Seven key locations were identified for the NZ ITASE (International Transantarctic Scientific Expedition) programme. The analyses on the ice core from the first site, Victoria Lower Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, have almost been completed. For the 2003/04 field season we proposed to carry out a detailed reconnaissance and to recover intermediate length cores from sites 2 and 3: Evans Piedmont Glacier and Mt Erebus Saddle. Due to logistical constraints of Antarctica New Zealand the drilling was deferred to the 2004/05 season, but the site reconnaissance was conducted. Furthermore we continued our longer-term mass balance measurement time series at Victoria Lower Glacier.