Temperature: -34.5°C
Wind speed: 0 knots
Temp with wind chill: approximately -34.5°C
Moonrise: above horizon
Moonset: above horizon
You’d think that an international soccer (sorry, football) championship over 5000km away would be the last thing on our minds here in the Antarctic – but that can’t be further from the truth! FIFA World Cup mania has solidly hit Scott Base, the New Zealand Antarctic research station. The marvels of modern technology ensure that matches are available via satellite, so we are able to catch every game we want to see. More specifically, we are interested in following the ‘All Whites’, the New Zealand national team. While many of us wintering at Scott Base are from countries other than New Zealand, we are united in our support of this Cinderella team.
It’s amazing that the love of a sport like soccer (sorry, football) can transcend nations and even centuries of time. Apparently even Captain Scott and the lads of the British Antarctic Expedition were quite into the game, playing as often as they could until they lost the light. Current day Ross Island inhabitants are fortunately able to play indoors every week in a small gymnasium at McMurdo, the nearby United States research station.
Here at Scott Base we’ll continue to watch the FIFA drama unfold. The All Whites are having a great tournament and we wish them all the best. We’ll definitely be watching their upcoming match against Paraguay. Go All Whites!
A few of us at Scott Base, New Zealand’s Antarctic research station, had been waiting for a still night when we could walk up Crater Hill and look at auroras (natural light displays in the sky, usually observed at night, particularly in the polar regions). For many days we watched the weather. The temperature would be about -20 to -25°C with no wind, but by the time we finished work in the evening the wind would pick up to about 20 knots which means that it would feel as if it was about -50°C or colder, even worse on top of the hill. But on Monday the temperature was a balmy -25°C, with no wind and no clouds - perfect conditions!
We were dropped off at the base of the hill and climbed up the scree slopes. At the top of the hill there is a crater with an ice lake. The frozen lake has humps in it where the ice has been compressed by pressure and big and small cracks lead out from them. A torch on the ice showed up the huge ice crystals and cracks that were forming. It was really beautiful!
At the edge of the crater we looked down on Scott Base and as we did so a faint aurora became visible. As we started to walk back to the base the aurora became stronger and seemed to dance over the base. The display was so amazing that we had to radio back to Scott Base to advise that we would be back later than the sign out time we had given We were even too distracted to think about taking out our cameras!
I had been contemplating whether or not to go out as I was quite tired after work, but I am so glad I did. It is very easy to become complacent about where you are and not take full advantage of this wonderful place. We are a bit blasé about the auroras now. We have the opportunity to see them nearly every day. We just need to remind ourselves every now and then that we are privileged to have the opportunity to see them at all. This was a fantastic night, one of those nights that reminds me of how lucky I am to be here and what an amazing place this is.
Temperature: -40.7°C
Wind Speed: No wind
Temp with wind chill: -40.7°C
Moonrise: Below horizon
Moonset: Below horizon
It’s Tuesday night, and we’ve invited the knitters, sewers and those who crochet to Scott Base for a night of industrious crafting. Usually we trot over to McMurdo Station (the nearby American scientific base) for this weekly event, but tonight we hosted a session in our lounge. Bobbie (the Winter Chef for Scott Base) prepared goodies and we turned on the fireplace, warming the room for the arrival of our guests.
Knitting and crochet needles flew as we bantered casually and sampled Bobbie’s handiwork. I’m just learning how to knit, but others are quite experienced. Several of the group members are working to make the 49 squares required to create a blanket to be donated to the ‘Warm Up America’ charity back in the U.S.
There are certainly no idle hands in this group. The cold, dark Antarctic winter does little to slow their activity. Maybe there’s no such thing as a “spare moment” – with little projects to be done there’s always something to occupy your time. I found a lovely historic photo that suggests it was also this way for Antarctic explorers – always mending, preparing or working on odds and ends.
So I’ll continue to practice my knitting skills, and maybe by the end of the winter I’ll be able to contribute a square to the blanket. It’s worth a shot – and there are worse things in life than a pleasant night of knitting by a warm fire…
Ever since Herbert Ponting, the expedition’s ‘camera artist’, photographed Captain Scott surrounded by the men of the 1910-13 British Antarctic Expedition (BAE), group photos have become a bit of an Antarctic tradition.
Down the hallway at Scott Base is a lengthening display of framed photographs showing all the teams that have wintered at the base since New Zealand’s Antarctic Base was established in 1957. The first black and white photo was taken in the Trans Antarctic Expedition (TAE) hut and includes Sir Ed Hillary and Peter Mulgrew, but down the years the teams have become quite inventive. Some are taken wearing dinner jackets or beach wear out on the Ice, celebrating a new building or even balanced in a human pyramid.
I find it fascinating to look at the faces from previous years, recognising some who, like myself and Mindy, returned for another season, and realising just how few people have actually had the opportunity to spend winter on the Ice.
Last week, making the most of the dwindling light, and leaving a fire crew from McMurdo in charge of the base, we all headed up to the wind farm to attempt to create a masterpiece worthy of the wall, and to record us for Scott Base history. We ‘ponted’ as best we could (see Jane’s last blog) but it seems that some things haven’t changed since 1911 – there is always someone not ready, blinking, or looking away from the camera!
A number of us at Scott Base are not originally from New Zealand; we come from the UK, Australia, Holland, Canada, Ireland and South Africa. But on Sunday, in a chill wind and with snow blowing around us, we gathered together at the flag pole to commemorate ANZAC Day. In New Zealand and Australia this is a day of remembrance for members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who in 1914 fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. It now also commemorates all those who died and served in military service from both countries.
Traditionally the ceremony is held at dawn but as we are in the Antarctic winter and we have had the last sunrise and there are no more dawns until August, we chose to have the service in the dim light of early afternoon and invited Kiwis from the American Base at McMurdo to join us.
After Alf, the Telecom Technician, read a short service, the last post was played from the public address system sounding out across the empty ice. It was a poignant moment followed by a minute’s silence during which I also remembered the men who, shortly after surviving the experiences of Antarctic exploration, went on to serve in the First World War. The flag which had been standing at half mast was raised by Bobbie; then we walked back to the bar for a traditional drink and Anzac biscuits.
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