As mentioned in the last blog, I recently spent some time out on the IRB's cruising between some of the islands..... all in the name of science! My boss had told me that he needed someone to go out as crew on one of the boats..... so I headed out for my day at work! Below is some video from that trip... enjoy.
Due to the delays experienced with resupply, we did not celebrate Christmas until Friday 30th December. We had a pretty quite day, with a huge spread put on with all the trimmings..... roasts, seafood and the usual huge amount of deserts.
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| Santa arriving at Casey station |
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| Time for presents! |
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| Casey in Ginger bread with a ginger bread man for everyone |
With Christmas delayed to Friday, it meant that not only did we celebrate Boxing day on the Saturday, but it was also New Years Eve, which was a fancy dress...... 'Cowboys and Aliens'.
Down in Antarctica we have many things that we would also have access to back home.... but in saying that, there is also many things that will be made up or recycled from what ever is found around station. One such thing was the punch bowl on New Years Eve. Cut straight out the ice, there would not be many around that could say their punch bowl is thousands of years old!
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| Midnight New Years Eve |
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| Some time after Midnight New Years Eve |
Before we sat down to our Christmas dinner a few of us headed out for a couple of hours on an 'iceberg' cruise. It is amazing to get up close to huge bergs that we can see day after day from the station, and of course along the way, you always see plenty of penguins.
Below are a couple of pictures, but I will hopefully get some more pictures and video up on the next blog entry.
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| Adelie Penguins there to see us off at the wharf |
The chef who was on station when I arrived at the beginning of this season... and was also here when I last came down in the 2009/10 season is Rodney (Rocket) Charles. Not only is he a great chef, but he is also a talented artist. At Christmas he makes sculptures of penguins out of butter, draws pictures of all the wildlife down here, much of which he has had printed onto clothing. Below I have added some video (time-lapse) of his work......
The pictures of New Year Eve are looking fantastic. I always visit Antarctica in Christmas and New Year Eve because the people are making the buildings, restaurants etc from Ice Cube. Its amazing creation by people and it gives you unique feel.
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