preparing for the imminent sea-ice break up. These two
intrepid Antarctic heroes will be marooned for 4 to 6 weeks
in the wilds of Bechervaise Island until the sea-ice breaks out and
the boats can come and get them.
Having enough food is essential to maintain morale over the long
isolation period, and a balanced diet is an important part of this
(scientific theory says that you should eat the same volume of each
food). That meant lugging 400 litres of water and some heavy LPG gas
cylinders up the hill to their luxurious accommodation, along with 6
weeks of peanut butter, pesto sauce and tinned peaches – the staple
diet of penguin biologists.
They have also been busy investigating alternative transport methods
in case the sea-ice remains and the boats aren't required. While
small, the humble frying pan was found to be the most effective
cooking utensil when moving large amounts of gear (or people) between
station and the island. Interestingly, pizza trays fared badly,
despite their apparent suitability. Clearly more work is needed in
this area before a utensil is found that is both functional in the
kitchen and a viable form of transport.
Amongst this furious preparation they still find time to count
penguins and late last night had reached the magical number of 3^9.
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