Geoff Sims @ UNSW
Home South Pole Diaries 2012/13 24th December, 2012

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Monday, 24th December, 2012

Christmas dinner (John)


Ok, so Christmas isn't till tomorrow, but this is Antarctica so we can do what we like. Christmas dinner was tonight, and a splendid dinner it was, too. Tomorrow will be a holiday.


Every imaginable gastronomic delight was on offer, leading to some difficult decisions having to be made. The lobster tails were especially good.


Here's our table from one angle...


...and from a different angle.


The mistletoe was hung over the door to the exit, clearly with the intention of creating maximum havoc, but it didn't seem to see much action. Maybe people are waiting until it gets dark. As I type this it's approaching 10 pm, and it's still broad daylight.

It will still be broad daylight at midnight. McMurdo station has a webpage with weather information and couple of webcams. If you look at the Observation Hill camera, the Crary Lab is the grey building on the left consisting of three modules linked by a sloping corridor; there's a library (with WiFi) in the top module where we spend most of our time. The galley and much of the community action is in the big blue building, and our quarters are in the buildings behind that.

The good news is that we've now worked out a plausible plan for our deployment to Ridge A, involving all six of us in two shifts, five Twin Otter flights, and an experienced field guide. Tomorrow we'll fill out the plan in more detail, ready to discuss it with the logistics people on Wednesday when they start work again.


 


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g.sims@unsw.edu.au