Where

Ardery Island (66°22'S 110°28E) is a small island of approximately half a square kilometer. It lies in the Vincennes Bay along the coast of Antarctica, 10 km south of Casey, an Australian Antarctic Division research station (see map of Antarctica). It is situated about 3850 km south of Perth (Australia), 3450 km south west of Hobart (Tasmania) and about 16000 km south east of Amsterdam.

Ardery Island is a so-called Specially Protected Area (SPA), a special nature reserve, as it supports high amounts of fulmarine petrels breeding there. Work and life of the scientists there is subject to many regulations and entering the island is prohibited without a permit.

Ardery Island is a rocky island with steep slopes. On the highest point of the island (Snowie Mountain, 113m) you have a great view of the surroundings. During winter it is often covered by snow. In October 1996, for example, heavy snowfall delayed the progress of the research. It was very hard to install the artificial nests as many nests were lying under a layer of 1m snow.

The researchers on Ardery Island work, cook and sleep in two "apples" (round field huts with a diameter of 3m). In October, the beginning of the season, a helicopter drops the birdos and supplies them with lots of cargo (the apples, cooking-apparatus, food, research materials).

During the season Caseyites resupply the researchers at Ardery with rubber duckies or with vessels approximately every month. These are also the moments that someone from Ardery could be swapped with an expeditioner of Casey for a shower and some relief. At the end of the field season (April) the birds and their researchers leave the island to escape the harsh Antarctic winter. For safety reasons "sked" (a short radio contact) takes place with Casey everyday.

Casey is one of the four permanent scientific research stations of the Australian Antarctic Division. In summer there are about 50 people based at Casey Station and about 20 persons stay at the base during the Antarctic winter.
A bright orange icebreaker, the research and supply vessel RSV Aurora Australis, brings the people and the cargo. A voyage from Hobart to Casey takes about 10 days but heavy weather or heavy pack ice can cause delay, especially at the beginning and the end of the season. Normally the Aurora Australis visits Casey four times a year.