RTA (Return to Australia)

Clearing snow and ice from Wharf

With resupply rapidly approaching activity at the station is at fever pitch. Packing and consigning of goods to be returned to Australia has been progressing over the past few weeks.

half height containers

Cargo waiting for a ship.

Hard rubbish in 200l drums

E Box and full size container

Cage pallets with recycle rubbish

Cargo being packed for return to Australia (RTA) includes work related items, personal items, recycled rubbish, waste liquids, hardware like gas bottles etc. Tom who has taken his FTO hat off and is now the Storeman processes the electronically consigned (Econ) goods into manifest lists and ensures they are packed into shipping  containers, bins, cages etc. that can be loaded on the ship using forklift and cranes.

E Box

Waste liquids

Crane waiting for a ship

empty gas bottles

Standard size shipping containers are used and they come in a range of sizes. There is an E box (a half container) , half heights which are open  bins the length containers but half as high, or half as long, bins for waste liquid, cage pallets  etc.

Digger scraping for rocks.

Fill for container hard stand area

General clean-ups have also been in full swing. The Hydroponics facility was emptied of plants and growing media that was incinerated. Then washed thoroughly with bleach Then set up and replanted for the incoming crew.

Graded track from Mawson

Dozer ready to grade track to plateau

Work areas have been tidied and in the living quarters spare rooms cleaned and made up for the new crew. With the influx of the changeover crew during resupply our station population will rise to 48.

Moving snow and ice from wharf

Walk to GWAMM

The dieso’s and others have been busy with the heavy machinery moving earth and rocks to build up roadways, move snow and ice from the wharf and making a hard stand area for incoming containers.

IRB passing iceberg (N Kokubun)

Flight from Davis

Over recent weeks the track  to GWAMM on the plateau had become too slippery to travel on. Wilco fitted some spikes to the tracks of the dozer to stop it from slipping and has cut a track into the ice. 

Minke Whale (N Kokubun)

Last view from plateau

The last of the people from Davis arrived on the 10th February and the two biologists from Bechervaise Island were collected by Inflatable Rubber Boats (IRB) on the 14th February when the wind had moderated to around 15 knots. The IRB’s (Inflatable Rubber Boats) are not allowed on open water when conditions are too windy.

Julie exited by the view

Another light wind day on the 21st allowed the biologists to complete their work schedule by visiting some Adele penguin rookeries on Verner and Welch islands. While out on the water they came across a pod of Minke Wales.

Calm before the storm.

High winds to 97kts.

 On the 24th on what is probably the last chance to get to the plateau 5 of us walked to GWAMM after dinner on a calm evening before the 3 days of forecast blizzard hit.

 
The Aurora Australis (AA) was due at Mawson on 22nd Feb to commence resupply but a late departure and blizzard conditions at Mawson has the AA standing in the lee of the Western Ice Shelf near Davis waiting for better weather. Meanwhile Mawson in the early hours of Sunday 26th Feb had wind gusts to 97kts (180km/h) and has entered its third day with blizzard conditions.

Voyage track

 

Air Taxi to Rumdoodle Skiway

Working the drag bar on the snow.

Filling bags to mark the runway

The Rumdoodle Skiway, 20km from Mawson, was activated for summer flights from Davis to Mawson for expeditioners returning to Australia on Voyage 4 in late February.

Sighting a line for skiway marker bags.

Skiway is open!

Bags marking 1500m skiway.

The flight from Davis is in a chartered DC3 aircraft. Before passenger flights begin the Skiway has to be tested by a ‘Proving Flight’.  This was undertaken on Tuesday 31st January – Davis to Mawson and return.

BT67 approaching Rumdoodle.

Landing.

Taxi to parking area.

'Proving flight' Debrief .

The aircraft chartered for the delivery of passengers to Mawson is a BT67. A DC3 that has been seriously modified for polar use by Basler, a Canadian company. The Canadian charter company used by AAD fly’s the BT67as well as Twin Otter aircraft for intra continental flights between Australian Antarctic bases and field outposts.

Interior has no frills.

What is required to activate the Skiway? Rumdoodle Skiway is on the glacier that crawls past the Masson ranges, 20km from Mawson. The glacier has been used since the early 50’s as a landing ground but from year to year the surface of the glacier is subject to wind scouring, melt, snow accumulation

Ski and wheel for sno and ice landing

Pioneer with fuel if required.

and ablation. So before it can be used in the summer months its surface is checked, cleared of snow, a 1500m runway marked out and wind sock erected. The runway markers and wind sock are retrieved after each flight otherwise they would be blown away in the next blizzard.


Weather observations are provided for all incoming flights so that the incoming aircraft know the weather conditions on the ground.

The proving flight on the 31st brought some mail and light cargo and we back loaded some packages.

In less than half an hour it was on its way back to Davis.

Takeoff.

Two other flights followed in suitable weather in the next few weeks. For each flight a team would set off from Mawson 4 hours prior to departure from Davis to setup the runway and provide weather information. 5 passengers arrived on the first flight and another who was working in the Prince Charles Mountains at that time arrived on the second flight on the 10th.

With all personnel booked to travel on V4 safely at Mawson, the Skiway has been closed and aviation gear returned to storage.