A Jeff of the South Special: Swim-Swim Goes To Melbourne (The Second Bit)

 And now it's time for...

Swim-Swim Goes To Melbourne

The Second Bit

A Jeff of the South Special: Swim-Swim Goes to Melbourne (Part One)

Hello!

Jeff-not-of-the-South here!  And it's time for a Jeff-not-of-the-South special.  (Frankly, any additions to this blog - should there be any after this one - are going to be specials.)

Post the Finalth

Well.

After three months (and 51 blog posts!) this is it - the journey is over.  And, as Judith Durham would have it, so is the carnival.

Post the Forty-Third

Tour of the Ship Part II - Son of Tour of the Ship

Yep.  Swim-Swim is at it again.

Post the Forty-Second (Supplemental)

There is not really enough material here to warrant a whole blog post by itself.  Not a whole post.  Not really even a railing.  More of a picket, really.

So this is a blog picket.

Post the Forty-Second

I'm sharing a cabin with the two meteorological forecasters, and I have to say that they've not been doing a very good job of it.

Post the Forty-First

 

All Good Things Must Come to an End

or

Our Last Day in Antarctica

Post the Fortieth

Wow.  40 posts, plus the specials.  Crikey.  

I had never imagined that I would have written as many as that.  Jeepers.

40.

Gosh.

Oh well; that's enough of the slack-jawed reflection.  The time for being impressed with myself is at an end.  Let's forge ahead with this post!

Post the Thirty-Ninth

Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London Mawson.

Post the Thirty-Eighth

Mooring the ship.  At Mawson it can be done.  Horseshoe Harbour is deep enough, and the enclosing shoreline close enough that the Aurora can run lines ashore, and be much more secure than if she were at anchor.

Which is good if you're operating in an area replete with opportunities for putting holes in ships.

Post the Thirty-Seventh

Bloody wind.

That accursed cyclone which parked its backside on us at Davis has found us again, and decided to park its backside on us again.

It made the Aurora go away, and put a clunkin' great pause in the resupply of Mawson.  Therefore, what I have to offer you today is:  bugger all.

I have no narrative for you today.  Instead what I have is an agglomeration of unrelated photos.  So you may view this blog post as a kind of 'Aunty Ethel and Uncle Stan's Slide Night'.

So sit back, prepare to fidget and continually check your watch, and let's get on with it!

Post the Thirty-Sixth

We left Davis twice.  It seems only right and fair that we should therefore arrive at Mawson twice.

And that's what we did.  What follows is a sketchy and ill-thought-out account of our second arrival at Mawson.

Post the Thirty-Fifth

Mawson.

Named after Australia's most celebrated Antarctic explorer, Mawson is the most westerly of Australia's stations.  It is also widely acclaimed by those familiar with our stations as the most picturesque.

What do I reckon about that?

Post the Thirty-Fourth

It's time for some more SCIENCE!

"Hearken ye to SCIENCE for, lo!  SCIENCE yet never sleepeth, even unto the completion of the voyage."  
 - Shakespeare, King Melvin III, Part IV

Post the Thirty-Third

This is the day we actually left Davis.  For real.  I mean it!

Post the Thirty-Second

The Leaving of Davis

or

The day we left Davis without actually going anywhere.

Post the Thirty-First

Did I say that Post the Thirtieth would be the last one submitted from Davis?  Did I?  Did I?!

Well, it turns out that that was a dirty stinkin' lie.  Because here comes another one!  'ray!

Post the Thirtieth

The Davis summer season of 2012/13 is rapidly drawing to a close.  Before we leave, however, there is once final paroxysm of frenetic activity - the resupply.

Or, as we like to call it:  THE RESUPPLY!!!  [cue dramatic sting:  dahm dahm daaaaaaaahm!]

Post the Twenty-Ninth

It was a beautiful evening.  Just right for a post-prandial stroll.  So, why not?  Why not indeed!

Post the Twenty-Eighth

The end is nigh!

Post the Twenty-Seventh

IN MEMORIAM

On Wednesday evening 3 of our Davis family lost their lives in tragic circumstances.  Bob, Mike and Perry were taken from us when the Twin Otter aircraft they were travelling in went down in the Trans-Antarctic Mountains whilst en-route from the South Pole to Terra Nova Bay.

These three Canadian men were honourary Australians as far as we at Davis are concerned.  They are keenly mourned.

It's a small gesture, but I dedicate this Australia Day post to their memory.  Vale Perry, Mike and Bob.

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Australia Day!

I'm not normally one to go in for jingoistic ra-ra, but Oz Day in Antarctica has its own traditions.  And one in particular that I did not want to miss.

Post the Twenty-Sixth

Elephant Seals

Ugly, oversized, smelly, ill-tempered and with a huge honk, there isn't much to like about them.  And yet, for some strange reason I feel an affinity....

Post the Twenty-Fifth

SCIENCE!

There's a bit of it going on down here, you know.

Post the Twenty-Fourth

Fresh vegetables.  Surprisingly difficult to get in the Antarctic.

Well...  Eh.  Maybe it's not that surprising.

Post the Twenty-Third

What better place for boating activities could there be than Antarctica?

Post the Twenty-Second

Before I say anything else today:  Happy Birthday Aunty Crashen!

And now, moving along...

You're not going to believe this, but...  Weddell Seal!  (!!!)

Post the Twenty-First

Twenty first post.  Twenty first. Holy blogmonsters, Batman!  Do I get a key or something?

And that's not counting the specials and so forth.  When starting out on this project I never imagined that there would be this many.  I was thinking one, perhaps two (short) posts a week would be the maximum.  Who knew that I would be able to generate so much bovine excrement?

Well, truth be told, probably all of you who know me, right?

Post the Twentieth

We have finally done it!  Four weeks in, and most likely half way through Swim-Swim's and my stint at Davis, but we have made it to the big, white, hard bit of Antarctica - the ice!

Post the Nineteenth

It's a Sunday afternoon, I have the day off, and I have no plans.  Well I did have plans - quite excellent ones - but they fell through like a safe on rotten floorboards.

So what can a poor lad like myself do with the afternoon?  How about... write a blog post!

Brilliant idea!

Post the Eighteenth

Long term readers of this blog are probably aware that I am currently in Antarctica.  The more astute of the newer readers have probably picked up on that too.  So, why am I in Antarctica?  What is my function?

What is a slushy?  Or even an uber-slushy?  If you're keen to find out, read on, and learn all about a day in the life of an uber-slushy!

Post the Seventeenth

It's time for a fancy dress party!

Or, to put it another way; ERMAHGERD!  FERNCER DRERSS!

Post the Sixteenth-and-a-Halfth-th

Wildlife!

100%, pure, unadulterated, undiluted, un-digitally-enhanced, un-ding-dong-diddley wildlife!

And I have photos of it!

Post the Sixteenth

A day off!

Time to see if I can't head out and photographically ensnare some things for you that aren't rocks or blurs.  Or blurry rocks. 

Post the New-Year's-Eve-th

New Year's Eve!  Complete with Alfred Hitch-Swim.

Post the Christmasteenth (Part Too)

Hello again!

Yes, it's still 2012, and it's still Christmas on Jeff of the South.  So? I like living in the past!  At least I know what's going to happen next.  To a certain point.

Post the Christmasteenth (Part 1)

I know, right?  Christmas is so last year, and everyone has moved on.  Except I have this here blog to write, and I have these here photos that were taken.  So Deck the Halls with Good King Wenceslasty the Snowman, etc.  Here are yet more Christmas leftovers.