The banners up are, the invites are out, and our contractors are downstairs building the structure for Ice Station Antarctica. This week we’ve been watching the video diaries that the winterers recorded for us. They are funny and poignant. My favourite one is Vicky the doctor getting a dental checkup from an engineer, carpenter and electrician; ‘I’ve got very very clean gums now!’ I love the diaries and think they are a treasure in the heart of the exhibition – a chance for the visitors to hear about real life Down South. The rest of the exhibition is full of quotes from scientists and support staff. It is their stories which engage people with the science and life down in Antarctica. Anyway, I’d best get back to work, there’s only three weeks to go till we open. But I’ll leave you with another quote from Vicky…‘The darkness was a very special time. A time of going out to look at the aurora and looking at the stars. I’ve never seen the night sky in such detail as I have in Antarctica. Those times, those memories, I’m going to cherish for the rest of my life.’
Ice Station Antarctica is part of endorsed IPY project 451.