Hi All,
Well here I am again with a return to Antarctica. This time I am working at
Davis Station as one of three Communications Operators in support of radio communications requirements for fixed and rotary wing aircraft, science support and other duties.
But as with last season when I was at Casey, before any journey south, I had to complete my
FITTEST mission. During 2012, I had spent approximately six months in Mali providing Telecommunications support, again as a radio trainer, training selected UN staff employed as radio operators. Apart from the radio operators I also provided radio training to UN drivers and other staff required to operate radios on UN radio networks.
Anyhow I departed Mali and returned to Dubai where the FITTEST office is and finalised all my paperwork before returning to Australia. Once again Emirates were very kind to me as the following pictures show (Ryan what can I say dude!! The Dom was 'First Class' - enough of rubbing that into one or two mates in Dubai).
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| EK Ticket - Upgraded (Again) |
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| EK Seat - Not too shabby |
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| EK Entree |
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| EK Main |
I spent some time up in Brisbane visiting Jamie, Colleen and Charlee. Charlee is my third grand daughter, with my daughter Jasmine and her partner Nick having two daughters, Savannah and Jessica. It was an enjoyable time seeing them and whipping Jamie's butt in table tennis again!
Flew down to Hobart a week prior to my start date with the
Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) as I had to see my old local GP and Dentist prior to commencing work. One tooth less later and a wee bit of day surgery, my friend and I headed to a tourist location in Tasmania known as
Port Arthur which is located on the Tasman Peninsula. I took Lesley (The summering chef this season at Davis) with me whom I met late in the season at Casey and there we spent three days visiting the various Tasman Peninsula tourist attractions as well as the convict ruins.
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| Port Arthur - Convict Ruins. |
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| Port Arthur - Church for families of the non prisoner types. |
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| Port Arthur - Views |
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Inside the prisoners church - note the way each cubicle
has been set out so that prisoners could not see who
was next to them and that it was standing room only. |
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| Inside the Commandants house. |
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| Convict hospital. |
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| Preaching to no-one in particular. |
We stayed at a B&B (Bed and Breakfast) only a few minutes drive from the convict ruins of Port Arthur. The residence is known as
Norfolk Bay Convict Station and was extremely comfortable with fantastic hosts, Lorella & Linton, and I would highly recommend people to stay there when visiting Tasmania and the Tasman Peninsula. Take a look at the link - the Garden Room was the one Lesley and I used for our stay, and again, very comfortable and affordable.
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| Norfolk Bay Convict Station |
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| Relaxing at the B&B. |
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| Views of Norfolk Bay |
Other attractions around the
Port Arthur local area consisted of the
Tessellated Pavement,
Devils Kitchen and a coast walk to
Waterfall Bay.
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| Tessellated Pavement. |
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| Devils Kitchen. |
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| Lesley enjoying the views of the coast walk to Waterfall Bay. |
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| Me enjoying the views. |
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| Coastal features of Tasman Peninsula. |
Anyhow that was a three day stay on the Tasman Peninsula.
The following Monday I started work at the AAD and it wasn't long before it became apparent the
Aurora Australis was going to be delayed in the ice upon their return to Hobart after conducting research in Antarctic waters.
So not to miss out on an opportunity to show Lesley as many tourist attractions Tasmania has to offer the wintering chef, Rocket, invited us to Coles Bay on the East coast of Tasmania and stay at his place for the weekend. Whilst there we met Billy, the female FTO for Davis this season and her partner. A few quiet beers and wines were spent around Rockets outdoor BBQ with an open fire on the Saturday night.
Next day we had a walk to
Wineglass Bay which is one of Tasmania's favourite tourist destinations. It was a beautiful sunny day and the walk takes approximately 3 hours. I remember when I did the walk with my family in the early 80's I carried my daughter (thankfully she was all of four or five) on my shoulders the entire way. These days Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife, as well as other organisations, have done a fabulous job of making these walks more accessible to most ages to undertake.
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| Lesley 'strolling' up the track. |
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| View of Wineglass Bay from the lookout. |
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| Another pic from the lookout. |
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| On the beach at Wineglass Bay. |
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| Lesley on the beach at Wineglass Bay. |
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| One of the critters walkers may meet on the track - Wallaby. |
Sadly that weekend had to come to an end and head back to Hobart. The Aurora Australis had broken through the ice and was steaming back to Hobart on two engines. Sadly though it was two weeks late due to being stationary in the ice. This would have a flow on effect through the remainder of the season, but also for us travelling to Davis it meant that the sea ice around station would have begun to melt and not safe to allow foot travel to the closest island to allow trips to the Adelie Penguin colony. If the ice is to break up and get blown out to sea then this would allow for us to use zodiacs to travel to the island. We will see.
So if you have read this far into the blog no doubt you are waiting for an update of the voyage down and Davis Station itself. Here are a few pics of what to expect in the next blog ...... oh but before I post those I did have a birthday in Hobart - number 54. And have to say it was one of the best birthdays I have had for a long long time.
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Thanks Lesley.
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And now those pictures ....
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Sailing down the Derwent River and heading under the Tasman Bridge
which links the eastern shore of Hobart to the city centre. |
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We're through (well almost but we did get under - sadly not
like the Lake Illawarra back in 1974) - Hobart City Council
closes the bridge to traffic when ships pass under the bridge
so as not to have a possible repeat of the tragedy in 1974. |
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We had to sail through open calm seas .... |
and open rough seas ....
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| to finally get to see these ... |
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| and these .... |
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and finally these ...
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Till the next blog .... wont be too far away ....
