Live from Antarctica: As We Like It
The wind has been moderately strong over the past few days. Despite the low temperatures (-17°C), the sun is shining all day long. The traverse team that just set out for Crown Bay is valiantly advancing in the tracks made by tractors in previous traverses. The worker ants around the station are keeping themselves busy non-stop.
Medical tests indicate that members of the expedition who have volunteered to be our guinea pigs spend between 7000 and 11500 calories within 48 hours. This certainly explains the sustained progress we're making on-site. The railing has been mounted around the roof terrace and the room dividers are currently being added inside the station. Meanwhile, the workmen continue to put down the insulation layer and to weatherstrip the station. They have also started to dismantle the burdensome scaffolding. Sorting and storing materialist parts has started to pick up speed.
Alain Hubert has just received the "climate change" award from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation "for his clairvoyance and commitment to climate change-related issues." Gigi was commissioned to present a film on the station's construction in Monaco, while we witnessed live from the office tent an interview between the Prince and Alain Hubert.
All this was celebrated with a three-pasta dinner and a few drops of a well-known Château Clarck (Edmund de Rothschild 2004). Our nights now resemble real nights (we lit our first lamps two nights ago), to the great relief of some of us. The pink moon, high above the station, offers us a fragile yet striking sight to behold.
In short, the moments we are experiencing will be remembered by each one of us for a long time to come.
Picture: Full moon over the station - Copyright: Michel de Wouters / International Polar Foundation - © International Polar Foundation