was closed early than usual after that, for obvious reasons. ;o]

The second debacle – again NOTHING to do with me - occurred when an underground cavern opened up beneath the excavator as it was making its way to the wharf. It swallowed the excavator almost whole! Luckily for the driver the cab fell in backwards and he was able to scramble out to safety. It took 3 days to dig a massive trench into the cavern and retrieve the excavator. The cabin is pretty smashed up but the rest looks good. The excavator will have to return to Australia where I think a new cabin will fix it up.
Goodness, I hope the Div have their insurance paid up this month!

The third debacle occurred at 11:30PM Tuesday night. A fire alarm at any time of day is a nuisance but at 11:30pm on a school night, when most people are snuggled in their beds it is even more so. The fire panel in Ops indicated that there was a problem - or a fire even - at the Transmitter hut, which is a 2KM drive off station. Botheration! Off the fire team scrambled in the fire Hagg to see what was going on. The old riggers hut had leaked water into the fire line and set off the alarm. All the winterers reckon we have had more than our fair share of fires at Casey this year, there has been three this season, so a false alarm made a nice change.

After many false starts the CASA’s finally arrived at Casey Station on Monday. They were originally due to arrive anywhere between the 1st and 5th of October. Just a tad over schedule: VH-VHA touched safely on the S1 skiway under a beautiful blue sky with winds of less than 10 knots. VH-VHB followed only minutes behind. The ferry fuel tanks were removed from the planes and replaced with seats ready to get to their final destination of Davis on Thursday. On Wednesday, a flight to Bunger Hills to prepare for a science journey later in the year saw me doing radio Comms with the planes for the trip. This is just another aspect of being a Comms tech in Antarctica -. Jack of all trades; master of none – that’s me! It is one of the things I love about this job – so many various roles and work to perform. You would never cram all of this into one job in a lifetime back home, let alone into one year! The sad part of the CASA’s arriving and moving to Davis station is that Greg has moved on with them. So it was goodbye to our friend for this year. Greg and I are good friends, so we will stay in touch, which is nice. Toodles Gregels!!! That is another great thing about this place: the friendships you form. I have made some amazing friends that will last a lifetime during my time here. That is a rare and special thing indeed.

On Sunday the inaugural flyover for the Wilkins airstrip occurred. Now all we need is a plane to land and test the runway and things will be on the way to having a working Australian runway in Antarctica. It will mean many more scientists can visit for shorter periods of time on a fly in, fly out basis rather than spending a lot of time that they can’t afford on a ship. It is a pretty political topic so I won’t share my views on the whole endeavour with you.

The weather this week has been just gorgeous. We reached +0.2 degrees during the week. I was roaming around in a T-Shirt with no hat or gloves for two days. After a weekend of Blizz it was nice to have a week of blue skies. The sun sets at nearly midnight and rises again at 2am now, so there is light 24/7 once more. Lots of adventuring can be done after work now when the weather is nice. Taking advantage of the top weather, a few of us took off on Quads on Monday night to Robbo’s. It was one of the hardest rides I have done for a while. The sea ice is dogdy now, so we went inland to Robbo’s. The terrain was very rough, with soft snow. There was nothing for it but to gun the quads and ride hard to get through. Once at Robbo’s we visited Mel who had a group from Casey out field training and said hello, then went down to the sea ice in Penny Bay. We wanted to see how the ice was holding up and were planning on going to Odberd Island in search of an Emperor penguin.
What a debacle that became! Three of the boys managed to make it over a tide crack, but by the time I hit it they had weakened it enough that my quad went straight into it. Bugger! Wet feet and lots of cursing got me out. Then closer to Odberd Island, John went into a big area of slush and sank to the tops of his wheels. His was way more spectacular than my effort I have to say. We tried towing him out, but ended up bogging the towing quad as well. In the end the 4 boys had to man haul the quads out of the bog. I just watched and took photos; as is the Antarctic way! Ha ha. As we headed back to more solid ice Brian remarked to me “You know Trace, I reckon there isn’t anything we haven’t done this year mate”. I am absolutely positive he is correct. I am actually really glad we went out that night. I was able to stand on the sea ice in front of Obderd Island and take a beautiful panorama picture of one of the penguin rookeries. By Saturday all that sea ice was open water and will not be re-freezing until next winter now. Just for good measure, on the way home, back on O’Brien Bay, I went into another tide crack and then had to make the run up the ice cliffs four times before managing to reach the top. The snow was so deep and soft and the cliff so steep it was a massive effort to reach the top. I managed one tantrum near the very end. I was stuffed and my arm was as well. However, it had been a great evening ride. I had fun. We arrived home at 10:45pm with the sun just beginning to think about setting.

Of course as soon as the weekend arrived the weather crapped out – always the way. We had cancelled our Robbo’s trip once due to bad weather, we weren’t cancelling again. So we headed off into falling snow – being very intrepid in the horrid conditions – to Robbo’s Hut. Robbo’s is definitely my favourite place in Antarctica. I just love being there. The ride out was really hard on my arm so after that trip out I rode the skidoo for the rest of the weekend. I am not overly fond of the Skidoo, it is very unstable, but it was easier on my arm. Plus I did get it up to 100clicks at one stage and got some amazing air – pretty well sphincter clenching though I have to say. While it didn’t overly hurt my arm, I do think I compressed my spine! Ha ha. All good fun.
I got to put a tick in my last box of stuff to do down here – I finally came face to face with an emperor penguin while at Robbo’s. They are a huge bird and very beautiful. They are graceful with a very loud and distance call. It was awesome to finally see one up close. We awoke to weather that was not too bad on Saturday so we toodled down over the sea ice – what is left of it - and visited the seals at Williams Nunatak once last time. The seals are all thriving and are growing like monsters!! I can no longer call them pups, they are adolescents now. I can hardly believe how big they have gotten in such a short space of time. There are still some young pups amongst them, but not a lot. It has been the loveliest experience to watch these seals come up onto the ice large and fat and heavily pregnant, then give birth to skinny little bundles of fur, then see the pups grow into adolescents. The circle of life is an amazing thing. I think we will be the last visitors to the Nunatak. It is only accessible via the sea ice and the sea ice is very quickly breaking away. Soon the seals will head back out to the ocean and resume doing whatever it is seals do out there. I should have googled that shouldn’t I and found out what they do and informed you all? I suspect it is just eat, swim, sleep and eat some more. Here is a question - How the hell did we all survive before Google!? Ah yes, now I remember, they are called books! How quickly we forget hey?

I am sad to report, that my beautiful blue berg has almost lost its battle to the oncoming summer weather. It now sits almost surrounded by water, the sea ice nearly gone. It is made up of an ice cliff face and only a big pile of ice rubble now - very sad indeed. I have visited this Massive Ice Giant over the whole winter season and to see it disintegrate away is a shame. But I have photos of me hugging it, so it will always be remembered. ;o]

My right arm is pretty well cactus now. The tennis elbow is back and I am in a niggling sort of pain 24/7. Some days, like the morning after Monday night’s huge quad ride, I can’t even hold my coffee cup. Other days it isn’t too bad. The doc has given me specific exercises to do daily and he has started Ultrasound treatment on it. He says I can have one more cortisone injection. After that no amount of cortisone will work. I will hang out and put up with it until just before boarding the ship for home and then I’ll have the shot. I know I won’t stop going out riding quads hard, riding the skidoo, generally having a great time down here just because it hurts it my arm. That just isn’t me. Go Hard or Go Home; that is pretty well my motto in life. I may never get back to this part of the world and I don’t intend an injury to stop me making the most of it all. The doc says it is pretty well stuffed and will take up to 18 months to heal anyway, so another 6 weeks until the ship arrives won’t make it any worse. It won’t help, but it can’t get worse. ;op

OK, that is enough for this week. I have no more stories to share with you. It has been a pretty big week in Casey town I have to say.

Till next week – take it easy dudes!

Trace x

Another cute pup. Piccie thanks to Greg

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These monsters are about 20km off shore.

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This gives an idea of the size of some of the Bergs. Those are quads at the base.

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Petie strikes a Yoga pose on ice

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Mel, some people sit on their hands - Mel stands on hers. ;o]

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Mel - our FTO (Field Training Officer)

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With the weather turning to crap - our weekend away is postponed to next week.

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Greg - our fabulous Comms operator

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The CASA airplane we are waiting for.

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Winter Tradies Photo

2006-11-18T13:18:00.000+08:00

13 - 19th November. A little about some of the people & jobs being performed around the station.

2006-11-18T12:34:00.000+08:00

Hello All,
My weekend away to Robbo’s was cancelled due to bad Blizz conditions. So it is rescheduled for next weekend. I don’t mind, I would rather have the comfort of the red shed during a Blizz than being stuck out in a hut with nothing to do but play 500. I shall get to see all my little seal friends next week. I am sure the babies are big fat monsters by now. It will be lovely to catch up with them all and see their progress.

In the mean time I thought I would tell you a little bit about some of the people and projects on station at the moment.
We have Greg – our Comms operator. I met Greg last year when he stopped at Casey for a little while on his way home from Davis last year. He is a top bloke and a good friend. We have kept in touch all year since our last meeting and it is nice to have him back with us once more.
Greg is on rather a long stopover at Casey this year on the way to Davis station. He is waiting for the CASA airplanes to arrive from Hobart. When they finally get here he will board one and toodle off to Davis for the rest of the summer to perform Comms for the summer flight plans. While Greg is at Casey he is looking after our VHF and HF Radio traffic. This leaves Andrew and I more time to do our CTO work. Greg keeps track of the two dive teams when they are out working, he liaises with the field teams when they leave station, scheds with the Wilkins party on HF most nights and also ran all of the heli-ops for V1 when the choppers were here. So life in radio land is pretty cruisy for Andrew and I with Greg here.

Mel is our Field training officer for this summer. She is a legend and an amazing woman who has lived a pretty cool life and has some awesome stories to tell. Mel is a glaciologist and a scientist who’s passion is Global warming. This has been a large part of her professional life for more than 15 years. Mel sent us all a warning the other day “A reminder that this year is the largest ozone depletion ever seen in Antarctica and it is very noticeable on people's skin at Casey during field training. The ozone depletion will last until late December (when the atmosphere where the depletion occurs starts warming up and the ozone destruction stops). Even if people plaster themselves with 30+ sunscreen, after about five hours in the sun their skin has usually passed the 30 times exposure limit. Most fair-skinned people (like myself) will burn after about 10 minutes in the sun - hence the 30+ gives us 300 minutes exposure time. That time has been reduced due to the lack of ozone (that normally absorbs UV). Rather than just using sunscreen, I am urging people to cover up or not be in the sun in the middle of the day.” Most of us have suffered from sunburn in the last four weeks or so and it is more than evident that this year there is little protection from the sun’s rays down in this part of the world. We have also watched the Al Gore movie “An inconvenient truth” which I strongly urge every person to either go and see or get hold of a copy and watch. It is a very scary and very real wakeup call for all of us.
More climate change info can be found at:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/climate-change & http://www.ipcc.ch/ & www.greenhouseinfo.nsw.gov.au & http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/ & www.epa.gov/climatechange/

However, I digress, Mel is also a wilderness expert who has spent many years guiding and teaching outdoor education. She is involved in mountain rescue and also teaches kayaking and mountain climbing. Next year Mel is off to the US, Alaska, the Rocky Mountains and Utah to run 30 – 40 day leadership courses. On top of that she is a top chick and an absolute scream. I am really enjoying having her at Casey for the summer; she is a lot of fun. Mel works 6 months on, 6 months off. Tough life but somebody has to do it!

On the science side of things: There is a group of scientists running a human impacts project. It involves setting up a Terrestrial Barrier which traps contaminated soils. By studying the soil samples scientists are able to develop particle separation and adsorption technologies using permeable reactive barriers to remove mobilised pollutants from ground and surface waters. This will prevent the spread of contamination during Antarctic site clean up activities.

We also have a large dive team down here this summer, as we had last summer also. The divers are partaking in quite a few projects this year. One of these projects looks at “contaminants that may persist in marine sediments and be re-suspended during storms or by the activity of animals. This project will assess the impact of contaminated sediments on plants and animals that live directly above the sediment. Rocky-reef organisms form a large component of Antarctica’s biodiversity and include algae as well as filter feeding animals such as sponges, lace corals, and fanworms. Many of these plants and animals live on boulders embedded within sediments. Information on the response of individuals, populations and communities to contamination will be used to develop sediment quality guidelines appropriate for the protection of the Antarctic environment.”

So there you have it. Another week in the life of Tracey in Casey. Bit of an info and education session for you this week.

It has been educational for me also, though on a different level. Our new doctor on station, who is staying for the next winter, is a very clever and interesting man. His wife is a psychotherapist, so he has an interest in this area. He and I have been chatting about self development and searching for peace and happiness within yourself and your life. Sometimes, all it takes is for someone to suggest a new way of looking at an issue; which then allows you to think outside the box. From there, whole new worlds of possibilities and positive experiences can open up before you. I have recently ordered the Deli Lama’s book “The art of happiness” online and it will be waiting for me to read when I get back to Aus. I also have a couple of other books to look at, recommended to me by John, our new Doc.
The Buddhists say “When the student is ready; the teacher will appear” And so it seems to be with me in meeting John. I am nearing a fork in the road and a new life is about to begin for me. For the first time in a long time I feel I may be about to walk a path that is the right one for me to take. Mind you, it has taken a lot of heartache, self doubt and soul searching to reach this place.

Ok, enough philosophizing for one week, it isn’t really in my nature to get too serious about these things. At the end of the day I like to think the good old Karma Fairies will take care of me. I am not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination. I was raised as a catholic and had 12 years of Catholicism shoved down my throat, which jaded me considerably I have to say.
I did read Krishna a long time ago, while rebelling against my upbringing and I am starting to read about Buddhism now.
Krishna teaches:
“If you can: help someone – if you can’t: don’t hurt them”.
I think that is a nice sentiment to live your life by. I have tried to live with this statement in mind ever since I read it. I am not nearly as patient as I need to be, though I am getting a lot better! ;oP

Till next week.
Sing like no one is listening: dance like no one is watching and love like you will never be hurt.
And make sure you hug your Puppy Dog if you have one ;o]

Trace xx

A very old photo I found. A dog sled team from years gone by. It would have been wonderful to have the dogs here still.

2006-11-12T10:17:00.000+08:00