AntarcticDoctor

By popular demand, I’ve added a page about Titan Aviation, who provided the air support for the expedition during the take-over period, which is worth having a look at even if it’s just to see the pictures.  Click the link under “Pages” to the right.  I’ve also uploaded a waypoint file for Google Earth  (which I will be updating from time to time) showing important and interesting places in our area.  Follow the link on the right, once again…

Finally, it is done:  the last summer personnel have been transported back to the SA Agulhas, and she has set sail for Cape Town, only to return in December.  Left behind are the 10 dedicated South Africans who will carry the research through the depths of another Antarctic winter – scientists, engineers, mechanics, and one meat mechanic to fix them if they break.  As if to give us the flavour of the year, the weather has closed in, with strong winds, blowing snow and temperatures dropping below -20°C.  Inside the base, however, the spirits are high.  This is our place now – our home, our castle, our work, our refuge.  Let the storms come…we have each other, and we have plenty of time.

�not yet to have written something on our (very brief) visit to Troll. Troll is not a large, ugly beast hiding under a bridge, but rather the Norwegian research base to our east.  Although they are strictly speaking our neighbours, the Juttelstraumen Glacier lies between our bases.  35 nautical miles wide, it is the second largest glacier  in the world (the honour belonging to the Lambert Glacier at S70 E70) and thus a significant barrier.  We can only reach Troll by air, but I was fortunate enough to make the journey with some of our scientists who were retrieving data from a ground thermal logger, and collecting equipment.  I had the aim of examining the medical facility at the Norwegian base in comparison to our own, and in the light of my recent visit to Neumayer.  By the time we had loaded several other scientists and the flight crew, it was a group of 17 South Africans that swooped down from the sky. 

    

I took great pleasure in meeting our Norwegian counterparts, as I’ve always had respect for their Antarctic exploits.  The ever-stoic Amundsen was Norwegian, beating Robert Scott to the South Pole through his adoption of traditional methods of ice travel.  The account of his successful expedition is inspiring reading; it tells a tale of a man dedicated and undistracted: “Adventure,” said he, “is simply poor planning.”  The Norwegian involvement in Antarctica did not stop with Amundsen, however.  Most of Queen Maud Land (or Dronning Maudland, if you wish to tip your hat) was explored and mapped by the Norwegian Antarctic Research Expeditions (NARE), which explains why so many of the landmarks in our area bear names in their language.  The South African expeditions are also historically tied to Norway, as the site of our first research base was that of a Norwegian establishment which was handed over in 1959.  Nowadays, the co-operation continues as we exchange knowledge, assist each other with logistical arrangements, and collaborate on scientific projects.

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