At 05.00 AM, under a clear blue sky allowing to eventually appreciate the
characteristic vastness of the Antarctic icescape, we're ready to go. After
the mandatory handling of the luggage, we board a Basler DC-3, which some of
you might remember from the early days after WWII. A short flight of 1 hour
and a half brings us to the known contours of the mountainous landscape of
the Sør Rondane Mountains, hopping over Perlebandet, Romnoesfjellet in the
back as a beacon of welcome. We land on the Utsteinen airstrip. It is new
for all of us, although the landscape is familiar. The spot where camp
became home.
We were welcomed by the base manager, carried to the base camp in the shadow
of the flying saucer-shaped Princess Elisabeth station. A briefing, visit of
the facilities, hot chocolate, getting installed and acquainted with the
surroundings. And at last, after 5 days of travel, everybody gets to work.
Well, not exactly everybody, since we're still waiting for our scientific
equipment to arrive. Again, the flight is delayed, which means we won't test
the drills and radar today. A walk on the glacier, helping out for some work
in the station, heavily socializing with our Japanese colleagues, and off to
bed. There's quite some atmosphere in the newly build station: a room with a
view…
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