Halley Diary — August 2012
31 August, 2012 BAS Bloggers
…to make and the dressing up box was used to the full. We had a lot to live up to as last year’s Halley film won an award for best…
Found 196 blogposts
31 August, 2012 BAS Bloggers
…to make and the dressing up box was used to the full. We had a lot to live up to as last year’s Halley film won an award for best…
31 December, 2009 BAS Bloggers
…extra workforce for this build season. Nearly 120 people on base, they will carry on with the construction of Halley Six. The site has been prepared and almost everyone turns…
30 September, 2008 Agnieszka Fryckowska
…ole Halley views we forgot coming into sharp focus again. The sun tries to warm our faces but yet the air is still cold. It’s almost a true southern hemisphere…
31 March, 2008 BAS Bloggers
March may be the third month in the Gregorian calendar, but to the hardy Antarctic Heroes at Halley, March might as well be the first. You’re probably asking yourself why……
31 January, 2007 BAS Bloggers
…more Halley 6 sledge testing and a garage refurbishment. This is on top of the usual caboose, tunnel entrance raises and usual summer maintenance. On the science side we are…
31 May, 2006 BAS Bloggers
Hello from Halley. This month started off with the May Bank Holiday. In the absence of a maypole we considered dancing round one of the Comms masts but the idea…
28 February, 2006 BAS Bloggers
…full service. We left Halley just after 8:30am in a convoy of seven sno-cats, each one towing a sledge full of cargo or waste. The drive to N9 took us…
30 April, 2005 BAS Bloggers
…Halley 6 build, while also servicing and storing all the other vehicles until the end of winter. The flubber, which is the bulk fuel storage for the winter (similar to…
31 July, 2003 BAS Bloggers
…family of Kirsty Brown and with all our colleagues at Rothera. For all of us at Halley there has been plenty to keep us busy. July has been an action…
30 April, 2003 BAS Bloggers
By Paul Torode April has been a very quiet month at Halley, characterised by a steady decrease in daylight hours as the winter approaches. For many of us wintering for…
30 September, 2011 BAS Bloggers
We are fortunate enough at Halley to have an Emperor Penguin colony at “Windy Bay”, about 20Km from base. Naturally everyone is keen to see them. So I thought I…
31 July, 2006 BAS Bloggers
…with the formation of the as yet unnamed Halley band which was spawned from the mid winter cabaret night. Medical school continued in earnest, covering various topics from pain relief…
31 August, 2003 BAS Bloggers
…ceremony on the return of the Sun. We had picked the 12th for our BBQ, party, and raising the flag. Following tradition here at Halley, it is the youngest person…
18 May, 2014 John Mann
May was another busy month at Halley with the loss of the sun and the temperature dropping even further making our everyday tasks down here that little bit more challenging….
30 April, 2013 BAS Bloggers
…series of winter trips to the Hinge zone, where the floating ice shelf that Halley is sited on meets the edge of the Antarctic continent. This was the trip I…
30 April, 2012 BAS Bloggers
…No longer does one live in a hut on the brink of Halley Bay eating rations and nursing ropes. Now we have a station that is more like Google’s headquarters…
31 March, 2011 Christopher Walton
…Halley V. It takes a while to set up the pyramid tents and the rest of camp up making sure that it’s going to keep us safe and sound if…
30 September, 2006 Mark Wales
…people. That’s it for this month, thanks for reading goodbye from Halley and finally here is a photo of me taking a couple of minutes to plan my next job….
31 August, 2006 BAS Bloggers
…metres above the station to gain ozone data was moved into position and set up. Clear still days are needed to enable a launch. The test sledge for the Halley…
30 April, 2006 BAS Bloggers
Well, another month passes at Halley. For me, April started with a week on nightshift. As well as the pleasure of cleaning the toilets every night, this was also a…
31 October, 2005 BAS Bloggers
…boxes on her SHARE array have been raised in preparation for a busy summer for her. Every month the stays, holding up the many masts we have at Halley, have…
30 June, 2005 BAS Bloggers
…moral support during this Herculean trial was Captain Matt Butters of the pleasure craft ‘The Spirit of Halley’. Tuesday the 21st of June was Midwinter’s day; the shortest day and…
31 July, 2004 BAS Bloggers
…light starts to grow on the horizon we are all starting to think of weekends off base. Although we are very isolated at Halley it sometimes doesn’t feel that way….
30 June, 2003 BAS Bloggers
…night’s party! This June has actually been the coldest month at Halley since records began and on the 10th June we saw the temperature plummet to minus 52 Deg C,…
31 May, 2006 BAS Bloggers
…have to do to while away the time in the dark flat freezing desert that is Halley apart from practice!! (only kidding Halley) But the first game kicked off with…
30 September, 2013 BAS Bloggers
…trip, walking at the bottom of large chasms and picking routes through large jumbles of ice, but Ian himself will describe the trips in more detail in the October diary….
28 February, 2004 BAS Bloggers
…base commander, need no introduction as they are already stars from last year’s diary. As you can tell, the present wintering team all get on great, its like having all…
31 August, 2013 Agnieszka Fryckowska
Winter has been with us for a while but during the beginning of August we get the first glimpses of the sun raising itself. Skies are spectacular during the day…
30 September, 2009 BAS Bloggers
September saw the first attempt of building an Igloo to which a great deal of time and effort only rewarded us with a half built igloo, which would be nice…
31 December, 2008 BAS Bloggers
Hello from the new boy. December was a great month for me, my first full month on the station. This of course meant as the incoming Field GA, lots of…
31 May, 2007 BAS Bloggers
May be the month of Pirates. No wait, not pirates, I mean Sundown. Or is it Ninjas? I’m going to go with Sundown. A setting Sun, to most people wont…
31 December, 2006 BAS Bloggers
Happy New Year! Hope you all had an excellent Christmas as well. It’s been a bit strange here, not being bombarded by the constant Christmas advertising since September it all…
31 July, 2005 BAS Bloggers
Another month passes quickly, written by Jamie Koplick (Heating/Ventilation Engineer) The month began pretty much the same as all the others, without me realising it! Time really does fly down…
31 May, 2005 BAS Bloggers
Sundown The month started with the yearly Sundown ceremony, to mark the day that the sun disappears and we start three months of darkness. As the oldest member of the…
30 September, 2003 BAS Bloggers
Spring by Robert Shortman, Base Plumber Hello to all! This month has been the start of the post winter trips so everybody is getting ready to get away from base…
31 July, 2009 BAS Bloggers
…wonder if this might be because I knew that this month’s diary entry would be mine to write and so took note of everything going on around base. However, as…
31 March, 2008 BAS Bloggers
Well this could be an emotional diary entry, as it covers my last full month on the magical wee rock, which has been my home since November 2005, before I…
30 June, 2008 BAS Bloggers
…challenged Halley at darts over the web cam. Things were looking bleak for the all male BI team and we were 2-0 down in a best of three games match…
30 September, 2007 BAS Bloggers
…wee BI dished out an all mighty thumping to our BAS friends at the Halley base on the Brunt Ice shelf at web darts, it was just too easy am…
31 May, 2005 BAS Bloggers
…Or so Andy said when I threatened to put them on here. Andy is an Ex- Halley Ex-Wintering Electrician, as am I, and included with the Morrison’s rebuild team is…
31 December, 2003 Jaume Forcada
…events. The month has passed before our eyes at the speed of light, and with it the Christmas and New Years Eve celebrations, Cuz and Graham bound to Halley, Sarah…
31 August, 2008 BAS Bloggers
…opportunity to hold our pride high here at KEP and challenge our friends at Halley to an evening of darts. Thanks to the modern communication systems on the bases we…
31 March, 2008 BAS Bloggers
…four aircraft, a dash 7 and three twin otters, operating to summer field stations and Halley research station, it also has a substantial wharf for shipping. This station reduces to…
28 March, 2012 BAS Bloggers
…Halley. So the other came to Rothera, flew to Punta Arenas to await a spare part then came back through Rothera to Halley again. They managed to fix the problem…
15 December, 2003 BAS Bloggers
…technicians drawn from the Shackleton’s crew and some of the passengers en route to Halley. The process was to become a frustrating facsimile of November’s generator saga. As then, though,…
30 April, 2007 BAS Bloggers
April Diary Hello from Bird Island. It was great to finally arrive after doing a stint at Halley this summer, and a brief stay at Signy. I thought I would…
31 December, 2000 BAS Bloggers
Seals with video cameras and seasonal festivities Bird Island Diary When we were asked who would write the December newsletter, we were told in the same breath that as the…
31 October, 2000 BAS Bloggers
New arrivals at Bird Island Bird Island Diary New arrivals at Bird Island mark the transition from winter to summer activities. Where would the human community of Bird Island be…
Read more on Bird Island Diary — October 2000 (new arrivals)
30 September, 2000 BAS Bloggers
The birds, the unrelenting wind, and a 19th century calm Bird Island Diary With winter and her easy pace almost through, September is a month of great transformation on Bird…
31 August, 2011 BAS Bloggers
Greetings to all you dedicated avid KEP web diary readers. I’m sure you have had some healthy verbal meals served up to you by previous entries and have been digesting…
30 September, 2006 BAS Bloggers
BEHIND THE SCENES By Richard Logan Hello to everyone from Rothera Antarctic Research Station and welcome to September’s Web Diary. Have we got a corker of a diary this month…
19 March, 2012 BAS Bloggers
…time he’s been ‘back in the lab’ for quite a while – kept busy as the cook/dustman from UK’s Antarctic Halley Base where we recently picked up a very happy…
31 March, 2006 BAS Bloggers
…Falklands after completing the Halley relief. On board for the run home were the ex-Halley winterers, most of them having spent 14 months on the ice-shelf, but in the crowd…
31 December, 2005 BAS Bloggers
…to us! Technical team On the techie scene, Tommo has been positively electric with routine and not-so-routine maintenance. He departed for Halley on the RRS Ernest Shackleton on the 11th,…
31 December, 2004 BAS Bloggers
…Applied Fisheries Research Station at King Edward Point. I caught a lift from the good ship Ernest Shackleton, bound for Halley, as she completed an ‘islands tour’ on the way,…
31 March, 2003 Dave Connor
…RRS Ernest Shackleton arrived at the island, passing by on its way out of Halley after their last call. We all spent an hour or two cramming the frozen food…
31 March, 2011 BAS Bloggers
…board were friends and colleagues from Halley and Rothera having completed their work on the continent. The ship was here to load some general cargo which is to be sent…
31 January, 2007 BAS Bloggers
…Base folk host BBQ for Ernest Shackleton, folk heading into Halley really enjoy the event. 24 January Ernest Shackleton departs with Helen Taylor, Phil Trathan and Catrin Thomas on board….
31 October, 2006 BAS Bloggers
…having just come out of Halley, and Serita Suman also a new museum assistant who applied after been sold on South Georgia after she visited aboard a cruise ship last…
31 January, 2003 BAS Bloggers
…which is always nice. We also had a short visit from the Ernest Shackleton which brought us a large amount of empty waste drums from Halley. In return we gave…
30 November, 2012 BAS Bloggers
The inhabitants of Bird Island have been having quite an eventful time since Jon wrote our last diary entry. One of the most significant events has been the arrival of…
30 November, 2007 BAS Bloggers
This month’s diary entry will have the distinctive mark of a new arrival on Bird Island: his head filled with the overwhelming sights and sounds of this amazing place –…
30 November, 2001 Dave Connor
…their side and didn’t come ashore. On the 21st, RRS Ernest Shackleton arrived with more cargo, and we met some of the winterers on their way to Halley. We said…
30 April, 2009 BAS Bloggers
And finally… the April diary entry for KEP. As Luke in March gave you the most comprehensive and poetic description of South Georgia’s wildlife, ecosystems and sporting glory, I shall…
31 January, 2006 BAS Bloggers
…an avid diary reader, trying to get an insight into life down here, and the people. So I hope all those followers out there enjoy my entry. Work Now the…
31 December, 2002 BAS Bloggers
…ship’s crew and all ingoing people to Halley. Suzi, one of the new scientists, celebrated her birthday with a ‘water’ themed fancy dress party. Two young royal marines who were…
28 February, 2007 BAS Bloggers
The end is nigh. Firstly I’m going to cheat a little, only by a few days, but I’ll start this month’s diary at the end of January. This is because…
15 November, 2004 BAS Bloggers
Rothera Diary, October/November 2004 After a fantastic winter at Rothera, the onset of spring and summer brings many new arrivals to the base. With the busy summer season due to…
30 November, 2006 Claire Waluda
…she will bring with her some new scientists, studying mosses and soils, and whisk our Jim and Derek off to the snowy wilds of Halley. Diary written by Claire Waluda….
22 September, 2015 Lucy Quinn
When I last wrote a web diary, back in April, it was at the end of the summer season and the first few intrepid weeks of winter. It’s hard to…
Read more on ANTARCTIC BLOG: Leopard seals, wanderer chicks and…superheroes?!
31 July, 2013 BAS Bloggers
…July also saw us take on the Race across Antarctica. All the BAS bases take on a distance (1996km) set by the race organiser (James-Halley doctor), and we battle it…
30 June, 2011 BAS Bloggers
…Rothera and Halley, and from our comrades back in Cambridge. And having a whole multi-cultural continent of people wishing you health and happiness for the coming year really does give…
31 August, 2009 Stacey Adlard
…cave gave us a very cosy night. No one complained it was cold! One night we played darts via web cam against the BAS base at Halley. Unfortunately they beat…
30 June, 2006 BAS Bloggers
…bases down south in the inaugural web darts championship. And they answered with an emphatic and resounding YES!! After the May victories against Halley and our neighbours down on the…
28 February, 2006 BAS Bloggers
…who has since upgraded our weather station. Jon was actually my boss during my first stint with the Survey when I spent two magic years at Halley as a meteorologist,…
30 November, 2005 BAS Bloggers
…I guess this wraps things up, I shall be leaving bird island to return to Halley once more for this Antarctic summer, after that I shall be heading home (…
31 October, 2005 BAS Bloggers
…Sundays to island sightseeing (last winter he was in the Flatlands of Halley, the Bird Island terrain is a little more vertical) the weather couldn’t be wasted. On the 1st…
30 April, 2005 BAS Bloggers
…barren white emptiness of Halley and he’s keen to winter on every base, starting here at BI. He also makes a mighty fine Kentucky Fried Chicken – more from The…
31 March, 2005 BAS Bloggers
…and a half months and in the next two weeks, after 18 continuous months ‘down south’ (South Georgia, Halley, Shackleton, Bird Island) I am heading home. Almost at the end…
31 May, 2003 Dave Connor
…surrounding the jetty and filling the bay was Kevan. Kevan was hoping to return to the UK at the end of May after 18 month spent at Halleyand nearly three…
31 March, 2002 BAS Bloggers
…with, and I hate to make both those puns, a slide presentation of the Halley Station on the Antarctic continent by Richard B. who has just spent two and a…
31 January, 2002 BAS Bloggers
…Until then lots and lots of love to everyone at home and a special hello to the people at Halley, who have now technically had 11½ months of winter! Jane…
31 May, 2001 Paul Cousens
…a tee shirt decided upon, and Dave Glynn from Halley has sent on a stamp design for Bird Island that was drawn there by a FID of yesteryear. Unfortunately much…
30 April, 2001 BAS Bloggers
…play Halley though, and beat them at the beer leg, which means a case of beer for us. Unfortunately, our game with Rothera did not go so well, and my…
28 February, 2001 BAS Bloggers
…years. He intends to undertake a tour of South America after connecting with some folk leaving Halley. We were keen for Paul to arrive as the Aga (which he serviced…
20 June, 2014 BAS Bloggers
…we still have daylight in winter, unlike the British Antarctic Survey Bases at Rothera and Halley, but we don’t have sunlight on base. It can still be seen in the…
30 April, 2012 James Wake
…a BAS veteran having wintered at Rothera and spent the last few seasons working on the new Halley VI he has decided to spend some time in the banana belt….
31 July, 2006 BAS Bloggers
…to be nothing, especially if you’re at Halley! However for the KEPers who are used to the outdoors and sunlight at this time of year, this week of going nowhere…
31 December, 2005 BAS Bloggers
…for her visit to Halley (and the Emperor penguins) during their resupply and personnel change over. Goodbye Jenn you will be missed. 9th The departure of the shack was the…
28 February, 2005 BAS Bloggers
…heading down to Halley for last call. For Valentines night most people on board the Shackleton and all at KEP were invited to the Government Officers house for pre-dinner drinks,…
31 December, 2003 Victoria Auld
…down through the ice to Halley, and those onboard welcomed the opportunity to stretch their legs on the last rocky places they’ll see for a few months. Disco fever was…
31 March, 2003 BAS Bloggers
…off RRS Ernest Shackleton to increase the numbers again. Steve Hinde who has just spent a winter down at Halley as a field GA will be staying with us for…
31 January, 2006 BAS Bloggers
…Rothera – for me anyway! This web diary is, I hope, going to be a bit different because I only spent the first 11 days here. The rest I have…
30 December, 2005 BAS Bloggers
Rothera Web Diary December 2005 by Pat Fielder Well there we go, the blink of an eye and another month has disappeared under our belts here at sunny Rothera-by-the Sea….
30 May, 2005 BAS Bloggers
Rothera Diary, May 2005 Our second full month of isolation has seen the real signs of winter beginning to show themselves. As the days get longer and warmer back in…
28 February, 2005 BAS Bloggers
Rothera Diary, February 2005 February was dominated by the weather. Over 80 knot winds hit the refuelling stations of Fossil Bluff and Sky Blu. Fossil Bluff is a sturdy hut…
31 December, 2004 BAS Bloggers
Rothera Diary, December 2004 A busy month at Rothera! One of the main ‘events’ was the JCR battling through miles of sea ice to try to get to Rothera for…