Today we awoke to the worst weather I've ever experienced at Dome C. AT 10 am it was -35 C (which is OK) and blowing at 18 knots (which is not). One of the great things about Dome C is that the wind is usually weak or non-existent. Today it set out to prove that it can blow when it wants to. However, to put things in perspective, 18 knots (or about 35 km/hr) is still a fairly modest wind.

The wind dramatically increases the sensation of cold. When there is no wind, 35 below zero is a comfortable outdoor working temperature (when suitably dressed). Add an 18 kt wind and the "wind chill" goes to -64 C, which is truly horrible. "Wind chill" is a much abused term as it does not correspond to any physical temperature. Instead it gives a rough indication of how cold you're going to feel. Even with our Extreme Cold Weather gear on, the 1 km walk from the Station to the AASTINO felt cold – very cold.

The wind generator, normally the butt of unkind jokes because it's usually completely stationary like a broken-down semaphore signaler, was spinning fit to bust. The whooshing blades could actually be heard all over the Station, sounding remarkably like a steam train.

We maintained the temperature inside the AASTINO at +28C. Perhaps surprisingly, this is actually very comfortable. I suspect that, because it is so dry, it feels better to be on the hot side of normal than the cold.

Today's main task was to calibrate the sensitivity of Nigel. This involves plunging the AASTINO into darkness (not an easy task when the sun never sets!) and pointing the optical fibres at a sheet of white cardboard illuminated by a light bulb of known temperature and brightness. While simple to describe, the process involved a spectacular amount of messing about, and in fact took all day. No-one has ever seen the AASTINO in darkness before. We were quite carried away by the thrill of it all.

One interesting spin-off of this exercise was discovering just how many small light sources there are in the AASTINO – mainly LED displays and little lamps that tell you what's working and what's not. We used our own inverter rather than Station electricity to power the light bulb, for reasons described yesterday. Because we wanted the bulb to be as hot as possible we cranked the voltage up to 270 volts. I think the light bulb probably got quite a surprise at this treatment, but it survived.

Suze aligns the test rig to measure the sensitivity of Nigel.	A sight never before seen by human beings - the AASTINO in darkness

Another spin-off was the detection of a cosmic ray impact on Nigel's CCD. This is the first ever cosmic ray astronomy to be performed at Dome C. To be fair, the observations were from the inside of the AASTINO, but it’s a start.

In the afternoon we made a quick informal tour of the new Concordia Station. It is going to be quite magnificent, but there is still an enormous amount of work to be done before it is habitable for a winter.

In between helping out with the Nigel calibration, Jon battled away on the Dallas bus problem. Trouble-shooting the Dallas bus turns out to be quite difficult in the dark.

At around 9 pm the first traverse of the season arrived from Dumont d'Urville. It had taken less than 14 days to travel from the coast, which is extremely good for the first traverse of the season. The traverse is the main means of resupplying the Station, bringing around 150 tonnes of equipment and supplies. I can't help noticing that a Toyota ute, of the kind often seen around Australian farms, has arrived as part of the cargo. It will be interesting to see how it fares in this unusual climate.

The Kaessbohrer travels ahead of the group to create a smooth path.	The main group arrives.	Don't ask about the camels..

I'm scheduled to fly out on Wednesday at 2pm, by Twin Otter to Terra Nova Bay. I probably won't have email access until I'm back in Sydney, so this will be the penultimate diary from me. However, with any luck the webpages will continue to be filled with exciting tales of our adventures, penned by Suze and Jon.
- John