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Our progress for the past 24 hours has been very slow. The fast ice is unusually thick (1.8 m) and the snow cover (up to 40 cm in places) is not helping. This morning the Casbora came out from the station to grade the snow off the ice ahead of the ship, which is unprecedented but seems to be helping. The snow-cleared surface was quickly named “Labudda Drive” and leads directly to the refuelling point. We transferred 11 expeditioners ashore this morning with the Squirrel helicopter, including 8 of the Wilkins crew for field training and 3 scientists with a project to set up on Gardner Island. We are still 0.8 miles from the maximum refuelling distance of 3.2 km, and hope to reach that position by tomorrow morning. It was decided not to offload the refuelling gear ahead of the ship’s arrival. The weather is unsuitable for flying to Mawson or Mirny today (despite the beautiful conditions at Davis there is a lot of cloud elsewhere), but looks more promising tomorrow.
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.