Hollinger in Antarctica

 By the time most of you read this you will no doubt be starting your last week at work before the Christmas break. For all those at Tapton School I hope you enjoy the last week starting with the Christmas Carol service on Monday night in Ranmoor Church. I remember going last year - It always feels as though Christmas has begun on that night. This is followed by the A level presentation evening for last year’s Upper Sixth next Thursday and the staff Christmas Do at the Bristol Hotel. However the event of all events will no doubt be the staff production of ‘Joseph’ next Friday – I wish I was there!

As you know we were due to fly out on the 10th of December but the harsh weather persists and we are still here in Patriot Hills. Although the weather has improved a little today it still isn’t good enough to bring a plane in and the blue ice runway is under a good depth of powder snow. I am sure you are all getting ready for Christmas. It dosen’t feel like Christmas here, except for vast quantities of snow, which I suppose is not Christmas is the UK anyway. We have spent the day eating well  as we are now allowed to eat three cooked meals a day in the mess tent (thank you ALE!), digging out the mess tent and organising the Polar Olympics 2007. The Olympics were an incredible event which tested the participants to their limits through welly wanging (done with a mountaineering boot), a coconut shy (done with insulated mugs), hoop-la (done with buckets and frozen sponges), tug-of-war, a blindfolded sledge hauling race, an egg and spoon race and a treasure hunt.

Thanks to Bob for his messages and James who sent an answer to the question - How can we reduce the wind speed and turbulence experienced by our tent with a snow wall? He has suggested two overlapping walls at 45 degrees to each other forming a v-shape. Phil is going to construct the walls tomorrow and we will let you know the results. Thanks also to Susan for the “10 things you can do when stuck in a tent in Antarctica!” Alex, your contribution was appreciated too (I am not sure if Cara contributed but thanks to her anyway!)  and I think most if not all have been tried. Anybody with any other ideas please send them in. Happy birthday to Ben 13BW, Claire 10WL and Nadia 7CC. Finally I hope those who took part in the Dark and White trailquest today enjoyed themselves. I look forward to seeing you all at the next event in Jan.