Deans Birthday party

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.