Phew! Relief...what a bitch!

It was as if his skin was on fire. The heat surrounded him like a tight-fitting cloak from which there was no escape. The hot air in his nostrils and mouth was making it painful to breath. Breathing was becoming laboured. The sweat was welling out of every pore over his body. Why was he immersed in this torture, as if enveloped in the fiery pits of hell itself? As he looked at the clock, time seemed to slow ever more, prolonging the evil heat that penetrated every inch of his body. How much longer would he have to endure this pain?

Not for much longer it seemed. He finally lost his battle with the heat...

And then I got out of the sauna!

Yes. I was in a sauna. In the Antarctic. What a novelty.

I positively hate saunas, but the novelty of sitting in one while in Antarctica was just too compelling.

For a few days towards the end of December I was spending a few days living on the RRS Ernest Shackleton, (one of the two ships operated by BAS). It has a sauna on board. The Shackleton was docked at the sea-ice for relief operations, and I was to spend a few days working from the ship during Halley VI relief for when the Russian brute of a cargo ship the “Amderma” arrived.

The RRS Ernest Shackleton

_____________________________________________________________________

So once again, I have left it almost a month since my last entry, and I am regretting it as

a) I have shed loads to write about, and

b) I cannot remember half of the good stuff I wanted to tell you about at the time they occurred.

I’ll try my best though, and will try not to disappoint.

Oh and do keep the comments on the blog coming. I enjoy reading your input and feedback. I apologise for not replying to them, but I get no forwarding addresses given with them.

Promo

Before I start, a quick promo for the theatre I act for.

The next production by the Boundary Players in Aldermaston, Berks is upon us. www.boundaryplayers.co.uk

At the William Penney Theatre, Aldermaston Recreational Society

'Glorious' by Peter Quilter

(Tuesday 5th February to Saturday 9th February)

The play is based on the life of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress and socialite in the 1940’s, who wanted to be a great operatic diva despite having one of the worst singing voices in history. We follow her, and her ardent (and equally eccentric) companions, from the arrival of her new pianist (the previous pianist had to be replaced because his “wind” problem drowned out the piano) to her crowning moment singing in front of a sold out concert in Carnegie Hall.

The play is a joy, funny and wonderfully quirky.



On with the blog...

Christmas day – 25-Dec-07 (well duh!)

Christmas morning, and I'm up again at 0630 to start the morning met.

Cheery choruses of “Merry Christmas” rung through the corridor of the Laws building. I wasn’t feeling either cheery nor Christmassy. Many people’s wishes of good tidings were met by a primitive grunt by myself. It was Christmas...I was working...and I was not feeling the vibes.

By mid-morning after phoning home to talk to the family, I decided that it was time I forced myself to enjoy Christmas. The Antarctic Monkey helped to cheer me up by jumping upon the wooden Christmas tree made by Tom last year and muttering something about how he was “sitting on wood”. I sniggered. I then whacked on some Xmas tunes on the stereo and forced myself to absorb the Xmas vibes. By smoko I was feeling all Christmassy, which was enhanced by the announcement that work was to stop at 1600 and a Christmas dinner was to be put on in the evening.

Antarctic Monkey acting as a fairy for the festivities

I had rescued my P-Boxes from the depot lines that very week and from them I fished out my special Xmas tie. The one with the evil grinning reindeer with flashing red eyes. We enjoyed a lavish dinner and enjoyed our ration of 2 alcoholic drinks. It was later that evening I was informed that I was to go to the sea-ice in the morning to work as sea-ice drivers mate for the Halley VI relief operation. (see the last entry for a description as to what a drivers mate actually entails).

The Sea-Ice – 26-Dec-07

Creek4 is the official designation for where relief operations were conducted this season. It is a natural creek formed where the ice-shelf breaks off into the sea. Sea-ice usually forms around these structures where a natural bay is produced by the jutting of the cliffs. The sea-ice forms a perfect platform for the ships to dock and be unloaded. Creek 4 is approx 10km from Halley V (it used to be further when Halley V was built in the early 90s. The gradual flow of the ice-shelf to the sea means that the base has moved approx 20km closer to the sea in the past 17 years or so).

A ramp was plowed to allow ease of access for vehicle to the sea-ice from the cliffs.

Brian the ’07 plumber and myself were to be transported to the creek to swap with the two RAF chaps who needed to complete their work at Halley. We were given the privilege of being transported in relative luxury in the new sledge. It's an enclosed, heated and upholstered sledge with padded seating. Wow! I have dubbed the “royal carriage”, some call it the "simulator", others call it "thunderbird 4". Whatever it is, it is a fun ride.

Me, royaly waving goodbye to the dirty rascals from the royal carriage

Brian and myself getting ready to be ferried to the ice cliffs...

...which was a bit of a squeeze with all our baggage and emergency kit

On arriving at the cliff, the fleet of sno-cats were awaiting patiently for the start of the next stage of relief... cargo discharge for the Halley VI construction.

Sno-Cats, poised and ready for relief action upon the cliffs of the ice-shelf

The Amderma was just a few miles off the sea-ice steaming in to moor up later that evening. We "checked in" into our new accomodation, being transported by Ben the chief vehicle mech and logistics guy. Preparations were being made for the arrival of the Amderma, such as the staging ground being groomed to make a flat hard surface for the sno-cats.

One of the newer sno-cats grooming the surface of the sea-ice

Rear view from the Shack bridge

While waiting for the action to start some of us went on a wander around the sea-ice around the ice-cliff edge. Some of the naturally formed features were quite a view. Like this wabbit.

With the constantly changing weather, structures like this are usually hare today, gone tomorrow!

It was formed by a combination of the ice being sublimed by the sun and scoured by the wind. Well, that's my assumption anyway.

Penguins are not the only wildlife we witness around here. Some local birds include Skuas and Snow Petrels. Here is a skewer, looking all cute and innocent. But they hide a sinister evil...they eat penguin chicks! *boo & hiss*

Occasionally a snow petrel or a skua will fly over Halley base. It's very odd to see a bird in flight down here as there are no other wildlife or trees etc to assoiate them with.

Skua

Snow accumulates on the sea-ice, and is often scoured away by the winds to leave a perfect ice-rink. In this pic I tried to capture the drifting snow across one of these ice patches

Some of bottoms of the cliffs have features formed by the constant rising and lowering of the sea-ice with the tides. These are known as "something I cannot remember at this precise time". They can form some mini-caves and overhangs such as this one. Big icicles can form below them:

Hmm...t'was a shame that it suddenly went overcast at the time making the contrast rubbish for good shots of icicles

The Shackleton

Our wintering Field Assistant Rich B looking through a hole

Later that evening the Amderma arrived and was moored up by 0300 hrs ready for the beginning of the relief operation on the following day shift...my shift.

The Amderma - ex-cold war tank transporter (apparently), and overall rust bucket needing a huge lick of paint.

“Fesco, the Russian answer to the UKs Tesco, have expanded its business operations to home delivery of flat-pack Antarctic research stations.”

Halley VI relief starts

For the next 5 days I was on relief the Shackleton was my home, and I had an entire 4 berth cabin all to myself with en-suite shower facilities.

Well, I had a room-mate on my first evening but I was not told that I was to have one. Kirk, summer field assistant and BAS official filmographer of the Halley VI project, came in at 0200 in the morning after filming the mooring of the Amderma. He crept into the room startling me from my slumber. I was in shock. Who was this intruder?! There I laid motionless fearing for my arse...literally.

Having never slept on a ship before, and having watched and read enough media regarding the antics of seamen to feed many a misconception, my imagination was running wild as to what intentions this late night prowler in my cabin had in mind. As my brain woke up, logical thought kicked in and I realised that it was Kirk. I could tell by the huge fluffy microphone he wielded in his hand. Then again, with my previous assumptions of a good butt raping still fresh in my mind, I sincerely hoped it was a microphone and not some other implement of pleasure/torture!

But for the rest of the week I had the cabin to myself, (the door now being locked prior to going to bed). I never will experience this kind of luxury again for the next 12 months, so I lapped it up. Including “enjoying” the sauna on-board. The luxury was well needed after enduring 12 hours of hard physical labour in the harsh weather each day. It was, in a metaphorical sense of the word, quite orgasmic.

Sno-Cat hauling some heavy cargo

A rubbish attempt to show what riding on the sled behind a sno-cat was like...steel girders, woo!

It was a choice as to how the drivers mate travelled. Following on a ski-doo or sitting with the cargo on the sledge. I opted for the ski-doo with the logic that if the sno-cat went through the ice, the sledge would be closely following it.

My ride (an Alpine II ski-doo) and the Amderma

Sea-ice work was pretty hairy at times. The shape of the edge of the sea-ice and the mammoth size of the Amderma were not ideal and so the ship was moored with a good 6' gap between the ice and it. With the cranes on board only capable of a 12' reach, this meant that the sno-cats had to stop right at the edge of the ice to take on cargo weighing more than 6 tonnes at a time. Luckily the ice (3m thick) held the weight and relief went without a major incident.

Sea ice work was also fun at times. The weather was pretty crap all the time I was there, with winds, heavy snow at times and high humidity. All combined, the weather led to it being quite a wet week. However, the snow was luckily the kind that could be compacted into some meaty snowballs. A snowball fight usually developed on the rides back to ship during smoko. Two men sitting on the back of a ski-doo against the rest of the crew in the happy sled being pulled behind it. Oh, how the Antarctic turns you into children again.

Big fluffy snow...rare here actually

Now and again a penguin would saunter past not paying any attention to the work going on around it. And every so often a group would suddenly appear at the edge of the ice. Unfortunately I never saw any actually jump out of the water, but Kirk shot some brilliant images of them.

There were many rumours and stories abound regarding the Russians. Some of the Morrissons construction crew travelled down via the Amderma and so had the pleasure of being hosted by the Russians on board. My favourite story being one of the crew being shown pictures by a Russian of his daughter and how the Russian was offering her as a wife to him!

A new year, a new phase - 4th Jan 2008

On New Year’s Eve, I was pulled off the sea-ice to return to base to continue with my important role as Metbabe Extraordinaire. It was a shame that I wasn’t going to see the whole of Halley VI relief through to the end, but I had done my part, and I felt proud to be involved. But looking on the brightside, I was back on base in time for New Year celebrations. Again, we enjoyed 2 rations of alcohol and some specially made mulled wine. The new year was seen in with us conducting a flag ceremony. The oldest member on base (Pete) lowered the Union Flag just before midnight, and the youngest member (Jim) raised a new one just after midnight.

Pete lowering the wind tattered Union Flag (pre-midnight)

Jimbo raising the new Union Flag (post midnight)

Seeing the Union Flag hoisted high above the pristine white plains of the British Antarctic Territory was rather symbolic, and very nearly brought a tear to my eye. Rule Britannia. *sniff*

The new year also brought sad and worrisome news to me.

It was time for the Shack to leave, and therefore, time for the existing metbabes Tamsin and Kirsty to depart and leave me to run the met at Halley by myself. When Tamsin informed me of the news I just couldn’t stop myself from throwing myself on the floor in blind panic and grabbing hold of her leg shrieking for her not to leave me! In full view of everyone.

(Yeah, I actually did).

She reassured me that my training was now complete. It was like a Jedi master reassuring their padawan:

“I can’t do it, I’m not ready” I cried

“You are ready” replied Tamsin

"But I've come from the sea-ice to complete my training" said I

"No more training is required" said Tamsin

"Then I am a metbabe." “But I can’t go about it all on my own” I retorted

“Simpson will always be with you” reassured Tamsin.

(Sir George Clarke Simpson –metbabe for Scott’s expedition 1910-1913 and director of the met office 1920-1938. An inspiration to any metbabe and also the chap who the Simspon platform is named after).

Before Tamsin and Kirtsy left, the Antarctic Monkey got to say his goodbyes too and got a kiss. (I’m not going to make the obvious comments about monkeys and kissing, and kissing monkeys, and kissing my mo...D’oh!).

There was a tearful farewell to the girls. And it did feel odd to say goodbye to Kirsty and Tamsin and knowing I would not be seeing them for a long time, if at all ever again.

(the base compliment of females suddenly dropped by 33% so it was a tearful moment for a lot of the men on base).

From Monday 7^th onwards Dave Evans (the 3rd and final 2007 metbabe) was on a new contract under waste management. From that point on I was the met department at Halley. I am the met department at Halley. And also the scientist. And the electronic technician. And the data manager. I was soon to become very busy.

And busy I have become.

BBQ - 5th January 2008

Relief was finally over, and to celebrate we were treated to an evening BBQ. Everyone turned up en masse and there was a general feeling of euphoria that the 1^st stage of the Halley VI project was over. The materials and equipment had arrived “safely” and just about in one piece...

I think those symbols on the side mean something!

The BBQ gave people the opportunity to let off steam and relax for an evening. The evening ended with a huge snowball fight between BAS staff and Morrisson contractors. Nothing like team spirit! Odd how we naturally formed into our divisions too.

Steve once again bores a different audience with his "the time I wrestled an emu" story!!

Joe and I getting rowdy on our 4 beers

The base came off 24 hour operations and we started a new rota at the beginning of the new week. It still means doing 12 hour days, but with 6 day weeks instead. Well, that is the case if you don’t work in meteorology. But as it happens, I do, and therefore some weeks I can end up doing 7 day weeks. It all depends on whether there is a flight due requiring weather observations radioed to the pilot.

Well, actually, there are plenty of people who do 7 day weeks here, but I like to state that it’s just me so that I feel pitied by all of you who read this blog! Pity me. Poor little hard-worked Dave.

The following weekend I almost had a day off on Sunday (13^th Jan). But at 1500 I got told that I was to get kitted up as there was an opening in the weather and a flight to service the remaining LPMs was to go ahead. As collecting data off LPMs and raising the equipment above the accumulated snow is an annual event, I have to go on this year's flights so that I know what to do next year and train the padawan who will be under me next summer.

So Jules and I flew to two remote LPM stations on the continent and swapped the electronics out for later analysis back at Halley. At the same time we raised the loggers high above the snow surface.

Heroic pose next to an unraised LPM logger module...

...and Jules admiring our handywork after raising & servicing

The flight over the Hinge Zone once again revealed some amazing aerial shots of the cracks and crevasses and creeks on the ice-shelf. The shadows help give some definition of size. Just bare in mind that the photos were taken at a height of approx 2000ft.

Ice-shelf meeting sea-ice

A huge crack in the ice-shelf running from the cliff

Some Meteorological phenomena to feast your eyes upon

I have been taking several pictures of strange meteorological occurances in and around base since my eyes being opened to them during my training. Here are a few more of the good ones.

Miraging - Icebergs and the cliffs of the ice-shelf have been mirrored and flipped up by temperature inversions in the distance. Very freaky

More miraging - The Amderma can be seen in this picture, even though it is 30m below the surface of ice-shelf and 10km away

A Stratocumulus cloud progressively invading the sky over the Laws platform

Irisation around some high Cirrocumulus cloud (approx 20000ft). The rays from the sun are refracted by the ice crystals of the high clouds to create lovely pastel pink and green shades in the cloud (I think).

What a relief that relief is here!

Merry Christmas everybody, I hope you are all enjoying the festivities.

Apologies for taking so long to get this entry out, but I have only managed to snatch an hour or so per evening on the laptop to type out the draft. And every day there’s something new to write about. It's like some perpetual endless cycle.

WARNING

This is going to be one f-ing LONG entry.

But it has been eagerly anticipated for a while. And to think I was adding the finishing touches to this entry on Christmas Eve! Well, what else was there to do after finishing off my evening quota of two alcoholic drinks by 2200hrs this evening?!?!

Here goes...

Right, before I start let me get a couple of things clear:

My last entry was made quite late in the evening...0100 to be precise. I was tired and in a rush, and due to which I made a couple of slight errors in my grammar and spelling. For this I apologise. I actually am not a naturist nor naturalist, contrary to what I alluded to in my last entry. I still can't remember which is which though.

Remember:
And you can click on any image to get a larger view of it if you wish to see more detail or to grab a copy.

Sat 8^th December - Club Nido

After the fun of seeing the penguins and getting to grips with the first week of my role as science hero/meteorologist, it was soon the weekend again.

And with the weekend came ROCK n ROLL...Halley style.

During a fruitful and productive winter, several of the 2007 winterers had managed to coordinate themselves into a rock band, and named themselves Z or Dead. (Z being the callsign for Halley...don’t ask me why it's Z. I don’t know. It just is).

In an attempt to entertain the new 2008 wintering team and the summer season personnel, the band decided to serenade us with a live gig. And what venue can possibly host a live band and an audience of a potential 60 revellers? Well, the garage of course. The mobile 60tonne sled / fully kitted out garage and workshop was for one night turned into the biggest party at 72degrees south of the equator.

Imagine the scene...The wind had gradually picked up over the course of the day that Saturday. Snow was being blown to a height making visibility beyond a distance of 700m very difficult. The sun, obscured by this vertical wall of blowing snow, just barely penetrated the white haze which engulfed the station. The howling wind, turbulent from the torrents and eddies produced by the legs of the raised Laws building, was the only sound to be heard save for a distance rhythmic beat barely audible above its angry roar. And then, out from the white haze, orange clad figures emerged. Human figures. The only inhabitants on this lonely desolate cold sheet of ice. As if on some pilgrimage they trudged onward towards a giant red metal box, an unnatural sight in the mysterious beauty of the white landscape, and as they did so the rhythmic beat grew subtly louder. On the side of the giant red was what seemed to be a door. It opened slowly, admitting the pilgrims. And upon the subtlest crack in the otherwise seemingly impenetrable steel skin of the red metal box came the sound of

ROCK AND ROLL

The pilgrims had reached their destination, and they worshipped the Gods of Rock...Mark Wales, Dave Evans, Dean Evans and Alex Gough.

And rock they did.

Halley Bay was in for a good night that evening.

Supporting the main act was DJ Tom on the decks with his warm up dance/trance act. A class act with a set of wooden decks...yeah, a pair of hand-crafted wooden record decks for authenticity. (He was actually cheating by using his laptop computer). DJ Tom was on the mezzanine pumping out the tunes.

Birthday boy Jimbo was enjoying himself, going wild with the prop no rave is complete without - a glowstick

And then came the boys with their class act of rock covers. They had decked the garage out with glitter ball, black lights and disco lights. It was just so much like a cheesy pub act you’d find back in the UK, but tonnes better.

BAS policy is that everyone is restricted to 4-cans of beer on Saturday nights. Hardly enough to get anyone drunk. But as a testament to the feel good factor these boys were producing, everyone was getting into the fun of it. Some more than others, for I was unable to stop myself hitting the “dancefloor” and busting some of my more refined dance moves to the rest of the base staff. Unfortunately no one was joining me, so I danced harder to make up for the lack of others. Rock and Roll.

"Z or Dead...Live at the Garage"

Sunday 9^th December - The Blow Beginneth

The blow of the previous evening continued through Sunday, getting bigger in multitude. As a result most people stayed indoors for the day, playing games, reading, watching movies or fannying around on their laptops.

Monday 10^th December - The Blow continueth

The blow, relentless and ceaseless continued through Monday. As science sleeps, not even for the weather (particularly if you’re a meteorologist), I had to go to work. This meant walking to the Simpson platform in 35knot winds and a visibility of less than a kilometer. Winds at this speed blows fine snow grains from the surface right up to overhead height. And it gets everywhere. No matter how well you wrap yourself up, it still finds it way inside the hood of your jacket, round the back, down your neckie and inside your micro-fleece top. By the end of the 5min walk, it’s all inside your boots, down your neck and encrusted on your overalls waiting to melt and make all your outdoor clothing soggy for when you put them back on. At least I can satisfy myself by reminding myself of the fact that it’s all in the name of global science in the Antarctic context, and that I chose to be here. Sarcasn aside, I still wouldn’t give up the opportunity to be here for the world...well, maybe I would ‘cause if I owned the world I could come and go as I please! And I would legalise bigamy too!

A view of the Laws from the Simpson during the blow (the intensity of the blow had calmed down a lot by the time this shot was taken, but it gives it some scope)

Note: the two men in the left picture are not actually holding hands for comfort from one another. It just looks that way. Things haven't got that bad yet.

While we were hard at work, the majority of the base staff were laid up, unable to work with the vehicles outside. And so they stayed indoors for the day, playing games, reading, watching movies or fannying around on their laptops.

Tuesday 11^th December

The blow continued. Tuesday was the first day of my training for setting up, launching and tracking the daily weather balloon. It goes up...whatever the weather...everyday...without fail...at 1100GMT, as it is done all over the world. As Halley is presently at GMT-3, this means prepping the balloon for an 0800 launch. The process has to start at 0700.

The rest of the base stayed indoors for the day, playing games, reading, watching movies or fannying around on their laptops. Cabin fever was starting to take hold.

Wednesday 12^th December - The Blow stoppeth

Hark...the winds stopped!

Always a pleasure to see a view like this after a 4-day blow

Saturday 15^th December - the Winterers's Meal

Another Saturday, another cause for celebrations.

Why? Well, no reason particularly...I think we just make them up as we go along. This Saturday was to be the last time the outgoing ’07 winterers and the incoming ’08 winterers will get to spend an evening together before people start departing when the ship arrives.

So, we had a special dinner just for said wintering teams, (which obviously includes myself, as I would not be typing this blog if I was going to be here for just a couple of months). With three chefs, each trying to prove ones worthiness in creating a culinary cavalcade, we were treated to the most extraordinary 4-course meal. A meal produced on the dregs of 2007 stocks...the chefs (Ant Dubber, Paddy Power and Alan Sherwood) had outdone themselves. My hat goes off to them.

And we ate like Kings that evening, and a couple of Queens too. (The queens DID NOT include me before anyone makes a comment...Mr Schollar jumps to mind).

A few of the summer staff butled for the evening, but they were not that particularly good at it.

I have broad experience in the butlering industry and could spot a phoney a mile off. I did, after all, give the best butler act ever to grace the stage in the south of England. I have many testimonies to this claim.

I can imagine Steve Schollar ejaculating at the thought of this right now!

By which I mean he’s uttering suddenly and vehemently to the suggestion that I am the best butler, etc, etc, etc.

But, I digress!

We finished the meal and then word was out on the street that there were cigars being smoked on the platform outside. Richard, the ’07 doc, had thoughtfully decided to get a box of cigars out for us to smoke. It was a pleasant conclusion to a splendid dinner party. We all mingled outside, enjoying the Antarctic summer evening sun, smoking cigars. Dave, (Dave Evans of the rock n roll), brought out his pipe to enjoy the smoke-fest with us. Another sophisticated addition to a sophisticated evening.

Dave brings a touch of class and sophistication to Antarctic exploration

Three things dear to me:
a glass of wine, a cigar, and the Union Flag hoisted above the plains of the British Antarctic Territory

Myself and Joe, showing how it's really done

We finally went indoors to join the rest of the staff for some socialising and shooting pool.

Scott and I enjoying our 2 rations of alcohol

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Dave Evans for the B&W shots, and Joe Corner for the colour shots

Relief - 20th December onwards

The following few days were relatively uneventful. By now I have managed to settle into my met role here at Halley, and so can confidently continue with the work unaided without panicking. The ship was originally penned in to arrive on the Saturday just gone (15th), but these plans are always subject to change. When it comes to docking in a natural creek off an ice-shelf in Antarctica, it is always left to fate. With the accumulation of sea-ice around the continent and the constant changing of the ice-shelf topology, the arrival of the ship is always going to be based on how quickly it can battle through nature to reach its destination.

At the moment, a lot of the chaps on station are waiting for the arrival of the ship so that they can crack on with their work...namely relief operations. Relief is the process of shifting cargo off the ship, transferring it across the sea-ice to the ice-shelf, and then transporting it to Halley. At Halley, a team of hands are used to shift kit and items to their final destination on base. The cargo can include science equipment, materials for maintenance, food, drinks, etc. Relief also involves the returning of any cargo and waste from the past year to the ship for transportation back to wherever they are destined. It’s a long process, consisting of a lot of hard work.

The ship finally arrived 5 days later than planned on Thursday 20^th. From that point the base went into action stations. People leapt into action. The base went into 24 hour operation mode. We all have to work 12 hour days (although we have been doing so since the official start of the summer season). Twelve hour days, SEVEN days a week, ongoing until relief is over. Relief usually takes 7-10 days for the Shackleton, but will now be near like 20+ days due to the Russian ice-strengthened cargo ship “Anderma” docking a few days later with all of the Halley VI kit on-board.

My role was originally going to be “sea-ice drivers mate” for Halley V relief. This role would involve me handling the cargo on a sled behind a sno-cat, and acting as his buddy. If anything was to go wrong, such as the sno-cat falling through the sea-ice, then I would be the one to attempt to rescue the driver! Well, that’s apparently what is supposed to happen! As it happens, the plans were changed, and I now join Kirsty in providing met support for the aircraft, (along with the usual met responsibilities).

One of such responsibilities involved taking a snow sample every week. This is a delicate procedure requiring a sterile shovel taking snow from a sterile area away from any buildings and vehicles. The operation requires taking a slice of snow just a few centimetres thick and filling a sterile bucket. The snow is left to melt, where the resulting fluid is decanted into sterile bottles for shipping back to the IAEA. The reason for this sample is to allow the IAEA to monitor for the precipitation of radionuclide’s from the atmosphere within a clean area. It’s a legacy from all those naughty people who work in the nuclear weapons industry! Oh, the swines!

I was decanting such meltwater into a sterile bottle last week, only to find that somehow one of the hairs from my chest had made its way into the sample water!

“Good lord” I exclaimed to myself. “those little buggers get everywhere”. And they do. As most of you reading this blog know all too well, they appear in the most inappropriate places. Lee-Ann’s dinner on many occasions is a good example. *titter*

Don’t worry, it didn’t get into the sample bottle.

Normal procedure is to tip the remaining melt water from the bucket into the Simpson building melt tank (the tank which provides all the water for the building...including the drinking water). Now, I can’t quite remember if I removed the offending hair or not. Hmm, I wonder...

Other weekly procedures include measuring a network of snowstakes. This is so that the weekly, monthly, and therefore annual, snow accumulation at Halley can be calculated and recorded. See the Antarctic Monkey giving me assistance by holding the tape measure to the stake.

The Antarctic Monkey, measuring snow accumulation

A Grand Day Out - Saturday 22^nd December 2007

As it is summer, it is the season for a lot of science to be conducted in, around and outside of the base. For example, Ryan is conducting a project entitled the Life of Halley. It’s essentially a project monitoring the flow and changes to the ice shelf in an attempt to predict if and when the ice-shelf will carve. And if it does carve, how close will this event be to Halley, and will it be on the seaward side of the base or not.

Other science includes remote sites monitoring and logging the magnetic field of the earth at those locations. These are called low power magnetometers (LPMs), and require an annual visit to swap out the data card which has been collecting data for the past 12 months. These sites can only be reached via aircraft, and some are quite a distance away. At these sites a fuel depot is usually installed so that the aircraft can refuel before it heads back to base. These depots require regular restocking, which is done by the very aircraft which requires the fuel in the first place.

Sounds bizarre huh? Well, the only way to get fuel out to these depots is to set up depots on the way so that the aircraft can hop there in steps to drop off the fuel. It can then return to base by refuelling at the depots which have been dropped on the route to the site being restocked. Agh...it’s a nightmare to explain. Basically, to drop off 4 drums of fuel at a depot may end up costing the equivalent of 4 drums in fuel to get them there. Maybe more. A very expensive and time consuming process, but it is essential if you want an aircraft operating in the Antarctic to return to base. Remember, the whole of the Antarctic continent is larger than Europe, and it does not have a network of airports to call upon.

Anyway, I’ve digressed.

I was lucky/fortunate enough to be asked to be co-pilot for one of these depot refuelling sorties. When asked, I took all of two nanoseconds to agree.

Pre-flight

My brief was that I’d be helping the pilot drop off 4 drums of fuel at the depot, as well as acting as an assistant in case anything goes awry with the flight, the weather, or with the overall operation. It’s also a chance for people to go out on a bit of a jolly.

And what fun I had.

The day began by refuelling the Twin Otter and loading the drums of fuel we’d be dropping off into the hold. The weather was good at the start of the day, but cloud cover was soon coming over the station from the coast...a lot of low stratocumulus clouds. Then the one of the most magnificent phenomena occurred. The low cloud droplets were sinking to the ground, being frozen into tiny crystals of ice suspended in the air. It’s called diamond dust, because it looks exactly as it reads. Little twinkling specks of light all around. But that wasn’t the phenomena I’m going to describe.

If the diamond dust occurs on a bright sunny day, then the ice crystals will refract the sun’s rays, creating a halo around the sun. This is accompanied by sun-dogs and, if it’s really clear, a parenhelic arc emanates from the sun stretching around the sky 360degrees. An extraordinary sight.

Being a meteorologist, I naturally saw the potential of one of these occurring when I spotted the diamond dust! (damn, I'm good). I got my camera out ready, and just as I did, the thing appeared. It was so prominent. It’s impossible to capture it in its full glory unless you witness it for yourself. I took some shots with pleasing results. Note the image is nothing to do with camera lens glare...it is exactly what can be seen in the sky.

Halo, sun-dogs and paranhelic arc.
The picture really doesn't give it justice

Flight

We set off soon after loading the plane up. It was my first time sitting in the cockpit of an aircraft and so it was all an experience to me. Once airborne we headed due south to the site known as A80...a remote LPM site on the continent proper, 350miles from base. For the whole day I saw some of the most amazing views of Antarctica I could have ever asked for (well, all views of Antarctica are amazing, as you have probably guessed from my descriptions of my awe).

We flew along the coast of Precious Bay with a clear view of the ice-shelf cliffs and the sea-ice beyond. And beyond the sea-ice was pure blue sea with the odd ice-berg here and there. Crevasses depicting the flow of the ice-shelf as it runs off the continent towards the sea could be seen clearly. And the hinge, where the ice shelf flows from (the actual edge of the continent) was also to be seen clearly. It was amazing to see these crevasses, which from the air looked like stretch marks where the ice was flowing over rocks and being stretched as it did so.

Precious Bay

After flying for some time we came to a series of mountains. In actual fact, the peaks of a series of mountains known as the Shackleton mountains. Peaks poking up through the snow at a height of 500feet. As we were flying at an altitude of 3000feet (above sea level) and the snow surface was only 500 feet below the aircraft, it just goes to show that the mountains are probably up to 3500 feet tall, and only the top 500 feet could be seen. Makes you realise there is a f***ing shed load of ice and snow on this continent.

Shackleton Mountain tops (nunataks)

The pilot, (Mark), took us for a quick swoop over the Shackleton mountains, flying over a range. It was an amazing manoeuvre giving a breathtaking view of the mountain tops from a few hundred feet above them. At the foot of the peaks several rocks could be seen on the pristine snow surface. It was apparent that these had been dislodged from the rocky peaks and had rolled down the side onto the snow.

Flying over the Shackleton range

During the flight Mark had to fill in some of the necessary paperwork and so asked me to take the reins for him while he did so. After quick crash course in basic aircraft handling I was let loose on the controls of the Twin Otter, and was flying the beast! A little tweak here and the aircraft would bank to the left. A little touch there, and it would point upwards and climb a little higher.

With all that power in the palms of my hands and the yoke in my grip, I had this overwhelming urge to pull the aircraft into dramatic loops, twists and turns and pull my finger on the imaginary trigger I was just itching to squeeze. I felt like I could just strafe a few icebergs and stuff. At was this point I realised that I had spent too much of my youth playing WW2 fighter pilot games.

But...I was flying a mother f-ing plane for the best part of 3 hours that day!!!

How cool is that?!

Oooh, I say!
*Snigger*

Landing

After flying for a while longer we reached our destination. A tiny speck of black on the landscape was where we would be stopping. It had the appearance of a few fuel drums just haphazardly dumped in the middle of a pure pristine white vista...which essentially was what it was. But the site also had a couple of automatic monitoring stations which had been quietly logging away the level of the magnetic field, undisturbed by anything. We landed, unloaded the fuel drums we were to drop off, and then I had lunch.

I ate my lunch sitting on a fuel drum looking at the Shackleton range in the distance. The sun was beaming down, the air was still and the entire area was so peaceful that it seemed unnatural. And it was a beautiful moment to be on my own here. Myself and Mark the only two humans within a 350 mile radius, two of a very few number of people who have laid eyes on this sight before.

The Shack range and the twinkling snow in the sunlight

After digging a lot of snow and hauling the fuel drums into place and after completing lunch, it was soon time to go. Mark had to make a quick call of nature (requiring a shovel) I had a sudden panic...the Antarctic Monkey had disappeared. He always travels with me, using my pocket as a kind of carriage. But we wasn't there. After frantic searching, and worries that he'd be stranded in the middle of nowhere, I found him. He looked as if he'd been caught in a mini-avalanche.However, he'd only jumped out of my pocket when I was digging snow.

Antarctic Monkey, caught in a mini-avalanche

I gave the Antarctic Monkey a good hiding for giving me such palpatations as you can see in the picture below.

After approximately 45 mins, we were back in the air again and heading back to base.

Die, monkey, die

Proof that there really was a plane (plus a heroic pose from yours truly).
If you look closely, you might see the Antarctic Monkey...but where???

Again, Mark and I shared the controls for the long flight home. Not to be left out, the Antarctic Monkey enjoyed a few minutes at the controls of the plane too.

Good Lord...a flying monkey!

The views on the way home were equally amazing, but going over the hinge zone before arriving at Halley gave a most impressive scene with the sun reflecting off the sea under the cloudbase in the distance. I tried to capture this also.

Precious Bay on the return home

The Endless Relief part 2 - Relief Continues (Mon 24^th December)

Goodness me! The work involved in relief is endless and very physical, but it’s also fun. Every day throws up a new task and a new challenge. My day today:

0630 – get up and have brekkie

0700 – do a quick met ob for Rothera so the forecaster can get a brief out to the BAS pilots. Prepare a radiosonde for a balloon launch

0800 – launch balloon. Do another met ob for Rothera. Go to Simpson building and fill in met log book for morning obs. Do daily checks on the science data loggers

0900 – 1200GMT met observations. Measure ozone layer quantity. Daily checks on the met instruments.

0930 – Help with unloading the latest sledges from the ship full of food.

1030 – Morning break

1045 – Unload more sledges full of food

1200 – 1500GMT met obs and ozone hole measurement. Prepare for a flight to swap 2 LPM modules at remote stations

1300 - 1330 – Dinner. Stand down from flight preparations due to weather

1400 – Melt-tank duties (digging loads of snow into a big heated tank 30m below the surface. This provides water for the base and is filled twice daily)

1430 – Load sledges with empty fuel drums from the fuel raise last month.

1645 – Early tea break

1700 – Load more sledges with fuel drums

1830 – Go to optical caboose (a big bit of kit used for monitoring upper atmosphere physics in the mesosphere and ionosphere) to clear it out for transition to Halley VI.

1930 – Dinner

2000 – Drink (2 portions of alcohol) and play pool and chat to colleagues

2130 – Boot up laptop to send/receive emails (most people with a brain go to bed early, leaving more bandwidth on the internet for the night owls of the group)

2200 – Blog

A busy day...but typical of the madness that happens here this summer. And it's only going to get worse before it gets better. But then, why else are we known offically as the Extreme Team within BAS?! What isn’t mentioned in this blog is the manly way I was hauling empty fuel drums around and chucking them onto the sled like a true Antarctic hero! With all the testosterone in the air, it was tough to keep up the image. It was as if all us men on the fuel depots were all in competition with one another for the title of "king fuel drum chucker".

Adios for now. Hope you enjoyed the read.

Merry Christmas

Dave

(I have more stories developing whilst typing up this one, hopefully the next installment will be sometime in early Jan '08).