Arriving at Halley

21/11/2010

The word is that we shall be flying to Halley today. With the ever changing weather forever changing the plans this is no guarantee and we may find that our stay here may keep extending and extending and extending and extending etc. Everyone's spirits are high and whist they all seem prepared for the long haul everyone would be happy to get on to Halley and get their respective jobs underway. Will find out more after breakfast.

15:00

Well things move quick in the Antarctic. About and hour passed and we were given the word that the flight to Halley is now on. To their absolute credit, everyone was packed and waiting by the Basler DC3 in less than half an our. Keen as mustard!!!!!! Yes we're flying on a McDonnell Douglas DC3. Indiana Jones' preferred choice. I wish I had brought my Fedora and my whip now.

The Basler version of this DC3 has been stretched 14 inches, has had it's two props upgraded with two turbo prop units and has ski's fitted to the front wheels. The addition of a partial glass cockpit make this a very swish version of the DC3. I was told by our Canadian pilot Captain Keith (Freddie) Kruger that this wasn't a real DC3 as the real aircraft has the proper 'round' DC3 engines on it. He was quite firm about this fact.

The route has already taken us to the Norwegian base Troll where we refueled for the final leg. We're carrying 18 people plus luggage so the DC3 can only carry limited fuel hence the stop at Troll. The landing at Troll was excellent. The ski's made for the smoothest landing I have ever experienced. Captain Kruger was not impressed though as he said he actually felt the ski's making contact with the very well prepared Norwegian ice runway.

Up high at 12 thousand feet the views of Antarctica are stunning. The air is so clean and pristine that it affords views of amazing clarity. Up until recently the visibility had been excellent giving us all a wonderful opportunity to gaze down at Antarctic Nunataks poking their tops just above the blue ice fields, their true height being kept a secret by the hundreds and  maybe thousands of meters of ice that they are entombed in. We could see blue ice glaciers pouring off the top of some taller and larger Nunatak. The shapes of the slow moving ice looking like snapshot of thick syrup that was being slowly poured over scoops of ice-cream.

This continent is so beautiful. It is pristine and untouched. Nature seems to say that people are not welcome here but still they comes. Luckily the people making the journey to Antarctica are carrying out useful science that will hopefully help us realise that the lives we are leading are having an adverse effect on the world as has already been proven beyond doubt by the discovery of the Ozone Hole at Halley in the mid 80's. The CO2 plots taken from the ice cores also tell a story that is indisputable but more about that another time.

Landed at Halley