David L. Harrowfield's Diary
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Sunday 14th January 2001, Law Base
After yesterday it was good to get up to a fine morning without fine powdered snow over the floor of my donga. By mid morning the wind was easing and the barometric pressure rising. Although not such a sunny day, there was a chance for us all to get out and do some work which included re-erecting the Russian flag. Climbing onto the mess hut roof I soon found that the aluminium pole had snapped off at roof level. A few minutes work and again the flag was flying. From this vantage point it was also interesting to see the fine layer of brown sand which had blown over snow surfaces near the camp. I spent much of the afternoon examining the local geomorphology and later in the day, Mr Cong Kai arrived to collect my equipment. He drives one of the big tracked vehicles which was purchased from the Russian expedition. This evening we all went to Zhong Shan and after a welcome shower (it is really good to have clean hair at least once a week), we sat down to a Chinese meal. Ewan and Andy played table tennis and Mick and I headed back to Law Base.
Zhong Shan station, "Landrovski" in foreground. Photo courtesy Mark Tell
Monday 15th January
Had a very good day's work today and collected over 40 samples. I then enjoyed lunch with Mr Cong Kai and headed back over the rocky landscape to our camp. There was very little wind blowing but it was quite hot. As always we try and keep to rock rather than soft ground, however it is important to watch for any plants such as communities of lichens, mosses or algae. Arrived back fairly weary and Andy made a cup of coffee which revived me nicely. Later in the day Mr Cong Kai delivered my samples and equipment and after a good meal of fried steak, mushrooms, onions, mashed potato and peas, most of us went for a climb on nearby Base Ridge from which we had the most wonderful view of the Dalk Glacier and the Polar Plateau which was bathed in a pale bluish-mauve light. Returned to my donga just as the katabatic wind was rising.
Tuesday 16th January
Had a busy day most of which was taken up with documenting the samples collected yesterday and packing them for transport to Davis Station. I hope to complete this aspect of Jim's work in another few days time after which, will take a couple of days off. Early this evening Leigh arrived to collect Andy and Mick and to transport our samples. It was great to receive my computer disc with messages from my family and friends. While I have been at Law Base, Monika my cycling companion, has been on Niue Island which is in the Pacific Ocean and almost on the Equator. Some days there has been about a 30 degree temperature difference between our respective locations. Soon after getting back to New Zealand, my mountain bike will be dusted off and we will head to the Catlins on the south east coast of New Zealand's South Island. Well thats about it for today. The wind is just starting to pick up and by seven in the morning, it should be blowing quite well.
Wednesday 17th January
The wind came up during the night and this morning Ewan and I have been busy on our laptop computers. After doing some washing I headed to the nearby snow drift to get a bucket of snow. The wind was blowing at about 20 knotts and on the way back, a gust knocked me over. The result was a half bucket of snow only and skin off a shin. Such is life at a field station. A cloud-free day and a trip to the Chinese Station to do some photography is a possibility.