DC on The Ice: Daytrip to Cape Evans- and finally some survey work!

Ok, so today we went to Cape Evans instead of Cape Royds, due to logistical reasons.. I'm learning that flexibility is the name of the game down here..

Cape Evans is the site of Capt Robert Falcon Scott's hut from his second expedition (the ship was the Terra Nova), from 1910-13.
This was the expedition from which he never returned- dying with two others in a tent on the Ross Ice Shelf, 11 miles from the next depot.
The hut was also used by the Ross Sea party of Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic expedition (the one where his ship the Endurance got crushed in ice, and he managed to save his men by sailing to South Georgia). The cross in the photos is dedicated to two of the men in the Ross Sea party, who went missing when the sea ice that they were crossing blew out to sea (they were too impatient to wait for it to firm up).

We travelled out to Cape Evans by Hagglund, which was an experience. Hagglunds were designed for the Swedish military, and is amphibious (apparently it can go 4.7kmh in water, luckily we didn't try it out!). They're pretty cool vehicles I reckon, altho rather noisy, and because they're tracked- quite a rough ride..

At Cape Evans, we did the first lot of survey work of our trip (seeing as it's the whole point of our being here!). Around the hut we have marks which we resurvey each year to determine if the hut is moving due to ice buildup underneath it. These surveys have been taking place since about 1989.

On the way back, we stopped at an ice cave in the Erebus Ice Tongue- a glacier that protrudes about 10km into McMurdo Sound, and is usually surrounded by sea-ice. The cave was absolutely stunning- the blues were phenomenal.. Apparently the hoar frost is added to by peoples breath, so as more tourists go inside, the more intricate the patterns get.

I've got the remainder of my Antarctic Field Training tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday, so there won't be any posts tomorrow. Whatever will you all do with your day then? hehe..

Travelling on the sea-ice. Tent Island dead ahead.

Erebus in the background, part of the Cape Evans hut on the right (actually the latrines). The anchor is from Shackletons Ross Sea party's ship the Aurora, which was pulled out to sea when the sea ice in the bay was blown out in a storm. It left the party (who had only half unloaded at this stage) marooned in Antarctica with pretty much only the clothes on their backs, and knowing that Shackleton needed them to lay depots for when he crossed the continent. They managed to lay all of the depot's, even though Shackleton never even made it onto the continent on the other side.