6th March, 2009
Well its day 5 poss. 6 not too sure really the days all kind of blur into one. We said goodbye to our personal luggage and turbines today, it’s a weird feeling our bags being flown out to Antarctica without us. I just wish we could have been with them, but that’s the beauty of Antarctica she only lets you in when she is ready and right now she isn’t ready for us.
The biggest thing for me as that every day here is a lost day in Antarctica for the other guys, see I was there last year so I know what she has to offer, but I’m sure she still has a few surprises for me!
But every day we are here it’s a lost day for the npower guys Stuart and Justin and also lost days for Jamie and Jonny and also the man Jake.
For whatever reason she doesn’t want us there right now but she will soon and when we do get there it will be such hard work but so worthwhile, so all your readers out there say a little pray gets us out there and keep watching, tell all your friends to watch and wish us all the best of luck, see all soon from Antarctica, until then think make the changes you can and keep watching.
Russell Oliver
npower/2041
5th March, 2009
Download Education for the 21st Century
Music thanks to Audio Network
5th March, 2009
The difficulties of getting to Antarctica are becoming very, very clear to me. We had a call from Alejo (our mysterious Antarctic fixer) this afternoon telling us that there was a possibility of hitching a lift on a Hercules tomorrow. This news couldn’t have come at a better time – we finished our “Things to do in Punta Arenas” book on the first day, and this is day three.
The news didn’t stay good for long. We’ve just had a call to say that the flight tomorrow is for cargo only. So, our bags are going to Antarctica but we’re not. We’ve just packed the bits that we need to survive for the next few days into our hand luggage and we’re taking the rest of our luggage to the cargo company ready to wave it off at 9:00 tomorrow morning.
Despite all this, spirits are still high, as we know that there are lots of people trying their best to get us out there. It’s just a difficult place to get to.
I’m off down the library to see if they have “Things to do in Punta Arenas with one pair of pants and a toothbrush”. I hope it’s not out.
Stuart
RWE Innogy
4th March, 2009
Download Have turbines, will travel
Music thanks to Audio Network
4th March, 2009
Our stay in Punta Arenas has been a long nervous wait, punctuated with frenzied activity as each new piece of information filters in. Our hotel room is a jumble of tinned food, bags of warm clothes, assorted leads, wires and communications equipment. We all fill the time in different ways.
Stu is devouring a book and thinking about the problems of erecting a wind turbine without using concrete. Have a look at yesterday’s film, ‘Chasing the turbines’ to learn about the joys of icecrete. Justin is learning Spanish or Russian or both and Jonny, our filmmaker, is happily editing away keeping everyone abreast of what’s happening down here at the end of the world.
It’s a great team… six of us, all with our little role to play, just itching to get down to Antarctica and make this year’s E-Base project happen. Justin, Stuart and Russell are all part of the npower / RWE Innogy team tasked with putting up wind turbines to supply the E-Base with power for 365 days a year. The wind turbines are specifically designed to withstand the gusty gales of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Jake and Russell were part of the E-Base Goes Live team last year and so have all the contacts needed to get us down to Bellingshausen and the E-Base in the next few days. Whether it’s a call to Alejo to find out about flights or the customs and freight companies calling in Punta Arenas, Jake and Russell have been tearing around town trying to make things work.
It’s been tough on all of us. Not knowing is the worst. As I write, I have no idea whether there will be a call at the crack of dawn. It may be that you read this warmed by a cup of coffee and a gentle breakfast as I am greeted by the first blast of Antarctic wind through the opening doors of a Hercules transport.
Getting to the E-Base is not just a job, it’s an important mission. That’s what brings us together: a shared purpose to show an online audience that another way is possible. It’s the importance that drives us and then makes the waiting all the more frustrating.
Jamie
Digital Explorer / 2041
