teeks

Teehee!

Ahem, grow up. I went for a little trip last week.

We flew to Berkner South and raised the fuel depot (and spent the night). Then onto Touchdown to pickup more fuel and back to Berkner South. From there we flew to Pillow Knob in the Pensacola mountains, stopped off at a US GPS to see if we could fix one of their failing instruments (and my first time on rock in over two years!!) and back to Berkner South (and spent the night). From there we flew to the ozone monitoring sites ingeniously named Ozone India and Ozone Juliet (and spent the night). The final leg of our journey took us to the Theron Mountains, where we spent two nights before finally returning back to Halley.

I don’t think I can truly explain just how fantastic this trip really was. I got to fly the plane for over 9 hours, which are all genuine flying hours and will definitely go in my logbook. The views of non-flat things for the first time in over two year took my breath away. Mountains and glaciers amongst the Pensacola and Theron Mountains were spectacular, and I got a massive buzz from making my first true ascent in the Antarctic when we stopped off at WO4A, a GPS site belonging to the Americans that lived on a small mountain poking it’s pretty head out of the snow.

Enough words, here are some photos…

Our camp at Bernker South just after the plane’s taken off for a run to Touchdown

There used to be 40 full fuel drums in that hole. We dug them out and dragged em behind the skidoo to raise the depot.

Dave refuels the plane for another run

A photo for Sune. Marmite, surely the food of Gods?

Airline food isn’t what it used to be

Mark ‘Bomber’ Beasley doesnt like the idea of an Immelman turn followed by a s-turn

Pillow Knob. Yes, that’s it’s actual name. No I didn’t think of it, it’s been like that for years. Yes, it is amazing.

We stop at WO4A to fix a GPS site. IT’S A MOUNTAIN OMG I GET TO TOUCH LAND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER TWO YEARS £&Y@£*@£(@$(@$

HUZZAH! It feels… hard

Aaaaaand we’re off again over the Pensacola mountains. You can see the glacier slowly spilling into the valley like a massive, er tongue?

Our campsite at the Theron mountains. Tip: DO NOT park your tent in front of a plane if your pilot likes practical jokes. The big git

Rich pops out to use the toilet, also known as Mark’s Palace

My view from inside our tent. It doesn’t get better than this

Filed by admin at 10:21 pm under antarctica
No Comments