Sunday 28 February 2010

I Know It's Been A While....






Rothera, February 27th, 2010











Yes, yes - I know it's been ages since I last posted, and yet again, I offer no excuses. I know that some of you are avid followers of my adventures and eagerly await each update with excited anticipation.
However, I have to report that this summer has almost been a carbon-copy of the last summer season with co-pilot flights, trips to deep-field support stations and boat trips. I feel that I have nothing new to tell you because I'm doing very little that I haven't already done before. The photos I'm taking are just variations on very over-exposed themes.
I could post photos of icebergs, but you've already seen plenty of those. I could post photos of me flying over the peninsula - again, nothing new there, and do you really want to see more pics of the somewhat limited but incredible native wildlife?

Awwww.... ok then. For those of you who have seen enough penguins, I apologise; but for the rest of you - here you go....






























This little guy was just finishing his seasonal moult and wasn't really looking his best.






























I guess no-one ever tires of penguins, huh??


And how about Fur seals, who are returning again in numbers...?
















A Weddell seal...?















Elephant seals...?






























A Snow petrel...?
















Minke whales...?





























And how about Orca....?




















Christmas was a low-key occasion again. It always is, here. We just had Christmas day and Boxing Day off.

On Christmas Eve the Rothera Am-Dram club entertained us with a not-so-traditional Nativity play with an Antarctic theme.


































It was hilariously funny (another genius script by Dr Matt), but it did contain some good-natured irreverence, so I'm not going to say any more....












We had our New Year's Eve party in The Twigg & Giggleberries.















The house band played a cracking set to a packed crowd and at midnight we all went out onto the veranda and welcomed in the new year looking out at the midnight sun over Ryder Bay.
















Two of the incoming winterers are house DJs and they brought their mixing equipment down with them, so after the band had finished they kept the party going until the wee small hours with some top sounds. I think they are going to have some great parties next winter!!!


This is Nathan, who is taking over from me as base electrician.











The new year was properly welcomed in and a good time was had by everyone.


I had a second trip to Fossil Bluff in early January. Fossil Bluff is my favourite place in Antarctica, but getting sent to a forward field station isn't a holiday.


I had a few days digging out fuel drums and refueling planes, but the foul weather meant that I didn't get to do much exploring this time.
But hey - it's always good to stay at The Bluff!!












In late January we had the annual visit by the American research and support vessel the Laurence M Gould.
The Gould calls here every year. We have a traditional soccer match outside the hanger, which we won 4-0 (we win every year) and we treat the American scientists and crew to some good ol' Rothera hospitality. That means opening up The Twigg & Giggleberries (again) and having a party.





In return, the Gould took some of us out for a cruise around Marguerite Bay.



We were given unlimited access to the ship.













I've seen the bay many times from the air, but this cruise gave me a chance to see it from sea-level. The weather was perfect and the scenery was spectacular....














(Photo: Paul George)








This season has been very successful for the air unit. The favourable weather has meant that Rothera International Airport has been very busy, not only with our own planes, but also with planes from other nation's research programmes


Here is a German DC3 coming in to land....













and here it is flying in formation with one of our own Twin Otters.














Living in a remote location as we do, we have to be self-sufficient in everything. Our workshops are well-equipped, our food supplies are substantial and we are trained to cope with any eventuality that may arise. We are our own emergency services.
I'm a training instructor for the fire and rescue Breathing Apparatus equipment and we have regular training exercises to keep us on our toes. We hope we'll never have to use these skills in a real-life situation.































There was an incident this week that we haven't been trained for and could never have anticipated.
At 6:00am yesterday we were woken by the sounding of an emergency alarm. We were informed by John Withers our Base Commander of the earthquake in Chile.
He explained that we had received a tsunami alert and we should be ready to react as further information became available.
We started to make preparations for a possible evacuation.
A short while later we received notification that the tsunami alert was now a tsunami warning!!!
John issued the instruction to evacuate the base immediately.

The evacuation was carried out in a calm and professional manner. We headed for higher ground and waited.

















Bubba wondered what the fuss was about and came along to keep us company.











Fortunately the tsunami never arrived, but if it had it could have been disasterous for us.
It was sad to hear of the devastation that the earthquake caused in Chile. I spent seven days in Santiago and Punta Arenas on my journey south. It is a beautiful and friendly country. The Chilean people are in my thoughts.


24-hour daylight is over now. As we head relentlessly on towards another Antarctic winter it is good to see stars in the night sky again.



As I've explained before, summer life here is frantic and time really does fly by far quicker than you could imagine. In four weeks time I will leave Rothera and my Antarctic adventure will be over.
I am so looking forward to seeing my family and friends again after so many months away, but I will also be very sad to leave here - sad to leave Rothera, my home for so long; sad to leave the good friends I have made, and sad to leave this harsh, barren, but oh-so beautiful land of snow, ice and wonderful wildlife.

I've started packing ready to come home. It is becoming a bit of a mission to pack away all the wood carvings and things I've made whilst I've been here.



























































I'm going to miss the workshop, that's for sure!!!

And finally - today is my wife's birthday.
Happy Birthday Mandy - I'll be home soon, then we can celebrate....!!!!