Antarctic Week 2: The glamourous things i've done since arrival

hello everyone, just a quick update! been really busy since we got to station, and it's already been nearly 2 weeks now! andandand...i just realised i've been away for a month as of today! perhaps this 4.5 month stint in antarctica isn't as long as i thought it would be...hmmm.

anyway, just a recap of what i've been up to since stepping foot onto davis station. we were refuelling and resupplying the station to last for one whole year until the next V1 voyage that will be coming down around this time next year. so all we've been doing is unloading cargo and unpacking and storing everything, from food and drinks to toilet paper. basically, i was doing a lot of manual work like a kuli and hauling boxes of cabbages and oranges around. and i never knew this, but a box of oranges is fucking heavy.

been settling into a routine at station so far and getting to know the place. when we first arrived, we were brought around on a tour of the station and just to familiarise ourselves with all the buildings. there about 9 major buildings on station and two of them are for accommodation purposes. the first day or so when i got here, it got a bit confusing because i'd forget which buildings were what and walk into the wrong one. but i got the hang of it after awhile, heh.

everyone on station is really nice and there is a good camaraderie going on. however, the male to female ratio is highly unbalanced: there's 75 of us on station currently and only 8 of us are female. i've never been put into such a male-dominated environment before but it's been alright so far.

there's also shitloads to do here. there's a climbing wall, two gyms, a pool table, a bar, a huge variety of boardgames, a cinema with a substantial dvd collection, a very well-stocked library, playstation consoles and a nintendo wii. there's definitely no shortage of entertainment. and if we didn't feel like being inside buildings, there's always many walks and excursions that we can go on. so far since coming here, i've walked to one of the islands off the coast from the station that has an adelie penguin rookery (really awesome) as well as a 10km walk to this place called Law Cairn and cutting across the sea-ice to yet another island before heading back to station. it's all good fun and a really great way to see the land.

and i shit you not, antarctica is incredible. it's almost frightening sometimes because the conditions can change so rapidly from being warm and friendly to cold and unforgiving. we've had two mini snowstorms since coming here and it was so bad that it was snowing horizontally! and the silence is the greatest thing that hits you here. when you walk out of the building, you hear nothing. no background humming, no crickets chirping. it feels almost like you're living in a fishbowl with the lid covered.

ok anyway, not such a short update after all, eh? i'll try to put up more pictures asap, for the parents' benefits. but yea, stay safe and miss me!

Antarctic Week 1: TEASER!

alright everyone: i don't have the time to do a proper blow-by-blow account of my voyage down south yet but here's a few photos for you which i managed to picnik before my roster schedule starts again. if you are on facebook, there might be more (non-picniked) photos to browse through...but if not, well, be content with these first...i'll do my best to comply to everyone's wishes! enjoy.

Antarctica Week 1: Ahoy...LAND!

hello everyone!

after a harrowing 3 weeks (very nearly almost!), i have finally arrived at Davis Station, Antarctica! ok la actually the voyage down wasn't that bad. i didn't get seasick - which was a disappointment because i was fully expecting it - plus there were no 10-12 m waves which we were supposed to encounter. overall, the voyage was...monotonous. i mean, there's really not much you can do on a ship that's probably about 100m in length (possibly less). let me give you a general run through of my day spent on the aurora.

breakfast served at 0730-0830 (i have never made it to breakfast on the ship except for the very last day because I WAS FORCED TO).
wake up around 0930-1000.
brush teeth, shower, head down to the lounge and chat with people.
lunch served at 1130-1230.
head to lounge and chat with people/watch movie/play poker/play chess.
dinner served at 1730-1830.
head to lounge and chat with people/watch movie/play poker/play chess.
go to sleep between 0000-0100.

every single day. however, there were some days when we became ULTRA-bored, someone would come up with brilliant ideas like the Lounge Room Olympics (events include: getting over and under the coffee table without body touching floor, getting body through armrest of sofa set, climbing up metal pole, and, getting body through coat hanger) or playing Sardines (something like hide and seek, except one person hides and everyone seeks, and when you find someone, you squeeze in and hide with them until there's only one person seeking...who, effectively becomes the LOSER). brilliant.

anyway, it's good to be on station. need to figure out some configuration for my firefox in order for it to work. at the moment, i'm using explorer, and it's OLD and decrepit and i hate it and i can't upload any photos...so the photos will have to wait. but i can promise you, the photos i took were the SHITS! i have penguins for EVERYONE!

stay tuned.