Personal experience, between 1966 and 1969, of work and life on Halley Bay, a British Antarctic Survey Base, approx 75degrees South and 800 miles from the South Pole, in Antarctica.
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From Grahamland to South Georgia onto Halley Bay through to Midwinter 1967
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After Christmas and Anvers Island - it was back to Port Stanley and a change of ship witha transfer onto the Danish M.V Perla Dan to complete the journey to Halley Bay via South Georgia. On the Island of South Georgia they are King Penguins and remants of a whaling station. Sir Ernest Shackleton is buried here.

On leaving South Georgia, a Japanese Whaling ship is seen anchored. The Perla Dan continues down into the Eastern side of the Weddell Sea, all the time searching and following 'open sea" wherever it can  found but always heading south. The Weddell Sea is nearly always covered in sea ice and a route has to be found through areas where the sea ice has boken up and leaves a stretch of open water. The Perla Dan finally arrives at Halley Bay 75deg south, in January 1967

  On arrival at Halley Bay the new base building materials and stores were offloaded without incident. Unfortunately towards the end of offloading the wind picked up and broke up the fast ice causing the ships to move away from danger of being trapped. Amidst snowstorms the final offloading of the personel occurred, though looking dangerous, without mishap

The main job of the year 1967 is to build a new base named Halley II - (nicknamed Grillage Village due to the 'raft formation of wooden beams for the foundation." The huts were composed of wooden beams and metal structure. Building work continued as long as there are some daylight hours - it only ceased when the winter darkness set in.

The scientific team lived and worked in the old base of Halley I - awaiting the completion of Halley II sufficiently for them to move their instruments and equipment. Metereologists carried out daily weather balloon flights - tracked by the radar WF1.   Geophysicists carried measurements of ice and sky phenomena - such as measuring the amount of daylight each day. In winter an all-sky camera recorded the Aurorae. Husky pups were kept and reared on the old base whilst their parents and older huskies were kept with their handlers at the new base.  As March and April approached the sun begins to dip below the horizon and nights start to draw in. Time is spent indoors though everyday throughout the winter darkness the weather balloon flight and geophysics still have to continue. The moon in Midwinter shines brightly over the base - shafts leading down to the buried huts

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