Lying Around on the Ice

I can't resist another shot of this amazing phenomenon (to Australians anyway). We returned to Irkutsk from Olkhon Island today and on the way stopped for another walk on the lake. Leonid (who is also a keen photographer and prospective Blipper) suggested putting the camera down on the ice for interesting effects. Once down I found it much easier to slide around than walk with the fear of slipping over. Although it looks wet, the ice is completely dry, just like a sheet of glass. It also wasn't as cold as you would expect. In fact it is probably warmer than the air temperature. Does ice stay at 0C (freezing point)???

We haven't been troubled by cold at all, except hands and feet sometimes. John's boots have batteries to warm them, for which he is copping a lot of flack from Wally. A bigger problem is being too hot between the time it takes to don and remove the outdoor clothing before going out and in. Everyone is commenting on the warm weather. It seems to be between -6C and -12C most of the time, but you don't really notice much difference unless there is wind and thankfully we have had very little of that.