Cauld Lang Syne
POLAR TEAM CELEBRATE WITH HAGGIS THAT’S COME 9K MILES
cupboards and enviable tuck shop to keep full for the winter.
He said: “We’ve had an early warning from the chefs that we’re going to run out of olives by June. It’s a bit of a first world problem admittedly.
“We are in the Antarctic so we can’t expect to have everything to hand. I was once working a winter season and we almost ran out of toilet roll and had to subsidise it with kitchen roll.
“But we don’t usually have to worry about running out of anything.”
James Macsween, chief executive of Macsween Haggis, said Matthew’s location is the furthest south their products have travelled.
He said: “Up until now the furthest point had been the Falklands. We didn’t realise it was making its way to the Antarctic. What can we say? They have impeccable taste.
“We hope they enjoy their supply year-round. It’s very homely so that may be what Matthew likes about it.”
Matthew, who is based in Fort William when he’s not thousands of miles from home, studied outdoor education and worked in outdoor centres before getting an opportunity to work with BAS.
He admits being marooned at an Antarctic base for months at a time wasn’t part of his long-term plan.
He said: “I thought that by the time I was 30 I would have a house somewhere on the west coast with sea kayaks. I really enjoy doing that when I’m back home. But I also had great opportunities to travel.
“I thought when I first came down I would spend a month here and get it out of my system but that hasn’t happened.”
The base will have a record 170 staff on site this year.
They will arrive to help build a new whar f to house the Sir David Attenborough polar vessel which is operated by the BAS.
The two existing British polar ships, the RRS Ernest Shackleton and the RRS James Clark Ross, are nearing the end of their 25-year lifespan.