After breakfast we got a lift with the Chileans to the Chinese Great Wall base for the badminton and ping pong Olympic games. I managed to squeeze into the back of an orange sno-cat, while Steve and Dirk sat in a trailer on the back of a skidoo. I could barely see out of the window but after a few minutes on what felt like the beginning of a blind rollercoaster ride I saw the skidoo speed past with the driver calling out to our driver to stop. We had gone the wrong way! Later I found out I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t see where we were going – Steve and Dirk had had their own private snow storm behind the skidoo so had to spend the journey covering their faces. They thought at times the driver had forgotten he was towing them behind in his haste to get to the Olympic hall in time! It was a fair way to the Chinese base, over the hills and through the valleys so I think I had the better transport option.

The Chinese base is amazing, and huge considering there are about twelve people there in winter and up to forty in the summer. The have a dedicated three storey sports building where the badminton took place, with one floor overlooking the sports hall and filled with comfortable sofas and a plush carpet. The ping pong took place in the building next door, a two storey building with a small gym. The accommodation (up to forty in summer) is housed in another new three storey building. We were also given a tour of the new laboratories which were amazing.

After being told we would be provided with a simple lunch (simple because they were feeding all the Olympic participants and supporters) we feasted with the base commanders in festively decorated surroundings on an amazing and diverse banquet, complete with Chinese wine and sweets, and Antarktik beer (brewed in China but exported only to the Chinese base and only available to drink in Antarctica).