Escape

Got out from Constable Point yesterday and now back home. It was looking decidedly dodgy the night before, because the fog that turned us back from Kap Heogh spread everywhere and by evening it was flat light, low cloud and snowing lightly.

 

The planes here are like buses, nothing much happens for weeks then they all come at once.

However, faith was restored the next morning when the cloud lifted and the sun shone making a busy day for the air port with 2 Twin Otters, the helicopter, the Basler and an Air Greenland Dash-8 from the west coast.

Rob makes his escape pursued by the film crew who have now gone completely feral.

So a good season, not without it's challenges. Paul again did a sterling job keeping it all together in often trying conditions and we just hope the 'doos will behave themselves in the last week of operations.

Thanks to everyone I worked with for your support and hard work.

That's all from me. Time to get me grass cut.

Last journey

Yesterday we had our final day with the film crew. We went to a few huts across the fjord and filmed Rob on a satellite phone, in a sleeping bag, treating an injured person in a pretend incident and setting off a flare.

 Pretending to phone Rob's wife in Kalkdal

 Sea ice cracks by the Fame hut while we wait to finish filming.

 Fame hut where we spent a couple of hours

 Pretending to set off a distress flare - no one came to the rescue!

Returning at 10.00pm after a hard day's filming.

 Rob the film star with his stunt double.

Today we tried again to get the depot to Kap Heogh. A local brought fuel up from the village for us, after insisting that he needed payment just an hour before he was due to leave. International bank transfers don't work that quickly! That was one to solve. with the new fuel we were able to try a different valley called Sodal just south of Kalkdal and this involved going over a glacier.

 Ferrying loads up the steep snout of the glacier.

Roping up on the glacier.

All went well and we got to the glacier just fine though all the moraine and up the steep snout slope and roped up. We made progress quickly to the top of the glacier where we could look down onto the east side of Liverpool Land and on to Kap Heogh. Then I spotted the fog. The whole of the east side was covered in sea fog about 100m thick above the surface and rolling up the glacier.

Planning what to do next as we see the fog.

After much discussion we agreed there was nothing for it but to turn round. To navigate in thick fog on a glacier would be impossible.

 Fog rolls up the glacier

 

On the glacier looking down Sodal towards CNP

 

Last obstacle to get over as we head back down Sodal valley.

Then the new 'doo started playing up again. On the way out of Sodal and across the fjord to CNP it would only go a kilometer or two before loosing power and stopping. After 5 minutes it would go again for a another few kms. It was slow going, but eventually we got back to our camp.

Waiting for the skidoo to go again.

Ikea film crew

So the latest event at our camp is a film crew who are here to make a short online promotional video for Ikea.

Focus pulling

There are 6 of them in total, 2 from the agency commissioning the work, who watch and come up with brilliant ideas and stand around getting cold, 4 from the production company - the camera man, the camera man's focus puller, a man that shouts 'action!', a man who watches the man who shouts action and absolutely no one from Ikea.

Pretending to fuel 'doos

And then of course there's Rob the doctor; our man. He's the star and has to do things over and over again in front of the camera ever so slightly differently each time. What's this got to do with flat pack? Well, we think it's all about a doctor roughing it out in freezing conditions, fighting polar bears and getting frostbite and then coming home to the comfort of an Ikea bed!

  Ready for a bumpy ride

We went out last night to catch the good light to film Rob on his skidoo. I had the cameraman, the camera man's focus puller and the man who shouts 'action!' all on this people carrier we call the banana boat. They were all bouncing and jiggling about on this thing behind me getting a load of blurry shots and trying not to fall off. They were all a bit hot and bothered when we stopped and then the sun set and we all froze.

Next day was a late start and they spent all afternoon filming Rob fueling the skidoos with the fuel we didn't have and I played safety man while Rob wielded the chainsaw within inches of the camera man and camera man's focus puller's face.

Pretending to chainsaw

Pretending to go into the container

 Pretending to put up a tent

 Burning the tent down

I said just smile!

He must be there somewhere

 Waiting to finish while temperatures plummet

Camp jobs

There's a bit of stuff that has to be done around camp on a regular basis, such as filling the heater fuel drum, collecting water from the helicopter hangar, emptying the toilet and taking poo and rubbish to the tip.

 Lowering fuel drum into place for stove fuel

 Basler aircraft arrived today to support an ice core drilling team on Renland

 Toilet duty

 Taking poo to sledge

 Checking bag for holes

 More fuel pumping

 

  Filling water containers

Taking water to camp

 Gent's toilet

Dodgy Fuel?

Been out all day to try to deliver another equipment depot, but ALL the doos malfunctioned so we had to turn round. Probably something to do with the new petrol we bought off the airport. The depot was at Kap Hoegh, but we had to stop short on the east side of Liverpool Land.

Calling base on the Sat phone to say we have turned round due to engine problems.

We had to leave the new 'doo behind and go back to collect it. Doo 1 had to stop every 2 kms to recover before it would go again.

Route through Kalkdal to Kap Hoegh. We had to turn around when the 'doos malfunctioned.

Polar Bear prints in Kalkdal

Next day it was –14 C and sunny with a biting breeze. The day has consisted of pouring all the fuel from the 20lt jerry cans back into the 200lt fuel drum because we are sure the fuel we bought from the airport is making all the Doo engines malfunction.

 Testing fuel for ethanol content and water contamination

 Pumping all the fuel out of the 'doos

 We only have good fuel for about one short journey and about 60 lts more, is burried in a container which took about 2 days of digging to get into. Even that is not enough and Paul is trying to get someone to bring more up from the village. Until then we are stranded and we have a film crew who wants to go places tomorrow, a depot to deliver about 70 kms away and 6 people up in North Liverpool Land who need collecting in a week's time.

 Running the 'doos with original fuel to see if we can make them go.

 

Putting the engines on the 'BUDS" diagnostic software to see if we can find any faults.

 Starting the tunnel into the container door to look for spare fuel.

Chainsawing blocks to get to the container 2m under the snow.

However, Paul has now made contact with a guy from the village who says he will bring fuel up on Monday and we've at last got into the buried container. A lot of chainsawing for me as the snow was too hard to dig. But we've found another 60 lts of fuel so the wolf is slightly further away from the door!

 Getting close to opening the container door.

With the original fuel now in them, if the 'doos recover, we will know it was the fuel.

Wildlife

Just got back from a two day trip back over to Gurreholm. Another night spent there, making four for me this season. This time the weather was fine and it was much nicer there with only four of us and no clients. We were there because we were delivering a load of equipment for Leo Houlding who has an expedition to climb something big and hard this summer. We made a depot of kit near SydKap so a helicopter can ferry it to to his base camp, greatly decreasing flying time and therefore cost.

  Equipment depot by Sydkap huts.

 Just as we came over the hill to the Gurreholm hut, about 300mts away, we saw three polar bears there, a mother and two cubs. Great excitement and out came the camaras. I had only seen one once and the others had never seen one. Alex wanted to pat their furry bottoms! The bears moved away as soon as we came into sight and wandered off onto the sea ice and away to the icebergs. They had smashed a few windows which was a bit of a shame and we made sure we had the gun inside the hut and always went outside with a flare.

Polar bears at Gurreholm

Polar bears wandering off to the icebergs

Polar bear watch

Polar bear tracks

When we got to the huts at SydKap to depot the kit, many of the windows in those huts had been smashed by a bear. I wonder if it was the same one?

 Polar bear damage to hut windows

Raven prints

We also got some good views of these prehistoic like Musk Ox on the way back over Jameson Land. There are often groups feeding on moss and roots, but mostly in the distance. These two were right by the track. I walked closer to get a better look while they just stood there.  The others thought I was going to get charged!