Browning Peninsula and Peterson Island

I was lucky enough to spend the weekend away from the station, at the Browning Peninsular.  We left after work on the Friday (26^th November) and headed out in one of the Hagglunds.  It’s a three and a half hour ride in the Hag, a noisy, and constantly bumpy track across the snow and ice.  I was actually a little surprised as to how uncomfortable the vehicle was to travel in.  I always imagined they’d ride the bumps a little better.  For those who are interested, it’s not actually a “skid steer”.  It’s an articulated vehicle, relying on a couple of hydraulic rams between the units.  So while it looks like cab and trailer, one can’t work without the other.  (The AAD are currently in the process of changing out all the old Merc motors, and replacing these with Cummins diesels.  Thought you’d be interested Dad.)

Looking North from Peterson Channel

Motherway Island in the background - at this stage still joined to the mainland by sea ice.  Herring Island and the other Windmill Islands in the background.

The Americans planted their flag on Peterson island in the late 40's.  There's some interesting stories of the time.  The Americans had some belief in there being a German base in Antarctica.  They sent two consignments south to seek them out...  The Windmill Hills, and the High Jump operations.  The bits and pieces I browsed read like some science fiction/conspiracy theory.  Flying saucers, underground bunkers, suicides, mental asylums.

It's hard to see too much, but the small black specks are the penguins coming down to enter the water.

Adeli Penguins - you can see the small rock mounds they form as nests.  The one to the left of screen is turning the eggs she's sitting upon.

Peterson "Mellon".  See the straight, red bit in the middle, the "Apple's" don't have these - hence a "Mellon" for this one.

Looking out to sea towards Motherway Islands and the other Windmill Islands in the background.

The Vanderfold Glacier meets the sea.  At a guess these cliffs would be about 40-50 meters high.  But like I said earlier, heights and distances are so deceiving down here.

Southern end of Peterson Island in the background.  Fel demanded I put at least one photo of me up.

Vanderford Glacier once more.

And another - you could look at it all day.

Browning hut is a neat, purpose built cabin which can sleep six.  Four is squashy, so six would only be realistic in the case of an emergency.  Bunks are at one end, the kitchen in the middle, a short table and bench seats, and a cold porch (air lock) at the other end.  You’ll notice it’s designed as a tow behind sled – as most off station buildings tend to be.  An interesting side comment…  The AAD, as with most organisations with buildings in the Antarctic, spend a great deal of energy and time clearing bliz tails (the build up of snow on the lea side of a building) from buildings.  When a building is elevated up off the ground the wind passes beneath the structure, and there is no resulting bliz tail.  I don’t understand why, but the bulk of new construction continues to be on the ground.  Possibly due to the structural considerations needed for elevating building.  However, New Zealand have elevated almost their entire camp, and I’m told have little problem with snow build-up round station.

Browning Hut

Sea Ice Breaking Away

The landscape on the way down to Browning Peninsula is pretty featureless.  At some points along the way the white plains spread as far as the eye can see.  You reach a high point of just over 500m before starting the gradual decent back down to sea level.  The view to the south is amazing.  The first glimpses of the Vanderford Glacier are deceptive.  Surface definition, even at the best of times is deceptive.  You begin to imagine how far away a feature is, only to then be able to put it into context with another - often blowing  your estimate out of the water.

Saturday night was spent at the Peterson Island Melon.  (You’ll see this on map three of five – approx . 781.301, this should be accessible from the AAD website, and will try for a link in the coming few days)  There are many colonies of Adeli Penguins about Peterson Island.  We were hoping also to see some seals, but it is still a little early for the Elephant seals.  We did hear one though. 

We walked from the Browning Peninsular across to Peterson Island.  While sea ice travel has now been closed by management, some channels are still open.  The ice was still well over a meter deep, and appeared to be well locked in between the two bodies of land.  It’s amazing how much can change over such a short period though.  We sat and watched penguins diving from the sea ice in the evening, only to return to the same spot in the morning and find the ice had broken back another 100m or so.  Between the tides, swell and currents, the ice can change rapidly.  

Station Happenings...

Hi there.  Thought I'd throw up some photos of some happenings about station that might be of interest.  To some more than others I would suspect.  I've put a little more detail into a few of the items, as I'm sure a couple of people might be looking at it with intrigue...

We're getting to the end of our meat rations... can't you tell.  This one has in the freezer from most of the winter.  Made for quite a nice Saturday dinner though.  Meat is being restocked when Voyage II arrives in about three weeks.

A few pictures of the beer making setup.  As you might expect there is a fair quantity of beer consumed on station.  The boys, and girls, are pretty good though, and don't get too untidy.  You'll notice the two main brewing drums, the two silver 44's.  There are two smaller 60 Lt. drums and then another couple of the standard 30 Lt screw tops.  Generally they stick to the standard cooper mixes for the larger quantity brews, and try a few different ones in smaller batches.  They are keen on the Draughts, Black and Tan's, Lagers and a few darker beers.  I noticed in the diary there were a couple of honey beers made over the winter... not too many to be seen on the shelves though.  They also do an apple cider, which they're not too sure of the alcohol content of, as well as a ginger beer.  Both seem to go pretty quickly.

The key to their consistency...  A couple of pictures of their bottle washing setup.  You'll see in the bottom left, there is a place unfilled.  There you can see a perforated copper rod which sprays water up inside the bottle which is placed over it...  I guess you'll get the drift.  The two drums under the stainless hopper both are hooked up to the pump.  One has your disinfectant solution, one has fresh water - both are hot.  The taps are arranged in a manner so as you can reticulate the water, or flush it straight out to the sewer.  They are run separately, but able to be interrupted and swapped over with the swing of a couple of ball valves.







Casey has a small hydroponics program.  It's setup in two insulated 20 foot containers - the white ones above.  They remain split though the middle, dividing the space up into two compartments, and a small air-lock to stop the loss of heat when a person enters.  While it falls far short of providing all the green veggies the station would consume, it does contribute a few welcome additions.  At the moment there is a selection of herbs, salad greens, some Asian vegetables, capsicum, chillies, some silver beet, and of course tomatoes.  It's something I would have been keen to be involved with.  However, being summerer, and also being part of the contingent heading to the Wilkes air field, I don't really get the chance, nor are eligible for the training.

You'll notice the small digital thermometer and humidity reader.  While the figures might not be too surprising, the humidity is interesting.  It's one thing that people living in Antarctica notice.  Waking of a morning it's not unusual to feel dry and blocked up.  You notice you drink more, and you don't seem to sweat as much.  The air is dry to start with, but when heated, the humidity drops as the volume of air increases.  And with such a difference betweet initail and final temp, this is significant.  The ac unit has a humidifier in it, but most have rigged up their own makeshift ones to add a little more comfort to their rooms.  Mine is a piece of perforated stainless folded into a 'V'.  I've upturned it in a tub of water.  A cloth is placed over the perf, and draws water from below.  It is then sat in front of a supply air vent.

Anyway, that's probably enough for one blog.

A post for Sophie and Jake

Dear Sophie and Jake,

Mum told me you visited the museum a little while ago.  I hope you enjoyed it.  Mum also told me that you were interested in seeing where I live.  So I thought I might take some photos and show you where I sleep, and some of the clothes that we wear in Antarctica.

So, this photo shows two little cabins.  My cabin is the green one.  I share my cabin with two men.  Their names are Geoff and Peter.  Geoff is a Plumber and Pete is an Electrician.  My window is the one on the top right.

Inside the cabin it is a little bit squashy too.  I’ve got the top bed, and Geoff sleeps on the bottom.  Pete’s bed is at the other end.  It’s very cold at night, and if we need to go to the toilet we need to walk in the snow.  Can you see the little bottle with the blue lid?  Geoff does his wees in this so he doesn’t have to go out in the cold.

I also thought I’d show you some of the clothes we wear.  I asked Geoff if he could dress up so I could show you.

Our layer number one is our thermals.  I haven’t got a photo of these because Geoff got embarrassed.

Layer number 2 are our work clothes.  These are normally blue.  If we are going to get wet we take these off, because they get very cold and don’t dry very quickly.

Layer number 3 is our polar fleece.  Geoff has his polar fleece jumper on, but not his pants.

Layer number 4 keeps the wind and snow out.  It’s very thin, but makes a big difference.  We also wear gloves, beanie, sunglasses…

 and big warm boots.

When it gets really cold we put on big, thick overalls which are puffy like a sleeping bag.

Now I have a question for you.  There is one thing I’ve forgotten. 

I’ll give you three clues –

1 - You put it on, but it’s not a piece of clothing.

2 – You put it on when you go to the beach.

3 – If someone has it on, you don’t always see it.

You might like to push the down button and see some other photos I've taken.  If you go down far enough you'll see a photo of a seal, and another of a penguin.  There's a photo of a big red bus too.  Have a look at how big the wheels are!

If you would like to see photos of anything else, maybe you could send  a message.

See you soon. 

Travel Training

Travel training is a required part of an expeditioner's schedule when they first hit station.  It gives those working in the field some practical experience in navigation, map reading and the use of vehicles and huts.  While some aspects are general knowledge, much is new and interesting.

  Brad and Simon putting the hard yards in...  When heading out on the sea ice, it must first be drilled to check thickness.  The ice needs to be at least 400mm thick for quads, and varying thicknesses for other other traffic - 200mm foot traffic, and I can't recall what it is for the Hags.  At this time of year the conditions can change rapidly.  The sea ice can break up and move quickly, as was the case after some recent northerlies.

From Casey, we're fortunate to have access to a number of field huts.  They vary in size and proximity to station - the closest is about a half hour quad bike ride from station, the furthest over two hours away.  The one pictured is Robbo's hut, on Robinson peninsular.  It's south of Casey, and right on the water.  Almost T-shirt and shorts weather!

This is an iceberg which has become lodged in the sea ice.  They can assist in locking the sea ice into position.  Once the ice is freed up, it disintegrates quickly...

Quad's are an easy and versatile means of transport and great fun at the same time.

Not sure exactly what sort of moss it is, but it's quite abundant about Casey.

Work... yes there's still a little of this.

Projects

There are a couple of projects on the go at Casey.  The one of greatest importance is the West Wing Extension.  This will provide a further 36 beds and is required in part to be completed by the arrival of Voyage Two on about the 10th of December.  Things have crept a little behind, but progress is still strong enough for us to achieve what we need to.  Services are all but roughed in, walls, doors and other openings are nearing completion.  The external cladding will commence in the coming couple of week, but is not critical.  Beds and other built-in furniture will commence this week, and should take the best part of three weeks.

You'll notice from the below photos the extension is made up of a stack of 40 foot containers.  A fridge panel type cladding will then enclose the structure.

View of the northern elevation

From left to right: Brad (Carpenter), Myself, Tim (Carpenter) and Pete (Building Services Supervisor)

It's very similar to a commercial ferry inside.  Those who have been on the Spirit of Tasmania will have seen something quite similar.  Narrow,  colour coded passage ways, light weight prefinished walls, and low, drop in ceilings.  It's a simple and neat setup.  Much of the internal works were done in Australia before the containers headed south.

The other main project we'll be working on is the comms building for the Wilkins Aerodrome.  This is again a stack of 40 foot containers.  This time on a sled which will be towed up to Wilkins in the coming week or so.  Most of the work is done, the final fitout still to come.  Following on from this will be an accommodation building for Wilkins.  This one will be on a sled, but constructed on site, rather than at Casey.  I'm anticipating being up at the runway for 8 to 10 day stints. 

Just to finish off, I thought I'd post a photos of the Carpenters workshop.  As with each of the workshop spaces, it's well equipped. 

I also visited a penguin colony on an island close by Casey...  I'll add a little more in a future blog.