My Southern Adventure: A belated yet healthy new post!

Well things have been moving along fairly slowly here, mainly due to the weather. Over the last couple of weeks we have had regular snowfalls and one full blown Blizzard. We almost had another Blizzard, I say almost because to officially have a Blizzard the weather needs to meet three separate conditions over the course of an hour. The conditions are as follows: 1. Temperatures below 0 deg (yep, we are doing that easily) 2. Visibility less than 100 meters (tick that box) and 3. Wind speeds of over 68kph. And yes, believe it or not, our wind dropped to 65kph in the 56th minute of the hour. During our 'real' blizzard we had a highest wind gust of 124kph!

Couple of photos of the aftermath

The SMQ (where we sleep)

The MPH

I know what everyone is thinking "but he is in Antarctica, of course it will be snowing, windy and cold" but Davis actually has an unofficial title of the 'Riviera of the South'. Even though we are the southernmost of the Australian stations (closest to the South Pole) we typically have nicer weather. Couple that with the kilometers of frozen Fjords and cozy field huts dotted throughout the hills it makes for a pretty enticing place.

MMmm comfy, yet cold!

The Elephant Seal intersection

Today in my building feature I'm going to show you what is possibly the most important building here for some people. Tucked away up the back of the station near the MPH are a couple of unassuming containers linked together that contain one of Davis's biggest secrets!.. ..Greenery!

We have a Hydroponics setup which is able to supply station with just enough fresh food to be a continual reminder of what we could be consuming copious amounts of if we were back home.

Hydro is tended by a caring and passionate group of volunteers and after slipping up there to take some snaps of the 'little darlings' I can see why. The building is kept at around 20 degrees and has a tropical humidity especially compared to the 'desert' outside. If I wasn't so 'gardenly challenged' I would be keen to get up there more often myself.