Tuesday 5th November 2013

Today was a rather unproductive day. We were going to show the Melbourne cup race at ten thirty but we had trouble down loading it so it kept getting postponed. I kept myself busy in the morning doing emails and ARPANSA and eventually we got the down load and planed to show the race in the bar at one o'clock. Trent organised a sweep and for five bucks I got Ocean moon which sounded bloody good but I think it threw the jockey and jumped the fence and took off. I ended up doing my money and Trent cleaned up winning seventy bucks. Later on in the late afternoon I did my first solo geo-magnetic observation and the results were very accurate and I was pleased with myself with such little training. It's very tedious and the instruments are extremely sensitive and its very easy to stuff up.

Monday 4th November 2013

Today my monthly report was due so I stayed in my room until I had it completed coming out only to do the ARPANSA filter change and for the weekly meeting. Later in the afternoon I took Chris for a drive over to Bechervaise Island to change the back door TIRIS computer but the one I replaced it with also failed to boot up so I’ll have to fire it up on the bench and see what’s going wrong with it.

After having no luck with the TIRIS computer I went over to the Adélie penguins now numbering over three thousand and watched them stealing rocks from one and other, having sex and fighting each other and it occurred to me we humans haven't really evolved that much at all. I set up my movie camera and sat back and took quite a few stills. Penguins will keep you entertained for hours as they can be so funny to watch. By now it was well after five so we packed up and headed back to station.

Sunday 3rd November 2013

Today was a beautiful day with blue sky and no wind and no aircraft due so John, Peter C and I decided to head up onto the plateau to climb the legendary 875 meter high Mt Rum doodle, named in 1960 after the book “The Ascent of Rum Doodle”, the 1956 novel by W. E. Bowman. We left the station early and were on site ready to start the climb by ten thirty. The climb started with a very steep and long scree slope. It was hard going as most of the snow and ice had melted out making it loose, slippery and dangerous. I had to have many breaks as it was exhausting work, but the scenery was magnificent.

As usual John powered on ahead and started work on setting up the ropes ready for our arrival. Once we reached the steep solid rock, John did the free climbing, putting in pitons as he went. Peter and I put on our harnesses and clipped onto the climbing rope and tied on the belay line. Peter went up first and I followed behind. The first section was very steep but I felt quite comfortable and we all made it to a small landing. The next section involved crossing a small ten meter ledge with a three hundred meter vertical drop below. 

The first part of the ledge was OK with adequate hand holds but the last few meter was flat rock with no hand holds and a very small ledge for your feet and I felt very vulnerable. Looking down at this section really freaked me out and I really felt I could fall if I wasn't really careful. I sucked in my gut and hugged the rock and tried to find the slightest grip in the wall with my fingernails as I tentatively tried to shuffle across. I passed the point of no return and somehow made it across. My heart was pounding and I was in a cold sweat and almost shit myself but elated of the achievement. All I could think of was getting back across it on the way down. Serious mountain climbing is 90% fear and 10% elation. 

From here it was another vertical rope assent to the summit which I found strait forward. Once on the summit you had to cross an almost vertical scree shoot falling about three hundred meter below which was rather dodgy, but once on the true summit the view was magnificent and worth the effort. We stayed on the summit for about twenty minutes in absolute breathless conditions, taking the obligatory wanker shots before rigging up for our dangerous descent. 

From the summit we abseiled down the vertical peak to the ledge we traversed earlier on. The abseil was quite pleasant and an awesome view but all I kept thinking of was the thin tape wrapped around the rock being chaffed on the sharp edges. I have abseiled may times in the past from great heights and this was the best part of the climb and it’s a pity we didn't have enough rope to get all the way back to the Hag. Finally we were all back at the ledge we traversed earlier on and this time I found it psychologically much easier as I had a belay line as well as the well as the climbing rope. (Thanks John) 

From here it was another thirty meter abseil down to the start of the scree line which also went without incident and was quite pleasant. Here we packed up all our ropes and climbing gear and started the long traverse back down the scree slope to the waiting Hag. The scree was so slippery and you had to be very careful not to roll an ankle or get out of control and suffer a nasty fall. Finally, exhausted I made it down to the first snow line and decided I would slide on my arse even though I didn't have my ice axe with me. Bad move Craig, it was fun to start with but soon I went so fast I got out of control and my idea of using my boots to arrest my fall wasn't working and I was heading out of control towards the rocks below. Luckily I averted disaster by using my elbow as an ice axe in the snow and rocks and managed to prevent a complete disaster. This didn't do much good to my elbow and I lay writhing in pain for a few minutes before I got my shit together. I lost a bit of bark but luckily nothing was broken.

I continued down the steep scree slope until I reached the ice slope above the Hag which had no more obstructions so I lay on my back and went for it. I slid down about sixty kilometers per hour coming to rest in deep snow, Oh what a feeling, we had done it, we had conquered the mountain. We sat in the snow for a while to admire the view and to take in what we had just achieved before climbing into the Hag and heading back to the station.

Saturday 2nd November 2013

Today I had to cook and luckily for me the flight from Davis was cancelled so rather than cooking for thirty people I only had to cook for fifteen people. As everyone is getting sick of the usual bland steak and broccoli, I decided to do something special and spice things up a bit. I cooked chicken in soy source, seafood fried rice, Jjukkumi Gui (Spicy grilled baby octopus), salt and pepper squid, Chinese stir fried vegetables and self saucing chocolate pudding.

All went well even though I was missing a few ingredients and it was a last minute rush to get it finished on time as I always have trouble with the timing. It went over so well most people went up for a second helping and I think everybody thanked me for such a nice dinner. Luc even went as far as saying it was the best meal for the year so I was very happy with all the nice comments after all the hard work I put in. 

After cleaning up the mess we all headed down to the old station and had drinks and nibbles in the “Shackleton” sleeping quarters. We had setup a TV and later we watched “Mission Impossible 4”. It was a good night but quite cold and it was good to get back to the red shed and warm up again.

Friday 1st November 2013

Today was once again a beautiful day with clear blue sky and very little wind. John asked me if I would do the cane line with him today from F14 to Fang and then back to Rumdoodle and then back to F14 as we weren't scheduled to have a flight today. Although I should be resting I couldn't resist with the weather the way it is so at ten thirty we headed off up the plateau. Conditions were perfect up on the plateau and it was a pleasure to be working there with the best view in the world. First we had to dig out the trailer and break it out of the snow. We worked hard and fast and got all the lines done we had planned to do and it was about seven o’clock by the time we got back on station. After dinner I had a few beers but was very tired so I had an early night.

David Range

Thursday 31st October 2013

Today was a beautiful day with blue sky and very little wind. First thing I went and saw the doctor about ongoing neck, back and chest pain I have been suffering for some time and I got some pain killers. It’s just muscular and I need to rest it till it gets better.

I spent the morning preparing fire training induction notes. Today we were expecting our first aircraft for the season. It has no passengers and is coming just to prove our sea ice runway for the later flights with passengers and cargo. I went out to the ski-way with Geoff and Jeremy and helped them setup the wind sock & fuel cart for the incoming aircraft. I was on fire patrol for the landing, refueling and take off. The aircraft was a twin otter and it was very exciting to see an aircraft and other people after nine months of isolation. Later I went to the green store and got food in preparation for Saturday dinner as I have to cook for 30 people which I don’t think is very fair, but that’s another story.

Wednesday 30th October 2013

Today I really got stuck into the RTA and I managed to finish all the packing and paper work except for 3 printers and 2 large UPS. I moved one UPS on my own from the operations building to the green store and it was so heavy. I will need help to move the battery bank as well as the other unit over in the ANARESAT building.

I had an EME sked with Paul ZS6NK. At first I got some great reflections and it looked like it was going to be an easy contact then signals started to fade out to nothing which was disappointing but that what makes it so good when you finally have success . Later I went over to the ANARESAT building to reset the ATU that has been in standby for a couple of week (since the last power outage) and it wouldn't reset with a warm start so I had to perform a cold start which made us loose comms to Kingston for half an hour because a router locked up. In the late afternoon I did geo-magnetic observation practice. For the people’s night, Luc put on a documentary on the race to claim and drill for oil and gas in the Arctic which was very interesting.