Apprent-ICE Blog #1

Hi all! We are the Apprent-ICE’s 2015 – Blake and Peter.

We’re both apprentice carpenters from Dunedin and have been lucky enough to be selected by Antarctica New Zealand to work on the Hillary Field Centre upgrade project at Scott Base in Antarctica. The HFC is where much of the science research down in Antarctica is processed and this upgrade is going to make it truly world class. Needless to say we’re pretty excited and really grateful!

We started our journey by meeting up with the team in Christchurch, we went through awareness training for what to expect in Antarctica. The team at Antarctica New Zealand, over two days, took us through life on Scott base and why the job they do there is so important on an international scale. We followed this up with two very intensive days of firefighting training at the Woolston training facility, where our team learnt how to work together and fight fires in rooms as hot as 300 Degrees.

We then prepared for our flight down south, twice. After a 24 hour delay we jumped on a US Air Force LC 130 Hercules for the flight south – which is like sitting in a deck chair inside a biscuit tin for 7.5 hours.  Nonetheless a memorable experience with some great views on the way. Stepping out onto the sea ice from the plane was a surreal sight and feeling, the first breath of bone chillingly cold, dry air was something that will stick with us for ever.

The crew at Scott Base were quick to give us a warm welcome, meal and a tour around the place, very much making us feel at home.

In our first six days here we have already seen the amazing sites of the pressure ridges where the sea ice meets the ice shelf and been out at the ski field for a few runs. Completed two days of practical field training where we picked up some vital survival skills in freezing snow storm conditions and had a look around the huge American base (McMurdo) just over the hill. We’re now stuck into work on the HFC project, on which we will keep you posted in our weekly update from the ice.