22 January, 2003

Thank You Chris Hendy!

Today, Aaron, Brenda, and I hiked back to Lake Bonney's east lobe to pick up more gear that we were unable to haul yesterday. Once at Bonney Hut, they worked loading up the sleds while I worked on posting journals and responding to e-mails. I lost Internet access after a short time, but thet ruth is, considering where I am, I'm still amazed I have been able to post any at all. The three of us put in a long day at the hut and even stayed there to prepare and eat dinner.Back at Bonney's west lobe, the remainder of the team continued to core, but we are now down one member. Chris Hendy, the New Zealand Principal Investigator, had to return home early. We miss him already.Chris is a very kind and soft-spoken man. We will miss his 7:30 pm check in calls to Scott Base, his wonderful stories of Vostok and Waikato University field trips, his wisdom and expertise, and his seemingly endless optimistic attitude. We have all thoroughly enjoyed his company and his absence from our camp makes us all feel a bit sad.I feel honored to have been a part of his team the past few weeks and to have learned so much from such an experienced researcher. This was his eighteenth season here in Antarctica conducting research. Thank you Chris!

Chris Hendy, researcher and Principal Investigator from Waikato University in New Zealand.