Stéphane Dubois, building coordinator for the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station, returned to Belgium earlier than foreseen. Mr. Dubois, an inhabitant of the Rochefort region, was supposed to stay in Antarctica until March 9, 2008. The atmospheric conditions, particularly the extreme dryness, forced him to return prematurely: he was back in Brussels on December 21, after having spent 52 days on the white continent.

1/ What is a typical day like in Utsteinen?

Paul, the early bird, always wakes up the first and turns on the fuel stove in the mess tent around 6 am. Then comes Fons, Base Camp Manager, who gets the honk going by using a pear attached to a skidoo: it is 7 am. The "non military" regime means that everyone is free to get up whenever he wishes to do so. Having said that, everyone is usually up and ready to work on the ridge by 8 - 8 30 am.

Depending on the tasks that need to be done and on the time needed to accomplish these, we generally gather in the mess tent for dinner between 6 and 8 pm. There, we relax and stock up on calories before it is time to go back to our tent for a well-deserved sleep. Lights are turned out: its is 11 pm.

2/ What kind of problems do you face in your day-to-day life?

First problem is the cold, wind and sun. We have to dress to protect ourselves from the wind and the cold, which thereby reduces our mobility and makes us perspire as soon as we move. We also have to protect ourselves from the sun that burns our faces continuously.

Second problem is linked to comfort. Although it is all relative, it is difficult to raise our level of comfort to that which we are used to. The comfort offered by the organisation allows us to live decently but the slenderness of the tents, the toilets, the outside average temperature and the "basic" bathroom do provoke a few discomforts which can alter a little our daily life.

3/ What are your daily meals made up of?

Breakfast: fresh bread cooked the previous evening (the kitchen has a 21-litre kneating trough), jam, chocolate spread, cheese, cereal, milk, coffee, hot chocolate, yogurt...

Lunch: soup is served almost every day, a light warm meal, bread, cheese, ham... Nothing is thrown away, everything is transformed: we generally heat up the previous day's left-overs.

Dinner: Served with a little white or red wine, we are fed a warm balanced meal (noodles, rice, potatoes, mixed vegetables, meat or fish) with, most of the time, some dessert (cake, truffles, fruit salad, tiramisu or something other).

Cereal and fruit bars, chocolate or dryed fruit are served between or before meals.

4/ If you were to go back to Antarctica, what would you take that you did not bring with you the first time?

An inhaler ha ha ha! No, but an I-Pod, a portable computer or a small bassin, perhaps....

This Ivan Papanin arrived in Cape Town during the night of December 28. Unloading operations lasted through December 29. Several waste containers and a few heavy drilling pieces were brought back to Cape Town to be disposed of or stored.

In Antarctica, the sixth traverse set out for the coast on December 31. While some of the team members will be on the road, others will continue work progression on the construction site. There are 6 days left to finish up the concrete work (drying and setting) before the Prefalux construction crew arrives on Sunday January 6.

The cooks have prepared a special New Year's meal for the brave convoy haulers, packing it up carefully into a box to be eaten anytime along the way. Spending New Year's Eve in the middle of the white continent or along the coast is going to be quite an experience. Happy New Year to all!

Seven people left the base camp on December 27th to start the 5th traverse. Meanwhile, the rest of team is working on re-assembling the cranes and finishing the garages and the station's foundations.

The new team is now fully integrated within the rest of the members on site (carpenters, drilling team...). Adjt Olivier Grasselli, Gaëlle Hubert, Daniel Mercier, Didier Goedgebuer, CPC Philippe Herman, Frédéric Diez and Jurgen Van Obberghen have gone back to Crown Bay with the Prinoth tractors to haul back the next containers. They dropped Alain Hubert off in Vesthaugen for some surveying and will pick him up on their way back. A huge crevasse had been detected in the area which Alain intends on securing for the following traverses.

After the severe Christmas storm, the sun is back to dazzling all night on. The Ivan Papanin saw some pretty scary waves reach 9 metres high, but is due back safe and sound in Cape Town this evening around 7 pm (local time). They will undoubtedly be in for a nice meal once they arrive!

The party began with, in stead of the usual hot chocolate that is served on the working grounds, warm wine from "Château Migraine" vintage.

The rest of the evening was all the more successful in that the entire new team was gathered for the first time around a long banquet. The mess tent was decorated with garlands made from tea bags and rocked by John Lennon's "Merry Christmas".
Menu:

• Aperitif: sangria served with hors d'oeuvres
• First course: cheese and shrimp croquettes on a bed of lettuce
• Main course: stuffed turkey roulades with whiskey sauce, vegetable terrine (sort of vegetable pie), "pommes duchesses" (fried mashed potatoes with a spiral shape) and marinated peppers
• Desert: chocolate and speculoos ice-cream duo topped with hot chocolate

Christmas was celebrated on the night of December 24th, close to the way it is feasted in Belgium. The coast team made it back to the base camp on time, after several hours of severe weather.

In Belgium, such as in many other countries, the Christmas meal is traditionally served on the day before Christmas, on December 24th. It is not known yet what they had to feast on, but what is sure is that the BELARE team members were all together that night and that it was a very nice party.

On December 25th, the wind had dropped and the storm had moved on. Alain and a few other people went to fetch the containers they had left behind, 130 km away from the base camp. They are expected back today with the third traverse of containers, carrying everything that is needed to fix concrete (in some places, the station's feet will be mounted on concrete blocs). The rest of the team was also back to work on the 25th, in order to finish reassembling the crane before the station modules arrive.

The second convoy reached Utsteinen on December 21st (7 30 pm), carrying part of the crane and frozen food to last through mid-March 2008. Strong winds and heavy snow falls are coming down on the Eastern region of Antarctica, announcing a white Christmas for the BELARE 2007-2008 team.

The heavy storm has been raging over the Antarctic continent since this morning and is forecasted to last until Wednesday. Alain and the other ten members of the coast team were making their way back to the base camp to celebrate Christmas but were forced to leave the third convoy of containers along the way, just 130 km from Utsteinen. Visibility was down to zero during their traverse, making progression very slow and dangerous. Driving the tractors was almost impossible, as the GPS was down and the drivers could barely make out each other and the snow crevasses! They made it back to the base camp this morning, arriving safe and sound at 9 30 am.

Winds are forecasted to last through Wednesday. Once the weather is better, the team members will go back and pick up the container convoys left behind. But before they do that, a Christmas dinner will bring the BELARE team members together, a chance to celebrate the fantastic work they are accomplishing.

The coast team has now finished unloading all the containers and machines from the Ivan Papanin. Everything has been neatly arranged in rows up on the ice shelf. The ship is due to leave Crown Bay today, Friday December 21.

The biggest challenge occurred yesterday, with the unloading of the Potain crane from the cargo ship. It measures 14 metres long when it is folded up and weighs 10 tonnes. Needless to say that the coast team was a little worried about how the snow would hold up under this heavyweight material. They waited for the night to come and for the air temperature to drop, so that the ramp would become hard enough to support the crane's weight up to the ice shelf.

The last containers to be unloaded were the fridge and freezer containers, which require power to function. It is hoped that during the 20 hours of the traverse during which they will be unplugged, they will maintain a cold enough temperature so as to not defrost.

With three Prinoth tractors driving the convoys, it is expected that a total of 14-15 traverses, carrying 9 containers, will be needed to haul all the material to the base camp. That's roughly 60 days or so of work, without counting the time needed for refuelling and any mishaps.

The first convoy of containers reached the base camp in Utsteinen today (December 19) at 5 pm. The most needed equipment was brought first, comprising of the remaining wood to complete the garage construction.

Since Saturday morning, the coast team and ship crew members have been busy non-stop unloading the Ivan Papanin ship. They have been working 18 hour shifts, sleeping very little but progressing at a good pace. As of Wednesday December 19th, there were only 6 containers left to unload.

The first traverse team, comprising of two military officers (topographer Dieter Callaert and sergeant-mayor Vercouillie) and two civilians (Birty and Laurent) arrived back to the base camp today. In theory, a conventional one-way trip to Utsteinen is about a 20-hour drive from the coast. After having calculated the various variables to take into account, Alain has hinted there would not be a single day's rest until the entire load has reached Utsteinen base camp... tight schedule ...

The Ivan Papanin cargo ship started making its way through the sea ice on Friday December 14. She was anchored to the sea ice near Breid Bay around 7 pm that night. The exact location has been named Crown Bay (70°S 23°E), because of the shape of a nearby iceberg.

A white out on Friday evening forced the team to postpone the unloading procedure. They were able to begin the operations the following morning, using the Hammar side loaders.

The Prinoth tractors and sledges have been loaded with the first containers and driven up the snow ramp that the coast team had built before the ship came into the Bay. When enough containers have made it up the ice-shelf, the snow tractors will begin the first convoy traverse to the Utsteinen base camp. The entire unloading procedure should take about 5-6 days.

The Ivan Papanin ice-class cargo ship carrying aboard the 120 containers of the Princess Elisabeth Station reached 5° East on December 11th. She is progressing smoothly towards the South and is expected to come into Breid Bay around December 14th.

"For several days, the air had been getting cooler on board, a sign that the ship was progressing southwards", says Philippe Herman, Belgian Army coordinator. Last week, the ship's crew saw their first iceberg and then, the cargo ship started ice-breaking. Although the ice thickness was not yet significant at the time, the whole ship was shaking as strange sounds reverberated through the haul.

A few days later, the ship was caught in sea ice. It took the captain several tries before freeing the ship from the ice's embrace. A few days later, the captain had to shut the engine off when the motor broke down. After four hours of repair work, the Ivan Papanin was ready to resume her voyage.

The journey through Antarctica's waters proceeded without any trouble as the ship crossed the Antarctic Circle. After having watched a sunset on the horizon from the ship's deck, the crew went to bed and slept through an artificial night. Indeed, from this point south, the sun no longer sets. The sun only circles the heads of the crew around the clock, dipping slowly under the horizon before it rises again.

The ship reached 5° East on December 11th with the members of the Norwegian expedition ready to unload their equipment. In a couple of days, it will be the Belgians' turn to greet the ship. As a matter of fact, Alain Hubert has already made his way towards the coast, in order to identify potential unloading sites. The choice of the unloading point will depend on ice conditions at the coast.