Scott’s creation on the first of January tent day.

Three tent days in a row. New Year’s Day spent in a tent is perhaps not the best way to start a year. We’d all have preferred being out hunting for space travelers, but safety comes first. Always.

On the other hand, we are in Antarctica; that’s pretty special! While it’s a little chilly outside (-40 windchill, I reckon) the views of Bjaaland, Wisting and Presterud to our east, and the Admunsen ice stream to our west are spectacular this evening.
I just went out, dumped my Pee bottles, and grabbed some of the food in our natural ‘freezer’. There’s still a lot of food, you’ll be pleased to learn (probably too many tater tots!).
I’ve written about Tent Day mornings, but what about afternoons and evenings? They are actually much the same as the afternoon or evening periods on the days when we do hunt (which have been few and far between this season, making us experts on what a Tent Day is really like).
The first secret of a tent afternoon/evening is that they are all different amongst folks sharing tents. When I was tenting with Shaun Norman in 2006/2007 at Larkman Nunataks he turned me into a Scrabble pro with long afternoon games that I mostly lost.
Here, Scott brings a different and equally entertaining perspective to life in the tent. For a start, he really is Mr. Gizmo. At one stage yesterday, he had the blog posting equipment, his phone (for music I think), computer, and the Sat Phone, all in his lap.
I rib him, but thanks to this, he has been beaming out some excellent blog posts. He appreciates all the positive feedback and I echo the praise.
We’ve kept ourselves entertained with games, some movies, and reading. I am onto Nuclear Physics and still fascinated by the life of Fridtjof Nansen at the moment.
Scott is taking his turn at cooking tonight. He’s making a Halibut and Cous Cous with Asparagus extravaganza. This is all happening about a foot from where I sit and write to you. So far, he hasn’t splashed too much sauce from the skillet on me.
The light here in the tent is both constant and a yellow tone, from the tent sides. This makes even the most vibrant dishes look a little washed out.
What matters, however, is the taste. Hmmmm, delicious. Scott has some potential for his own cooking segment on this blog!
Well, dinner is over now and washing up (dragging/waving the brown hand towels across the skillet, plates and cooking surfaces suffices) and I got out of most of it, due to Scott’s ‘food inhalation’ technique. Remarkably fast eater.
It’s 7pm now on New Years Day, the first tent day of the year. We are now waiting to head to Ioannis and John’s tent for nightly reading.
Ioannis means John in Greek, but J-squared tent hasn’t really caught on as yet.
In their tent, we’ve been reading excerpts from the Scott and Amundsen diaries for the same days in 1906. It really is amazing to glimpse at the hardship these early explorers put themselves through.
Modern expeditions, compared to them, are infinitely better equipped and safer.
From the ‘J-squared’ tent, Ioannis is doing well. He seems to be enjoying all the food thrown at him with equal gusto. He’s taken lots of photographs and is chomping at the bit to collect more meteorites.
John is as dependable as ever. Looking after us here on the ice. He enjoys a good yarn and has some really interesting stories locked up from his many years of adventuring across the world.
After our visit to their tent (and hopefully a Sat Phone discussion with Team A), we are going to watch a film/movie. That’ll take us until 10.30pm or so. Then it’s back to Nansen and his attempt for the North Pole for me.
We’re sitting here silently in the tent, listening to the wind beat against the tent sides. The burner is off (too much heat just after dinner). The tent is shivering, getting cold for our benefit.
With any luck, we won’t have too many more Tent Day afternoons and evenings, but if we do, we’ve got plenty of stuff that keeps us busy.
It’s good to take some time to just reflect. The enormity of the Antarctic and it’s splendor is marvelous to behold. That we are also collecting rocks from other planetary bodies makes it all-the-more amazing.
I hope you can all find time to relax and enjoy the start of your New Year. Perhaps you can even try a Tent Day, Pee Bottles, cooking next to your bed, and washing up with public restroom paper towels included!
Posted by James at 20:00 on the 1st January 2018 from Nodtvedt Nunataks, Antarctica.