Two dawns in one day

The first major leg of the trip is over.  The four of us now are resting a while in a lounge in Hong Kong airport, before heading to down town Hong Kong to pass the day.  The facilities here are excellent, as always, with free wifi, food and drinks. 

Below are two photos taken in the past 24 hours : the first was taken at dawn shortly after take-off from Strasbourg, and the second at dawn shortly before landing in Hong Kong.

Two dawns in one day.  Not bad when you think that in a few days time we shall be in eternal sunshine: no sunrises or sunsets for nearly two months!

And we're off!

Having met up with two fellow Antarctic travellers, we are now sitting in Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris with an hour to kill before boarding our Hong Kong flight.

Our departure from Strasbourg this morning was smooth enough, after we fixed a small problem in our reservations. The ball is now rolling: by when it stops, we shall be half a world away.

This is the waiting phase of the mission: waiting for check-ins waiting for security, waiting for departure... With six flights before we arrive at Concordia, it's a game we shall be playing often! Good job we're pretty good at it!



--- Blogged on the go!

What does one take to Antarctica?

I often get asked what goes in my suitcase when packing for Antarctica. Most people expect me take winter gear, thermal underwear, heavy sweaters, gloves.

In reality, the first things that go into the "to pack" pile are bits of scientific equippement that were left out of the boxes shipped to Concordia for the experiment. This year I'm taking 20 odd items, ranging from connectors and calibration boxes for seismometers, to snow scrapers. My colleague Jean-Yves is taking a similar volume of equippement. Between us we hope to minimize those embarassing "drat! we forgot to bring xyz!" moments.

In the space that's left in our bags, we pack the bare necessities of life away from civilization: toothbrush, moisturizer (the dryness and coldness of the air at DomeC cause the skin on your hands to crack open most painfully if you don't apply moisturizer regularly), everyday clothes for living in the base, and a swimsuit.

All the cold-weather gear is provided for us by IPEV, the French polar institute. We are each issued with two voluminous bags containing heavy socks, hats, gloves, work jeans, sweaters, sleeping bag, thick-soled boots, an insulated parka for outdoor work, sun goggles and, yes... thermal underwear!

Hmm, it's Tuesday morning, and my flight leaves on Friday... maybe I should start to pack soon!

Pre-departure party

It's now officially the last week before departure, and things are getting a little crazy: so much to do, so little time!

I have been spending most evenings in the past week or so seeing friends, wishing everyone a happy holiday season, and generally being sociable.

The week culminated last night in a drinks and dinner party at my place, in which dinner consisted entirely of home-made finger-food. Everyone pitched in, bringing both culinary and artistic talents into play, which made for a very successful evening.



I am sorry to be leaving (albeit temporarily), and yet also looking forward to it. There will be many people at Concordia I have got to know during the last two summers, and who I shall be very happy to see again. From a work perspective, after three years of preparation, we are finally ready to go from prototype installations to the real thing: daunting, yes, but exciting all the same!

Summer is one week away

An odd title for the first week of December, maybe, but not a false one. In one week's time I start out for my third Antarctic summer campaign.

Destination: Concordia, via Paris, Hong Kong, Sydney, Hobart, and Casey.

We have great expectations for the campaign, including (finally!) the deployment of the CASE-IPY stations along a 700km long profile between Concordia and Vostok (the Russian base, next to the sub-glacial lake of the same name).

There will be much work to do during the next two and a half months, and many glorious sights. I shall do my best to keep you up to date, with stories and images from the field.

And now... back to my desk, for the campain preparation is far from over...

Location:Strasbourg,France