We have lots of preparations to make before we go out on our first field mission. Everything takes longer time when the weather is bad and the risk of injuries and damages on equipment increases. We immediately take some security measures when working outdoors.
10:30 - we are in the air and the flight to Wasa takes two hours. Lidia is a alert but noisy 75-year-old and are missing pressure cabin. The landing at the Wasa turns out to be a bumpy one, the rear wheel is missing a landing skis and digs deep into the loose snow.
Troll gives us a perfect start with great weather - sunshine, good visibility, no wind and the thermometer shows -7 degrees Celsius. We pack up our things and set off with a tracked vehicle seven kilometers out to the airstrip.
Our Airbus has landed at the research station Troll. For Several of the Participants it's the first time they put their feet on the Antarctic ice sheet.
After another period without a clue of the date it was, we have figured out That it is January 9 today. And it is good to know Because tomorrow will our colleagues be travelling from Cape Town. Just like we did, they first fly to Troll. Currently it is not known if they will stay for a night or fly out straight away. There has been some confusion with flights between Cape Town and Troll. The warm weather has made the airstrip warm, and since it's made of ice it needs go get a little bit harder so that the air planes are able to land. So they have talked about moving to flights till nighttime.
The station is now in full swing and we have to start focusing ahead in two tracks; firstly, the logistics and maintenance of the station and the other is to prepare for the research.
We have finally arrived at Wasa after a busy week with marathon-long road trips, car jamming and snow shovelling. I have tried to send a message through our SHOUT, that is a small beacon that combines GPS and satellite-borne e-mail. We had agreed with the office at home that we would send messages, but unfortunately it is not very user friendly and it sometimes deletes the hole message instead of transmitting it.
Now, if the trip was two-dimensional last time this one was one-dimensional and then finally dimensionless. Overcast sky disbanded in the horizon by adopting the same white color as snow.
At Neumayer we've got ourself out of bed at 7 for breakfast and then we've got help from two machine operators. Unfortunately I do not know the name of the first operator, but anyhow he is almost excessively tanned. And the second operator was Klaus from Bavaria. He was the one in Lederhosen on Christmas Eve and also the one who opened the beer bottles with a chainsaw on New Year's Eve.
Happy New Year! Ola, Stefan and Calle drove to Neumayer yesterday to get the second batch of cargo. We packed and celebrated New Years Eve today and tomorrow we drive back to Wasa.
Ah, we've figured out what day it is! You think its a joke, but no! Imagine no radio, no television, no newspaper, no weekdays, no meetings and no days off, not yet anyway. You loose track of the time quite fast.
Preparing for the next trip to Neumayer.
Boxing Day = training day!
Christmas third day, ready to go!
Christmas Day - the day off in Antarctica.
Christmas Evening in Antarctica!
No ship today, it is still working to get trough the ice. Instead there was a fire drill.
Good news, the spare keys to the cars are found!
It's not cold here, even below zero, which seems strange. It has been a positive phenomenon, the wind has brought snow up against the edge of the ice shelf here around Neumayer....
Time flies just like we do. Or not because we are now on solid ground, or not, nor for Neumayer is placed on the ice shelf. That is, thick floating platform of ice that flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface.
