With the contract signed this week it’s time to (officially) announce I’ll be heading South for my second season. I’m very excited to be getting such an amazing opportunity to visit a part of the world which so few people get to see – I’ll be working in Antarctica! Again!
This summer season I’ll be working at Casey station as an IT Officer for the Australian program for the 71st / 72nd ANARE.
A lot of planning is already underway – I have flights to Hobart booked in, I know where I’ll be staying in town, I have the pre-departure training guide and many other bits and pieces organised. The second year is always a bit easier though as there’s less unknown – I’ve already done all of these things once before so everything feels quite routine so far which is good.
I guess the main difference to last season is that the logistics around Casey station is quite different to the other two Australian bases. Davis and Mawson get the Aurora Australis icebreaker ship in early, then again a second time late in the season, whereas Casey’s resupply is V2 right before Christmas. This means us summerers tend to fly down to start the summer season, are already on base for resupply, then fly back at the end of the season. Checking my ticket details (and remembering this is Antarctica – the “A Factor” means plans are always subject to change) it looks like I’ll be heading down in the back of the C17 Globemaster, and returning on the A319. I’m very excited to fly down instead of the ship this year, if anything just for the new experience of getting to the icy continent by air.
