Post the Fifteenth

It is well known that Antarctica is a harsh, unforgiving and potentially deadly environment.  How do the denizens of Davis live their lives in these circumstances?  Let's find out.


There's no question; it's a struggle.  But we each do the best we can each day with what is available to us.  As you'll see in the following photographs, everyone makes the most of what they have to endure the appalling conditions.


Firstly: food.

There is a limit to how much food is available for consumption.  After all it has to be shipped in on only one or two occasions each year.

Here some expeditioners line up for their meagre ration of food, which has clearly been hastily heated on a tiny camp stove.  Poor souls!  How they crave variety!

Bare sustenance

Then, clustering for warmth in the cramped conditions, the hungry expeditioners consume their prized morsels, knowing that this meal will keep them going for another day.  And that's the best they can hope for.

Squalor

Paucity

But they are hardy folk.  They put up with their lot without complaining.

And that is Tom Mooney who is waving in both of those photos.  Perhaps he's indicating that he'd like a second bowl of gruel. 

Ha!  Fond hope, Tom!


Also located in this area is this strange looking device.

Mysterious

I'm not sure of its purpose.  Superficially it resembles a coffee machine - oh how these people would love to be able to have coffee! - but I'm sure any similarity is merely coincidental.   Perhaps it is some kind of autoclave, used to sterilise instruments needed for amputating frostbitten limbs etc.

That's bound to be it.


Near to the eating area of the hut is this enclosed space.  After having their allotted mouthfuls of food, some expeditioners like to find a separate area to have a glass of water to wash it all down with.

Here is where they gather to drink that water.

Quenchitorium

To help maintain morale, they call this area 'The Bar' and have gathered various bits and pieces to decorate it as a bar.  Such resourceful people!

Indeed, their resourcefulness seems boundless.  They will make use of any materials they can find to create makeshift furniture so that they don't have to sit on the cold, hard floors.

Improvised

You'll note that someone has fashioned a rudimentary chess set, to help people take their minds off the cold and the hunger.  Admirable!

Nearby, next to some more crudely crafted furniture, sits this gaudily adorned shrub.  These people will make use of just about anything to enliven their drab surroundings.

Gaudy

I imagine that this shrub is quite seasonal - it appears I'm quite lucky to see this one in flower.


I'm not certain what this next item is.  My best guess is that it is some kind of scientific instrument used to study minute variations in the earth's gravitational field.

Science

I have seen some scientists operating it, using long sticks to nudge the little balls around.  I think they then observe the movement of the balls to measure alterations in gravity, or something like that.


This appears to be some kind of observatory.  Note the telescope on the tripod.  Spread out across the workbenches are various journals.

Vital research

I didn't look that closely at the journals, but I imagine they are full of the latest scientific treatises.  It's a testament to the professionalism of the Davis crew that, despite the cold and cramped conditions, almost every spare scrap of space is devoted to their work.

This appears to be some kind of conference table.

Conference table - very spartan

There appear to be no chairs for it. I take that to mean that, given the high volume of work being done, meetings are by necessity very brief.  There's probably just no time to sit down.

Here is a photograph which should give you a picture of the general layout.  See how dark and cramped it is?  Oh how these people suffer!

Poky

I'm not certain what that apparatus is on the right hand side there.  It does closely resemble a 1980s era computer game, doesn't it?  Perhaps it's used for collating data.

See those two doors on the left hand side of the image above?   The nearer one of those leads to the cinema lecture theatre (below)...

For intellectual pursuits

and the farther one leads to the library.

For literary pursuits

Whilst preparing this tour I noticed a couple of signs that I thought worthy of bringing to your attention.  Their meaning isn't entirely clear, but I hope my interpretation of them will provide you with some guidance.

Firstly this one:

Very informative

It took me a while to work this one out.  Did it mean that running people should go 'over there'?  Did it mean that you should look out for giant arrows perhaps?

I'm pretty certain that I've worked out its purpose now, though.

This sign is to help dead people, so that they don't clutter up the already overcrowded conditions here.  It is advising them to go toward the light.  In fact, it suggests that the dead people should run towards the light, doubtless helping them get there faster.

And it works, too.  I don't see dead people.  So they have all obviously gone.


This next one has words on it, which was a huge help in determining its meaning.

For emergencies

Being a very serious research station, everyone is very dour and serious all the time, which isn't necessarily good for morale.  Occasionally, some levity is needed!  A bit of nonsense, or bulldust, or hogwash, or codswallop is required to allow people to smile periodically.

So here is some eyewash, for use in emergencies when other forms of humour are not available.

This fellow has clearly been exposed to too much eyewash, since he is in floods of tears from laughing too hard.  This emergency eyewash is obviously of such a high grade that it should be consumed in small doses.



So, finally...

At the end of a day people need to find a way to unwind as best they may in these unhelpful surroundings.

These two chaps have retired to sit on the uncomfortable furniture, each with a glass of discoloured water in hand.  But look how stoically they drink it anyway.  Fine, uncomplaining fellows!

Suffering

Well there you have it.

I hope that has gone some way to giving you a good picture of the communal areas here at Davis.  If not, well...  that's just a shame, really.

But we press on, against all odds!

Thanks for reading.  That's it for 2012.  Have a very fine Christmas and New Year.

Until 2013, adieu!