Davis Station

Time continues to fly and I am now in my third week at Davis.  I thought it was about time to show a little of Davis and where I work.  Thursday (3/12/09) I was lucky enough to get a helicopter ride over the Vestfold Hills.  The flight believe it or not was actually for work purposes - taking photos of certain geographical points.  I had the job of entering the file number, elevation and aspect of the picture taken and match it to the position on a laptop computer.  The views were amazing and I got a true appreciation of how vast and arid this place is. 

This picture is looking from the south of the station. If you look hard you can make out two CASA 212 aircraft that are just north of the coast on the ice skiway. These guys left for Casey today, and will return later in the summer. When they return they will utilise the skiway called Whoop Whoop about 50km to the east of the station, as the ice will have disappeared.

This is me "hard at work". The flight lasted a bit over a hour and a half. I was actually fairly crook by the end of it (concentrating on the screen is my defence). I seem to get motion sickness with all nautical and aviation related activities lately.

This is the "VLZ Davis" Communications Console. We have a number of HF and VHF radios, and different types of telephone communication networks at hand from this console.  I'm not actually pointing to anything, my finger is on the transmit button and you can just make out the boom style microphone just need my mouth.

 This is the "Ops" building where the comms console is located. The blue skies you see in these pictures is how it has been the last few days. It's not forecasted to stay like this though. Expecting 30 to 40 knots winds, a lot more cloud and possibly some snow over the next couple of days.  The temperature on Thursday actually reached 6 degrees.  Most of the snow/ice has now melted and you can see the melt run off making it very muddy.

The green building on the left is the "LQ" (Living Quarters) and on the right is the "SMQ" (Sleeping Medical Quarters).  The two buildings are connected by an enclosed walkway.  The cream coloured annex on the LQ is the Library.   It has a very good collection of books and a nice quite space to read or perhaps play some chess.  The LQ also has the dining room, kitchen, theatre and the bar area.

My room's window is on the left wall of the SMQ (facing the LQ) 2nd from the top right and has a very nice view of Gardiner and Anchorage Island. 

This picture is actually two pictures stitched together with software that came with my little camera.  I am very happy with how this turned out as I was only holding it by hand.  I am going to borrow a tripod and take some more panoramics.

 

This is my room. Normally reserved for winterering expeditioners, as a Comms Operator I am lucky enough to have one of these. They are much bigger than the rooms in the "SAM" Summer Accommodation Module which accommodates all the sumer expeditioners. Living in these rooms is great because it is a close and easy walk to the LQ and you don't need to take of your shoes (see comments below). They are very comfortable with a king size bed, a phone and internet access for your laptop. The little kiwi stuffed toy and flowers on top of the bed head were left over from the previous occupant.

Most of the buildings have two doors that you go through to enter.  This is for insulation and keeping out the cold air, especially on a windy day.  Prior to entering the building you will take of your jacket and shoes.  This is an area where you are most likely to lose a pair of Sorel boots or a jacket as just about everyone has the same brand/colour gear.  Inside most of the buildings it is a very comfortable 20 degrees.  Most people will just walk around in their socks while others have an indoor pair of shoes that they will swap to.