The ALCI flight of the IL-76 was scheduled to depart at 2 PM. Hence the departing members left the station at 11 AM. I also went to the Novo Runway to see them off. On reaching the Novo Runway, we were informed that the flight would be departing at 10:30 PM. This was because of a rescue mission under process. 2 adventurers who were attempting to ski to the South Pole from Germany’s Neumayer station were stranded on the way since their stocks were depleted. A Basler aircraft was to go to rescue them. All the members were given the option of going back to Maitri or to stay on till evening when the vehicles and the leaders would return again to see off the departing members. Many returned and others stayed back. I too stayed back. It would be a long awaited change and a welcome day away from the station.
I munched on the variety of food freely available at the ALCI cafeteria. There were a variety of meats, cheese & bread to choose from. The cookies too were yummy. I first helped myself to a huge portion of ham, salami and brown bread and white bread along with coffee. This was followed by an assortment of cookies.
There were 2 four- wheeled vehicles parked near the cafeteria hut. It is not usual to find such vehicles here. They were huge, something like the Hummer trucks. I went up close to investigate. A few westerners were working on and around the vehicle. Some were testing a tent nearby. I discovered those vehicles to be the Hilux model from Toyota. They were arctic trucks that were here to give support to a ski race to the South Pole. The participants would be air dropped 400 km away from the Pole, from where the race would begin but the vehicle would drive down all the way to the Pole. It was an amazing thought. I wondered if the vehicles were suited to the conditions expected enroute. The Pole is 2000 km from the Novo Runway and the route is ridden with massive crevasses. Temperatures of the order of -50ºC were expected on the way even at this time of the year. I also wondered if the wheels of the vehicles would be suited to the ice, instead of snow. Would they not skid? The vehicles had huge, spikes wheels but no chain that we normally put on wheels in the Himalayas.
All these doubts were put to rest soon. The vehicles had a ladder with which they could cross crevasses many meters wide. They would also have a sensor a few feet in front of the vehicles to detect hidden crevasses. The suitability of the vehicles to the low temperatures was not in doubt because they were Arctic Trucks, meant for use at the Poles. Later during the day I saw these vehicles speeding along the runway at probably 150 km/hr and breaking suddenly. They used to stop abruptly instead of skidding. The wheels of these vehicles were spiked. Hence, their suitability for ice was also good.
We were allotted a tent for the day. The tent had 7 comfortable beds where we spent most of our day. Soon it was lunch time. The cafeteria served a non veg stew and soup. I did not bother to ask what meat it was. The Russians are supposed to be particularly fond of beef and horse meat. Whatever it was, it tasted good and different from what I have been having all the year. I spent a lot of time exploring the airport. I went upto the smaller Basler aircraft that transports men and material to Troll, Neumayer and other areas nearby, and the larger IL- 76 aircraft, taking photographs from all possible angles. I also took a walk on the 3 km long runway. It had been evened out with a vehicle with spiked tyres. It was amazing. It is only in Antarctica that we can go right upto the aircraft and even board it and go all over the runway without any restrictions. There are no policemen or security guards in Antarctica. Everything is based on trust. I saw numerous old, abandoned vehicles belonging to Novo lying all around. They included bull dozers and sundry other vehicles whose utility I could not comprehend.
I saw 3 skuas permanently parked outside the cafeteria tent. They appeared to be working in shifts. At any point of time I saw only one skua there, and each time it was a different one. It used to wait for titbits from visitors. They were more docile and domesticated than the ones in Schirmacher and did not get scared away so easily.
I chatted up people from various stations around Dronning Maudland, including Russians, Germans, Norwegians and Canadians, who were going to Cape Town that evening. It was nice to talk to such a wide assortment of people. They all had interesting titbits to tell about their wintering experience. Most of our talk centred on blizzards and temperatures.
Soon it was dinner time. Dinner consisted of noodles, non veg curry and salad, along with pork. The place was teeming with people. Soon, our team members also arrived from Maitri and joined us in the cafeteria. As the time for departure neared, the outgoing members were reminiscing about their wintering experience and the good and bad times that we had shared here. It was a happy as well as an emotional time for them. They had developed an emotional bond with Maitri. But soon they got busy with the boarding formalities. There were no passport checks, or security checks. There was no restriction on the amount of luggage you carried, or what you carried. That’s trust, Antarctica style.
It was now time to go. The outgoing members were taken to the aircraft in a sledge drawn by a snow scooter. We followed them on another one and bid them the final goodbye before the aircraft was ready for take off. It finally took off at 10 PM, raising a lot of snow. It was bright sunshine when it took off, as it always is. We returned soon to a station that looked empty without those 8 members.
No comments:
Post a Comment