Ambassador Alvin

Tēnā koutou,

I am Alvin the LEARNZ ambassador. I go on all the trips with Shelley and help look after the other ambassadors from your schools. This is going to be an awesome adventure down to Antarctica!

Based at Scott Base you will work with scientists to find out more about sea ice and what makes it grow. You'll skiddoo out across the sea ice to meet scientists at work and help collect measurements.

I can't wait and I look forward to you joining us down on the ice for a trip of a lifetime.

See you soon,

Alvin.

PS bring your warmest winter woollies!

Tuesday 27 October

Kia ora,

I have been to Antarctica twice before but I still feel incredibly lucky to have the chance to go again and super excited about returning. 

It was a smooth flight down and we had awesome views out across the sea ice and mountains of Antarctica. I was surprised at how cold it was when we landed. It was -20 degrees Celsius but the wind made it feel more like -35. 

After a refresher course I was ready to head out and about and explore Antarctica. It is so good being able to head out for a walk late at night yet it is still bright and sunny.

Tomorrow we are off on the skidoos to meet the science team.

See you there,

Alvin.

Wednesday 28 October

Tena koutou,

It was great fun on the skidoos today. We tested our skills with a 26 kilometre journey out to the K131 field camp and met some of the scientists working here. They showed us where they have made a hole in the ice to measure temperature and salinity and collect samples of platelet ice.

It was so cool when a seal popped up to breathe through this hole – it gave me such a fright but he seemed friendly enough.

Hopefully we will return to the field camp tomorrow.

Bye for now,

Alvin.

Thursday 29 October

Hi folks,

At first I was disappointed today when I heard that we weren’t heading out to the K131 field camp but we still managed to make the most of a gorgeous sunny day. It was warmer today, only -16 degrees! We met some other members of the K131 science team who are studying sea ice and how it grows over winter. They use really precise sensors to measure changes in the sea ice temperature which tells them how thick the ice is.

We managed to get some exercise by heading up Crater Hill. The views were amazing.

I’m looking forward to heading back out on the sea ice tomorrow.

See you out there,

Alvin.

Friday 30 October

Hi there,

We helped the scientists today by taking ice cores and recovering the sea ice temperature probe. I learnt that the sea ice is an indicator of the health of ice shelves. If ice shelves are melting there can be more sea ice.

It was fun melting the sea ice around the temperature probe. Working with hot water helped to warm me up. Once we had finished we headed to the K131 field camp to stay the night.

Bye for now,

Alvin.

Monday 2 November

Kia ora,

I was so excited about camping out on the sea ice at the K131 camp. Every time I woke up during the night I could look out the window at Mount Erebus, but then I struggled to go back to sleep because it was so light outside.

I learnt that the science team is named K131 because this is their event number. Everyone who comes to the Antarctic with Antarctica New Zealand is given an event number to identify them. The LEARNZ team is known as K215. 

I am quite tired after all our travel so I’m off to bed.

Best,

Alvin.

Tuesday 3 November

Kia ora,

I can’t believe it is our last day here in Antarctica. The time has flown by. We headed back out to the field camp for one last time. It was cold but sunny so the views were fantastic.

I learnt about the importance of Antarctica to the rest of the world as changes down here change the world’s oceans and climate.

Once we were back at Scott Base I helped Inga and Greg chop up ice cores in the cold room.

Well sadly, I have to go and pack now so thanks for joining me on this Antarctic adventure and I hope you can join me on another field trip soon.

Ka kite ano,

Alvin.