Field Training

Last week saw the first few groups of expeditioners set off on their first part of field and survival training.

I was in a group of 11 that set of early Friday morning (the 13th), planning to return to Casey station the following morning. We hiked from station towards Shirley Island, making stops along the way to complete tasks that make up some of the training.

During this first part of the field training we would be taught and complete tasks in, navigation....map reading, compass and GPS, basic sea ice rescue, in case someone is unfortunate enough to fall through the ice, this included self rescue techniques, and also rescuing others.

While out at Shirley Island we done the usual thing, and spent some time walking around, watching and photographing the penguins. And as usual they seemed just as interested in us, as we did with them.

Edge of the Sea Ice at Shirley Island

After spending some time with the penguins, and completing a few more training tasks, we started hiking back out towards O'Brien Bay, which would be near our camp for the night.

Stopping for Lunch

O'Brien Bay

After stopping for lunch we set off again towards our camp site for the night. Given there are several groups to go out for training, the site had been prepared with a couple of Polar Pyramid tents to store some cooking equipment in, but the rest would be up to us to set up.

When we arrived at the site, we began to cut blocks of ice to build a cooking and eating area. What a great task this was, building things out of blocks of ice.

Kitchen/meals area

After preparing and eating dinner, we continued with a few more tasks, and then prepared our Bivvy's for the night.

What a great experience it was to sleep out on the ice in a Bivvy. We were lucky in that weather conditions were very good. There was little wind and the temperature was only about -5c, none the less it was cold getting in, and even colder getting out of the Bivvy in the morning.

The Bivvy is quite full given yourself,0 your pack and gear is in there overnight. I can only just imagine how noisy it would be if the wind was stronger, or even during blizzard conditions.

One of the reasons it was so cold getting out in the morning, besides the fact it is colder in the early morning, was that like a normal tent, condensation forms on the inside of the Bivvy, the difference being, it all freezes. When I woke up in the morning pretty much everything was covered in a light layer of ice, and it is impossible to get out of the Bivvy without getting covered in the ice.

Settling in for the night

What a great experience the field training was, and next week I head out again for a 2 day travel training course......