First day at Scott Base

Thankfully I woke up this morning and it was still beautiful blue sky! After breakfast Renee and I changed out of our normal attire worn around base, and dressed up as Antarctic action figures again. We were heading up to Crater Hill with Johno, project manager for New Zealand’s southernmost wind farm. This was to be our sneak preview of what the upcoming days of work will hold. (It was great just to get outside too!)

Crater Hill lies directly behind Scott Base and McMurdo Station and is around 10 minutes drive away. We were there to check out the site of the three wind turbines Antarctica New Zealand and Meridian Energy are constructing to generate power for both Scott Base and McMurdo Station. Our role is to undertake an environmental monitoring project of the activity at the site. At present, only the turbine foundations have been put in. The towers and turbines will be erected in the next austral summer and will be commissioned the year after (see links for information on Meridian Energy's website).

So we’ll have an office with a view! Prior to getting stuck into the work however, we will have to undergo Antarctic Field Training (AFT). AFT helps you adapt to Antarctic conditions and operate safely in them. The training includes a combination of snowcraft, survival methods, Antarctic camping, glacier travel, GPS, special information about the Dry Valleys, and vehicles depending on the needs of your field party.

We had an AFT briefing this morning from Heidi, a Field Instructor on base. She covered many key points about keeping safe in Antarctica, but a couple in particular have stuck in my mind. The first was to do with natural instinct. Basically you can’t trust it down here. This land is so different from any environment our natural instinct has been learnt in, it just doesn’t hold up. I guess over a number of seasons your instincts may be appropriately shifted. However, from what I gather, every season is different, you never know what Antarctica is going to throw at you! This all adds to the charm of the continent according to a few base staff and scientists I have been chatting with, ‘…that is why I love this place’ said Blake, a field coordinator/camp manager.

Blake is (hopefully) heading out to the Darwin Glacier to set up a field camp site tomorrow, but it is all dependent on the weather. I think anyone else in a similar job in New Zealand would be at the end of their tether! I feel like everyone here either has, or has been forced to develop, a laid back demeanor and even temperament. Dr. Ken Ryan, one of the scientists I worked with during my last adventure to Antarctica, said you always have to be prepared to ‘hurry up and wait’ in Antarctica. I think that sums it up nicely. Make sure you can be ready at a drop of a hat, but be patient too. This explains why even though we are in peak season and everyone is stretched and working incredibly hard, the base staff maintain amazing morale and composure.

The second point of Heidi’s that stuck in my head was ‘teamwork’. Teamwork is one of Antarctica New Zealand’s quoted core values and you definitely see it continuously around base amongst everyone, whether they be staff or scientists. You also see it on a much larger scale amongst bases and nations. In AFT, teamwork is signaled as being important for survival. It is vital we continuously check each other for cold weather injuries as you cannot always feel when you have frost nip, or frost bite. An individuals' thought processes can easily become wayward down here, mainly due to dehydration (it is the driest continent), but also hypothermia - you have to look out for each other. This is definitely where I feel the culture of teamwork and cooperation stems from. The environment gives you no other option, you could not go it alone. This culture has also been written into the Antarctic Treaty, to which every nation in Antarctica adheres (see my next post for more).

I’m looking out the window and it’s snowing! What was dark gravel on the ground has become a white fluffy carpet over the last half hour. This is the first snow I’ve witnessed in Antarctica. It’s actually quite a rare event. I’ve heard snow only occurs when it is warm and humid, otherwise the moisture just falls as ice crystals. Most of what covers the ground and looks like snow in Antarctica, is not fresh snow, but is snow drift carried from elsewhere. Although it is beautiful right now, I hope that it stops falling for those people on base who are looking to fly into the Dry Valleys tommorrow. They need good visibility to fly, and many of them work on lichens and mosses that are hard enough to see on bare ground, let alone snow covered ground!

I’m pretty far from everywhere really! In the background past the laboratory on the coast, you can just make out the shadows on the ice. This is actually crumpled ice, or pressure ridges, caused by the ice shelf pushing into sea ice

A snippet of the goings-on at Scott Base and McMurdo Station, from the Scott Base noticeboard

Snow outside Scott Base. I’m looking out of the corridor leading to Q-hut (an accommodation block) toward the flagpole (middle), the Scott base ‘distances’ sign (right), the RO water intake (takes in water to be desalinated for drinking) and a lab for keeping Antarctic fish (left). The lounge (far left) is Scott Base’s newest addition and a really great spot for watching the snow

The big travel day

We are here! I’m sitting in my bunk and feeling very at home. Scott Base has such a warm, friendly feel to it. There are a lot of faces I recognise, one being Brian, my camp manager from last time. He had been expecting me! The base is apparently at full capacity with just over one hundred people, but it doesn’t feel it. Everyone is relaxed and happy, keen to have a chat and get to know your story.

There were forty five excited Antarctic goers on our flight today. Some were first timers and many had done several seasons on the ice. Some were Scott base staff, some scientists, some pilots from the US Airforce and some worked in construction. There were New Zealanders, an Australian, a Czech, an Austrian, a couple of Germans, a lot of Americans and probably a few other nationalities! All were more than happy to put on their ECWs (Extreme Cold Weather gear) on a hot Christchurch day to go and sit in the cargo nets of a Hercules for seven and a half hours in very noisy, cramped and HOT conditions. All to get to Antarctica. It seems the novelty of the continent doesn’t wear off, even for the most seasoned antarcticans.

The only issues that concerned people aboard the Herc were the primitive toilet or ‘honey pot’, what component of their packed lunch they should eat next and where to place their feet! In Antarctica everything is big. My feet are actually quite small, but once transformed into ‘Antarctic Libby’ who wears mukluk-like boots, I suddenly have trouble finding the space to place them anywhere! The heavy duty, heavy soled, knee high (on me anyhow) boots were constantly being reshuffled with persons sitting next to you, across from you and passing among you. We put up with this because we know these boots are brilliant (Chris said so), and all your space issues will melt away as soon as you step off the plane and onto the expansive ice shelf.

We landed on the ice at Pegasus in McMurdo Sound. Upon exiting the aircraft, I immediately gained a view of Erebus on Ross Island and back across to the Transantarctic Mountains of the continent. It is such a beautiful day! Clear blue sky and very mild (-5 degrees Celsius with little wind chill). We then jumped on the Terra bus, which is definitely not your average bus and serves both Scott Base and McMurdo Station. Rather than making a straight line course across McMurdo Sound toward Scott Base we followed the land more closely, making sure to stay on the ice shelf, rather than the sea ice. Last time I was down in Antarctica, sea ice travel was the norm, but being here so late in the summer means it is no longer safe. The ice shelf (~20-400 metres thick) on the other hand is quite safe. Ice shelf is made of ice that initially forms over the land, but has since flowed from the land with gravity and now sits over the sea permanently. Sea ice (up to ~6 metres thick) is usually a seasonal phenomenon; forming as the ocean freezes in winter, and breaking up in late summer. The weakened sea ice may not withstand the weight of the Terra bus and swimming in Antarctica is not very comfortable (I can vouch for that).

I am feeling incredibly tired and excited at the same time. Today was long and my body definitely feels that it is time to sleep, but my mind is distracted by the fact that there is a bright blue sky outside and all the potential that offers . . . I must close the black out shutters and try my hardest to pretend that Antarctica isn't still lit up.

Renee and I about to board the Royal New Zealand Air force Hercules

Inside the Hercules, conditions were hot, very noisy and cramped- but everyone was happy ECWs finally put to good use… in Antarctica!

Renee and I are standing on the airstrip at Pegasus. Looking over the ice you can see the bare ground (black) of Ross Island where McMurdo Station and Scott Base are located with Mount Erebus steaming in the background

First leg of the southbound journey

I have had some great in-flight experiences in the past, purely due to the people I have ended up seated beside. They have been some of the most fascinating characters. Today on my flight from Auckland to Christchurch I was secretly hoping that the person seated next to me might strike up a conversation just so I might become one of those fascinating in-flight friends! The fact I am off to Antarctica may just qualify me . . . Instead I squirmed in my seat, bubbling inside. Thankfully, my travel and project companion, Renee, was there to greet me on arrival in Christchurch and exploded with excitement at much the same time I did.

We trundled straight over to the Antarctica New Zealand clothing warehouse where Chris was waiting. He had neatly laid out all my clothing ahead of time (even correctly sized). Antarctica New Zealand has a completely new kit this year, which is quite different to what I’d used previously; but not to fear, Chris gave me the run down. I know exactly when to wear each of my six pairs of gloves and four jackets, including the individual purpose of each pocket (there are up to ten).

And then came Woody (a.k.a. Paul). Just as you start to feel daunted by the fact that you will have to be wearing all this gear because it is ACTUALLY pretty cold in Antarctica, Woody strides in. He greets you as a friend and grabs your attention. It’s just a casual chat. One in which he manages to divulge all the important information you need to know about the upcoming 24 hours, answer any questions you may have had, and even those you thought you may have had, if he hadn’t already answered them. Was I worried? Never.

Just to bait our excitement a little more, Renee and I visited the Antarctic Attraction right next door. It worked. I am so ready to get to Antarctica! I have packed and re-packed. All that is left to do is catch a little sleep! Having said that, ‘March of the Penguins’ is on the television right now . . .

We are scheduled to fly south around 10am tomorrow aboard a Royal New Zealand Airforce Hercules (C130). The flight should take around seven and a half hours. We will be on base for dinner . . . definitely there before dark (ha ha). There is always the potential for delay and cancellation on these southbound flights, so fingers and toes crossed that everything goes to plan. I’ll be wearing my red socks from the Sir Peter Blake Trust too, just for a little added luck.

There was a lot of gear to pack!

The lucky red socks