“Overwhelming!” — yes, that is the best way do describe it. Today was by far the most overwhelming day of our journey, as we went to Neumayer station. I knew that the first helicopter shuttle flights were scheduled for 9 o’clock and that probably everybody wanted to take off at the same time. There are only 4 seats on a helicopter, so I planned to fly around 11 o’clock, thinking that the first rush would be over and surely nobody wanted to go right before lunch, right? However, by 10 o’clock there was nothing that could have held me on the ship, I just wanted to go. During breakfast I had read the brochures on “Neumayer” and the “Library in the Ice”, then filled my water bottle, made a sandwich for lunch, put sun screen on, inserted the charged batteries into the camera, put on glasses, hat and gloves, and then off I went.
There was still a queue of impatiently waiting people in front of the ship since everybody wanted to get going. During the 45 minutes of waiting we commented on the offloading activities, took pictures of the ship, the piston bullies and penguins, and quickly made a photograph of the approaching helicopter before we were told: please get in, fasten your seat belt and put the earphones on.
The flight was only about 5 minutes long, and then... well, what then. The station consists of two main tubes under the ice, above I only saw a few shafts and containers. “so where is the entrance?” I asked and was pointed toward an open trap door which turned out to be an entrance to the garage. We went down a long slope which ended in a dark hole. Only on the way down did we realize that there were lights on, and it wasn’t dark at all — but it sure was cold. Up on the ice the sun had so much power that we did not even think about freezing — but down here...
The artificial light was pleasing to the eyes, and before long we were in the midst of the Neumayer station. Everything happened so fast. The guided tour had begun without me even noticing it. We went through a shop with a wooden floor, through a thick metal door leading into a long hallway, with doors to the private quarters on the left side and a long row of hooks for the red overalls. The order of everything else I cannot remember, but we passed laboratories, a kitchen and a comfortable looking living and dining room, and on we went, past bathrooms, an operating room, a store for light bulbs etc. Working and common rooms were furnished very comfortably, we saw advent calendars, candles, a huge stuffed elephant and friendly overwinterers. My impression was that it was not only me who was curious, but also the “Neumayerians”, and nice conversations started, a deliverer for a package was sought and found, and even the obviously long-lasting problem of a missing stamp could be solved.
After lunch I seized the opportunity to go for a walk on the ice. It was pretty challenging, and after a few minutes I was so warm that gloves became superfluous. The green container with the library is really there, and being a German institution, all the books were stamped to mark them as property of the library in the ice. At the end of my walk I found myself all of a sudden in front of a yellow telephone booth with an antenna on the roof. This sight was more than unexpected, and at the same time suggested that we were not all that far away from home. On the other hand one becomes very aware of the quietness of Antarctica. As soon as one stops and the crunching of the snow below one’s feet is silenced, one experiences an unbelievably comforting and overwhelming stillness. Yes, overwhelming — that is the best way to describe it.
Daniela Ewe, Alfred-Wegener-Institute
Photos: D. Ewe