Author: Jane
Date: 22nd June 2011
Temperature: -24°C
Wind Speed: 15 knots
Temp with wind chill: -45°C

It’s a tradition here at Scott Base to take a plunge into the ice cold water at Mid-Winter. As with everything else in Antarctica, it takes a huge amount of effort to set up. First, there is the hole. This can take days to dig and often needs to be cleared again the morning before the plunge as ice builds up overnight.

Despite this year’s sea ice break out at the start of Winter, the ice in front of the base was still 1.2m in depth. The snow had to be cleared from the top of the ice and then a chain saw was used to cut a hole big enough for a person to jump in.

The water tends to be warmer than the air temperature so being in the water is quite pleasant; well for about thirty seconds. It was approx -2°C in the water and the air was around -20°C.

Russell climbing out of the polar plunge hole with Troy manning the safety harness.
Credit: Petal Cottle

The most difficult part is psyching yourself up to jump into a hole in the ice that is filled with slushy water followed by climbing up the ladder into the cold air as the water freezes on you. Once you get back into the heated wannigan (an insulated container), you then have to wait for the water in your shoes to defrost enough to be able to remove them.

I suppose it doesn’t sound like the most enjoyable experience, but it is exhilarating and the closest thing we will get to a long soak in a bath down here.

Author: Julie

Date: 24 June 2011

Temperature: -33

Wind Speed: 2 knots

Sunrise: August 2011

Sunset: August 2011

Early morning on 16 June, a full lunar eclipse was visible from Scott Base.   The eclipse started at 6:22 a.m., so a few of us planned to get up early that morning and hike to the top of Observation Hill,  one of the highest peaks within easy hiking distance, from which we would have had a great view.   However, the night before, we went into a “condition 1” storm (condition 1 means extremely high winds and whiteout conditions), and when we got up early the next day, we were still at “condition 2.”  At condition 2, there is better visibility, but it’s not good weather for a hike.

However, we got lucky.  Although the snow was blowing around furiously on the ground, amazingly, the sky was clear and the moon was fully visible from the Scott Base lounge.  Four of us sat in the lounge that morning and watched the moon go to full eclipse at 7:22.  Only minutes after the eclipse went total, a heavy cloud cover moved in.  We completely lost the glowing red, shadowed moon during most of the total eclipse and could not see the edge of the moon reappear at 9:02; however, for just a few minutes right before the eclipse finished at 10:02, the moon was spotted again, and some of us rushed back to the windows to watch the shadow move away and the moon come back to full.

     Lunar eclispe at almost total © AHT

Author: Martin

Date: 15.6.2011
Temperature: -10 degree Celsius
Wind Speed: 60 knots
Temp with wind chill: -40 degree Celsius
Sunrise: n/a
Sunset n/a

Flags ready to go © AHT/ Martin 

Many people who have been to Scott Base, NZ's science base on Ross Island, Antarctica, have had experience with flag making. It means feeding a piece of fabric on to a bamboo stick and fixing it with one screw –  then repeating it about a hundred times.  (The screw by the way ensures that the flags and therefore the route is showing up on the radar when travelling in a white out) Literally hundreds of these flags are used to mark all the routes across the ice and they have become a feature of this part of Antarctica of almost iconic proportions. Yesterday I had the chance to go out with Troy, our field support person and base manager, to replace a number of flags in preparation for the next summer season. Equipped with a battery drill, 25mm extra long drill bit and bundles of flags in a sled we drive or walk along the route. As we go along, we look for missing or half buried flags, drill a 400mm deep  hole and insert a new flag. In -15 degree C with little wind and a full moon, it was a very pleasant way to spend a few hours out and about away from the workbench.      

Out on the ice in the afternoon  © Troy Beaumont

Author: Jane

Wind Speed: 15 knits
Temp with wind chill: -27°C

We often socialise with our fellow Antarcticans from McMurdo Station, one of the United States Antarctic Program bases. We have film nights, bingo, trivia and of course parties, among other things.

Posted by Martin

Date: 01.06.2011
Temperature: -17 degree C
Wind Speed: 40 knots
Temp with wind chill: -48 degree C
Sunrise: n/a
Sunset n/a

Sarah mentioned earlier that the explorers in the Heroic Area were very skilled in fixing things and being creative with the limited supplies they had. See this image of Mears making dog harnesses.

Not wanting to be outdone, Julie responded promptly to an urgent conservation task of a slightly different kind. I had been outside for a while in about minus 30degree C and was very happy to get back into the warm base. Pulling off headlight, hat and frozen neck gaiter, I threw off my glasses as well and heard them landing with a sickening noise on the concrete floor. A resin frame at that temperature becomes very brittle which means I could see the fuzzy contours of my glasses separated from the lens. Julie however, in true Antarctic spirit wasn’t fazed and after 24 hours in her care, my glasses almost looked like new.

Martin’s glasses under repair © AHT/Martin

P.S. I just heard that Julie has moved on to fixing the mouthpiece of a saxophone for Victoria, our multi talented base musician.