Spring Tripping

An updated copy from an old 1966 slide. The major field trip away from the station was the Spring Trip, here seen at its first stop. The trip was to the northern Prince Charles Mountains and involved seven of us surveying previously unvisited mountains, some 300 km inland - we were away for four months. Everything was moved in caravan trains, drawn by D4 bulldozers.

On the right, the large box is the living caravan for three of us, also serving as the meteorology office, surveyor's office, radio shack, kitchen and mess. Behind it is the smaller rounded living caravan for the other four on the trip. The left hand D4 is pulling two Snowtracs on sleds, while the distant third train is the mechanical workshop, plus fuel and other equipment.

Only a short distance inland, the blue ice seen at the edge of the Antarctic plateau gives way to compacted snow, carved by the wind into waves known as "sastrugi", as seen here. View large.