Now that our AFT allows us to leave the base footprint

Yesterday we went for a walk around the pressure ridges, which are raised ice formations caused by the sea ice pushing up against the land, not dissimilar to tectonic plates. This often causes small gaps which seals can come up through from the ocean onto the ice, or thinner areas of ice which the seals chew through with their teeth. It is the beginning of birthing season at the moment, so we encountered some new pups too! The rules are that you must pass animals with at least 10m distance, but if you stop that far away, they can approach you without you having to move back. Sadly no seals wanted to see us close up today.

We had Toyota training to allow us to drive the vehicles, most of the time we’ll use these between Scott Base and Observation Hill. The system to start the 4WD totals about 30 minutes, fortunately once you start the warmup process you can enjoy a cup of coffee for most of that 30 minutes before starting the engine and heading off. As they are manual transmission, you leave the vehicle in first gear with the park brake off when you’re finished, because the brake tends to seize in the cold. We follow American rules around the roads by driving on the right.