Out of Scott Base and Into the Field

Apologies for the delay between posts. There's been a bit going on! Tuesday 18th October was the day we left Scott Base and headed out to join Brett and Neill at the field camp. It's rather unusual for me to sail into the camp after it's already been put in and the set-up well underway, but this was greatly appreciated this year: while most of us were delayed in Christchurch waiting on a flight south, Brett and Neill – who had managed to get away on the one flight prior – had been busy getting the containers ready to head out.

Our camp – originally developed by Tim Haskell of IRL/Callaghan Innovation – is made up of a series of converted shipping containers that live most of the year at Scott Base. They can then be dragged out in a train pulled by a bulldozer or Piston Bully to our field location on the ice. One container houses a generator, allowing electrification of the others, including a kitchen, dry working laboratory spaces, and sleeping accommodation.

A very special aspect of the camp is that two of our 'wet lab' containers have holes in the floor which can be lifted out to reveal the surface of the sea ice beneath. The ice is then lifted out in columns created using a hot water cutter to slice through in a square grid. This functionality means we can continue collecting ocean data from inside the warm container, whatever the weather outside.

This year we are already accommodating ten people and their science at camp, with another couple on the way. Hence, our typical line-up of ten containers has been augmented by two more that belong to Scott Base. One of these is being set up as the processing lab for the biological samples. This will mostly be the realm of Jacqui, Svenja, and King Ken. The other extra container will function as our 'mess tent'. In reality, it'll be a multi-functional space housing the pantry food stores and the digital projector for science shares and movie nights.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your perspective, we don't have sufficient containerised space for everyone to sleep 'indoors'. Hence, a small village of six polar tents has also sprung up in the front yard. I feel rather sorry for those team members who have elected to sleep in the tents because we've had some fairly cold night, and it can be *really* cold getting all the layers on again in the morning. And after all that, having to deal with a bottle of frozen pee is another challenge few of us would willingly take on. Still, the privacy of a personal polar tent clearly makes it the more attractive option for some.

When considered along with the 12 containers, two Hagglunds double-cab vehicles (each with sledge), three skidoos plus sleds, and fuel sledge, we rather feel like a 'suburb' of Scott Base, rather than a remote deep field camp. The effect is heightened by being able to easily see both Scott Base and McMurdo Station and knowing that a warm shower is only a 20-minute commute away!

Edit: Post updated by adding a few photos during a brief trip in to Scott Base: View of the camp through the telescope in the Scott Base lounge; Pitching polar tents to set up the camp; Polar tents in the late evening light.