Shaneo's Antarctic year

2011-12-15T03:34:00.000-08:00

Just a test post , its been so long since I've done this !!

2008-01-31T20:00:00.000-08:00

Early Morning at the Skiway

2008-01-31T19:54:00.000-08:00

WILKINS INTERNATIONAL RUNWAY
ON FINAL APPROACH

2008-01-31T19:39:00.000-08:00

Cutting slots into the ice to allow for the instalation of anchors for an Auotmatic weater station for the Skiway.

2008-01-31T19:35:00.000-08:00

Winding up the season !! digging our way into the conatiners towards the end of the season wasnt such an issue as the last 7 weeks have been Blizz free.

We moved 55 drums of fuel to Wilkins Runway for fueling the Casa 212's ferry tanks .The Sliver Chalet , ( rear of picci became the pilots sleeping quarters prior to the 11 hour flight.

2007-12-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

One of our CASA 212's comming in to the Skiway

2007-12-22T19:52:00.000-08:00

A hunting leopard seal has these two Adelies in a bit of a spin. After a while watching , the seal missed out on his meal.

2007-12-22T19:00:00.000-08:00

Looking out the Jump door , is amazing . The pilots crack the door about 12 inches , and we are rewarded with a view like this !!

2007-12-20T20:37:00.000-08:00

A self portrait up on the Plateau.

2007-12-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

A sight a long time comming , a commercial airliner taking off from Casey Station. (Wilkins Runway )

2007-12-18T18:00:00.000-08:00

Heres Jason doing his best Fred Flinstone Impersonation. He's actually doing work to the avionics of the CASA212.

2007-12-18T17:58:00.000-08:00

Heres a shot from Davis station. One of my friends Brad Dennis who was here last winter has gone to Davis for the summer. He took this pearler of two fighting seals.

2007-12-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

An Australian Milestone, the first Airbus to land in Antarctica.This will start a new era in Aussi Antarctic expeditions. With passengers being able to fly down ,in 5 hours instead of the 7-13 day voyage by ship.
The A-319 airbus landed last night at Wilkins Blue ice runway with no problems.

2007-12-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

A shot of the Bunger Hills from the air.

2007-12-09T20:40:00.000-08:00

Sitting down behaving myself !! As you can see the plane's interior is spartan. The drums tied down beside me is the fuel we cached at Bunger Hills.

2007-12-09T20:33:00.000-08:00

Locked in Bergs.From 5000ft

2007-12-09T20:32:00.000-08:00

Casa 212 on the ice at Bunger Hills.

2007-12-09T20:00:00.000-08:00

Heres the scar Ive put on our earth , the skiway. I got on a flight 2 hours west of here to a spot called Bunger Hills. Its a deep field Australian base. We cached some fuel out there and returned some old stock of Aviation fuel.
Its a bizzare sensation , flying along with nothing but ice and snow , then over the horizon some rocks appear , which is an area of some 4o miles square of mountians and frozen lakes.

2007-12-06T01:51:00.000-08:00

AS you can see the weather forcaster was spot on , as the sun popped out under the clouds , the definition improved and the planes popped out of the sky. They landed at a bit after 10 pm. A long day , as the call went out at 2pm that they were going to fly . We start work at about 8am , so a sleep in was the order of the next day.

2007-12-06T01:48:00.000-08:00

Finally , a weather window opened up and we have now recieved our Casa 212-400 on station

2007-12-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

This is a sunlight recorder.when the sun is shining, It refracts the light and burns a hole though the paper. Thus giving an accurate count of hours of sunlight.

2007-11-26T05:19:00.000-08:00

Looking down into the Shirley Channel. Been doing a few trips here while we can, as the sea ice will soon be gone.

2007-11-25T04:14:00.000-08:00

Snow Petrels on Reeve hill.

2007-11-22T05:47:00.000-08:00

A young Elephant seal. They dont usually spend to much time in this area , their wallow being down on the Browning Peninsula. A bonus !

2007-11-22T05:44:00.000-08:00

Another Adelie at Shirley Island. With still no planes arriving, our evenings can be spent exploring the recreation area.

2007-11-22T03:25:00.000-08:00

2007-11-22T03:24:00.000-08:00

A sunset trip to Shirley Island on Lizzies Birthday gave a select few of us some stunning Photos op's . Happy Birthday Lizzie !!!

2007-11-16T23:01:00.000-08:00

The S-76 tsking off. The pilots like to see that you've done a visual check before taake off, the thumbs up given and keep looking , just in case. We are a long way from any spare part shops !!!

2007-11-16T15:21:00.000-08:00

The skiway and the glove. 1.5 km long and 50m wide , with runoffs on all 4 sides.
All we need now is for the planes to get a good weather window. Its a long flight from Hobart in Tasmainia to here.

2007-11-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

Heres my mug up at the Skiway. Been a busy couple of days with moving of our camp.

2007-11-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

This Tracked Quad is proving invaluable. It goes anywhere and with the tracks has a low ground pressure footprint.

2007-11-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

Marking the Skiways the next job. Spent a few long days grooming the surface and marking in preperation for the Casa 212 to land . @ planes will do the ferry flight to Durmont Deville , the French station , then fly on to here.( if it ever stopped Blizzing!)

2007-11-11T20:30:00.000-08:00

The S-76 on the ground , thats me next to the tracked Q]quad

2007-11-11T20:24:00.000-08:00

Thats me on the first day on the ground marshalling some of the first Helos. We had cracking weather days for the first two,then it all turned to custard and we were out in 70 knot winds tying down the two choppers on the ground

2007-11-05T04:10:00.000-08:00

We did a sling loading course. A very interative course as one can see !! But worthwhile and good to learn the right way to do such a task!!!!

2007-11-05T03:48:00.000-08:00

An earlier photo of the Aurora Australis. She's 90 metres long. They dont call her the Orange Roughy for nothing !!!!!

2007-11-05T01:51:00.000-08:00

A very unusual event happened at 4.36 am this morning , we had an earthquake. I was 5.8 on the richter scale , but centered 7.5 km underground.
I woke with the room shaking , and Im on the 2nd story . Normally the building shaking would mean a wind , but this time a tremor.
Antarctica is mostly very stable, but I guess , any place any time !!!

2007-11-05T01:39:00.000-08:00

The trip down was 7 days of this , and 3 days crashing though the ice. Cabins had make overs , and the Galley was turned upside down with one of the waves.

2007-11-05T01:31:00.000-08:00

The 79 nm fly off from the ship made for amazing vision

2007-11-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

The Voyage down was a rolly affair with large swells and re-arragenged cabins. An abudance of bird life was a welcome sight as we only got to see our first ice berg on the day before flyoff. It was a long flight for the squirel helicopters but a bloody spectatular one.
Theship ,( Aurora Australis )had beeen punching though the ice for a good 48 hours and made little progress , so at 79 nm the call was made to fly off, so it was up at 0530 to check the weather then into the first of 3 different helo's on board to fly in to Casey.
It was like I'd never left! Then it was hit eh ground running. As Im now working with aviation , my job was a busy one for the next 4 days.\, Day one was a 15 hour affair , then day two was a bit more civilised with 10 hours knocking that day on the head.
The floowing morning looked promising , but a impending blizzard put work to rest for the day , well apart from tying the helos to the heli pad!!
It blew up to a max. of 65 knots and was blowing snow.
Day four was a get the out going winterers and their bags out.
All went well and we finished up at 4pm .
Today was spent checking out the skiway for the possibility of the fixed wing plane flying in shortly.
It will be good to do nothing tommorow!!!!

2007-10-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

Our new Quads !! these machines are 8oocc of high touque grunt !!

2007-10-11T14:37:00.000-07:00

Aviation fire fighting!!

Im heading back down to Antarctica as an Air ground support officer!!

Im looking forward to this role as it will give me a lot more chances to spend time in the tundra!!

The training has been entertaining , weather obervations , fire fighting , Air field reporting , sling loading. etc

We deploy on the 20/10/07 with an ETR of mid march.

During this time we hope to have landed several flights of an Airbus onto the Wilkins Runway Blue Ice runway , 70km inland from Casey station.

Watch this spot!!

2007-03-20T01:25:00.000-07:00

Sunrise over Fantoms Peak. after our dash up the top of the ole hill , we cooked ip a storm , had a couple of sherberts , then slept like babies!! Its about 2 hours back to the car park from the hut. Great spot.

2007-03-20T00:42:00.000-07:00

Syme hut , Mt Egmont ,. Taranaki , New Zealand.
This spot is situated on Fantoms Peak. A top hut allowing a quick route from here to the summit , in summer conditions.
We did the summit in 2 hours from here. @ hours up , and 40mins down !!

2007-03-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

Arrival at the Blue Lake Hut , with Anso and Stephane our 2 French friends

2007-03-06T17:52:00.000-08:00

The friendly locals !!!!

2007-03-06T17:12:00.000-08:00

Pete and I having a break for lunch after completion of the decent from the upper Travers pass.

2007-03-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

View from the Upper Travers Pass , down into the cloud cloaked Sabine valley. We spent 1 1/2 hours climbing to this point and what goes up , must go down!! So it was a knee busting scoria and rock decent into the valley.

2007-03-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

Blue lake , Nelson Lake National Park , South Island , New Zealand!!!!

What a magic spot. It took 2 days of intense climbing though stunning NZ beech forest a climb over the Travers Pass and then up the Sabine valley until Pete (carpenter from Antarctica) and myself finally arrived here.)
A bit of history , Pete was in New Zealand for a wedding and wanted to hike the Routebourne track. Ive always wanted to do the Nelson Lakes , as they arent quite so well heard of , but 10 times more stunning in beauty.
We met up in Murchision then headed off into the National Park. Pete had read an artical of a route he wanted to attack so we followed that.

WE got here , FLOGGED !! its a heavy long climb with 20 odd kilos of gear in the backpack,including water and food for 5 days.
So a swim was in order . Unbeknown to us , this alpine lake is not only feed by a higher up lake , but also Spring feed. So COLD!!!!! it was a dive in , and a just as quick dive out !!Almost as cold as the mid winter Antarctic swim!!!

2007-01-17T20:09:00.000-08:00

Home !!!

It seems a life time ago , but Im now back on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Ive left behind the sureal world of Ice and Snow and back trying to work out my place in this spot!!

The amazing experiences and sights that Ive shared are ingrained in my very being. Its only been a day back here . I had a few days in Hobart ,Tasmania , doing what needed to be done and on the big bird last night to a night of heat and humitity. Time to catch up , reflect on the year that was and work out whats in store for me next. I will continue to slip a few photos on as I now should be able to with out the dramas of before.

2007-01-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

This berg towards Browning( or was it the terminal face of the VAnderford is towering over our winter Doc Lloyd.

2007-01-04T16:23:00.000-08:00

Sitting on Reeves hill for my last sunset of 2007.

Note the taxi lurking in the background!!!

2007-01-04T00:25:00.001-08:00

Browning Peninsula rock formations are wild.

2007-01-04T00:25:00.000-08:00

Browning Peninsula rock formations are wild.

2007-01-03T22:05:00.000-08:00

Re-supply in full swing . Everything comes in by barge to the edge of the wharf , then the crane hoists the containers and 1/2 heghts onto a waiting trailer.

2007-01-03T21:30:00.000-08:00

A trip in the Pagadroma to the Browning Peninsula found us face to face with a couple of Elephant Seals.Check the head out on the big fulla.

2007-01-03T21:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas feast!! Tricky and I made up the Ice Christmas tree and decorated it in Crays and Prawns. Pictured is Frank the new chef and Robbie our outgoing wintering chef.

2007-01-03T20:52:00.000-08:00

Robbie and I watching Penguins though Penny bay. Massive amounts of sea ice has broken out now and all sea ice travel has ceased.

2007-01-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

Budnick hill as viewed form Reeves hill , just opposite station.

2007-01-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

The good ship lolly pop ( Aurora Australis) in harbour .

2007-01-03T20:10:00.000-08:00

Hello all ,
Still trials and tribulations trying to post photos , so Ive all but given up for the moment.
The ship is in the harbour and we have just finshed a 30 hour operation of deploying an over water fuel line from the ship to shore to pump 700,000 l of diesel to the station holding tanks . This will keep the lights on for another year. The annual re-supply is also happening as well.
It seems to be a slow process , but they are hoping to have us all on the good ship Lolly pop by early this weekend and on our way back Australia as soon as possible. Too long a voyage home will interupt the next marine science voyage.
So along with food booze and luggage all comming ashore at the moment , is all go go go !!!

2006-12-30T14:57:00.000-08:00

2006-12-25T01:33:00.001-08:00

The winter brew team , and our hidden brew team photo.

2006-12-22T17:48:00.000-08:00

Another stunning sunset. Well almost a sunset. WE have reached the longest day of summer. It excactly 6 months since we did our midwinter swim. Time flies......

2006-12-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

Visitor on the heli pad , seems to waiting for the next Helo out of here !!!

2006-12-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

The access to Shirley Island is getting a bit on the dodgy side , with pools appearing in the ice.

2006-12-21T14:06:00.000-08:00

Diving in Antarctica is a rewarding expereince (wish It was me in the shot !! See the Penguins buzzing the divers

2006-12-16T21:04:00.000-08:00

Another glorious Robbo's sunset. Robbos Hut is my faorite. Views to die for , a nice hut , with a veranda!! Mel the F.T.O for the summer (Field Training Officer) and Scotty the weather forcaster on a ski trip from station to Browning hut , some 35km ski. a great effort in a day. They stopped in on us at Robbos to demolish a large tin of baked beans several Litres of water , 1/2 a doz cups of tea then they were off again for the remainder of the ski over the sea ice.

2006-12-16T20:53:00.000-08:00

During the summer season we have a few flights comming and going to deliver personal from station to station plus a few supplies.
Here we are Chainsawing a snow anchor to keep the Casa212 in place in case of high winds.

2006-12-05T01:15:00.000-08:00

Back at the circle again. This time returning from Wilkins. The hagglund is towing our grey water back to station for treatment and disposal.

2006-12-03T07:50:00.000-08:00

Before we dug down to the tracks.Not a great deal of the machine is sticking out!!

2006-12-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

Upon returning to station from the runway , this sight greeted me !! On of the operators found a crevase inside station limits.He only suffered a few cuts and bruises and a massive dent in his ego.Un-fortunatly the machine is a return to Australia for repairs

2006-12-03T07:41:00.000-08:00

The Casa 212. These planes do a ferry service between our 3 stations. They arrive here from Hobart , well thins time they actually flew into Demont Delville , the French station as the weather here wasnt suitable for a landing.They then flew into here. At Present they are stationed at Davis and are flat out flying in the Mawson re-supply

2006-12-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

Penguin Porn!!! The birds are back with a vengence!! Its entertaining to sit and watch their antics. These Adelies do some of the most amusing things. Stealing each others nesting rocks , has to be the one that takes the cake for me.

2006-12-03T07:32:00.000-08:00

Intense cloud formations rolled in today. The winds been blowing a steady 50 odd knots for the last 2 days.

2006-11-30T08:20:00.001-08:00

2006-11-30T08:20:00.000-08:00

2006-11-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

The New Schmidt snow blower. At the Start of this season it threw a fan belt , which wrapped itself around the fan and took out a few sensors at the front of the engine. 3 days and a lot of ingenuity got it up and running again

2006-11-30T08:06:00.000-08:00

The Global Express that flew down

Casey station from the air

2006-11-30T08:01:00.000-08:00

Heres the scar we have put on the planet!! If you double click on the image , you will see the camp as well.

2006-11-29T01:31:00.000-08:00

Im Back !!
After almost a month up at the Wilkins runway site , Im back on station to the cast of thousands. Well it seems that way as there was only seven of us up on site.(60 odd, on station.
A lot happened on station during my time away , and we had a succesful over flight of a Global Express Jet at the runway.
The over flight was a reccy for the pilot and a trip of a lifetime for a few knobs at the division, all went well . I'll try and put a few shots of the plane as well as a couple from inside it.A landing is due , weather permitting, Dec the 10th.

2006-10-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

Snowy Adelies . These Penguins are some of the first to return for summer. A snowy blowy day greeted Pete and I while visisting Shirley Island.

2006-10-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

There will be a bit of a lull in updates here , as of tommorow at 0830 its off 70 km inland to the Ice runway construction site.
The runway crew is here and ready to go and Im heading up as the mechanic on site. Its going to be busy 3 weeks and I think it will go fast.
Its 7 days a week , up to 12 hours a day work so there wont be a dull moment.
After the last few weeks of brilliant weather , its been blowing snow for the last 2 days. Up at Wilkins its usually 3 times as bad , so I can see a bit of deblizzing ahead of us.
I will update if I come down to station for fuel.
Until then ,Carpe Diem.
Shane

2006-10-26T22:25:00.000-07:00

Heli ops in full swing

2006-10-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

Well, welcome to summer. The hordes are upon us . We lost 7 winterers and gained 63 summerers !! What a dymanic change. Its so bizzare , after sharing this special place with such a small number , to have helicopters dropping off what seemed to be hundreds of people. I do know they are all internet hogs ,as the server is sooooo slow!! I cant even download a photo of heli operations on to the blog :-( . I will wait until meal time tommorow and do it then.
I got drafted to heli ops again this voyage. We sling loaded 15.7 tonnes of cargo with 3 helo's in two days . That didnt include expeditioners baggage. So it was a busy couple of days.
We were getting sit rep's daily , on the posistion of the ship , so I spent a few days prior to arrival clearing the heli pads of acculated winter snow and setting up the wind-sock , fire extinishers and fuel.
Sling loading is quite a buzz , this heli hovers above your head and we hook up slings to the base and off she goes.
The ship left , and didnt get very far , shes stuck in ice 60nm offshore. Having the helo's on board enables them to do Ice reccies. The helo flys up , and tries to find a crack in the ice , a lead to to speak. It directs the ship to the break in the ice and she trys to ice break its way out of the Peterson ice bank.
Im off to the Wilkins runway again this weekend , so its back into the icy wilderness.
TRy to put more photos on in the AM.

2006-10-21T01:04:00.000-07:00

A fine day to remind myself how not to fall off a bike.Im sure this old girl is heritiage listed !! And yes , both wheels are as buckled as they look !!

2006-10-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

These are the Casa 212's that will fill fly from Hobart in Tasmania, to Casey station in Antarctica. They remove all the seats and fit longrange fuel tanks inside the plane .Once this is done , there is only room for the 2 pilots and a pee drum. Its a 12-13 hour flight and they take off overloaded with fuel.Hense perfect weather conditions are needed before flying.

2006-10-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

With the upcomming influx of summer personal, it was time to put on the crane operators hat again and posistion this ITASE van in place at the end of the Red Shed.We used this van on the sled pictured, for an accomadation module on the various traverse we undertook though out the winter. ( ITASE stands for International Trans Antarctic Scientific Expedition.)

2006-10-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

Another mode of transport at the Wilkes.

2006-10-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

The Wilkes Hilton. A great field hut to visit for a few reasons .1. Its just across the bay from station 2. Its huge inside 3. It has a fire place............ The loo with a view!! This thunderbox has a very nice view over Powell Cove , and on out to the ice bank. In the rear of the picture is the Specially Protected Area , Whitney Point.
Our human waste is returned from all field huts in rubbish bags (triple bagged !) and incinerated.We use Talcum powder to nullify the odour.I'll never be able to smell baby powder again with out thinking of a field shitter.

2006-10-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to slide !!!This is a 70ft high ice bank , witha covering of snow.Great fun

2006-10-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

Not every one returns from this place . This is a reminder that Antarctica is a dangerous place. These guys passed away at the old Wilkes station . Nowdays its policy to repatriate any deceased back to Australia.

2006-10-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

A night at the Hilton

2006-10-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

Me Pete and Paul , just prior to sliding down an ice bank . Great fun.
We took a weekend off station to the closest field hut , the Wilkes Hilton. Its part of the old Wilkes station that was set up by the Americans . Most of their gear is still here , all covered in ice and destroyed by age.

2006-10-18T06:38:00.000-07:00

The final cut is made with these beams towed behind the workhorse that is a Hagglund.

2006-10-18T06:33:00.000-07:00

Grooming a skiway. With limited snow I have been dragging these beams up and down a 1.9 km stretch of ice and snow to make a graded strip that 2 Casa 212 planes can land on.

2006-10-13T04:47:00.000-07:00

Look at what 5 days of of Mother seals milk will do do a new born pup !!

2006-10-13T04:33:00.000-07:00

Check this girl out , She was tired and couldnt quite muster the strength to get out of her hole in the ice. After a few goes , she managed , with much grunting and groaning.

2006-10-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

Another berg , this time with evidence of our mode of transport for the day.

2006-10-09T02:53:00.000-07:00

Another new born pup. This Weddel pup was the most active of the 5 we came across. His mother was calling to her pup , and the response was so human sounding I looked around at the other expeditioners that were there to see if they had spoken.