Breakfast: porridge, bread, butter, ham, tea and coffee Lunch: cabin biscuits, herrings, sardines, cheese, marmalade, jam, cocoa Dinner: Sweet soup, tinned tripe, dry potatoes and vegetables, tinned plum pudding.
On special occasions dinner consisted of a clear soup and roast pigeons followed by ice cream and a jelly or a tart made by Evans. With no yeast available, Evan's Canadian experience was of value. In place of normal bread, 'bannocks' were baked. The Finns kept the hut supplied with ice for cooking and drinking which they collected along the beach.
For entertainment, chess, euchre and solo whist was played followed by cheese and biscuits for supper. The interior of the hut was also decorated through the artistry of the team. The music box however became rusty. But when the weather was fine, target shooting, sledge and dog racing, took place and members went for long walks with the 'English element' keeping to themselves. One of the two Finns, Savio, made a sauna in the snow drift on the lee side of the huts. Here he placed an iron stove with an iron funnel extending through the snow. He covered the entrance, made a fire in the snow and soon had the interior full of hot moist steam and remained in here for an hour at a time. A concert was held in May and the programme included lantern slides, songs and readings, after which they had "some nuts, a glass of grog and a pleasant smoke."
The huts stood up well to the winter gales and scientific observations continued. In July Hanson, the Norwegian biologist who was sick on the voyage from England, became unwell and one evening the hut nearly caught fire. When Colbeck went to sleep his candle set alight a curtain by his bunk. This led to the establishment of a depot containing tents, furs and provisions at the base of the cliff behind the beach.
In spring sledging trips took place to examine the Robertson Bay geology and a small rock 'hut' was built on Duke of York Island near the head of Robertson Bay. Colbeck wrote, "It was comfy and draughty of course, but I think a good snow drift will see to that....; we have made a roof out of a teepee cover and sledge covers, skis for rafters, a huge fire in the corner and boxes for chairs...; another 'hut' will be built at Crescent Bay to serve as an additional depot." Neither 'hut' have been seen since and it is uncertain if the 'hut' was ever built at Crescent Bay.
On Ridley Beach meteorological observations continued and by early October when Colbeck returned from sledging, he noted, "We have no delicacies of any sort....nothing but the coursest tinned foods. All the tinned fruits supplied for the land party were either eaten on the passage or left on board for the crew. I think stoves are our strong point. We have 53 camp stoves, also about 30 barrels of crystallised paraffin which is now in jelly." Inspite of the initial stores providing for half a ton of tobacco, this commodity was also in short supply.Only a quantity of sailors chewing tobacco was unloaded.
