Ambassador Kevin

Kia ora,

I'm Kevin from Otari School. I am a hard working minion who is proud to represent my school. I can't wait to head down to Antarctica to find out more about ice and climate change.

I have packed my bananas and am ready for an adventure.

Talk soon,

Kevin.

Tuesday 27 October

Hi there,

I feel so lucky to be here in Antarctica, not many people are lucky enough to come down here and it is such a special place to be. The flight down was incredible. I felt so small on such a big plane and it was really noisy. After a few hours of flying we could see sea ice which really excited me.

After settling in at Scott Base we did some training and then headed outside in all our warmest clothing to learn how to create emergency shelters and how to anchor a tent to the sea ice. My favourite part of training was learning how to ride a skidoo. We will use skidoos to travel out to the K131 field camp which is about an hour away – it is going to be a blast.

See you out on the sea ice,

Kevin.

Wednesday 28 October

Hi there,

I was able to put my field training into practice today as we headed out to the K131 field camp on skidoos. I had so much fun zooming along the sea ice and admiring the view.

I was surprised to find that the camp is made up of shipping containers that are dragged across the sea ice by tractor. I expected to see tents!

Tomorrow we are going to find out more about the science that is being done here and I’m looking forward to learning more about supercool water.

See you in the morning,

Kevin.

Thursday 29 October

Hi everyone,

After a long day yesterday it was nice to spend the day at Scott Base. I had a huge breakfast and morning tea and met up with some other scientists from the K131 team. They have been studying the sea ice and learning more about when it cools and thickens over winter. 

The best part of today was exploring. We went for a hike up Crater Hill and even though it was quite steep and hard work the view made it all worthwhile. 

Tomorrow we are going to help the scientists out in the field.

Talk soon,

Kevin.

Friday 30 October

Tēnā koutou,

People had warned me that it can be really stormy here in Antarctica but we have been lucky so far. Even though it started out cloudy today, by the afternoon it had cleared. We helped the scientists with drilling ice cores and then after a yummy lunch in the dining hall we headed out on the skidoos to find the sea ice temperature probe. 

We had to melt the sea ice with hot water to get the probe out. If we had left it the scientists would lose it when the sea ice breaks up.

We are staying at the field camp tonight which should be fun.

Catch you tomorrow,

Kevin.

Monday 2 November

Kia ora,

I didn’t realise we would be camping out on the sea ice because Shelley didn’t tell us just in case the weather wasn’t good enough. Luckily the weather has been quite stable so we were able to sleep overnight at the container camp on two metre thick sea ice. It was so cool being surrounded by such a huge area of flat ice.

We found out more about the scientists work and I prepared myself to do a polar plunge through the hole that was melted in the sea ice but I wasn’t allowed because the water is really cold (less than -1.8 degrees Celsius) and the scientists didn’t want me to disturb any of their science equipment. I was a bit disappointed until a seal popped up through the hole and gave me a massive fright!

Tomorrow is our last day here in Antarctica, time sure flies when you’re having fun.

Bye for now,

Kevin.

Tuesday 3 November

Kia ora,

It was a cold clear day here on the ice today. We made one last journey out to the K131 camp and looked at the amazing art work that Gabby is doing on platelet ice.

Today I learnt that seals can sneeze! Trevor the friendly Weddell seal has been hanging around the hole that the scientists made in the sea ice. When he sneezes you need to stand clear because he’s big and he produces a lot of snot! Gabby showed me splotches of seal snot on the ceiling of the shipping container above the hole in the ice – yuck!

I have had an amazing adventure that I will always remember and I can’t wait to share it with you.

See you soon,

Kevin.