Zolotov Is

Now quad trained and ready to go, we took off with Tim, Didier and Dave (the pilot now stranded at Davis waiting for a plane to fly!) and headed to the penguin rookery on Zolotov Island, near the Sorsdal Glacier to the south of Davis station. One of the main reasons for this trip was to check sea-ice conditions in areas where it traditionally melts out early. It was great fun belting along on the quads. Next to the Glacier, the sea-ice was like wet glass! It was impossible to keep the quads straight, I am not sure how they managed to gather any momentum with he wheels having so little traction. Occasionally you come across things that have the unfortunate ability of providing a lot of friction very quickly. Tide cracks around 30cm wide were pretty common, as were small bands of blown snow that sit on the ice (kind of like small Sastrugi). If you hit one of these while you were side-ways, you would know about it! Anyway, we got to see a fair bit of the country to the South of station, a whole lot of penguins and (by Antarctic standards at least) a small glacier. Here's a pic showing a whole lot of Adelie Penguins on Zolotov, with the Sordsal glacier in the background. Riding quads on sea-ice along the edge of a glacier - only in Antarctica!

Field Training

I was lucky enough to be prioritised for early field training. This is good because it means I will be allowed out in the field sooner rather than later, and that we get to train on the quad bikes that are used to get around Davis Station when the sea-ice is thick enough. It was great to be kitted out with all the gear and head off for a good look around the Vestfold Hills. The crew were a pretty mixed bunch (as per usual at Antarctic Bases), but included 2 weather forecasters, one fixed wing pilot, the station Doctor and myself. It was fantastic! The quads make it easy to cover distance really quickly. We belted through the bergs that get stuck fast in the sea-ice to the north of Davis. There was heaps of penguins and the occasional skua to keep us company. Our field training offficer (FTOs are renowned for their vanity) taught us all how to look really good simply by carrying an ice axe. Michelle (one of the forecasters) managed to tip one of the quads over on a bit of steep rifted sea ice. Here is a link to her blog on the topic: how to roll a quad bike. We ended up staying the night in our bivvy bags not far from Bandits Hut. I had my first antarctic snow-cone and spent half the night tying to get a photo of a snow petrel (see above). Also, here's a little picture of me beginning to look a little bit scraggy, but sill very cool, with the aid of my trusty ice-axe.