The weather here today is much the same as that day, exactly 98 years ago in 1911 when Roald Amundsen and his companions reached the South Pole; in Amundsen's words, "the weather was the finest, just as if it had been made for arriving at the pole".
Our goals for the day were much less ambitious, but we managed to achieve quite a lot. We've had a glorious run with the weather, light winds and sunny skies have greatly helped us to get Sorensen set up quickly. Today's major activity was to empty the last of the gear (food, wind generator, scientific equipment, and a virtual cornucopia of photographic and visualisation paraphernalia*) from cage pallets. All cages have now been relocated in preparation for our departure. How organised is that for Day 5! (* as dictated by Dr Morse)
With everyone out of the Sorensen, Tony had some thinking time to get the BOGAN alive AND to stay online. We now have a fast, efficient and (relatively) inexpensive connection to send high quality images, short videos and emails back to the outside world. Pauline has submitted some images and is preparing video to send.
Chris and Tony continued to install the 24V power system and inadvertently decommissioned the power supply to the shower. This will just increase the anticipation for the 7 team members yet to shower. Over in Hut Valley, Pemo organised us for some photos, and those of us who were yet to get inside the hut this seasons had the opportunity to see it. It's been two years since I last looked inside and was impressed by how little ice had accumulated, and how much good work was done in that time.
Outside in Hut valley, Jody efficiently staked out a grid while Chris and Tony watched on in silent amazement, in preparation for the air tractor search. I took a moment to contemplate how different the gear we have is to that of Amundsen. We have magnetometers, ice penetrating radar, and a pulse induction metal detector built by the good Dr Chris himself. Amundsen wrote of his arrival at the South pole, "We reckoned now that we were at the Pole.
Of course, every one of us knew that we were not standing on the absolute spot; it would be an impossibility with the time snd instruments at our disposal to ascertain that exact spot. But we were so near it that the few miles which possibly separated us from it could not be of the slightest importance. It was our intention to make a circle round this camp, with a radius of twelve and a half miles (20 kilometres - the limitation of accuracy on their journey), and to be satisfied with that."
By comparison, our differential GPS will easily fix positions to within centimetres. Marty cooked a fantastic array of pizzas and Jody baked cakes in honour of South Pole day. As if on queue, right after dinner Mark spotted a pod of Orcas swimming right by our balcony at Sorensen Hut, just a hundred metres off shore. A perfect end to the day.
Tony Stewart.