Flag Raised At Scott Base

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31764, 22 August 1968, Page 16

Flag Raised At Scott Base

(Special Cr«pdt. N.Z.P.A) SCOTT BASE, Aug. 21. The New Zealand party at Scott Base stood in 100 deg. frost today to watch the raising of the New Zealand ensign to greet the rising of the sun after three months polar darkness.

Scott base, situated 750 miles from the South Pole on the western side of the Ross Ice Shelf, is the home of the 11 New Zealand Antarctic research programme men who are nearing the end of their 12-month tour of duty. The party leader, Bill Webb, of Invercargill, raised the ensign. The sun’s elevation will increase daily: and by October 23 it will be above the horizon for the full 24 hours each day. After the long darkness the men are taking every opportunity to get outside and make short excursions away from the base. Visit To Hut

On Sunday a party using motor toboggans travelled 15 miles to Cape Evans, the site of Captain Scott’s last expedition hut, to check the state of the building and also measure the thickness of the annual sea ice in McMurdo Sound. At Glacier Tongue, about

halfway to Scott’s Hut, the ice was 6ft thick. At the same time last year there was open water in the area. The tempo of life at the

base has been stepped up so that preparations will be complete for the incoming party in October. Several field expeditions will also be undertaken.