Clothing

In my last post, I mentioned that it doesn't feel all that cold down here if you are wearing the right gear (and of course it's not blowing a gale and below -20). Just to give you an idea of what I wear for quad trips at the moment, here is a list of what I wear, which doesn't include the extra gear I carry in my pack in case it gets really cold.

Start with a two pairs of socks, then two pairs of thermal pants, a pair of polar fleece pants, two thermal tops, a polar fleece top, a pair of Ventile overalls (these are the windproof orange pants you can see in the photos), a big heavy down jacket (that bright yellow number), a pair of glove liners, a pair of wristlets, big gloves if I feel cold, a neck warmer, a balaclava, a scarf and my big Glacier boots - these have very thick soles and come with liners. Add to all this a full face helmet with heated visor, heated handle bars and thumb throttle lever and finished off with mitts over the handle bars to keep the wind off your hands and you will be ready to tackle a quad trip down here.

Weekend at Platcha and Brookes Huts

Last weekend Paul, Trevor, Tony and I got out for the weekend. As we left on Saturday morning the temperature was -18C, but as there was hardly any wind it was quite comfortable in all the right gear. We headed straight out to Platcha Hut to drop some of the food and drink off before heading out for a local ride. The main goal was to get to the Russian fuel drums up on the edge of the plateau (some years ago the Russians created this fuel cache for future use, but it has never been used). It was a rough old ride as the day was overcast which made definition of the snow surface very difficult. It was just a matter of riding slowly enough to react to the bumps as you rode over them. When we called in to let station know we had arrived safely, we were told that another group was on their way up to the drums, so we left them this message:

On the way back to Platcha we just did some local sightseeing before getting back in fading light to set up for the night. We got the heater on and the water boiling then settled in for a magnificent dinner of lamb stew.

Trevor and I enjoying a quiet ale before dinner

The next day was some more sightseeing, with our general direction being towards Brookes Hut. Once again definition was a problem but as there was no wind we couldn't complain. This first photo shows the edge of the plateau near Platcha Hut. The little black dot in the centre of the photo is one of the guys on a quad. The second is looking back down Long Fjord along the ice, and helps illustrate the definition problems we were having.

One of the things about this place is that there is always something interesting to take photos of. This next picture is simply of a close up of a rock face with some snow blown into it, but I just really liked the patterns in it.

Another place we stopped was at Ace Lake Apple ("apple" is the word used to describe some of the smaller huts, and so you know an apple is smaller than a melon!). This one is pretty basic - not even having a heater, unless you drag out a generator with you. I don't think I will ever bother using this one for a night away.

Ace Lake Apple, overlooking Long Fjord (Ace Lake is over the hill behind the apple)

After a good fun day, it was good to get to Brookes Hut and get ready for the night. Brookes is massive compared to Platcha (well it's twice the size - two rooms instead of one), and has a nice bit of decking out the front.

Brookes Hut

It was a bit warmer on Sunday night (we think about -10C) so we sat out the front having cheese and bikkies whilst watching night creep in around us. Dinner was a tomato pesto pasta, served with foccacia. Gee I hate roughing it...

Monday morning and the weather was fantastic again - still no wind. We were extremely lucky to have three relatively wind free days. We were a bit slower getting away this day, but it was all good, as we managed to see the sun rise as were were cruising around the bergs. It was a truly spectacular sunrise, one that I hope I never forget. Riding around on the sea ice on quads, dodging around icebergs and watching the sun rise after midday - really amazing stuff. After all this it was time to head back to station. It had started to get a bit chilly again (-22C) so when we got back we were all looking forward to a nice hot (three minute) shower.

Sunrise on the sea ice - this photo was taken at 1:03pm

Percy the penguin

Percy the Penguin

For some reason, Barry decided to buy himself a giant blow up penguin in Hobart to bring down here with him. His name is Percy. Percy has just developed a really annoying habit of turning up in the most unexpected places. A common one is in your bedroom, in the dark, waiting for you to open the door and turn on the lights. He scares the living daylights out of you. Another favourite is in your toilet - sitting, waiting. He got me a ripper last night. So of course when you are lucky enough to find him in your possession, you naturally move him on to the next bathroom or bedroom. Childish I know, but bloody good fun too.

Percy ready to attack

Keeping an eye on things in the brewery

Totally Wild reminder

Just a quick reminder that Totally Wild will be screening the remainder of their Antarctic stories starting tomorrow (Friday). The guys came down with us on V2 to film stories on board the ship, here at Davis and also at Casey. They will go to air every Friday for six Fridays starting 18th May.

Another trip to Bandits

Dave, Denise, Luigi and I set of on Saturday morning for another trip out to Bandits Hut. The weather was looking much better so we were going to have a red hot crack at getting out to Walkabout Rocks and Sir Hubert Wilkins cairn. Once again we cruised out near the icebergs for a closer look, then decided to move on. Somewhere near the turn off for Bandits we came across this bloke. He would have been just shy of a meter tall.

A lone emperor penguin was out on the ice wandering around. We pulled the bikes up a few hundred meters short of him, shut them down and got off to sit down and wait. The emperors are very inquisitive, so it was no surprise that he made a bee-line straight for us, to check us out. He seemed to be most impressed with the quads, and showed no fear of us.

Me in front of the emperor and the quads

This was fantastic for us as we got a heap of good photos. As if fighting for our attention, a couple of snow petrels soon joined the party, swooping down very close to the emperor. As soon as he got bored with us, he just continued on his way, wandering off into the distance. When he left we decided to move off too.

With the weather still holding we aimed directly for Walkabout Rocks. It was a whole lot easier than my last attempt when we got turned back by near blizz conditions. When we got there we climbed up a pretty steep hill to reach Sir Hubert Wilkins cairn. At the cairn was a box with a few bits and pieces in it, and also a log book to fill out to record our journey. We were the first group this winter to reach the cairn (which is basically at the northern limit of the station operational area).

Opening the box at Wilkins cairn

Dave, Denise, Luigi and me posing at Wilkins cairn

After logging our visit and re-packing the box of goodies we made our way back to the bikes to get to Mikkelsen's cairn, about two and a half kilometers away on (funnily enough) Mikkelsen Island. This is also the site of an adelie penguin colony but at this time of year there were no (live!) birds to be seen - except for another emperor. Two single birds in one day is quite strange. Anyway this cairn isn't as interesting as Wilkins, but it was definitely worth the trip across.

Me at Mikkelsen's cairn

We then decided it was time to head to Bandits to get set for the night. Coming through some second year ice near the hut we were able to find some suitable ice to cut off to take to the hut for drinking water. All the huts rely on ice or snow for drinking water and it is easiest to gather it near by. I cut some ice and then transported it to the hut on the quad nice and gently. It is quite bizarre to be carrying your drinking water in one big piece on your lap!

Carrying our water

After a windy night (and that is outside, not inside!), we headed off down Tryne fjord and across Pioneer Crossing which links Tryne to Long Fjord. Pioneer is a stretch of land about 300m separating the two fjords so it is very easy to cross. We then headed up to Platcha hut for afternoon tea before deciding it was time to head home. In all it was a fantastic two days.

-Thanks to Dave C for some of these photos

Trip to Bandits Hut

Taking a breather from all the hard riding

After my last post, we got away not long after midday. The wind dropped dramatically enabling us to head off. The plan was to head to Bandits to get the hut ready for the night and then to try to get to Walkabout Rocks. But because we spent a bit longer getting to the hut, fading light stopped our attempt to get to Walkabout. The reason we took a bit longer was because of all the time stopping to look at all the icebergs trapped in the sea ice. There are hundreds, if not thousands of bergs in the ice all the way along the coast - some the size of a house, up to some the size of apartment buildings. And all different shapes and colours too. Some are your traditional white, some are different shades of blue (ones that have recently turned over) and then there are the jade bergs. These are amazing.

Jade berg - to put it into perspective, the vertical face on the right would be about 25 meters high

This one has a jade vein running through it - this one would be about 15 meters high

Some of the "plain" bergs are just as amazing, with the formations including arches and tunnels.

A berg with a clearly defined arch

On Thursday morning we tried again to get up to Walkabout rocks but again we were stopped, this time by poor visibility. The wind was driving snow straight off the plateau at us, reducing visibility to about 5 meters. The decision was made to turn around, and about 5 minutes later we were in perfect sunshine. The trip home was going to be via Tryne Fjord, but when we got there we found some areas of open water. We drilled to get the depth of ice, and it was 380mm. We walked on a bit further and drilled again and found the thickness to be 280mm so we turned around and took the same route back to station. The minimum for quad travel is 400mm. Over the two days we covered about 120km on the quads

Just a few of the bergs at dusk

Well that is what I have been up to the last few days. I had a ball, and I'm sure Tony had a (40th!) birthday he will never forget!

Trip to Bandits

Well the plan was to leave at 1100 today for a quad trip to Bandits Hut for the night with Paul, Tony, Cookie and Glenn M for Tony's birthday, but it is snowing a bit so we have pushed our departure time back an hour or so. Hopefully it will clear soon and we will be on our way before lunch. Fingers crossed!

Dinner and drinks, Science style

Friday night was dedicated to science support here. As there is no one using the science building this winter, we decided to support science by having drinks and dinner up there. Lab coats and protective glasses were mandatory - after all we had to be safe. Some interestingly coloured drinks were prepared in test tubes and served in beakers, and some similarly coloured food was served on petrie dishes. I'm sure all the food dye was why some of us weren't feeling too well the next day!

Trev and Glen with their empty beakers

Some of the drinks were stored in a fume cupboard for every one's safety!

Luigi trying to lose a finger, with Glenn looking on

Totally Wild

Just to let you all know, Totally Wild will be screening the remainder of their Antarctic stories starting this month. The guys came down with us on V2 to film stories on board the ship, here at Davis and also at Casey.

Antarctica 101 and Human Transport went to air during April and Marine Animals will be aired on Monday 7th May at 4.00pm - it includes the elephant seal wallow core sampling story.

Originally there were to be about 28 Totally Wild stories to be aired over a twelve month period, however Network 10 have just received government approval to broadcast six special Antarctic half hour episodes. They will go to air every Friday for six Fridays starting 18th May.

Further Quad training

Today, we undertook some further quad training - this time out on the sea ice. The training focused on how to get onto the sea ice across the tide cracks, riding on and around rafted ice, braking distances on blue ice and bike control on blue ice. It was all good fun, but of course the best fun was being told to do doughnuts on the ice to learn how they handle (or more to the point, how they don't handle). The wind was up a bit today, so the maximum speed I could get going into the wind was 61km/h, but with the wind was 81km/h. At that speed, stopping in a real hurry just isn't an option - but that was what today was all about, learning the limitations of these fantastic machines. Soon the sea ice will be open for all quad travel, meaning we will have far easier access to all of the field huts - just strap your gear on the bike and take off. I can't wait! The photo below is of Paul trying to bury Tony under a pile of snow.

Paul trying to create a snow storm