Casey

So after a few weeks waiting I have finally made it to Casey. I'll post again soon more about the station itself, but for now I will concentrate on the flights over.

The first flight is the one in a helicopter to get up to Woop Woop, the Davis skiway. After a round of farewells, I headed up to the helipad to get my ride. At this point I was experiencing mixed emotions - I was excited to be finally going to Casey, but was sad to be leaving my home of the past 12 months. I got myself into the helicopter flown my Chris, who had previously spent time down here as a plumber. He very kindly allowed me to get some final shot of Davis from the air. Then we took the long way around to Woop Woop, flying up Ellis Fjord to Trajer Ridge. We came across a group doing field training so gave them two low passes to say hi.

Davis from the helicopter

Up at the skiway the two CASAs were being refuelled. I was in the first plane with Bri and Michelle and we left about 45 minutes before the second plane. John and Rod were our pilots. The first leg of the flight to Bunger Hills was very white. As we were flying inland there wasn't much to see for the majority of the trip. About the only thing you can see is the massive amounts of crevasses scarring the landscape, and the odd glacier or two. As we got closer to Bunger Hills there was a bit more to see. This first leg of the flight lasted about 3 and a half hours.

Glen Hoger at work refuelling the plane I was in

Bunger Hills is an area similar to the Vestfold Hills, where Davis is situated. Except there are only two apples and two melons there (these are the names for the different sized living huts), instead of a station. We were there to refuel, and to remove some of the stuff that has been there for some time. We picked up 10 ration packs from on of the melons, all dating back to 1986. When the work was done we took a short walk up a nearby hill to watch the other plane come in to land.

On approach to land at Bunger Hills

Two melons (L) and two apples (R)

Both planes on the sea ice. I was in the one on the right

The second leg of the flight was a bit shorter, at about one and three quarter hours, and a lot more picturesque. This time we had icebergs and ice cliffs to keep us entertained. We also got our first glimpse of Casey before we turned towards the skiway to land. We touched down at about 2100 to start the next phase of summer, and so far I am having a great time. Everyone is really nice, and quite eager to hear more about life at Davis. Soon I will put up some more about Casey itself, showing some of the local sights.

The view from my window

My first glimpse of Casey