Posted by Diana

Date: September 29, 2010
Temperature: -25 Degrees Celsius
Wind Speed: +30 knots
Temp with wind chill: -35 degrees Celsius
Sunrise 0647
Sunset 2045

The weather at New Zealand's Scott Base in Antarctica is becoming warmer and the sun is up for a very long time now. This affords us the opportunity to take advantage of the Ross Island Trail System. Several trails around the base are used for recreation. I decided to head up Observation Hill (Ob Hill) after dinner one evening. Ob Hill has an elevation of 250 meters and has a steep rugged track which has lovely views of the Wind farm, McMurdo (US Base), Scott Base (NZ Base) and beyond.

The trail markers © AHT/Diana

Observation Hill was named because it was used as an observation point from which to spot the return parties from the pole. At the top of Observation Hill is a cross, erected in 1913 by the remaining members of the British National Antarctic Expedition, in memory of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s party which perished on the return journey from the South Pole in March of 1912.

The cross bears the following inscription (including an excerpt from Tennyson’s text Ulysses chosen by Apsley Cherry-Garrard):

IN MEMORIAM
CAPT. R.F. SCOTT.R.N
DR E.A. WILSON CAPT L.E.G.OATES INS. DRGS LT. H.R. BOWERS R.L.M.
PETTY OFFICER E.EVANS R.N.

WHO DIED ON THE
RETURN FROM THE
SOUTH POLE MARCH

1912

TO STRIVE, TO SEEK
TO FIND
AND NOT TO
YIELD

When I saw the names carved into the cross I thought of the hours that must have been spent waiting, looking into the distance, for Scott’s party that never returned.

Posted by Diana

Date: 21 September 2010
Temperature: -20 Celsius
Wind Speed: 25 knots
Temp with wind chill: -40 degrees c
Sunrise: 6:48
Sunset 18:49

This week I worked on an interesting artefact. It was a ration bag which would generally have held food product for the members of Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition 1910-1913. However, this bag turned out to have rocks and a tiny folded piece of paper. On the paper was a pencil written note that said Moraine Ferrar G.

Before treatment  © AHT/Diana

After treatment © AHT/Diana

We forwarded this information to Natalie, a curator at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, who has a wealth of information about Antarctic exploration and is familiar with the hand writing of the members of Scott’s party. On first impression Natalie’s “ thought was it was Debenham's writing - he went to the Ferrar January 1911 and then again later in the expedition. He also wrote extensively on the Ferrar region after the expedition”.  Frank Debenham was on Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition of 1910-1913.This information would have to be confirmed by hand writing comparison with other identified Debenham manuscripts and is best done using the originals in both cases but still very exciting.

So what started out as a very ordinary treatment proved very rewarding seeing the actual hand writing from what could be one of Scott’s expedition members.

Posted by Diana

Date: September 15, 2010
Temperature: -41.7 degrees C
Wind Speed: 5 knots
Temp with wind chill: -46 degrees C
Sunrise: 07:33
Sunset 18:08

Just over a year ago Antarctica New Zealand completed the installation of three wind turbines. These generate enough electricity for New Zealand’s Scott Base and some extra which is fed back over to McMurdo, the United States Base. They are beautiful and amazing pieces of technology, 39 meters tall with blades that span 33 meters.

Looking up from outside the tower © Antarctica New Zealand/Hayden

Spring can bring some of the coldest weather in Antarctica and it seems the oil used to lubricate the moving parts in the turbines is becoming too viscous (thickening up).  Hayden, one of our engineers, and Steve, our electrician, went over to the wind-farm to change the oil to something which would not be as effected by the cold. This job required climbing the ladder inside the wind turbine and working in the cramped space in the top of the turbine.

Looking down the tower © Antarctica New Zealand/Hayden

There was six litres of oil used – it took 7 hours for the oil to drain! The controls for the turbines (and all the systems used to keep Scott Base) are managed by Hayden’s computer at base. While Hayden was up the tower he was in constant communication by radio with base so he could issue instructions.

Hayden in the tower © Antarctica New Zealand/Hayden

Cricket was “mouse” (rostered duty of answering phones and radio, etc) that day so we listened to it all as we worked in our toasty little lab back at base.

Posted by Cricket

Date:                           7 September 2010
Sunrise:                       8:36am
Sunset:                        5:11pm
Temperature:                -33C
Wind Speed:                20 knots
Temp with wind chill:    -60C

Antarctic Field Training (AFT) is a prerequisite for any solo travel outside of Scott Base. It is an eye-opening experience culminating in an overnight in a tent at a site well beyond the Base.  Everyone living at Scott Base, whether their work is here or in the field, goes through this training.

There were three of us going through AFT together, Diana, Doug and myself.  We began with a slideshow presentation about the Antarctic environment, survival principles and horrible cautionary images of trench foot and frostbite – ailments we could get here if we ignore the warning signs.  We then went through the emergency bags, assembled and packed our 4-layer sleeping bag system, and were shown how to use two different camping stoves.  Finally, it was time to put on all our ECW (Extreme Condition Wear), get into the Hagglund and head out.

We got to the campsite around dusk, and hurriedly set about putting up three tents – one for Diana and myself, one for Doug and the third, a latrine.  With our headlamps on, we started building a kitchen shelter by first digging a trench then building a snow wall behind that offered protection from the wind while cooking.  It was a cold evening with temperatures reaching almost –40C and winds at 10-15 knots.  Cold enough that we melted snow for water, quickly ate some dehydrated dinners, sucked on a few frozen fruit sticks and called it a night.

Setting up the tent © Antarctica NZ/Doug

“Are you asleep?”  “What are you doing over there?” is what Doug must have heard Diana and I asking each other all night long.  We laugh now, but it was a cold night even buried in all those layers of sleeping bags with handwarmers in our socks.  Through the night, I often thought about what a spin instructor at my hometown gym said during a hard workout: “if you’re hurting now, you better start thinking about something else.”  I thought of the beach on one of those days when it’s so hot under the sun that you can’t wait to get inside.

Drinking a morning bowl of Milo © Antarctica NZ/Doug

We stayed in our sleeping bags for almost 11 hours, leaving them in the morning to start melting snow for a quick breakfast of Milo, an “energy” hot chocolate drink, and to take down our tents.  The Hagglund came around 9am to take us home, where we arrived in time to enjoy an opposite extreme - a mid-morning coffee from the espresso machine and freshly baked biscuits with butter.  Over breakfast, we wondered how the early explorers handled such cold day after day, especially during their sledging trips.  When we’re camping, I’m guessing we’ll be relying on the hand and toe warmers to keep us strong.

Posted by Diana

Date:                August 31, 2010
Sunrise:           9:36am
Sunset:           4:15pm
Temperature: -31.1 degrees C
Wind Speed: 0
Temp with wind chill: -31.1 degrees C

Cricket and I had our driving test this week, our introduction to the conditions and hazards associated with driving at Scott Base, Antarctica.

Transportation has changed a lot since the days of the early explorers. Until the late ’80s dogs were used for travel, however, snow machines and vehicles have taken over. Our instructor was Lex, the mechanic at Scott Base this year. Lex is an amazing mechanic as he can repair and modify diesel, petrol (gasoline) and two-stroke engines and hydraulics, all of which are in the fleet. He is a very busy man.

Lex beside Piston Bully, with snow mobiles © AHT/Diana

For the most part, when travelling between the American Base McMurdo and the Pegasus air strip, we use trucks modified for travel down here. The larger tyres are used because the standard snow tyre would wear out the road too quickly. The vehicles are all four wheel drive. The fuel used is also modified to withstand the low temperatures: the diesel vehicles use AN8, an aviation fuel containing Kerosene; the petrol (gas) equivalent is Mogas, it has reduced octane.

Land Cruiser © AHT/Diana

The vehicles all have block heaters to keep the oil and lubricants flowing when not running and in-cab heaters, these are activated when the vehicle is plugged in. At McMurdo there are several dedicated plug-in places just for Kiwi’s. We also have a “hitching rail” here at Scott Base for plugging in.

To be continued