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Date: 01/10/04
Latitude: 80.39 degrees South
Longitude: 138.92 degrees East
Temperature: -17°C( 1°F)
Wind speed: 10 knots
Wind Chill: -26°C( -15°F)
Wind direction: not given
Elevation: 7,850 feet
Kilometers traveled: 1820

Notes on daily life:
By Dan

The surface snow conditions are gradually changing as we drop elevation and get closer to the coast. The extremely hard areas are becoming steadily patchier and the majority of the surface is soft now. The surface itself is as flat as I have ever seen it from horizon to horizon, not a sastrugi in sight!

We reached site N068 by 19:30 and after digging a 1.5m snow pit to assess snow conditions, Tom and I decided to drill a core here. We will have to drill through the night and be ready to travel by morning, so we will use the PICO hand auger for speed.

Date: 01/11/04
Latitude: 80.00 degrees South
Longitude: 142.60 degrees East
Temperature: -20°C( -4°F)
Wind speed: 12 knots
Wind Chill: -31°C( -24°F)
Wind direction: not given
Elevation: 7,575 feet
Kilometers traveled: 1900

Notes on daily life:
By Dan

Tom and I drilled through the night with the PICO hand auger and by 05:30 had reached a depth of 13.33m - A new LGT PICO depth record! We packed up the drill sled and were ready to travel by 08:00.

I slept soundly through the first driving shift and when I awoke at ~17:00 we had arrived at a site called Seismic Center, a Twin Otter refueling site. Our progress since TAMCAMP has been so good that we have several spare barrels of fuel. We are going to cache these barrels at Seismic Center because several bundles of fuel have been airdropped for us at the next site (N060). I drove the next shift and by 23:00 reached site N060. The snow surface seems to be getting softer and more sugary as we progress although, it is not bad enough to slow us down yet.

When we drove up to site N060 we were greeted by the site of six bundles of fuel and the last of Audrey’s seismic stations. Audrey got to work recovering the instrument immediately. Tom and I collected surface snow samples from well upwind and Andrea prepared a light snack for us all.

We are expecting a Twin Otter flight tomorrow; it will collect Audrey and the five seismic instruments that she has recovered over the last 250 miles. Maybe it will contain some goodies for us too.

Date: 01/12/04
Latitude: 80.00 degrees South
Longitude: 142.60 degrees East
Temperature: -19°C( -2°F)
Wind speed: 13 knots
Wind Chill: -30°C( -22°F)
Wind direction: not given
Elevation: 7,575 feet
Kilometers traveled: 1900

Notes on daily life:
By Dan

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Andrea, Happy Birthday to you. As you may have guessed, today is Andrea’s Birthday. We are having a fairly relaxing day because we are not doing any driving. We spent the morning digging out the fuel bundles and the seismic station. The station was quite difficult to remove because it buried four feet deep. It was first put in four years ago at ground level, which means that this particular site receives a foot of snow per year. A foot of snow per year may not sound like much, but if you consider that the area just 50 miles away only receives ~1-2 inches or less per year then a foot sounds like a lot. When you have to dig out four years worth of accumulation, including several rock-hard ice layers, it definitely seems like a lot!

The highlight of the day was the arrival of a Twin-Otter aircraft. The Otter flew in to collect Audrey and all of her seismic instruments. We had a pleasant surprise when Kirk Salveson stepped out of the plane and came over to say hello. Kirk is the Field Science Support Manager for the whole of McMurdo and he took his chance to jump on the Otter so that he could visit his crew. We sat in the kitchen and spoke with him regarding the traverse progress so far and our future plans for the rest of the season. About an hour later, after the Otter was fully fuelled, loaded and ready to go, we had to say farewell to Audrey and Kirk but not until after a few group photos had been taken. After the Twin-Otter had left we finished packing the trains ready for travel in the morning. The Otter left us with a delivery of fresh fruit and vegetables - a much-needed luxury, and a small bag of personal mail for the crew - another very well-received luxury. Receiving a letter or package from a friend or loved one while out in the field is very nice, it brightens up the whole day!

Later in the evening, Andrea prepared a delicious meal of steak, scallops and shrimp an extremely delicious dinner indeed!