01 - 28 October.

During this period various CRP personnel assembled at Scott Base to begin preparations for deploying to Cape Roberts. Walton was tasked with building a connecting-way to join NZ1 and NZ3 at the Drill Site (DS) Camp and making up flooring panels for Italian tents. Pyne, Ridgen, Knox, Davis and Caulder, ably assisted by Scott Base staff, concentrated on organising vehicles and material for the sledge train to CR planned for the end of October. The Americans also loaded and transported three of the Project's German sledges from McMurdo to Marble Point with approximately 120 drums of JP8 and 30 drums of Mogas fuel. This period was one of intense activity. A helicopter reconnaissance of the route from Marble Point to CR was made and GPS waypoints established that were useful in the actual traverse.

29 - 31 October.

A cargo train traversed SB to CR over this period taking just under 26 hours travelling time. Personnel accompanying it were Pyne, Ridgen, Caulder, Walton, Knox and Davis. The Train was made up of: Hagglunds H28 and sledge, Kassbohrer PB 170 and Caterpillar bulldozers D6LGP and D5LGP which between them towed eight sledges. The sledge cargo was three Accommodation Containers, NZ9, NZ1, NZ3, NZ7, ASV, four Skidoos, the prefabricated 'wannigan vestibule', fuel tank and many other miscellaneous items like timber and tools. The sledges used were one German Aalener lOt, the purpose-built crack bridging sledge (a very useful load carrier as well), three Mitchell-designed rigid sledges, the SB Oskam sledge (returned to SB later) and three Cantago sledges. At Marble Point they left temporarily left NZ9 and picked up one of the German fuel sledges.

The party used the prepared American route to Marble Point and then navigated by the established waypoints. Even with the benefit of the helicopter reconnaissance deviations were necessary to bypass rough ice not often visible from the air. A 20 km long iceberg locked into the sea ice from Dunlop Island to the Debenham Glacier Ice Tongue forced the party to traverse to the seaward side of it. The party overnighted off the Bowers Piedmont Glacier. Overall the route was a very good and safe one.

01 - 26 November.

On 04 November Pyne, Ridgen and Knox returned the 55 km to Marble Point with the D6 and H28 to recover the remaining two fuel sledges and NZ9. The unladen trip took 5hrs 20mins and the return 6hrs 30mins. In good weather GPS waypoints from the initial traverse were used to make this relatively quick trip.

At Cape Roberts throughout November the main task was to commission the core buildings of the CR Base Camp. The eight container buildings, with their sledges, that- make up the nucleus of the Camp had been off-loaded at CR the previous January. After clearing the accumulated snow from around these buildings they were towed out onto the sea ice just off the 'South Beach' transition (6 hrs). Minor damage from the off-load and winter was repaired (2 days) and on 03 November the buildings were sledged to the north side of CR where they were positioned and then 'joined' by plumbing and electrical cables. This work took four people over 6 hours in good weather.

On 09 November Martin Barrett (Works Consultancy), Peter Davies and Warwick Muirhead (Dawn Construction) arrived to assist with the commissioning process. Potable water was produced for three days from the Reverse Osmosis desalinisation plant and all electrical and heating services were run in the buildings. Staff were able to have hot showers with good water pressure. Decommissioning took two days and the buildings were then sledged back to the South Bay on 18 November where further repairs/adjustments were made and winterisation begun. The buildings were finally pulled ashore on 22 November after the storage area was prepared with a covering of snow. Barrett, Davies and Muirhead departed CR once the decommissioning process began.

In November Peter Walton built a cold porch and deck onto the main NZAP hut at CR to give additional storage and shelter to the front door of the hut. This project was successfully completed and will prove invaluable during the colder months of September and October.

On 17 November Pyne did a sea ice reconnaissance aboard Kiwi 02 to ascertain likely sites and routes for the second ship off-load. An off-load site was identified some 19 km due east of CR. A surface reconnaissance followed the next day and a route was pushed through to the ice edge. This route initially trended south from CR before heading east through rough ice and then north east. This early reconnaissance proved invaluable when the party returned in January to be confronted by deteriorating ice conditions. The off-load site tentatively identified in November proved to be the only feasible one for many kilometres along the ice edge.

On 26 November Hagglunds H28 returned to SB with two Hagglunds sledges, the empty Oskam sledge and Pyne, Ridgen, Knox and Walton. The 150 km journey took 8 hrs 15 minutes in the good conditions.

Mid December.

Ridgen and Tripp returned to CR mid December to repair the Kassbohrer and investigate radio repeater sites on the northern end of the Wilson Piedmont respectively.

Summary.

The objectives of this phase of the CRP operation, namely to transport equipment and vehicles from SB to CR, to commission the CR Camp, to build a cold porch on the CR Hut, to organise the storage area at CR and to prepare for the second ship off-load, were all successfully achieved.

The environmental impact of this set-up phase of the Project was minimal. The 'fuel dump' of some 200 drums of JP8 and Jet Al had survived the winter well with no signs of leakage or damage. All refuelling of vehicles and buildings during this phase was carried out on the sea ice from a dedicated Hagglunds sledge set up with fire extinguishers and field fuel spill kits. There was only one minor fuel spill on the sea ice. This was cleaned up and the contaminated snow returned to SB. Vehicles were able to operate around the storage area at CR without causing any ground disturbance because of the good snow cover.

The use of a helicopter and GPS for route reconnaissance saved valuable time and wear and tear on vehicles.

The Project Manager and Science Support Manager always recognised there was a lot of work to do in this phase. This may not have been fully appreciated in the early pre-season planning and so a lot was asked of those at CR in terms of long continuous work days. It was, therefore, unfortunate that on return to SB there was criticism of this effort on the grounds that 'normal' (SB hours?) work hours and days were not adhered to. The important lesson to be learned from this 'difference of opinion' is that CRP is in fact different from NZAP's normal small-field operations and allowances must be made accordingly.