Mid-winter

Mid-winter on an Antarctic station is bigger than Christmas and is something that is only shared by the few that winter here, in our case 24 of us.  Otherwise known as the winter solstice it marks the sun being the furthest away it can possibly be and while this is an exciting milestone, to be honest I can’t wait for it to come back.  It results in the shortest day although arguably given what we achieved on the day it could be considered one of our longer days here at Davis.

Being a small town you can imagine most truths are grounded in folklore so it was hard to know what to expect for mid-winter.  It will be dark for 6 weeks they said! Its the party of the year they said! watch out for snow leopards during the swim they said!  The truth is that the mid-winter celebration is a lovely combination of honouring those who came before us together with whatever the current crew want it to be, putting our stamp on history and further evolving what makes up this tradition.  

So firstly let me just bust the myth about it being dark.  No sunset or sunrise so no sun for around 6 weeks but it is not pitch black and in fact is more like an overcast day in winter in Melbourne its just that it only lasts for about 4 hours a day.   As a sun lover I’ve never thought much about the moon but my now good friend is working overtime and throwing much needed light our way each day.    

It takes the entire village to get ready for the party of the year so everyone was busy in the weeks leading up and on the day.  Now the winter swim gets quite a build up and rightly so.  Why would anyone think cutting a hole in the ice and ‘swimming’ in the middle of an Antarctic winter is a good idea.  There’s a reason we have to sit through a briefing from the doctor and be medically cleared to do it.  Here’s a fun fact…when we submerge into cold water quickly some of us have an automatic gasp reflex so going under is not only a bit crazy it can be quite dangerous.  I now understand why we go in with a harness and have a limit of 60 seconds in the water not that I was ever going to last that long.  

I reckon our pool was the best I’ve seen as it was round and watching the mechanical team dig the hole was quite amazing as they used a combination of heavy machinery, a chain saw, shovels and then kept it pristine with a couple of purpose built ‘pool skimmers’ made from large colanders on sticks to remove the ice that quickly reforms.  

I decided to go first somewhat as a station leader right but more so the girls could get changed in dry warm comfort before handing over the change room to the boys.  At minus 15 degrees Celsius outside with little wind thank goodness, I stepped down the ladder into our little plunge pool.  I don’t remember much as it was so quick and I lost feeling pretty quickly so hugely grateful to those that captured the moment on camera.  No snow leopards, no seals but definitely lots of krill (they look like transparent shrimp).  Antarctic winter swim box ticked!!  and in case you were wondering the gloves and shoes are mainly so our skin doesn’t stick to the ladder.

I thought I would be cold for days but I managed to get warm and dry and watch everyone else enjoy their Antarctic plunge.  Strangely the general consensus was it was easier than the summer swim as it’s straight in and out into a warm van and warm clothes. 

Hermann spent weeks in the lead up to the day meticulously preparing a feast for us.  We kicked off the day with brunch which included some of my favourites; poached eggs with hollandaise, and freshly baked bread and pastries.  Dinner was nothing short of outstanding with canapés served at the bar followed by shared platters of duck, lamb, beef cheeks, salmon, chicken and our very own hydroponic freshly grown greens.  As for dessert we are still eating it more than a week later, mousse, pavlova, chocolates and the most beautiful ‘ice’ toffee painting.  Now as it turns out the ‘ice’ wasn’t for eating which we learnt after a little nibble off the edge – oops.

With no access to shops and not being handy on the tools the most daunting thing for me for mid-winter was the pressure to make a gift but I was determined to have a go.  With lots of help from a chippie, boilermaker and a plumber I made a cheeseboard for Derryn who is known to love a good cheese plate.  This team was never going to let me fail and they patiently helped me learn and make as much of it as I possibly could and I have to say I’m pretty proud of my efforts and the best part is I reckon Derryn might even use it. 

I was lucky enough to receive more than one gift on the day and I just love them all.  For my official gift (its like secret santa) I got a metal penguin with 75 in it to represent we are the 75th Antarctic Expedition for the Australian program.  Having spent some time learning to weld a couple of weeks ago I can now somewhat appreciate the talent it took to make this thoughtful gift – thanks Lee.  Hana and I both received the most beautiful roses crafted out of copper as a thank you for putting up with the boys – thanks Bob and I got a tractor made of 24 nuts and bolts to represent the 24 people on station – thanks Stu.  Not only do I love my penguin, rose and tractor but I absolutely love the sentiment of all these gifts and they now have pride of place in my window nook in my bedroom.  

With formalities of the day over we were entertained by the Davis band ‘The slippery picks’ and the ‘piano man’.   Props to these guys for spending hours practicing so they could entertain this forever grateful crowd at the party of the year.   Best live music I’ve seen all year!

While I can describe the swim, the food and the gifts what I can’t adequately describe is the feeling of the day other than to say it was filled with love.  We watched video messages from everyone’s family and friends, we connected with other stations, we ate, we drank, we sang, we laughed and we reflected on how special it is to be a wintering Antarctic expeditioner something that very few in this world have done.