Hanna and Tobbes amazing Antarctic adventures: Visit to 'Klein Bergie'

This afternoon, just as I was falling asleep over some R programming on my laptop, Daleen phoned the lab to tell us that if we could be ready in 2 minutes, we had a chance of going to CHHchhrrChhrlch! We weren't quite sure whether that was a good or a bad thing, but decided a change of scenery is always good, so we ran downstairs. A group was just leaving for 'the little mountain', which in Africaans is Klein Bergie (pronounced approximately like above), and me, Tobbe and SJ got to go along! We set off on ski-doos with our rucksacks packed with ice axes, crampons, ropes, harnesses and sherry. The little mountain is quite nearby and is a gigantic wind scoop, with a frozen lake at the bottom of it. We put on our gear and started walking down (Lötter, Andre and Etienne were abseiling down one of the icy sides).

Klein Bergie, and its wind scoop. The bottom, as well as the sides, are just solid ice, so we had a great time testing our crampons and ice axes down there!

It was lots of fun to get to use our crampons properly again, there were some interesting crevasses that we inspected thoroughly (from above) and then we played around on the ice or climbed up on the rocks! Below is a photo of typical wind scoop activities caught in one image.. Relaxing and enjoying the moment (Andre), taking photos of absolutely everything, including down into the ice (Alan) or just pretending to be a walrus practising for the next ice marathon (Rory).

What South Africans (and Swedes!) like to do when they are ice bound..

Such a perfect afternoon, and we were back just in time for the braai (still, there's a bbq every Saturday!).

The sunsets down here are just stunning, and they go on forever at the moment. Last night was especially beautiful as the clouds were forming dark striated shadows on the sky. I know we've shown you lots of sky photos already, but here are two more, just so you will grasp how amazing the nature is down here. =)