Author: Gretel

Date: 20 June 2012

Temperture: -28C

Wind Speed: 20 knots

Temp with wind chill: -55C

Sunrise: N/A

Sunset: N/A

With only one day to go until the mid-winter solstice, Antarctica is a whirlwind of fun and festivities.

24-hour darkness has been upon us since 20 April when we watched the sun disappear below the horizon, not to be seen again until 19 August. The solstice on 20 June marks the half-way point in our winter so it is widely celebrated by many of the crews at international bases throughout Antarctica.

One of the main ways of celebrating is with a feast of food. Scott Base had an amazing 7 course dinner featuring scallops, venison and chocolate mousse cake to mention but a few.

Scott Base Mid-Winter dinner menu

Another tradition is the polar plunge. A crazy custom whereby participants take the opportunity to jump into the sea through a hole cut through the sea-ice in temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius.

Polar plunger reclines in the freezing waters

We know that these activities go on throughout the Antarctic continent (and are not just confined to crazy Kiwis) as the many international bases send mid-winter greeting e-cards boasting of the delights of their base and mid-winter feast, usually extending an open invitation to all to attend. This irony isn’t lost on those who appreciate that travel to Antarctica is out of the question during the mid-winter (unless it is a question of life or death) so to travel thousands of miles across it is a wistful idea for the sake of attending a mid-winter dinner party.

Author: Georgina

Date: 6 June 2012

Temperature: -32C

Wind speed: 26 knots

Temp with wind chill: -49C

Sunrise: N/A

Sunset: N/A

Amongst this season’s artefacts from Scott’s Terra Nova hut at Cape Evans are some commercially produced Christmas cards. Unfortunately, most of these are unused, so it seems they were brought along on the expedition but were never signed and given out.

Two Christmas cards before and after treatment © AHT/Georgina

Two of the cards, as seen here in the photos, were in very poor condition, with heavy wrinkling and ingrained surface dirt. When the cards were separated and opened, it turned out that one contains handwriting, and had been inscribed from ‘Your Mother, Xmas 1910’.

Detail showing handwritten inscription © AHT/Georgina

The Terra Nova expedition had set sail from Cardiff, Wales on 15 June 1910; so one imagines that one of the men’s mothers had written them the card before departure, probably with instructions not to open until Christmas day. In the event, a rather uncomfortable Christmas that year was spent on the ship. Still suffering damage from a serious storm at the beginning of the month, the SS Terra Nova had met and been halted by the southern pack ice on 10 December and was unable to break clear for the next 20 days. The delay, which Scott attributed to "sheer bad luck", had consumed 61 tons of coal, whilst the storm had lost 2 ponies, a dog and numerous stores.

The SS Terra Nova halted by pack ice, photograhed in December 1910 by Herbert Ponting

After cleaning and separating the cards, they were washed in water, and an alkaline buffer imparted to neutralise the natural acids occurring in the paper.  After drying, the paper was humidified and the creases gently eased out before pressing.  Afterwards, the paper and card layers were lined from behind with thin Japanese tissue, whilst all lacunae (holes) were filled in with acid-free paper repair patches toned with acrylic paint to closely match surrounding areas.

Author:  Susanne Grieve

Date: 29/05/12

Temperature: -16c

Wind Speed: 20 knots

Temp with wind chill: -43c

Sunrise: N/A

Sunset: N/A  

Last week, I finished reading the journals of Dr. Edward Wilson and Lt. Birdie Bowers (members of Captain Scott's 1911 expedition). These primary resources can be important for conservators as they describe how certain objects were used and the importance they had to the men. One of the most striking descriptions is when the men fell down crevasses. In one example during the Worst Journey in the World sledging trip, Birdie fell through the ice into a crevasse below and Wilson calmly threw down a rope.

Nowadays, we use numerous safety precautions to ensure that when we are travelling across icy terrain or exploring the landscape that we don’t fall or get injured. Part of training for this environment is to learn how to abseil and climb safely in or out of a crevasse. Among our Scott Base team are several members of the Search and Rescue team, one of which, Jeff, taught us the basics of abseiling.

The Hilary Field Center at Scott Base is the main building that houses field support services and provides a great platform in which to train. After getting safely rigged up, I was ready to make an attempt.

   Jeff rigging me up safely. © AHT/Susanne

After gently stepping up to the edge (and making sure that Jeff had a good grip on the belay), I turned and leaned back. This is a very strange experience if you have never tried it! Eventually I was able to find a rhythm and the confidence to lower myself down into the open space below.

Making my way into the void below! © AHT/Susanne

With no where to place my feet, my heart beat was racing! Once I reached the bottom I was thankful that I didn’t have to have my first abseiling experience in a real crevasse like Birdie!