Worst case scenarios and way too much sugar

Resupply over, the last week has been all about getting trained up to deal with whatever Macca might throw at us in a worse case scenario - fire, tsunami, medical disaster or a search and rescue. Although to be honest, the biggest risks around here seem to be morbid obesity through over-eating, or getting chased by one of the very territorial fur seals who hide around station.

Given it was another busy week, Easter popped up at a fortuitous interval. We spent the four-day holiday eating sugar in a range of forms, checking out some of the local characters, generally mooching about, then varying mooching about by adding in Bananagrams and/or cheese boards. An excellent break all round.

The week began with a Tsunami Drill - this principally involved hauling oneself up a very steep hill as quickly as possible. My favourite type of activity. Thank god it came before Easter.

Short rest breaks were required by some, while others took a lot of photos to necessitate frequent stops. Macca delivered her usual weather - drizzle, wind and limited visibility. Although you can make out a couple of buildings on station.

The Tsunami Cache at the top of Wireless Hill- the Cache mainly consists of tents, expired rations and XXL clothing, and is conveniently located in a very mushy bog. Lets all hope for no tsunamis.

Back on station, we get kitted out with survival bags and search & rescue gear. From left: Tim (carpenter), Annette (chef), Danielle (Meteorological observer), Angus (Meteorological technician), someone bending down in high vis (a common outfit which makes the wearer hard to identify), Vicki (another Met observer), Richard (our field training officer (FTO)/search and rescue leader/storeman/several other things depending on the day)

The fire crew gear up and wrangle hoses in their first training session of the year

Hosing down the concrete paths. Lovely job.

The exiting expeditioners left quite a bit of washing - I did 32 loads one Saturday,  then had to stop as we were about to run out of water. Space in the linen cupboard was also a slight issue - this motherland is stacked in one of the summer accomodation bedrooms. Reminds me of university hall of residence accommodation. Except I only had one set of sheets.

Tim moonlighting as the station barber. Danielle had requested a 'shoulder length cut', she ended up with a jaw-line do and some very interesting lady-sideburns....

Ali, our station leader, makes convincingly real easter eggs out of marshmallow

And Bananagrams has made it to Macquarie Island - just another racy Easter Saturday night on station for (L-R) Rich, Danielle, Annette and Angus (note the crosswords too).

In another corner of the wallow (common room), Tim, Chris B (diesel mechanic) and Chris H (Head Ranger) enjoy a cheese platter and some civilised chatter.

Tim's birthday came right after Easter. Forgetting the timing I made a double-decker chocolate cake with a layer of chocolate cheesecake in the middle. Perhaps fruit cake would have been a better option. 

Some of our resident fur seals. These two hang out the back of the kitchen and bark at you as you walk past with a load of tea towels. The mother is currently trying to wean her pup (note the foot action).

Finally pulled my proper camera out for a walk around station: Pissed off moulting elephant seals. These ones are juveniles (a couple of years old) but are still weigh a tonne or so.

Macca on a nice day - a couple of Gentoo Penguins enjoying the sun

Gentoos up close - these are the most common penguins around station and trot all around the place keeping an eye on us