Sunday 25 October 2009

The Winter Experience Is Over....

Hello again.

Firstly - regular followers of this blog will have noticed that I haven't posted for quite a while; over two months, actually.
Apologies for my absence; I have no excuses, but I do have some reasons.
Let me explain:

I last posted after I returned from my second winter trip. Shortly after my return the weather crapped out; high winds and driving snow more or less confined everyone to base. No snowboarding or skiing, no boating - not much to write about, unless you want me to tell you about the dvds we watched. Hmmm.... thought not. But here's another video clip of me going out in the aforementioned bad weather:


It's not always blizzards and storms here. We get the occasional good day and we have to make the most of it because we know the bad weather won't be far behind.
Here's a view of Rothera that I took in early September....



At the start of September I took my second stint on nightwatch; again, not too much to write about, although I did take this rather bizarre photo of my footprints glowing in the snow.















On the subject of footprints - this is what happens to them when you leave them out in a storm.
When you tread on loose-packed snow your foot sinks in, compacting the snow underfoot. Then, all the loose snow gets eroded by the ice crystals that are carried by the ferocious wind. It is just like being sandblasted, but with ice crystals instead of sand. The result is raised footprints.
Now try to imagine going out and working in weather like that!!!










But the storms actually deposit more snow than it erodes, and that means.... yup - we dig!!!
Oh, what joy!!!












The mechs have much more fun because they have toys to help them shift troublesome snow.












Another reason why I have been neglecting the blog is that we've been very busy: Shortly after I'd finished nightwatch and before the bad weather had cleared up, we had to start work in earnest to get the base prepared for the summer season. Everywhere that had been "winterised" for the past seven months had to be dug out, opened up and cleaned up. That included work areas, pitrooms and the runway and hanger. That is a lot of work for 21 weary winterers, made even more difficult by the foul weather. We weren't quite working "round the clock" but we were really working hard to get it all done in time, before the first planes arrived.
But with the feisty British spirit and true grit and determination, we just about got it all done.

The first planes to fly in weren't actually ours; they were two Canadian planes on their way further south, stopping here for fuel and an overnight rest. They actually stayed for two days; due to the bad weather.
Our Canadian friends didn't arrive empty-handed - they brought with them some boxes of freshies. Oranges, apples, pineapples, grapes, bananas.... simple pleasures that you folks back home take for granted. We've been living on dried, tinned and frozen produce for quite a while now; it was soooo good to taste those fruits after so many months without them.

Seeing new faces, hearing new voices; we had mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, we were excited about it but, conversely, we had our own little community that was getting along just fine, thank you, and we weren't sure that we wanted outsiders invading our home.
But they were going to come anyway, whatever our private thoughts or reservations, and in all honesty, I think we were all happy to see them in the end.

But the Canadians were just transients, passing by; they weren't "our" people, in "our" planes, so our winter hadn't yet finished.


Before our Canadian friends arrived we'd only had two other visitors, on two separate occasions - one was a lone Gentoo penguin, the other was a lone Emperor penguin.
Emperors are occasionally seen here, Gentoos are very rarely seen; both gave us an opportunity to get our cameras out and have something different to talk about over dinner.

Gentoos are a similar size to the Adelies that usually live round here - about two feet tall.


There are always birds flying overhead; the Gentoo was the first visitor that hadn't flown in.
I named her Mandy, after my wife.







Emperors are much bigger - about three feet tall.
This one was a big bird, and pretty impressive.













What else has happened lately?
Oh yes - we finished shooting our feature-length horror movie, and it had it's world premiere here on the base. It was only shown to a specially invited audience and had a full supporting programe of movies that were also made by us.
It was just like being at the Oscars; we all dressed up in our finest clothes and were treated to a slap-up meal, prepared and cooked by Riet (nice one, mate). It was a brilliant night.

Completing the movie meant that I could finally shave my FID beard off. It kept my face warm and cosy throughout the coldest days of winter, but I'm really quite glad that it has gone at last.










The resident house band, Deaf Leopard Seal, played a cracking end-of-winter gig, too. We entertained a packed house with an eclectic set that included "Fat Bottomed Girls", "Wonderful Tonight", "White Room" and "Ziggy Stardust".


(Photo: Mel Langridge)
















(Photo: Matt von Tersch)















(Photo: Matt von Tersch)









I was a little bit sad that I wasn't at home for the birthdays in early October of Sam and Jessica, my children. It is the first time I have not been there for their birthdays. I know they understand and they fully support me being here, but I know that they miss me, as indeed, I miss them, too.

On the 17th of October Daisy, our Dash7 aircraft, returned to Rothera, finally ending our winter experience. And what a truly memorable experience it was. I am one of a privileged few who get to winter in Antarctica; not too many people can say that, can they?










It was my birthday last week. My friends here helped me celebrate it in style. I spent the afternoon on Anchorage Island (I was working, of course, but it was enjoyable work) and in the evening I enjoyed another fine meal from Riet. He also baked a superb chocolate gateaux birthday cake which was enjoyed by us all.
And I was presented with a stunning painting by Matt Doc, framed by Shaun and signed on the back by all the winter team. Long-term followers of this blog may well recognise the photos in the painting.
I would've loved to have shared my 50th birthday with my family, but I spoke to them on the day and I know they were happy for me and pleased that it was such a unique and memorable day.



Me, on Anchorage Island














With my pressie.















I love it








Don't ask me how, but I managed to find the time to write the September entry for the Rothera diary on the BAS public website (I was actually press-ganged into writing it!!!). You can read it by clicking this link. While you are there, make sure you read the entries by my colleagues. They give a different perspective of life here at Rothera.


The summer season is well under way now, with over 50 people on base and increasing steadily.
It's like having two brilliant jobs, because although I'm still in the same place, the summer is so very different to the winter (shhhh.... but winter is still the best).

I'm doing yet another stint on nightwatch, which is how I've found time to do this latest posting on the blog. The nights are rapidly getting shorter; the sun dips below the southern horizon, but you can still see it's twilight glow. It won't be long now until we don't see any darkness at all.

And so the cycle of life in Antarctica continues....