The last couple of days has included time spent checking some of the medical things, restocking drugs, fresh blood and getting all my cold-weather gear organised.
Last minute changes meant that the 16 person french contingent (including the 80 year old ex Prime Minister) are now going on the French boat instead of ours, which is a Good Thing from a medical point of view as some of them were a bit dodgy, but I think they will regret it - our ship is much larger than L'Astrolabe ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_icebreaker_Astrolabe ) which apparently rolls around like a crazy thing in the big seas of the Southern Ocean.
I presume they thought they would get better cheese on board a French vessel than an Australian one, and also the Aurora (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Australis_(icebreaker) ) is a dry ship - so no red wine with your meals, let alone French wine.
The pictures show us boarding the Aurora Australis this afternoon - the medical clinic is just near the open door at the top of the gangway, and a view of my cabin and out the window. I get a cabin all to myself which is nice - not because I don't like sharing, but it is very cramped when one tiny room has 3 or 4 people living in it. I get it all to myself, as the ship is not full and its one of the perks of the job.
The last photo shows where we are going - to Commonwealth Bay, which is about 2700km due south of Tasmania and just a short way east of the French station, Dumont D'Urville.
The ship has 65 passengers aboard, and about 35 crew. If this email sounds a bit uninspired, it's because the seasickness tablets are starting to work and I am feeling a bit dull & drowsy. But I've made my bed, we shall see how I cope once the ship gets out to sea.
You can follow the track of the ship on the web at http://its-app3.aad.gov.au/proms/public/schedules/voyageTrack.cfm?season=1112 - this page should show the daily ship positions, and on board we have 2 journalists from AAP and an ABC journalist and cameraman who will be filing some reports. You can see their stuff here: ( http://blogs.abc.net.au/news/in-mawsons-footsteps/ ).
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