We’re making good progress mapping and sampling the geology on the north side of the Byrd Glacier. So far we’ve collected around 1000 lbs of rock – plenty of samples for everyone to work on back in Santa Barbara! The weather here has been fantastic over the past couple of weeks, with lots of sun and very little wind. Usual daytime temperatures are around -5 to -10C. Hopefully it’ll stay that way until Tuesday when we’re scheduled to receive a visit from a helicopter that will bring us more food and assist us to collect some samples from the mouth of the Byrd Glacier. It will also deliver John back to McMurdo for his return trip to NZ and onto Santa Barbara. So far our flight has been delayed for three days because of mechanical issues, so fingers crossed that they’re all fixed by Tuesday.
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| Views of the field area |
Today is our day off, which involves a lot of resting, reading, baking, and in Graham’s case, running! Last night Graham made us some excellent strawberry shortcake and today Sophie has been busy building crumpets. The dinner menu for tonight is a starter selection of finest NZ cheese and crackers, followed by soup de jour and Thai green curry with chocolate fudge to finish; all prepared by tonight’s guest chef, Forrest. Our resident gastronomic experts (Sophie, Graham and John) will post detailed critiques of chef Horton’s performance soon. In the meantime, here are a few photos from our recent field adventures. Hopefully when we update next we’ll have some photos and exciting stories from our helicopter trip. Team G-064, Byrd Glacier.
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| Crucial task: dividing up the most important food item, chocolate and bumper bars! |
