PORT Fairy’s Paul Ross is preparing for the ultimate white Christmas.
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However, it will probably come a few days late this year.
The police officer is spending a year in Antarctica as station leader at Casey Research Station and the neighbouring Wilkins Intercontinental Aerodome.
LISTEN HERE TO MR ROSS TALK ABOUT HIS TIME IN ANTARCTICA
Mr Ross struggles to describe in words the spectacular views he awakes to every morning.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Mr Ross said.
“The space and the light and the shift in colours between the very light pastel colours and the snow and the ocean and the sky.
“It’s breathtaking. You find yourself often just walking around and gazing at things you’ve never noticed before.”
A cluster of icebergs guarantees a different vista each day.
“We’ve got a big cluster of icebergs that sit off the station here in the water and the wind pushes them around so every morning they’re in a slightly different position so the view you get over the bay is never the same and that’s amazing,” Mr Ross said.
“It looks kind of like a big flotilla of ships.
“Every direction you look there’s always something changing and something you’ve never seen before.”
Mr Ross flew to Antarctica from Tasmania on October 30.
“It was a flight from Hobart airport and it took about four-and-a-half, five hours to get here.
“We were the first flight into the Wilkins aerodrome, which is quite close to Casey station, for the season.
“The aerodrome is only open over summer and we were the first flight in for this summer.”
Mr Ross recalled the temperature was about -10C on the day he arrived.
“It was quite fine actually and the sun was out,” he said.
“It was cold but it wasn’t drastically cold.”
Mr Ross said the windchill could be hard to deal with on some days.
“We’ve had some colder days since then but we’ve also had a couple of days where it’s got to zero, so we’re coming into the better weather.”
Mr Ross said there had been a few occasions when the station shut down due to the strong winds.
“Yesterday we had quite a big blow so the wind got up to over 60 knots, which is around 100km/h and then about a fortnight ago we had winds of up to 150km/h,” he said.
“The winds can make things really difficult and we get to stage where we have to shut the station down because the winds make operating outside sort of virtually impossible – or too dangerous.”
Mr Ross said it had been a busy couple of weeks, but he had enjoyed having the chance to explore.
“I’ve been on a few trips away from the station and I’ve been backwards and forwards up to the Wilkins airfields in the last few weeks.”
Mr Ross said watching the wildlife was incredible.
“We have a penguin colony very close to the station and then we have groups of penguins that just wander around the station sort of as we wish and we have seal activity,” he said.
“The seals will come up on the ice and sort of just lay there in the sun for a while and try to sort of regenerate and then they’ll pop back into the ocean so it’s quite spectacular.”
Mr Ross said there were penguins that varied in size from about 40 centimetres to one metre tall.
“The penguins are quite unique – they’re like no other kind of animal anywhere,” he said.
Mr Ross said welcoming the Governor General Peter Cosgrove and his wife to the station recently had been a highlight of the trip.
The biggest highlight, however, has been the fact the untouched scenery is like nothing he has ever – nor expected to – experienced before.
Mr Ross is responsible for the day to day running of the research station.
“I’m the station leader so I’ve got management of the entire station and the people here,” he said.
“At the moment we’ve got about 83 on station plus another nine up at Wilkins, which we also look after.”
He said the role was challenging but it was enjoyable and rewarding.
“It’s different and it forces you to use some skills you may not have used elsewhere,” Mr Ross said.
He and his crew are preparing for a busy few days from December 19 – when the Aurora Australis icebreaker arrives to resupply the station.
“We have one resupply every year which is scheduled to commence here on December 19,” Mr Ross said.
“We don’t stop once the ship gets here – we work right through to get it unloaded and get it reloaded so it’s likely our Christmas will get slightly postponed.”
Mr Ross said the station will most likely enjoy a Christmas feast – with all the trimmings prepared by its three chefs – closer to the new year.
“The plan is that once we get our resupply done in late December we’ll take a few days off and celebrate Christmas just like we would back home,” he said.
“They do really look after us here.
“We’ve got three really good chefs here over summer and they’ve got plenty of opportunity to pull together some really festive meals so it probably won’t be dissimilar to how people back home celebrate.”
Mr Ross said there was plenty to do at the station.
He said it had a cinema and there was a ski loop out the back of the station, which has reignited Mr Ross’ love of skiing.
“There’s so much to do,” he said.
Mr Ross will be in Antarctica during its coldest period next year, when the temperature will plummet to -35 to -40C.
He hopes to make the most of his time on the coldest place on Earth.
“It’s been exciting and hopefully it will be a good year," Mr Ross said.
“It’s been one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done.
“It’s really untouched – other than the station there’s no evidence of human activity here at all – it’s totally unique.
“You can travel all around the world but you would never see anything like this.”
CHECK OUT FOOTAGE OF AN AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION VOYAGE
Earlier this year Mr Ross took part in the 2016 Leadership Great South Coast program.
He believes this program armed him with vital skills to manage the station he now calls home.
Mr Ross is responsible for a team of expeditioners on a range of science, infrastructure and logistics programs.
He said it had been humbling to be chosen to lead the station.
“I have an interest in the environment and I’m really interested in Australia’s involvement in Antarctica, which makes up 42 per cent of the continent,” Mr Ross said.
You can take a look at the weather at the station on its webcam.
CASEY STATION
- Australia took over operation of the United States-built Wilkes Station on Clark Peninsula in January 1959, two years after it was opened.
- It soon became evident that Wilkes would be buried by deepening snowdrifts which were turning to ice and threatening the structure of the buildings. As a consequence work commenced in 1964 on a replacement station called Repstat, which was located about two kilometres south of the original site on the shores of the Bailey Peninsula.
- When fully operational in February 1969, Repstat was renamed Casey in honour of the Governor General at the time, Lord Casey. He had been a staunch supporter of Australia’s fledgling Antarctic program through the 1950s and `60s.
- The original Wilkes station is now largely buried.
The Australian Antarctic Division is recruiting a new team of expeditioners to head to the icy continent for the 2017/18 season.
The division is looking to fill more than 100 positions across a range of trades for its four research stations: Casey, Davis and Mawson on the Antarctic continent and Macquarie Island in the sub-Antarctic.
Builders, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, plant operators, electronics engineers, aircraft ground support officers, aerodrome graders and plant operators, field training officers, station supply officers, communication technicians and chefs are all encouraged to apply.
Positions range from six months over summer or up to 15 months which includes the unique experience of wintering in Antarctica. Applications are open until 27 January. Visit jobs.antarctica.gov.au