Australia Day cricket match

 Typical hot summers day down south at least 5 degree with no wind check out the melt walking back from the wharf after that invigorating swim so glad my legs still work. Looks like it will be a great day for cricket typical Aussie tradition.

 Had a bit of a warm up kicking the footy and catching with some of the Aussie Rules boys they sure do pass the ball in a funny way. I hurt my arm not acting my age reaching out with one arm extended trying to catch the impossible and tore my bicep muscle. But as they say the show must go on and i did not want to miss out. Ready to bowl just letting the umpire know which side of the wicket's i intend to go.

 The battle field with the vocal spectators cheering on

 It is amazing what you can use ice for including keeping the wickets standing strong.

 Also makes a good communal outside self cleaning esky. Time to grab a beer and do some fielding.

Not much happening out here have strategically placed my beer in a safe location just in case the action cranks up. Glad it did not was in pain and had to give it away and let Scotty my brother in crime ( the other plumber) go and finish the battle. Was a close game and our side just got over the line right at the end.
Was a great day cold beer, barby, sport, and sensational company does not get much better.

Australia Day swim ( going somewhere we don't belong )

 The calm before the cold waiting for all to take the plunge.

 Thought i would take a few snaps from the point of my fellow mad comrades while my body stills functions.

 Focused nothing will stop me even Killer whales.

 Just about to be immersed in 1 degree water poor old one eye is about to go into hibernation hope he forgives me

 Rigourmortis has set in after about 30 seconds my head is throbbing the rest i am not sure i can't feel to much.

As quick as i went in i departed at even a faster pase to bring this madness to a end. It was fun do it again but next time keep my head above the water must have a sensitive intelligent brain naturally warning me of the danger ( that may surprise some people)  but for the rest of me could put up with more torture. Thought it would be cold but did not imagine it would take such a effect so quick we can learn a lot about warm clothes from those fury little creatures that live in this environment

A visit from the Chinese

The Xue Long anchored offshore in preparation for loading contaminated waste from a old tip at Casey Station known as Tailor Valley

Being transferred from the barge to the ship via a man gage. Was a bit like being at Luna Park on one of those rides. The deck was heaps slippery due to the ice.

The helicopter on board has two main rotors spinning in opposite directions which removes the need of having a tail rotor. Has a range of 800km in which it uses 3,600 litres of fuel and carries up to 15 people.

It was a beast

Some of the Chinese crew coming to shore including the skip on Australia Day.

Standing on the bridge it was massive. Would love to be standing here in some serious seas with the waves crashing over the deck.

A view from a distance. Spent about 3hours on the boat touring around. The Chinese made us feel very welcomed and hosted us with morning tea. They where all very proud of Xue Long and rightly so it was a magnificent ship. I was the leader of our group of seventeen and had the privilege of sitting with the Captain at morning tea and through a interpreter had a bit of a chat. On completion of morning tea i made a little informal speech and thanked the Captain and Crew for there hospitality and as Australians welcomed them to our Base. We all said good bye and headed back to shore it was a great experience.

This one for you Floss

 Main operating theatre where some 4 weeks ago Hos'e the diesel mechanic was operated on to remove his ruptured appendix by doctors Kate, Kev, John and Matti the trained assistant. The operation took some time as he needed to be flushed internally to remove the secretion of the rupture. Hos'e  was very ill for a while but due to the skills and care given by the doctors has made a full recovery.

 Medical gas storage area

 Recovery room bit untidy at the moment as new toys including a X ray machine are being unpacked to be set up.

 Recovery room has it's own bathroom

Even have a dentist chair just in case  a tooth needs to be pulled out or filled . Reckon i could help out there with my cordless drill and multi grips

 Operating bed in a other room for minor injuries such as brocken bone and minour cuts ect.

This is the new Autoclave unit i fixed. It would go into fault mood during the vacuum cycle on it's initial test run. In consultation with the manufactures with a process of elimination ended up being due to the power supply rotating the vacuum pump in the wrong direction. This was rectified and  now working fine the doctors are happy as they can sterilise a complete set of instruments all placed in a tray in one go.

The melt

 The pontoon for water supply around November last year frozen solid in ice

 The hole through the ice created by the melt bell that some times had be pocked clear of ice to measure depth of available water supply. At one stage go down to 500mm. Normal lake depth at this point is 1800mm so we monitored the depth daily and had a plan B prepared in the event of the need to source more water.

The above photo's taken today show the change and extent of the melt

Antartica from the Air

 McMurdo station

McMurdo annual sea ice runway

Aircraft shots from Mcmurdo Station