Landing Bluff, Boxing Day, 26th December 2001

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Weather was good today, but due to some ionospheric quirk we lost comms on the HF to all other stations. These conditions are common in polar and equatorial regions ! Alas, good terrestrial weather doesn't necessarily mean good space weather. Due to the lack of comms flight operations didn't come our way. How frustrating. I donned the doctor's white coat and proceeded to umpire our Boxing Day test with Tom bowling from the Davis end to Captain Charlton at the Tank end. All went well, with everybody scoring freely until I lashed a drive over mid-wicket down into the deep gully over the quad cornice. Apparently, it looked very incongruous, an umpire walking with an ice-axe down a frozen gully to retrieve a ball. The weather was positively balmy in the afternoon and I spent some time making up a signpost at the entrance to the Helipad out of some scrap plywood. Distances to Mawson, Moscow, Cape Town, Hobart amongst others. Gee, the things one does to kill time. Two seals obstinately refused to return to the tide-crack, until which time we would not be flying. (Pseudo-science) ! We all had a final walk (hopefully, wishfully) around the bluff, locating a spectacular bed of lichens with fronds about 2 inches long, near a petrel nest. A late night, full of anticipation for the day ahead.

Landing Bluff (LDBF) Technical Inspection

Landing Bluff (Druzhnaya IV Station) S 69°44'48" E 73°42'35"

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