When you think of Covid lockdown - what do you think ? In some parts of northern Australia it was for only a few days. In others it was a few weeks. Where we live in Sydney it was months. In Victoria - it was over 100 days For many the negative effects of the social isolation coupled with the financial impacts of being unable to work were so significant that they still echo now. To some degree though - we all know what it was like to not only be separated from our friends and family, with no real way of knowing when we could see them again. Imagine if your lockdown was longer. Not 100, 200 or 300 days - 537 days to be exact. Now imagine your lockdown took place in one of the most isolated places on the planet, the Australian Antarctic research station. That’s exactly what happened to David Knoff and his team of scientists, mechanics, cooks, plumbers and sparkies - tasked with keeping the research station running during endless darkness of the Antarctic winter, David lead his team through what was originally supposed to be a one-year mission, and yet so close to the end of their rotation - they got the news that they couldn’t come home. Not only that, there was no answer as to when they could. How on earth do you maintain not only morale, but the mental health of a team living in close confinement, through nearly two years uncertainty? @537daysofwinter is my podcast guest today - and even though you might not have to prevent cabin fever during the ten weeks when there is no sunlight in what’s essentially an indoor mining camp within a deep-freezer this conversation has a lot that I took away from it, and I’m sure you will as well.