I'll have a number 27 with fried rice thanks

Well the most significant event to occur since writing my last blog (with the exception of Christmas I guess), has been a visit from the Chinese Antarctic research vessel, Xuelong.  There also happened to be some Chinese on board so over the course of the day we were inundated with over 90 Chinese tourists crawling over the station.  The thing they found most impressive apparently was the green store.  God knows why.

Later in the evening however, a small group of Davisonians were invited aboard (me included) for a meal and a tour of the ship.  This turned out to be a lot of fun, particularly the helicopter ride across the bay to the ship.  The ship itself was impressive and a lot larger and far more salubrious than the aging Aurora.   The Chinese were incredibly hospitable and friendly as well and we were all made to feel very welcome.  The evening drew to a close with many photographs being taken with the ships inhabitants and some rather odd stuffed toys!

 

 

I also managed to set off my first hydrogen alarm the other morning too.  Here at Davis, Team Met release two weather balloons a day, one at 4:15am and the other at 4:15pm.  So unfortunately the other morning, I had a "premature balloon launch".  After the balloon had broken free of my "never fail knots" inside the shed, several hydrogen sensors sprung into life and proceeded, at 4:30am, to alert everyone on station of the deed with a high pitch squealing noise.  Happy campers all round.  They all eventually made their way back to bed though and I was grateful that that alarm didn't sound every other time something premature happened!