Peters' Antarctic Adventure

  CHANGES IN THE WIND With the arrival of the first aircraft bringing our Summer expeditioners in just over a month we are starting to feel a little pressure to get a few things done. Having new people arriving feels like a big part of our journey will be finishing. A couple of our wintering crew will be leaving us to go home when the summer crew arrive ( we will only get two smallish aircraft ) and that feels like the end of "us".. which it really will be. After 8 months of not seeing any other humans in the flesh other than the 20 of us, it will be sad to have our group broken up. But the arrival of the aircraft will also be great as hopefully we will find a couple of much awaited mail bags arriving containing all sorts of goodies sent by family and friends plus many things ordered by us online when we have been missing whatever it is that we have ordered.  This will be the first new supplies we have received since the big RAAF airdrop in May so it will be very exciting. ...

    Well, just in case I haven't told you yet ( which I may have but who can ever tell ) we are part of the Australian Antarctic Divisions' 77th ANARE. Now ANARE stands for Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition. Yes believe it or not the basic reason for our presence here in the white and grey wilderness of the far south is to maintain the functionality of Mawson Station in order that scientific research might be undertaken here. Which may come as a surprise to all of us here over winter because its easy for that fact to be lost in the day to day normality of life.. well normality now after nearly seven months here.       Our biggest excitements come from things like the darts competition against the other Australian Stations ( we came fourth by the way... yes yes ... out of four I know.. but we were the only ones to beat Casey Station who ended up winning the whole thing. How does that work.. I don't know). Other stuff like visiting penguin col...