Adeliae

             

              Hi folks! I know I've been a bit behind on this post, and I apologize. Work has picked up a notch, I got a bit sick last week (but managed to kick it in a single day of being out of commission – thank goodness for a strong immune system!), and I've finally gotten to get out into the field a bit! So, needless to say there are a LOT of exciting updates.  

Even the sign has penguins!

                 

       First things first though, about 8 days ago I got to go visit the magical location of Shirley Island, situated about a 20-min stroll from Casey station limits. This is the home to a number of Adélie penguin rookeries and the sea-ice bridge also currently provides a haul-out spot for a few Weddell seals.  

Shirley Island and the ice we cross to get to it

        Yes, when I say sea-ice bridge, I mean that you can currently walk to the island from land over a frozen channel spanning most of the length of the island. We have to measure and monitor the ice thickness to make sure it is safe to cross, but then can happily stroll across on foot if it is even just 20cm thick!! (provided it is "good" ice). 

Mind you there are a few limitations, like carrying a survival bag in case you get trapped on the island, carrying a throw bag in case someone falls through the ice, and an ice-pick to hopefully claw your way out of the frigid water should you fall in. 

Crossing the sea-ice.
Notice the stress crack to the left of the photo

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

           We also had to be accompanied by one of the beardy winterers (well I guess they didn't HAVE to be beardy)  because at this stage as we were not survival-trained.  

Penguins in sight!

And yes, they are actually all shiny and pretty when clean! 

       Before we even got onto the other side of this sea-ice, we'd been met by a few curious Adelies. These little guys are some of the most charismatic and curious little buggers I've encountered in the wild. They are truly inquisitive, and in proper penguin manner, relatively uncoordinated. 

              Here comes the penguin photo spamming portion of this blog post where I have to try and limit the 160+ photos and videos I took in one single afternoon to a few choice ones. 

Mind you, I promise you will be seeing more pictures of these funky little guys over the course of my stay here (I even just got some brilliant video footage on my most recent adventure - survival training – but that is for another day's blog).  

Sippin' on some snow

Let's not forget the Skua that nest in the same area

Post-copulation pair

The penguins are currently breeding, which allowed for some really interesting observations, both of actualy copulation but also of the ritual pebble-gathering on the part of the males, and a fair bit of agressive behaviour as well.

Stealing pebbles!

           We probably spend about 2 hours out on Shirley Island just watching and taking photos/videos of these fantastic creatures, which was long enough to be fully desensitized to the stench they emanate.

BIIIIIIG Yawn

            

           Now, don't forget this is also a spot where we got to see some Weddell seals! What I was not expecting was to actually get to HEAR them on the surface. These three seals were snoozing on the sea-ice, and it would appear one of them was sleep-talking. For those of you who have no idea what a Weddell seal might sound like, I encourage you to listen here (http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/sounds or here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CRBovMIvMI ); because no matter how much I can try and describe it as 1970's Sci-Fi movie special effects sound; you just can't believe it until you hear it.  It was pretty incredible to get to hang out with the penguins for so long and even more so get to witness the vocalising of the Weddells, which I had no idea was ever done on the surface.

               When it was finally time to depart, we had our passage blocked by a little guy who'd decided he wanted to follow us home, leaving us somewhat torn between following the rest of our group up the hill and making sure he got the 5m clearance we are instructed to give penguins. He eventually gave up on those silly humans who kept walking away from him and scrambled past the ones stupidly gawking at him and taking photos on his path back to the island.  

"Hey, what are you guys up to?"

"Can I come? Pleeeeeeease?"

"awwww, you guys are no fun.... :("

         It was a pretty magical day for everyone I believe, and I've already written so much about it I'm just going to have to make a separate blog post to talk a bit about some of the field work I've been doing, so keep your eyes out for that in the next week!  

There is some penguin pornography featured in the top right-hand corner of this photo. Just a heads up. 

And let's not forget how cool the nesting Skuas around Shirley are aswell!

Welcome to Casey Station!

               

Hey guys! Writing to you form my new home here at Casey Station. I know I have now been here for the last week, and should probably have updated with a blog post earlier, but I have to find some way of keeping you all on your toes! :)

View of the front of the Red Shed, where everything in Casey seems to reside

Our lounge room

       Here is Casey station, a small very comfortable Antarctic station that I can very easily call home. The red shed is the building where we mostly reside, have our kitchen, lounges, cinema, library and most importantly – “Splinters”, the local bar serving delicious home-brews.

My new local pub - and here
the beer is free!

           My room is a small dorm-sized room, fitting pretty much just my twin bed and a little dresser but is also a marvellously cosy space in which I seem to sleep like a log. I share a little lounge space with two of my female colleagues, and a bathroom down the hall. Everything is extremely clean and well maintained, and the building, even dating from the 80's feels very tasteful and modern.

My new digs

Shared lounge with tons of natural
 light all through the night

Band room! 

The Wallow as seen from above,
huge windows and rock-climbing wall

The place is quite big, and has everything you could possibly want in a home. Hydroponics for fresh lettuce and tomatoes, a sauna and hot-tub with flatscreen tv, two gyms, a cross-country ski loop, ping-pong and pool tables, and even a rock climbing wall in the Wallow! Needless to say, I can very happily picture myself here for the next 4 months, and can easily see why all the beardy winterers that welcomed us are in such good spirits, even after being isolated here with only 18 of them for 8months.  

       

                   

View outside those huge windows :) ICEBERGS

           Outside the 2-story windows in the “wallow”, the view is of the Casey sign-post, and in the distance the wharf and yes, ICEBERGS. As beautiful as the mountainous landscape of McMurdo was, I will admit that this absolutely tops it. I guess I am used to mountains, but not that used to icebergs.

the "EVS", my new home

home of the hyperbaric chamber
and dive gear

Getting a guided tour of Casey

             










            Weather has been absolutely amazing, most days hanging at about -3°C and sunny, though we had a nice big snowfall last week, dropping about 40cm of fresh beautiful powder everywhere. The wind here really does affect how the temperature feels, but I have found that most days I am comfortable working the EVS (Emergency Vehicle Shed, where the hyperbaric chamber and diving gear is being kept), in my thermals and work shirt / pants.

       


         This even includes my frequent work outside to and from different storage containers and buildings around “town”. Mind you, “town” is a single street, about the length of a city block.

Old Casey Wharf

         



        You can however wander about 5 minutes down a snowy road to the “old Casey” station and wharf, allowing for views of the sea-ice and crystal clear blue waters beneath.




       
          Needless to say I am absolutely itching to get in there and get to experience my first Antarctic dives, though I will probably have to wait another week before that happens.

Icebergs, and beautiful lighting

Look at that water!!!

 

                   

Lamb for the feast

Delicious apple tarte

        Food here, which I was initially worried would be somewhat unexciting due to the limitations on fresh or varied ingredients, has been outstanding! The two chefs we currently have working are making it their mission not only to please everyone on station (including a Vegan expeditionner), but also to do it with style. Saturday night we get to enjoy a served dinner (as opposed to the usual buffet style service), which this week was divine.



Looks like the calories lost to work and cold will very easily be regained in this place.
Now that I've really started into work, and we are trying to catch up for over a week of delays, I'm a bit slower on writing these. But believe me I have a lot more stories to share, and MANY MANY pictures pictures of penguins :)
 

Hotel California

         

              As the Eagles said, “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” This definitely became our theme song as we stayed a full week in McMurdo, expecting to leave each morning, only to find out that our flight was yet again cancelled due to bad weather on the way to Casey.

View from the summit of Observation hill, 4am.

            Mind you, all this time the weather we experienced was absolutely stunning. A full week at the American station was not only enough time for us to really enjoy all the aspects of life there, make friends, and for my American accent to come back full force.

Casey as seen from Ob. hill (still 4am!)

Scott Base and Ice formations

         Thankfully we moved out of the gym (which I later found out had previously been used as a morgue in a mass casualty incident years ago), and into much nicer accommodation called “Hotel California”. We should have seen the implications of this from the start! Finally sleeping well, and getting access to our suitcases for just a day made things much more comfortable. We got to explore a bit more, venture over to the Kiwi Station (Scott Base) for some cross-country skiing and enjoy a few more beverages and games of shuffle-board.

The kiwis were pretty awesome to let us hang out there

NO, it's no downhill slope in the Alps or PNW,
 but hey, it's actually the ocean. And  snow, and I think that's half
of what I've been craving.

       Leaving McMurdo the first time, we'd already made enough friends in the American crowd that they teased us quite heartily when our bus returned from a failed mission to the air-field. The second time we piled onto Ivan the Terra-Bus hoping he'd take us to the plane, we finally got to leave. This is when things really started getting exciting. I think until the plane actually started up, we were all too deflated from false-starts to really think we would ever actually be on our way to Casey.

Hercules!

 But there we were, in a 1950's American military plane, a Hercules, strapped to fold-down canvas seats, with cargo piled practically to the roof in the same compartment as us, and very little leg-room.

the backs of our seats and the view of my closest porthole

 
      The loudness and intensity of the experience quickly raised excitement levels, and everyone seemed pretty excited to finally be on our way to destination. Of course that was promptly followed by many people falling asleep for most of the 4.5hr flight.

Second cock-pit visit of the trip! 

Seating arrangements, and cargo visible in the back.
Which, by the way, got dropped out of the back of the
moving plane on the landing strip. 

            Views at take-off, as seen through tiny portholes behind us, were absolutely stunning of the trans-Antarctic range, glacier tongues dripping down mountain sides, blue shining skies and blue glacier lakes. Take-off it's self, by the way, despite being deafening was the smoothest plane take-off I have ever experienced. I would not have noticed we'd left the snow if I had not been watching the ice go by.

Props to those glacial lakes for being so blue!

More spectacular glacial views

Once settled at cruising altitude and passing the mountains, we crossed a LOT of snow and ice. Whiteness extending as far as the eye could see, until arriving at the ice's edge where we were to land at Wilkins ski-way and head into Casey by bus. 

         Finally landing was thrilling, and knowing we would very soon see the place we were about to call home for the next 4months caused many to jump for joy (ok, maybe it was just me.... :) ).