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Immediate report of Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition 1989-90: VUWAE 34

Planning

Planning

This was the second season of this particular programme and, as to be expected, few problems were experienced with the planning and execution of the event. There still appears to be problems in getting the Earth Science Working Party to accept the significance and relevance of hydrological research in the Antarctic. This problem is unlikely to be overcome until someone with a working and research background in hydrology is appointed to the committee.

The Antarctic Division staff, as always, did their job expertly and supported the project in every way possible, ft certainly helps, however, if at least some of the event personnel have had previous Antarctic experience as this assists greatly in "getting away" from Scott Base. The situation with regard to aerial photographic coverage of the Miers needs to be improved. Currently there are no photographs of this area available in New Zealand. An historical, as well as contempary, coverage would have been most useful in planning our event and extending the time series of changes in the Miers and Adams glaciers.

page 47

Tekapo is a very valuable introduction for all new members of the NZARP programme and saves considerable time once on the "Ice" even for "old hands". I believe that the cost of Tekapo is justified in terms of the efficiency of the overall programme, however, I also see a reluctance, indeed difficulty, in Universities and other bodies in funding the "full cost" of Tekapo. I do strongly believe that it is in the interests of the NZARP programme for Antarctic Division to continue to fund the bulk of this training course if at all possible. At Tekapo the identification of the new seasons Base personnel ("Blue Spot") as well as their Scott Base position and tasks would be most helpful as these persons change each year. It is important that all Field personnel are able to put a "face" to a job.

Being essentially a "re-run" of last years programme from a logistics viewpoint the briefing at Tekapo was very straight-forward and essentially a formality.