bruff on the brunt_antarctica

Xmas day

2011-12-26T07:17:00.000-08:00

Pre xmas dinner

sam

xmas dining table for 18 people

xmas meal

mechanics

Artistic shot with balloon lunch insert

From Halley to Eagle the science site

2011-12-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

Avtar fuel drums being used for the plane

Space inside the twin otter plane. Not really a lot of space left once all of the gear is added.

Ian potten and DJ max and me (co-pilot) in the cockpit looking out over the continental ice shelf. Should anything happen on the return leg with just the pilot and me then the idea would be that i would be able to survive and get help although i am not sure how i would be able to land the plane if something happened in the air. Steering it at altitude and trying to keep it on course and level was hard enough.

Ian (GA) and DJ max in the back of the plane next to the extra fuel drum which increases the planes flying capacity (by 2-3 hours).

DJ max checking out one of the autonomous LPM (low powered magnetometers) sites at condor at about 6000 feet. Beautiful clear skies with a cool breeze.

Sleeping on the twin otter at the Eagle site at 80 degree, 10 degrees off the south pole, just another 600 miles. The temperature was a little colder than Halley (-12 oC) but the sheepskin rug and the heavy duty sleeping bag help. Quite warm actually but didn't sleep to well, might have been better off in the tent for the night.

Digging the site for the tent on the plateau with the Shackleton mountains in the background.

Breakfast time with hot tea and Alpen.

The Shackleton mountains that he never reached due to his ship being caught in the ice and crushed and were so named after him by fuchs's who made the journey in the 50's?

The twin otter coming into land at Halley.

Thats me in the co-pilot seat, strictly hands off and just looking.

The new Halley VI site

2011-12-24T01:03:00.001-08:00

The main red module

Corridors to the bedrooms

The new Halley dining area

The new laboratory office space

The new Dobson room with mike rose

Halley VI from a distance

The share radar

me driving a snocat

Out with the old and in with the new

2011-12-11T00:39:00.001-08:00

The old MET Andy Dixon on his way out after spending the winter at Halley and training me up on the MET procedures for the past week. Somehow i think he finds my hair style and colour funny, not totally sure why but a real fun bloke to spend time with.

The new MET winterer, sam burrell. I think he will do just fine.

Sam in preparation for taking snow samples to be sent back the UK to be measured for heavy metals that are an indication of nuclear activity, be it weapons or explosions around the world.

The Dobson spectrophotometer has been measuring here for over 40 years. Dobson measurements are performed many times each and every day and give an indication of the levels of ozone above Antarctica. It was here at Halley using this spectrophotometer that the ozone hole was discovered.

Every day at Halley a balloon is launched carrying meteorological instruments that transmit data back to base on humidity, temperature and pressure etc as the balloon ascends up into the stratosphere. Here, i am preparing the sonde (instruments) for the balloon flight.

Tying the sonde to the balloon after it has been filled with Helium gas.

Up, up and away. Letting the balloon go from the back of the BART platform. On a clear day its progress can be monitored from the ground. On a windy day the take off can be a bit of a challenge.

Up up and away. The idea is to get it to 20km around midday, so that all the balloon flights over the world can be synchronized to roughly the same time period. By this time the balloon will be the size of a double decker bus and at some stage it will burst and fall back to earth to be lost in the Antarctican wilderness.

Route to Halley

2011-12-04T00:40:00.001-08:00

The Elusion left Cape town at 1130 that night, and arrived at 0600 at the russian base, NOVO. The Elusian is a bit like a cargo plane in that all the luggage is stored just behind you, and the toilet is a porta-loo that is strapped down, never used it so not sure what state it was in. Earplugs and sandwiches are handed around pre take off and the movie is on a screen at the front with no sound so you can imagine the noise and comfort and every seat was full. An hour before landing people rush to the pack to egt their bags and get their antarctic gear out because when we land the temperature will drop by about 40 degrees.

A russian snow vehicle for people and baggage transport.

The ALCI DC10's ready for take-off. Ski's attached for a soft landing providing that the contrast is good. They carry up to 18 people but on our flight only 3 people with a shed load of other construction equipment.

Accommodation and shelter at NOVO(russian base). Only stayed a couple of hours before we took off to Neumayer (German base) and then on again to Halley. There were 5 of us from Cape town but we then split into groups and left on different days for Halley. Thank god we were the first to leave, there is nothing worse than hanging around someplace you do not want to be, So after 13 hours of large and small comfortable planes with constant earplugs in we finally touchdown at Halley to a small crowd of welcoming people.

Return trip to Halley 2011, Antarctica via Capetown

2011-11-30T07:49:00.000-08:00

Another to trip to the cold, dry continent known as Antarctica. This time only for 4 months and part of my time will be to help out with the meteorology and once the ship arrives to set up the CASlab (clean air sector laboratory) and get the instruments up and running for the coming season. To get to Antarctica i had to take a flight to Cape town and then the russian plane to Novo (russian antarctic station) was delayed for a few days so we had to suffer the food and atmosphere of cape town for a few more days. Lots of steaks, seafood, wine, coastal walks and city tours; really not that bad.

A quick dip or rather a little paddle in the absolutely freezing waters of Cape town (camps bay). At least there were no sharks in the shallows but i do think my hair fits in with the blue skies, thanks nic ;-)

The pinnacles of table mountain from the coastal path walk to camps bay from cape town (2 hours). The scenery was amazing as you can see and i heard that the walk across the pinnacle range is amazing too...another day perhaps.

The view from city centre is just this. Do i need to say anymore. Breathtaking. No other city like it.

A grand city hall.

An organized safari on a nature reserve, not sure what these long necked creatures are ;-) but they sure are elegant and graceful.

A few elands and the like to keep the grass short.

Some water buffalo and a few zebras to help with the grass

Now this is an amazing sight. Four cheetahs inside a pen. None of them tamed but used to men entering the cage to feed them and not so used to tourists being in there as well to watch them being fed. Amazing feeling to get so close to them but kind of scary as well. We hunched down to get a better shot wand were told to stand else they might think we were prey. They hissed a couple of times.They were beautiful and frightening. Once the food ran out it was time to leave but no running......

A few more grazers enjoying the day.

Just a quick glimpse at some of the food on offer. This wasn't all for me :-)

site tour

2008-07-08T04:33:00.001-07:00

The garage with a bulldozer

the melt tank for our daily water

The weather blimp and its haven

The big house

The freezer

the freezer

The entertainment building

The sauna

The vehicles

BBQ

2008-07-07T15:44:00.001-07:00

Not really a Halley BBQ.

Thats one large bottle of JD

The BBQ team, me, christine and craig

Cathy and craig share a shot in the cold

Everyone took in.....

Independence day

2008-07-07T05:30:00.001-07:00

July 4th celebrations.

The day began with a fancy dress parade with floats. Flags were flown. There was a mixture of people at the camp, 2 british, one canadian, one german and a french guy. The other 27 were from various places in american.

Each group made a float. This was the staff and there fraternity float.

This is the pink PIG where we move the clean water to the main building.

the girls taking a relaxing ride.

The boys trying to go faster on the back of skidoos.

dear oh dear what have we here!!!!!

Romans and countrymen.

wow its cold!!!

max and steve pulling a Doasis dummy.

The sat camp scientists dressed as things from the sea

dancing the night away or at least trying to.

come on jake show me how it's done.

Science at summit

2008-07-07T05:14:00.001-07:00

The SATCOM building where all the scientists gather to blog and write emails...oh and work up data.

The yellow tent next to it is the toilet. All materials are taken back to base to be disposed of.

The bally building so named after the manufacturers. This is where the two CIMS instruments are held as well as other small scientific instruments such as ozone, NO, spectro-radiometers and mercury measurements.

A variety of instruments within the Bally building.

The air sampling bottles. These are filled with atmospheric air and then shipped to the USA where they will be tested for various atmospheric constituents.

Back of the NO instrument.

The mist chamber to measure soluble air particles.

This is what you have to do if you are a canadian (sorry tara!!!!) or fancy doing some snow sample

Summit Greenland

2008-07-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

The C130 with engines running ready for take off. Never stops for more than an hour to unload and pick up and the engines are never shut down.

The base from afar.

The big or blue house. Mainly a kitchen and canteen area which can seat about 50 people.

Rest of the base.

The main toilet block, his and hers.

Sleeping accommodation.

A game of snow golf. Seven holes. This one in between the bunkers (toilets).

The pro golfers.

Bonnie and kitty take a ride in an electric buggie (bad boy)

Relax in the big blue house.

Greenland and Kangerlussaq

2008-07-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

Air greenland flight to Kangerlussaq.

Greenland has a population of about 60000 and is supported financially by Denmark. The main airport is Kangerlussaq. Eighty one percent of Greenland is covered by ice and it is dependent mainly on fishing and fish exports. The flight with air greenland from copenhagen was full, expensive and very comfortable and took about 4 hours. Arrived at the airport to heat, dust and no customs. Collected the bags and driven to the accommodation block. There were only about 10 people in the building at this point. Some staying for the next few months and others waiting for the next plane.

Accommodation blocks.

The red one is the 'kiss' (kanger international science support) building which is on two floors with cooking, washing and sleeping accommodation and the blue one is the greenland prison block, no doubt a low level security prison since the inmates get out of the building for short periods.

Go south to the antarctic and get bitten by a fir seal, come north to Greenland and get bitten by mosquitos. The right eye swelled up after being bitten and stayed so for a couple of days. Rest of the body was well covered up so only a few bites since they were able to get through thin layers of clothing as well. No peace.

Dirt track to the glacier. Most of the roads are dust covered and driven mostly by 4x4 although there are only 3 roads extending for a maximum distance of 30km from Kanger even though it is the international hub with 500 residents and only one nurse. Most people fly in and then onto other destinations within the country.

A 7 hour round trip dirt road cycle ride to the Glacier. The soft sand in places made it hard work at times but it was a beautiful bright and sunny day.

A bench rest after the first leg of the cycle trip. Looked like a nice place to lie down and catch a few rays but the mosquitos came and so it was time to get back onto the cycle and start again. They are everywhere.

Three american hercules on the runway. One of them took us to summit on the Greenland ice cap. The flight lasted about 3 hours. The views were amazing. See below.

start of the ice sheet.

snow covered mountains.

Antarctica to the Arctic

2008-07-04T17:50:00.000-07:00

Denmark and copenhagen.

This was the first stop on the way to the arctic. It began with an early morning flight and staying in one of the small hostels close to the city centre which caters for about 150. There is one in the city centre that caters for a 1000, i think that one would be a little crowded.

Lots of churches, historical sites and an old fort to wander around.

Some of the streets definitely have a colourful feel to them. This corner property was covered with flowers (azaleas?). Denmark was recently voted the country with the best quality of living.

Down on the docks the streets are cobbled and lined with schooners and restaurants. The houses painted

various colours to brighten up the dull days.

me looking like an idiot in the botanic gardens. Didn't realize that flowers and plants could be so interesting ;-)

yellow flower

purple flower

Part of a local city centre park. Copenhagen is surrounded by them. Time to get out the picnic.

Time to leave Halley

2008-02-24T06:48:00.000-08:00

Halley in the summer.

bright sunny days and sundogs created by the crystals in the blowing snow.

A view of Halley from above.

The plane finally arrives to take us further east and then after a brief stay at novo (russian base) we move to a larger plane and the final flight to capetown. Arriving capetown sometime in the middle of the night.

Then it will be views like this for the rest of the year, oooppss, nope i have to go back to work at somestage, lets not think about that now it is holiday time.

I have had incredible Antarctic moments with midnight walks with only the stars for company, camping out in the white wilderness, falling into a crevasse and ice climbing out, feeling the cold chill all the way through to the bones, the terror of a full blown storm that lasts for days and not knowing where it came from or when it will end. I had an awesome experience of co–piloting a twin otter over the brunt ice shelf, seeing just a white desert of snow, riddled with gigantic crevasses and pressure ridges. Now, even though there are only days left before I leave here and my daily thoughts are of sandy South African beaches, exotic fruit, fresh colours and long hot baths, if I am lucky there might also be some rain, I know that this place, this beautiful and amazing continent will always remain in a special place in my heart.

The future well it looks like i might be heading to the north pole this June so watch this blog space.....

The Shackleton arrives at Halley

2008-01-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

The Earnest Shackleton arrives once again with the incoming cargo for the new build, Halley VI and the replenishment of stocks on the base. Here it is moored against the sea ice at creek IV.

The relief took about 7 days to complete, with everyone on base performing 12 hour shifts for the duration.
cargo sledges are used to ferry food and material to and from the base.

with the ship came extra people, building the base up from 17 to 100 in a matter of weeks. The base no longer felt like home but a place of work.

A day off, a cold fresh and clear day and a ski to the 4Km marker.

The new build begins.

one of the pods for Halley VI which will be built over the next two years and situated 12 Km south east of the present base.

Halley VI workers take a moment to reflect and enjoy the scenery.

Twin otters and skijeoring

2007-12-13T12:10:00.001-08:00

The twin otter arrives for the summer dropping people and eqipment off at various sites around the continent. With the arrival of this, other planes have also arrived and the base is now flooded with 60 people although when the ship arrives this figure will go up to about 100. How will we all cope??????

At least i have my little laboratory to go to....

the summer snow storm has left a lot of digging to be done.

Skijoering around the base is something that is usually done in the summer time when fresh snow is a plenty and temperatures are a little warmer. Preotective gear is essential as you shall see later. Skiing i believe is much harder than do than snowboarding although both require practise and technique. You can see in this photo i am doing really well, moving from side to side and covering much ground.

We'll that was until i found my ski's sliding apart and the inevitable fall that occurred shortly after...ouch!!!! that was the end of the day's lesson and i think i will stick to skiing without the skidoo for the future.

americanguhl

2007-11-21T12:41:00.000-08:00

Debra Lee McClinton (25th July 68 - 15th November 07)

Debra (americanguhl) was a vibrant, energetic and talented individual and also a world class photographer in her own right, working out of New York and San Fransisco in the USA . She was an avid follower of my blog and was always asking questions about life here in the antarctic, writing poetry and generally keeping my typing fingers busy. . .I find it only fitting that she should take a place on my antarctic blog. We first (and only) met in Chengdu, China in a hostel known for its dungeon type accommodation, for a few days in the early 90's and in the last year somehow amazingly made email contact. She will be missed terribly by all who have been lucky to know her and she will always be a part of my adventure down here on the antarctic continent.

http://debramcclinton.blogspot.com/
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hair today gone tomorrow

2007-11-05T21:48:00.001-08:00

Facial Hair:

what is it all about?

well it started when the last person left the base in the previous summer and it finished when the first people arrived for this summer season. It has kept me warm and frostbitten free for the year and has been my companion and loyal friend over the dark winter months. Just like the moon and the stars in the winter time it shall be sadly missed. Will it ever return, we'll never say never....

well the end had to be the hair...no more combs, no more split ends just a simple wash and dry

sledge Juliet and emperor penguins

2007-11-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

Caboose sleeping and eating, Andy not so sure about the food that mark has prepared on the primus stove. The caboose sleeps four but room is short and i was on the top bunk which after a while is the hottest place in the caboose. You often end up sleeping semi naked with the floor still frozen below. The penguins are about 1km away and the cries can be heard from the caboose.

Emperor penguin trip at windy caboose

The penguins have been here breeding since before the first BAS Halley base in 1954 was set up. The sea ice is over 10 metres thick and the penguins have a walk of only a few kilometres to lay there single, solitary egg. They huddle together as one large group to keep warm in the dark winter months but as spring arrives and the chicks hatch they split into collective groups and huddle together on the sea ice near the cliffs.

They are inquisitive and often move along the ice to meet any change in the environment in which they are used to by either sliding on their bellies or waddling on their glycerolated feet.

a group photo with young feeding. Their plumage is magnificent and colourful. Hours roll swiftly by as you watch them, talk, move and feed.

With the advent of the warmer weather the penguins split from the group and explore or just move about because they can.

Chicks are often found wandering without their parents although their is often penguins following the chicks.

the chicks are now half the size of the parents and looking healthier and fitter as the days progress. There are no predators here apart from the cold.

just a small sea cliff to do a little bit of ice climbing

the group photo at the rumples

mark preparing to go into the crevasse getting some last minute tips from sune the GA. The crevasse is about 20 metres deep and reaches the sea below. The whole area is full of crevasses and is constantly breaking with the sea tide. All travel is roped together either by skidoo or walking and often falling into small unseen crevasses is part of the fun. Most crevasses are snow covered and so you are walking over snow bridges which collapse with the weight of the person on them.

Me in the crevasse. The only way out is by jummaring. The cold makes it difficult on the hands. The metal takes the heat out of the hands and rope work takes a lot longer than expected which makes the hands even colder. After reaching the surface again, warming the hands for the next 15 minutes is the main priority. Bringing the heat back into the fingers brings excruciating pain

the moisture from my breath causes a yeti effect.

A view of the rumples. Sleeping at -35 in tents with the cracking of the ice below the tents creates a very atmospheric affect. This cracking happens every 6 hours withe tide forcing pressure on the ice.

my birthday' greek gods'

2007-09-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

A toga party for the gods. The world and ATLAS.

A roman garrison (mark) and jules as a greek god.

Dean and ant.

A birthday cake, a reminder of the biting seal

a cake and card.

Richards london underground birthday bash the week previous

precious bay science

2007-09-05T05:04:00.000-07:00

- 36^oC and science still goes on at Halley!

A project to look at the chemistry of the lower atmosphere has begun at Precious Bay, down at the coast some 17km away from Halley station. During springtime, chemical reactions occur on ice surfaces that associated with newly-forming sea ice (e.g. frost flowers, concentrated brines on new sea ice). These reactions generate reactive bromine compounds which are released into the atmosphere. Here they react rapidly with ozone and cause massive loss in ozone at ground level. These ozone depletion events have been studies at the Halley CASLab, but now we are trying to study them in situ. To do this a mini-max DOAS (Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy, which measures bromine monoxide) and an ozone monitor have been set up at Precious Bay to monitor the chemistry as the air arrives off the sea ice zone. The instruments have to run autonomously, and are supplied with power from a mixture of solar panels and wind turbines. We hope to run this experiment continuously over the next few months. The system was set up and the experiment started as temperatures reached –36^oC. The lucky two carrying out the work were Neil Brough (atmospheric chemist) and Thomas Speiss (UAV meteorologist) and made possible with a lot of effort and help from the Halley base.

Day 1...after arriving at the site by skidoo it was time to put the P tent up, get the caboose warm and settle in. It was still only about 25oC, and so it was fairly warm in comparison to what it is now (-42oC). The caboose or wooden/metal hut sleeps four and that is a squeeze but there were only two of us this time, me and tom, so it was comfortable. It has a heater, a stove and a tilly lamp for light, 4 beds, a table and a collection of cosmopolitan

Day2....not a great sleep in the sleeping bags but another day with more cups of tea. Put up most of the poles for the generators and solar panels. Able to work with thin gloves on due to the warm weather. Man food (bagged and freeze dried food) was for lunch but a frozen food parcel from the chef was waiting for us for the evening meal. Wet clothes hung around to dry and warm up.

Day3... woke up and felt the cold for the first time since arriving, the blow that was predicted has arrived and we have to sit it out for most of the day. It was a gusty 25-30 but we were safely inside our sleeping bags waiting for the storm to pass. Only two things needed to get up for, tea and pee....a day of reading

Day 4..set up the rest of the equipment. The temperature has dropped to -36. we are having to warm our hands in the caboose as well as run around the perimeter to keep the feet warm. The breathing causes lots of condensation at night and the cold is a discomfort and a disturbance to my sleep. The good thing is that the stars are crystal clear although star gazing is brief.

Day 5...outside temperature -36, inside temperature -25...we are having a few minor problems getting the caboose upto temperature and so we decide to head back this day since it is a clear sky. We pack up, roll the sledge over and spend 30 minutes getting it back up and reach the warmth of base an hour later. It is such a comfort to find the warmth again. More trips to precious bay are planned to check on the instruments and download the data. The fun we have....

pub crawl and rocky horror show

2007-09-05T03:43:00.000-07:00

-35oC pub crawl

make sure you wrap up well is the first item. Forget about the make-up, high heels and handbags it will not be needed but extra thermals and woolly hats are a must...All drinks must be kept warm at all times otherwise they may freeze....

first place to visit is the sat com studio...large open space, boxes for seats, echo's off the walls. After this was the melt tank, once again no heating provided so wrap up well. Then it was over to the CASlab (1km) to warm up a bit and listen to the hum of the instruments over the music.

the caslab

then the simpson building for a drink followed by the weatherhaven for the blimp. Here the rave was at capacity of about 10 people. Others then moved onto the piggot for warmth before finally heading to the ice cave.

The ice cave, home built with seating and specialised lighting. Capacity and number limited.

the rocky horror picture show, and alex's birthday, what a sorry sight we are...

the time warp, lets do the time warp againnnnn....its just a jump to the ..... and a step to the ........

alex's decided these had been in his cupboard far too long

the sun has arrived at last

2007-08-19T16:06:00.000-07:00

Well the sun came up after a long rest and showed us what we have been missing. It has been a long 105 days and it does change everyone’s outlook for the next few months. The major science work for me has started again, most of the experiments have a reference to light in one way or another and the quicker chemistry occurs in the spring and summer times. There has been the raising of the handrails to the caslab but whereas before there was the stars to guide me to and from work now there is daylight. Each day provides more daylight, although you have to be aware that it is still as cold and windy as before. At the moment we have about 6 hours of daylight and we are still able to get the moon and stars. We are lucky.

Sun up, the raising of the flag as opposed to sundown were we take the flag down or rather the oldest person on base takes it down. This time of sun up the youngest person on base hoists it up. In this case it was Jim ‘the chippy’ at 22, I was close but not close enough……

Sun up party, cocktails and colourful shirts come out….snow volleyball was played at –40, it didn’t last very long but an orange ball was used which was a good start

As the sun comes out Jules has a little fall and manages to fracture his ankle. The doc and dave are ready to put it all in plaster and jules now has to be dragged by pulk and walk around on crutches each day. At least he gets 5 star dinner treatment.

More birthdays in August. This time it was Kirsty’s and she decided to have an action theme…another time for me to get out the make-up, maybe there is something in this. The ideas ranged from lara croft to james bond. Who was i?

richard-stuntman, tom-gladiator, kirsty-lara croft, jim-indiana jones, pete-biggles, tamsin-power ranger, dave-hans solo, mark-col. jack o'neill, dean-james bond, andy-rocky, jules-the ugly one from the good,bad and ugly.

July blog is in the diaries

2007-08-11T02:13:00.000-07:00

http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/living_and_working/diaries/halley/
2007/07/index.php

this is where the blog for july is:

mid winter festivities

2007-06-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

Just some of the films on show on a film day. The whole day is dedicated to films, oh what fun...popcorn, lemonade and sweets on sale in between the shows.

A crazy golf competition within the building. All course hand made as well as the clubs. All holes par4 or less, no handicaps or caddies allowed on the course at the time of play. Strict dress wear must be adhered. On completion of the course the score cards must be handed in at the bar.

whatever will they think of next!!!!

The evenings entertainment. The local and talented Z for DEAD. mark, lead singer and guitarist, alex on bass, dean on the drums and dave the guitarist and songwriter. All songs copyright and attention to sound details prohibited.

next showing tbc. book your tickets in advance they are selling fast.

Right, lots of festivities happening for the mid winter week. The lunch midwinter day starts off with a run around the laws building. Most people decide to go naked although nothing is compulsory. Its just a festival time and a tradition. Its only about 100 metres but at -30 the pull of cold onto the lungs give a sharp treat to the system. The other parts of the body take a little time to warm up afterwards. There is no call for a second go. Once is enough i assure you. Everyone is accounted for and any parts fallen off picked up to be put back in place on later.

mid winter

2007-06-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

MID WINTER BEGINS

This is a time when all of the bases on the Antarctic share midwinter greetings and messages. There is also a 30 minute BBC world service midwinter broadcast for all of the BAS bases delivering midwinter greetings from family and friends along with a music selection from each base. It is a turning point for those staying for the year, a mark thats been reached and passed. The warm weather and light nights will soon be arriving, or at least that is what we make ourselves believe. A nice happy shot of the group in front of the bar just before the meal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/midwinter_broadcast.shtml

Champagne and h'dourves for starting the evening. The food is only just beginning. There were about nine courses, all absolutely tingling the taste buds. A few people but on a few kilos over the week, shown in the weight watchers club. James, jules and chris are behind the bar guarding the rich pickings.

The table is set for the 18 guests. The green cloth is laid and the candles lit. The placing as per usual on a first come first served basis although everyone now has certain areas or positions on the table that they deem as their territory. Trespassers not welcome.

One of the desserts.

A carmamelised compote of pineapple with coconut tuile biscuit with a strawberry tart tatin.

As always after large meals and crackers and party hats and jokes the table gets a little messy. We all have to clean it up afterwards though.

A chance to let the vocal chords feel the chilled night air. A sing song on the laws platform choreographed by tamsin and alex.

After the food, their was brandy, furry hats, cigars and a pipe to tell a good ole yarn about the good ole days when ther was no communication with the outside world for 18 months and definately no blogs. How did they survive? On this day of midwinter cheer it was only -27oC but black, total darkness, covered the land apart from the few lights from the nearest buildings.

The next thing on the agenda was the unveiling of the presents. At the start of the year you drew a name out of a hat. You then you had to make them something for their winter present. Roughly about 4 months to come up with an idea and implement it. The presents were placed in a corner and opened one at a time. Its a delight seeing the expressions on the various faces. The whole present idea seems easy enough, not...Many nights towards the end where spent on the presents, stress levels and expectations were high.

The winter presents.
A great variety and a great collection....i think everyone is relieved to have handed something over and grateful to have received something in return.
Glad we don;t have to do it again at xmas. For all of those at home and abroad send presents and gifts to the usual address ;-). And please not that post is always slow going out and can often get lost.

a frozen hair day

2007-06-03T04:13:00.001-07:00

Alex, kirsty, tamsin and me with wet frozen hair at -40.
Who needs hair gel?

auroras

2007-05-30T15:43:00.001-07:00

The dancing veil

Gliding, glittering, greens, gracing the blanket sky,

Growing, grafting, grounding the night air, -32 just hue,

The dancing veil covers the sky,

Jupiter and its mooning children are hidden for a brief time,

captured in the misty green veil that flows aloft like smoke in a breeze,

hidden like birds in the trees.

Eternity beckons, earth comes a calling, the telephone rings and the dancing begins,

The shepards sit upon a burning bush, fire rages, earthquakes abandoned,

the sky is alight by the dazzling witch,

who covers the sky in the most translucent mist,

Gathering up her web of decite,

she blinds the mind in veil of kind,

The cold is forgotten, the trumphet blares,

the sound dimishes and the veil declares,

I am the goddess and show my might,

I come here to wander and to take your sight,

I fell in love, captured with awe, for the dancing veil has come once more.

It leaves me gasping, dying for breath, I feel its pull, its shudder its test,

Amorous, lofty, high up above,

This night of shadows and dances alone,

has extended the lease to all of my bones,

we dance when merry and sing out a tune

we love to play in the glare of the moon,

the winter gets deeper, the temperatures drop,

and the dance of the veil will it never stop.

A magnificent dance, a piece of class,

Next to the laws and under the masts,

Above the caslab and around the Piggott,

She dances happily for now and time past.

sun at halley

2007-05-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

sun dogs

sun down

sun gone

other happenings

2007-05-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

a semi artistic shot...nice.

another warm day so another BBQ. Ant in his summer gear.

a pre-winter group photo.

Tamsins birthday and a cheese and wine party,
sculptures are all the rage at Halley especially the cheesy ones.
Cheese henge, cheesdoo, leaning cheese tower of halley and many more....

Footprints

my footprints are my own design,
they trod and squelch all in a line,
a wind that blows, hides the track,
lost am i, no way back.

Deans Birthday party

2007-04-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

The big saturday showdown

My turn for a day in the kitchen, saturday night, the best meal that Halley has seen...but it wasn;t this saturday but i did my best and nobody choked on the olives so i was happy. Three courses for 17 people takes a bit of planning and you know how i love to plan things in advance. Nice apron though.

well i have to say the colour of this fellow had nothing to do with my food. At least i hope not.

As it turned out it was the comm;s managers birthday and so the theme was cartoon characters. so who is this????

then we had somebody with a box on his head and a face like a cat.

we all know who these are?

tamsin the turtle, as ever battling to save the planet or her beer.

mmmmm, a smurf, can anyone guess the other? standing outside at -30 for 10 minutes can make you this colour. Don;t try it at home.

hey its that guy with a box again and a guinness but can he dance?

And last but no-way least, the group as a whole....since i was spending many hours during the week deciding what to cook and prepare for saturday's meal then i didn;t have much time to prepare a costume, yeah right, so i picked up what i could and went back to prehistoric times...

team echo sledging winter party

2007-04-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

Camped on a solid plateau in the middle of the brunt ice shelf, with temperatures -20oC, a gas stove and sleeping bags to keep us warm. Its amazing what you call home.

It was me, mark (electrician), andy (vehicle mechanic) and sune (GA).

This was the coldest yet sunniest trip so far. It was assumed that as the season progressed then the weather would get colder and harsher as compared to the earlier trips. The trips were always weather dependant and lasted upto 5 days, although one group stayed in the tents for mush longer. Here we enjoy the sun with and without shirts for 10 minutes (its all about the best tan down here) although its still -20.

Once the sun goes down then you feel the cold the most. The sunsets are amazing and clear but once you are settled in the tent with stove and tilly lamp going you do not want to leave the tent for anything.
We ponder whilst we decide who goes first for the abseil into the abyss. At -20 its all hard work.

A super silly hat and glove shot of me.

Walking the line, roping up as we walk across the ice shelf which is full of crevasses. Its an interesting and daunting time. We go in pairs a rope's length between us and an ice axe at the ready should anyone fall into a crevasse.

someone has fallen in...

Nope, its just an ice cave. Down we go to have a look and see what we find???????

This is amazing. Its a bit of squeeze to get in but it all seems so delicate and brittle.

The ice is really so blue and the crystal structures so fine and detailed. Its like being in the centre of a million chandeliers. A tug on the rope and its time to let the next one down.

health and safety scenario

2007-03-27T02:52:00.000-07:00

Evacuation from an explosion scenario.

help is at hand to immobilise and save the injured people

all happy in the make shift hospital.

well maybe not everyone

All hands to help the injured to the surgery

some have seen better days.

party days

2007-03-27T01:57:00.000-07:00

The MELT TANK party...who hasn't been to a melt tank party? Well, when all of the summer staff leave after there hard work and sweat we all relax and enjoy the splendour of the melt tank with a few beers. The melt tank is actually where they shovel the snow for there water in the summer so best not to tell them what we do after they have left....

Not to worry it is thoroghly cleaned out afterwards....how many do you think we can fit in there? we;ll this year there was 13 and most stayed in until the sun went down which of course it didn;t so they made there way home in the early hours

Daves birthday party with a fancy dress 80's theme.

This is where it starts with a button moon showing the directions to other cities in the world, alas none close by, SF far far away.

Costumes, so what do they have on base that typifyes the 80's for me....well it would have to be modern romance

quick change into miami vice, forget the blue hand....

the met babes

the whole gang of winterers with a couple missing of course, can;t get everyone to join in all of the time.

The setting sun

2007-03-03T01:08:00.000-08:00

The sun goes down for the first time since i arrived. Its a special moment for all those staying for the winter.

The long days of bright light will get much shorter now the sun has disappeared and with this the temperatures will drop.

Already it is -15C. The sunsets are spectacular in their clarity but this is not one of them.
The sunrises, well one will have to get up early to see them.

The walks to the lab do not get any shorter but they sure help to clear the stomach of any undigested food. I'm getting fitter by the day, i wish i could stop eating all those cream cakes....

A game of pool in the evening to relax. There is also a dart board, many board games and a swimming pool and sauna (joking!!!!). There is a gym with all the usual fitness items and a climbing wall, a small one with just a few holds. A TV, cinema, common room all in one.
A library that would keep a bookworm happy.

The chef picks out some of the food for the next day from the storage area. This has to last for many months or it is ration time for all of us.
It rarely comes to that although we do run short of certain items.

One of many good, clean, fresh antarctic condition days. The snow actually sticks to the teeth in these conditions.

trial camping

2007-02-04T06:45:00.000-08:00

A day of training for the camping trip.

ooops..... was that a little too much fuel?

The pyramid tent, all bedded down and ready for occupants. Usually sleeps two at a time and can withstand all that antarctica can throw at it, but can you...

A warm and comfortable place to spend the night.....

The food, the chef, the look of displeasure...manfood, all sealed and ready for hot water, 10 minutes later there you go food, hot and delicious.

Is this really it?????????

The water that is required for the boiling on the otherhand takes alittle longer to boil....don;t put any yellow snow in there please....

the lab

2007-01-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

The CASlab.

A lonely place in the clean air sector and a long walk......

Some of the instruments within.

A minor jigsaw puzzle to unwrap.

The mass spectrometer.

The men behind the machine. From L to R. Bob stickel, Greg huey, Steve Sjostedt and Dave tanner.

Halley the station

2007-01-24T18:20:00.000-08:00

An aerial from one of the twin otters. The caslab (my work place) can be just about seen on the left of this photograph. It is about one km from the main eating and sleeping quarters (Laws building).

The snow at Halley and the view.

A closer inspection of the setup. Four buildings drewry (summer excess accommodation), Simpson (meteorlogical platform), piggot, (aerial and radar platform), CASlab( chemistry, atmospheric analysis), Laws (home).

Our sleeping accommodation (Laws). Everything is built on metal stilts so that when the snow depth increases each year then the platform can be raised. Very 70's.

A summer BBQ, its only -4 oC. A few warm clothes and we are all happy.

relief from the ship

2007-01-24T17:45:00.000-08:00

Arrival at the ice. We are still another 50 km from Halley and so the work begins unloading the ship with the cargo and instruments and then loading with waste etc. This can take upto about 10 days depending on the weather. Shifts of 12 hours begin. A night shift beckons

A snowcat and sledge. The sledge can carry upto 8 tonne and sometimes are pulled 3 at a time.

What can happen??????stuck in the snow, but help is at hand.

The challanger.......

As robert frost would say, a road not taken .......

fun on the ice

2006-12-31T09:53:00.000-08:00

ICE FUN

Its time to leave the ship and go onto the ice shelf.
A basket picks us and drops us on the ice.
After more than a week stuck to the confines of the ship it feels good to be able to stretch the legs and walk on "solid land" again. Even if it is only 2 metres thick with icy (-2C) water below us.

A bit of fun with the camera and some ski goggles.

Mock crevasse rescue with ropes and ice axes. All part of the training for the week long winter holiday trips into the unknown.

One thing that will be happening lots and that is driving the skidoo's around base. Time here to find out how to start and ride one on the snow. Not so easy when you can barely distinguish the snow from anything else.

Our first emperor penguin but definitely not the last.

ice and last sunset

2006-12-31T09:34:00.000-08:00

Floating ice fields with the sun setting over the horizon. This was the last sunset. Now the sun will not dip below the horizon and we will be in 24 hours of sunlight for a while. Does anybody know what time it is?

Icebergs are now part of the scenery, all shapes and sizes fill our eyes. Amazing to witness them floating alone in the vast ocean. When the wind blows the temperature drops and still suntan lotion has to be administered.

A vast mass of ice sitting on the surface invades our space for as far as the eye can see, in some parts over 3 metres thick.

Can we get through it???????

No way through for the ship.
I think we will have to wait for a while until the ice blows away with the wind. No one knows how long that will take but if we keep trying to break through we will run out of fuel and have to return to Stanley.

Its Christmas time and the mulled wine and mince pies are available.

Xmas carols sung by the masses and heard only by the unfortunate ones. What a terrible din?????
It might help to break the ice around us that keeps us stuck in this harsh environment.

Nights on the Ernest shackleton

2006-12-19T05:12:00.000-08:00

The Ernest Shackleton.

THE HORSE RACING EVENT

A night at the races for charity. We raised over £400 for the charity event. The spectators involved a sumo wrestler, a couple of jockeys, an Arabian sheik, the Queen, a vet and many other horse going characters all dressed in their finery.

A win at last !! One of two that was achieved on the night!!

The horses in all their glory get ready to cross the finish line.

THE COCKTAIL EVENING

The doctor enjoying a relaxing moment at the cocktail evening. Not everyone had brought along their favourite shirts for the occasion but the doctor did not disappoint.

More cocktails at hand, James the Halley chippy with Dave the met fid. Mixing of drinks is definitely not a good idea aboard a floating vessel in the southern seas.

WINE AND CHEESE PARTY

A civilised wine and cheese evening that carried on until the early hours of the morning.

KEP (South Georgia)

2006-12-14T05:18:00.000-08:00

KEP from a high point. The base has only about 9 people in the winter. The museum is only open for the summer season when most of the cruise liners enter the bay.

The old whaling factory and museum. The whaling station was built around the start of the 20th century.

Gentoo penguins on the crest of the hill.

A young elephant seal with the big googly eyes

Shackleton's grave

King penguins enjoying the view on the shore of the island

A BBQ for all, the Halley chef Antony taking control of the situation. Suckling pig on the menu.

Time to leave. Next stop Halley. No more greenery for a while.

Bird Island (south orkney islands)

2006-12-13T16:40:00.000-08:00

Male fir seal on the move. They have sharp and large incisors, very sharp!!!!

The island has 1000's of seals that cover the jetty and the doorways of the buildings. Broomhandles are used to defend against attacks.

Bite on the leg from a male fir seal that was hiding under the jetty. It came out and took a bite whilst i was collecting cargo. Think it liked the orange colour of the overalls. I hope the seal survives, my blood may be a bit too rich for it!!!!!!

A few stitches needed. Happy to know we have a good doctor, richard, to take care of us all!!!

Overlooking the buildings of bird island which are surrounded by fir seals.

Macaroni penguins nesting on the islands, there are over 14,000 all nesting in the same place. They have yellow hair, the punk rockers of the penguin world.

Colony of macaroni's and an orange figure in the foreground.

The largest bird in the world "the wandering albatross" over 12Kg in weight and over a 3m wing span. They are truly magnificent and so pure and clean....beautiful!!!! All nesting and breeding on this island.

Signy

2006-12-13T15:53:00.000-08:00

After leaving Stanley the sail through the drake passage and onto to the antarctic peninsula (south Orkney islands) was much quieter than anticipated. Only 30 % of the FID's felt the need to stay in their cabins for most or all of the day. The light winds that crossed the bow of the ship had a breath taking chill to them although comfort could be found in the sheltered parts. More layers of clothing were definitely needed.

The Signy base is set in a cove on the island and consists of about 4 buildings and accommodates about 8-12 people. It is a summer base only and mainly deals with scientific insight into penguin life. The ship docks about a kilometre out to sea and transports food, goods and people by sea crafts. Namely the Tulla and FRC.

Humping and dumping of hut materials for the replacement of one of the huts was the task for the day. Elephant seals hidden within the cargo are not so easily moved.

the first sight of icebergs around the coast and a colony of Adelle penguins with young at Gourley point.

the second type of penguin on the island was the chinstrap due to its clear chin markings. Both types of penguins nested within the rocky enclave and were ever so watchful of the skuas which would steal their eggs or young given half the chance.

Stanley wildlife

2006-12-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

A skua drifting alone and aloft on the high breeze.

some type of duck/geese feeding on the land???

ducks splashing about on the cold clear crystal waters.

A Magellanic going for shelter in its home.

The penguins at gypsy cove (Magellanic) which nest under the ground on the hillside of a grassy cove.

A colony of Gentoo penguins at Bertha's point

Penguins at Bertha's point near to where the ship is docked.

Gentoo penguin on its nest on the ground with its young in between the sheep and fairly close to the beach.

me with the Gentoo penguins

a walk home from the colony along the beach with a beautiful sunset....soft sand through the toes, the things i will miss!!!!!!!

Falkland Islands

2006-12-06T10:34:00.000-08:00

The passage to Stanley was calm and took about 3 days. Although saying that there were times when the head gave way to feeling queasy and lying down felt like a safe and secure option. We slept on board the ship at Mare harbour and spent the next three days there. It felt good to be getting back on land again.

The Falkland islands wasn't really like I expected it.

The town of Stanley, which was an hours drive across mostly dirt road, was small and most of the houses were more like tin sheds with corrugated roofs than actual houses. The landscape is desolate, similar to the Scottish highlands but without the bog. The most surprising thing is that the accents are all English and being so far south I didn’t really expect that even though I knew it was a British colony.

The long under developed road, the no insurance policy. Pristine and clear beaches, landmines and partitions.

Broken boats and bars that served only canned alcoholic beverages.

The red buses, telephone and post boxes. The union jack roof. All British.

Walking in the hills, the soldiers that didn’t return.

The weather was surprising gusty but clear leaving behind it a beautiful tinted sun set.

montevideo

2006-12-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

Travelled for 24+ hours on flights to Montevideo with united airlines via Washington. Lots of airport stops and security checks but made it to Monty with the other 35 people that were on the flight with BAS.

Boarded the sailing vessel known as the Ernest Shackleton(shown opposite although this was taken in the Falklands) and then went into Monty for a beer with Patricia (strange name for a beer i admit) and some food. This is definitely not the Paris of south America but it does have fewer tourists than say BA and the beaches are close by.

Spent the next two nights here in Monty and visited the city by day and the bars by night. The evenings don't usually start to get busy until around midnight but the sleepless flights made sure i was in bed early. The beaches are beautiful, the whole of Monty is a little run down but its a place to visit if you have the time. There are some small and comfortable parks to visits.

The Mercado del Puerto (Port Market), otherwise known as "The Meat Market" is located just outside the port gates and tends to be the most popular place to eat. The building was originally built by the British as a railway station but it was never used as such. Here there are many BBQ cooking a variety of meats, you pick, they cook, you eat. Lots of food for a very small price. Its good to get back on the protein only diet again and to start to converse in Spanish again even though i am only at the basic level. The ship sets sail the next day so time to buy some Uruguayan wine for celebrations and birthdays at Halley.