TERRIBLE WEATHER

14 JULY 1995

The weather is still getting worse. We recorded our all time record low so far of minus 33 degree Celsius outside and minus 19 degrees inside. For the past eight days we have been stuck in our hut with a huge blizzard raging. When the blizzard finally stopped it was COLD with no wind. We couldn't get the heater going because there was very little oxygen so we had to open the door. A vent on the window inside "Gadget Hut" let the drift in during the blizzard. Of course the windows are frozen up again. We had real trouble when we were forced outside in the blizzard for a quick run to get snow because we ran out of water. The wind was 80 to 100 knots and I was getting blown around all over the place. I couldn't use the bucket to collect snow because it was impossible to hold onto in the wind. I had to chop small icebergs from the ice and carry them to the hut one at a time.
Margie was hiding in the lee of the hut and at one stage she was hit by a block of snow. The slops bucket got pretty full during the blizzard. We had to empty it and the wind was still pretty strong. I didn't want the bucket to blow away so I put on my Musto sailing jacket with a harness and life line. There is a clip on the end of the life line that snaps on to various places on a sailboat. I clipped this life line to the bucket to stop it blowing away!

SINCE WATER IS SUCH A PROBLEM RIGHT NOW
Margie had a bath. I haven't been able to because either we don't have enough water or the isn't any more room in the slops bucket. I have now gone for 20 days since my last bath. 'I think this is my personal worst.' (I promised Margie I'd say that.)

SUNSHINE AND GOOD NEWS
This sun is really coming back fast. The other day we had two and a half hours of sunshine. We went outside for a walk. Margie is really missing the penguins. She says the penguins who didn't make it before the first severe blizzard don't look like they are dead. They are frozen but they look like they are just sleeping! Now that the sun is coming back the sky is turning light blue which is very exciting. Maybe the penguins will come back sooner than expected in October. Who knows! The good news this week is that we have a publisher for our book. It will be 258 big pages with colour photographs of our year down here, "Together Alone." It will be out next year, October 1996. We are really excited about this project.

OUR 'NIL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT' BELIEFS
In a previous journal, I mentioned that I wanted to send "Spirit of Sydney" to protest the French Government's nuclear testing at Mururoa Atoll. I didn't because if anything happened to "Spirit of Sydney" we might be stuck here for another winter. So this week Margie and I found out that we can send our protest to Jacques Chirac, the French Prime Minister in Paris by e-mail! In the olden days sailors would put messages in bottles and toss them into the sea. Now we can send a protest via e-mail. Not just a protest but art work too!

ARTWORK, PHOTOGRAPHS ON CYBER-VOTES VIA E-MAIL
A family living in rural New South Wales have used their computer knowledge and equipment to start a petition to the French Government about Jacques Chirac's decision to commit nuclear testing at Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific. They entered their petition on the INTERNET'S WORLD WIDE WEB and invited others to join them. I talked to Kevin on the satphone yesterday and he invited everyone to have a look at the art gallery against nuclear testing. So far people have sent more than 2000 pieces of children's art and messages by e-mail. Mary Ann is putting the details about this e-mail Children's Art Protest Against Nuclear Testing in the South Pacific on ICEJOURNAL.BB under CYBER-VOTE HI-TECH PROTEST. Have a look at what high technology is doing. Communications, by computer, in colour around the world instantly without paper. Cyber-space communications.
Wow, when I think of Sir Douglas Mawson, 80 years ago!! He made the first two-way radio communication with Australia from mainland Antarctica!! Kevin is scanning our photo into the petition so Jacques Chirac will see us and Mawson's Hut when he reads our message.

GOOD FOOD, BAD FUEL, HARD BED
We are really eating very well. This week we dined on Sate Beef, which claimed the 'best of the week' title. It was a flash cooked, full-of-all-the-nutrition Shelf Stable Foods' meal. So were the other meals which took our minds off the terrible weather.
We ate Beef and Black Bean on Monday; Thai Beef on Tuesday; Hot Spicy Beef and Beef with Mushrooms on Wednesday; then ...wait a minute, I'm getting hungry. We got a new drum of fuel this week and found that it is contaminated. The fuel causes smoke when the heater starts and problems in the stove burner. My inflatable mattress has developed a leak. I thought I found it and fixed it but then it leaked again. My bed is a bit hard at present. The minus 33 cold is giving our batteries a hard time.

Keep warm,
Don
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