The Kloa* trip is underway. A very excited and enthusiastic group of six left station on Sunday – on their way to make a 600 km round trip, camping for a portion of the nights and in field huts for the other, conducting a census of the various emperor penguin colonies along the way, and cleaning up old depots along the historic dog route. All is going well at the moment, with the team camping for their first night as I write this, in what they report is a ‘stunning’ spot.
Six expeditioners off station, means just 9 left at home. With such small numbers we are basically confined to station – covering on-call roles, fire team, and with no spare vehicles for travel. So, for our photos this week, a few of the Kloa team departing, some aurora from this week, and then a little photo essay from Leon.
Bec J, Mawson SL
*Kloa Point is approximately 260 km across the sea-ice west from station, a prominent coastal point projecting from the east side of Edward VIII Plateau and the winter home of a small emperor penguin colony. This area has only been rarely visited since the sled dog’s departure from Mawson with the most recent trip conducted in the early 2000s.
