First full day on the Hab - wake early after a difficult night's sleep on a hard floor. Think longingly of a hot shower at this point, which I try to put out of my head.

The only journalist who visits us is the wife of Jim Oliver, one of the Phase One people, who interviews a number of the crew about their backgrounds and research interests.

The new crewmembers get training on how to don and doff an analog spacesuit, to ride the ATVs - all terrain vehicles or quadcycles in Australia - which are pretty cool and get everyone feeling like an extra from a James Bond movie.

Stan arrived late last night in the Ares Rover, which the Canadians have built to test out what it would be like to live in a vehicle during long sorties. I have the grand tour - it has a small sink, toilet with curtain for privacy (noise is still an issue!) and a wooden bunk. Stan spent a week travelling in it and seems to have survived the experience unscathed. In fact, he loves living in it so much that he wanted to spend his first night in the Hab in it.

The Everest Rover hasn't arrived yet and it seems it may not make it due to a problem with the fuel pump. So our comparative Rover studies may not go ahead. Disappointed, especially when I hear that there is a DVD player on board.

I help Jonathan in the afternoon with taking photos of the geological formations in the area to assist scientists and future crews, and in doing so get a good idea of the beauty of the barren, wind-swept landscape. The peaks of the Henry Mountains are covered in snow, but the rest is dry and dusty, perfect for Mars analog conditions.

Tomorrow is our first EVA for Phase 2 and I will be out filming all day. There is an overnight Rover mission to Factory Butte and I am hoping to get a chance to go along and experience life in a Mars Rover, albeit a simulated Earth-variety. It would be great to compare it to the Marsupial Rover which the Australians are building at the moment.