Today we worked hard and fixed lots of small things, most of which are not very interesting unless you're the person fixing them.

Suze retrieved the "COBBER" experiment from the Automatic Weather Station mast, and shifted the Australian flag to the centre of the trio of flags in the field of view of our webcam. Jean Louis and Vincent (the sous-chef) arrived for a social visit mid afternoon, and were given the standard tour.

It was my turn for washing the dishes today. This is far more enjoyable than it sounds, as you get to puddle around in lots of warm water (albeit a bit grotty) and chat to your colleague, in this case an EPICA scientist from the University of Bern.

There was some excitement when the Station power went off, leaving all our mains-powered things dead. It took only a few minutes to plug in our inverter and voila! everything in the AASTINO was running off the Stirling engines. This always gives me a small thrill of independence - a bit like leaving home for the first time.

Washing up actually leaves little free time in the day for diary writing, so please excuse the brevity of today's missive.
- John