And Winter Continues....

The temperature outside is minus 10 degrees C, and the days are rapidly getting shorter. It gets light at around 9.15 am and it is dark by 6.30pm.
But life still carries on here at Rothera.

We only 'work' a five-day week here, although we all are available and on stand-by for 24 hours a day, but, whereas we all have the weekend off, our chef, Riet (he's Belgian) has Thursday and Sunday off. That means that someone else has to cook for the day.
I had a turn at cooking for the masses on Thursday. 6 people are currently out on their winter trips, but it was still a long day in the kitchen preparing and cooking hot and wholesome food for 15 cold, hungry people.

Breakfast is a help-your-self to cereal and toast time, but I made sure there was fresh coffee on the go.

For Smoko (our mid-morning break), I served up hot cheese and bacon toasties.

For lunch there was reheated leftovers from the last night's dinner (we don't waste anything here!), but I also prepared a fresh salad, and all accompanied by my bread rolls, baked from scratch and hot from the oven.
I've never baked bread before, so I'm particularly proud of my bread rolls. To be honest, I did what everyone else does - follow the recipe and directions that were printed out and stuck on the kitchen wall, but it was a pretty special moment when I tore one open, buttered it and savoured the moment. Mmmmmm.......




































Dinner was a well recieved Mediteranean lamb hotpot, followed by my second triumph of the day - fresh baked, chocolate-covered, butter shortbread and cream. The chocolate topping impressed everyone, as did the shortbread itself, but it was only melted down Mars bars....6 of them!!!

It may not have been the healthiest menu of the week, but it all seemed to go down well. Even Riet went back for seconds, which was very satisfying.














Also this week, I've been snowboarding up at Vals, our private piste. I crashed a lot (a bit chilly, burying your face in the snow in minus 10 temperatures) but lots of fun. Like everything else that I've attempted for the first time down here, I'm sure I'll get better with more practice.








Tonight is the start if my stint on nightwatch; a week of solitude and lonliness, taking care of the base whilst everyone else sleeps. We all take a turn, and some enjoy it more than others, but it is a vital and necessary part of our life, and survival, down here in Antarctica.

For me, it's just another week in Paradise.....