Wednesday, January 9, 2008

sitrep 9/01/08

Sitrep 9th January 2008

Weather summary:

A strong southerly blew overnight, topping with a gust of 85 knots. It maintained around 30 knots through the morning and didn't drop of until late afternoon when it started swinging in from the east and slackening. The sky was crystal clear all day.

Today's activites.

After a noisey night in my bivvy bag, it was no surprise that I was the first to put the kettle on this morning. With the wind howling outside it was a slow start to the day. The French indicated that they could be here in the morning for the first cargo pick up so the wind proofs were donned and we set about getting the rest of the cage pallets up to the helipad site. By late afternoon all but one cage pallet are parked awaiting helicopter arrival. We kept one here at the Sorensen in the hope that our remaining gear like rubbish and supplies will be slung out, failing that it will be a few quick internal loads.

Steve finished servicing the quad bikes, Anne spent an afternoon in the hut scooping out another 16 buckets of snow. Brett had an interview today with a NZ news team about the white penguin that has been all over the papers of late.

Tomorrow we will listen closely to the radio for the expected arrival of L'Astrolabe and its helicopter.

Warm wishes from the MHF team

Peter McCabe Field Leader

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