Your stories

In 1995 Kev O'Donnell from Sheffield wrote to us about his experiences of life in a continent where sub-zero temperatures are the norm.

Introduction

I have the position of Catering Manager at the Halley V Research Station - Latitude 75°35' S, Longitude 26°39' W, Brunt Ice Shelf, Coats Land.  This station was made notably famous for it discovery of depletion in the stratospheric ozone layer in 1985.

Halley is the UK's most isolated station and is afloat on an ice shelf on the mainland of Antarctica.

In winter there is darkness for 105 days - a darkness which is relieved by magnificent auroral displays.

Kev O'Donnell in the Antarctic

The relief of Halley is a major undertaking with supplies being landed twice a year by ship (December and February) onto the ice shelf and then towed on sledges by Sno-cats to Halley, some 12km distant from the ice edge.

For the remaining months the base is totally inaccessible and has only limited contact to and from the outside world.

Halley V is the fifth station to be built on the Brunt Ice Shelf. The first was established for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1957-58, and named after the astronomer Edmond Halley.

It filled an important gap in the IGY Antarctic network with studies in meteorology, glaciology, seismology, radio astronomy, and geospace science. Many of these studies have continued uninterrupted since then.

Halley V contains a mix of building technologies. Three buildings are located on platforms on steel legs, which are jacked up annually to keep them clear of the accumulated snowfall.

An accommodation building and a garage weighing over 50 tons are mounted on skis and towed each year to a new position. Halley I to Halley IV were built directly on the snow and were each abandoned within ten years, having been crushed by the overlying ice.

Life as a chef

My workload as catering manager varies immensely from summer to winter.

The summer, when the base is busy with most of the work done has a capacity of 60-70 people on site.

Working is a 24-hour operation during relief, this is when the supply ship is unloaded.

After relief, the summer settles down to a basic 12 or 13 hour day... more for the catering team as we have to be there around meal times and then dinner when everyone else has finished.

Kev O'Donnell in an ice cave

:: See more of Kev's stunning Antarctic photos by clicking on the link on the right.

I also have to ensure that we cater for extra people that are in the field or if we have other bases coming through here.

We occasionally have Germans from Neuymayer call in at the beginning of summer to re-fuel their Dornier planes. This is good because we not only get to see new faces but they also bring some post with them.

Through the winter the pace is a lot more calm with only 16 members on base, eating only two cooked meals a day, as opposed to four in the summer.

This means that my days are a lot more relaxed and time off is not a problem. The science is still carried out as usual and the technical services department carry out preventative maintenance and the like.

During, the winter because the temperature is too low to operate vehicles if I need more supplies, I have to man-haul a sledge down to the container lines in order to drag food back from the storage units there.

A stunning view at night

Not too bad in nice weather but it can be a problem when the wind is blowing at 40 knots and you are in near zero visibility at -40°C!

I think my role here as chef is a critical one and integral towards the experience people have here.

The food and the activities arranged around meal times are what keeps the base together during the winter and fuels them during the summer.

It is also said the chef is the make or break link in people's winters - this does lay on quite a bit of pressure to perform but the rewards from helping people enjoy themselves far outweigh the hard work and sacrifices made.

The appliance of science

As well as performing my professional day-to-day duties of managing the food and domestic stocks for all the science platforms here at Halley, I also get to take part in some of the day-to-day science that happens here.

We also have base duties to carry out. 'Melt tank', which is done on a rota system, is where a team of four go out each day for a week to dig the snow which is melted for general use on base.

BAS Workstation, Antarctica

Other duties

I am also a member of the search and rescue team at Halley in which if something goes wrong either on base, down the tunnel networks or off base on science field trips or holidays, then I could be called on.

I was also postmaster last season, which in effect is keeping records of sales (stamps/postcards etc) weighing parcels and ensuring that letters were posted back to loved ones on time.

Post is quite a big part of things down here as we only receive it between the end of December up until the middle of February.

The only other means of contact was by limited e-mail which was transferred as a data schedule along with the science data only once or sometimes twice a day.

Last year we didn't have the Internet so we couldn't stay in touch with folks back home anywhere near as much as now.

In my spare time I...

In our free time on base, there is always plenty to do. We have lots of fancy dress nights, murder mystery nights, also known as murder misery nights!

Penguins in the Antarctic

We also played five-a-side football outside, and although it was a little cold for shorts and shirts it was still fun. We also have a gymnasium which gets used quite a lot to keep the extra pounds off!

Quite a few of us have kites which we fly, some use skis or snowboards with theirs and use the wind and kite to pull them along as we have no hills here.

Photography is also popular and we have a darkroom for developing photos and slides in, but the effort of doing this as opposed to using a digital camera is quite a deal more - but there is something satisfying about holding a photo that I have made rather than looking at it on a screen.

We can also visit the creeks where the penguins are for a day trip or stay at the caboose overnight.

The caboose are like a caravan but much more Spartan and on skis as opposed to wheels.