Change of plans - Concordia is for today

Some things remain the same in all Antarctic expeditions: plans are made to be changed. Our flight to Concordia has been brought forward to today. We leave in 30 minutes time.

This morning we went through the pre-flight ritual of packing and weighing both ourselves and our luggage. We can take only the bare essentials with us this afternoon, the rest will follow in a couple of days time.

We made good use of the four hours we had left by crossing to Dumont d'Urville over what little is left of the ice-pack, visiting the station, and purchasing a stock of postcards and stamps that will keep us occupied in the evenings at Concordia (there is no Post Office up there).

The weather is amazing: sunny, warm (0.4C in the shade), not a cloud in the sky. Good weather for spotting and photographing Adelie penguins, Emperor penguins and snow petrels... the last non-human creatures we shall see for a while (there is neither flora nor fauna up at Dome C).

The adventure continues at full steam. Next post from Concordia!