The first week was a crazy experience. With so much to learn and close to 100 people all doing different roles its a lot to take in. On arrival day, we got taken for a walk around the station where and shown where we can go with out survival training. We saw the main buildings and facilities including the 3 gyms, sauna and spa, ops building, store building, workshop, fire and search and rescue building and the living quarters. After the walk around we had our first Antarctic meal which was amazing and it definitely gave the impression that if I’m not careful, I will very easily leave weighing more than when I arrived.
The first walk to the office at 730am, I was greeted with this stunning sunrise. I hope its not lulling me into a false sense of security about the weather. The first 3 days of work were full on taking in all the information that I could but also learning about life in the cold and getting to know people here and hear their stories.
Because I haven’t had survival training yet, the areas I can go by my self are very limited we can go further if we are with someone who has had the training or had been inducted into the vehicles. Things are never simple here with procedures for everything so that we don’t damage ourselves or the equipment.
One evening I was asked if I wanted to take a walk down wharf road and jumped at the chance to explore some more areas of the station. Walking around at 8pm at night in full sun is still taking some getting used to but we had the added challenge of some decent winds and snow.
This made taking photos pretty interesting as I learn which gloves I can use and how quickly my hands and fingers get cold. It was worth it though seeing my first wild seal. and some penguins doing their thing.
