Antarctica Part II - Rothera

Hello from Rothera! We made it after four days of travel, having been delayed in Chile for one day, no hardship at all after two days on the move. Gerry, an army electrician on his way to Signy, and I went for a long run to stretch our legs and I made full use of the hotel facilities – pool, gym, bar and restaurant. The weather cleared quickly though and we were able to make the final leg of the journey – the 6 hour flight from Punta Arenas to Rothera base, Antarctica. We were taken through security to get on the Dash 7 airplane at Punta Arenas airport – bizarrely both ourselves and our hand luggage went through the usual security checks but anything too big to fit on the conveyor belt was just wheeled round the outside!

The Dash 7 is a basic propeller plane with 16 seats and a cargo area. No meals are served on board but there are kettles at the back so you can make your own cup of tea and some packets of biscuits to pass round. What’s more, you can go into the cockpit, and I was fortunate enough to bagsie the seat behind the pilots in the cockpit for landing. We descended through the clouds to see icebergs, snow covered mountains and Rothera up ahead. The pilots dipped their wings from side to side to straighten up for the approach so the view swung around the spectacular blue and white scenery, what an amazing experience.

We were shown around the extremely cozy base, and then taken for a walk around ‘the point’, which is the rocky coastal area. The scenic walk takes you past adelie penguins, weather masts, icebergs, satellite domes, seals, tractors, memorials to previous polar explorers and of course the beautiful snow covered mountains in the background. It really is a stunning place to be.

Photos from the Falkland Islands

Pictures from Signy

Hopping

We arrived back in the Falkland Islands late last week, I kept measurements running almost until the last day of the cruise, I had packed everything away, was really looking forward to my first long walk, and a run along the beach, then as I walked over to close the last box I stubbed my toe and broke it. :( I’m now on crutches and hobbling round at a snails pace and feeling most sorry for myself, poor me. Clearly the walking holiday in Chile is now out of the question but I’m confident I can find fun activities that don’t involve toes!

Most of the scientists left this morning, I was sad to see everyone go, what a great group of people to have worked with for the last 2 months. We’ve had various ‘end of campaign’ drinks and meals over the last week to celebrate a successful cruise. The crew, who've been fantastic, so helpful, have now gone and another team taken over, and others travelling to Rothera have joined the ship for the next voyage so lots of new faces on board. I find myself unable to reflect over the past two months, it’s all a blur in my mind, probably because I’m still on the ship, or possibly because I’m doped up on painkillers!

Despite the broken toe, I had a wonderful day out yesterday, Bruce, Jess, John and I walked through Stanley, the main town and port of the Falkland Islands to the museum, which is packed full of old Antarctic and Falklands memorabilia. An old wooden Antarctic rescue hut complete with old clothing, camping equipment and food supplies was fascinating- incredible that people set out across Antarctica over 100 years ago, having only dogs and horses to help them pull their sledges, with few of the gadgets we take for granted now. Many of course didn't make it back, including all those in Robert Falcon Scott's party who were attempting to be the first to reach the south pole - after months of walking the 883 miles from their winter camp, through blizzards and temperatures as low as -20C, they found they'd been beaten to it by one month by the Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen (in 1912)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott The station at the south pole, run by the Americans, is named after both polar explorers 

Today has also been lots of fun, not being able to venture far from the ship and it being extremely windy outside, Patrick and I made a stunt kite out of spare bits of wood, tarpaulin and duct tape, which, after a few modifications, flew surprisingly well!

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

After a fun Saturday night in the Shackleton bar it’s a relaxing Sunday today, a bit of housework as it's Captain's rounds on a Sunday, a trip to the doctors for a repeat prescription of nicotine patches (5 weeks now and the cravings have subsided considerably), and a game of badminton in the hold, which is now clear enough to allow a makeshift court, albeit slightly squashed. After a healthy lunch I spent the afternoon reading the Sunday papers and printing off articles for others to read (the speed of the internet connection and general aversion of printers to do my bidding making this a full afternoon’s job, though it did allow me to find the comfiest chair I’ve sat on for months in the ship’s office – one disadvantage of perpetual motion is chairs locked in place at least a foot from the nearest table) Then a little bit of work followed by circuit training. All in all a very pleasant Sunday on board the Shackleton. Scientific discoveries are on hold whilst the ship is moving in circles recovering moorings and making CTD measurements, I’ve been analysing data which suggests high iodocarbon concentrations in diatom rich ice which is great news!

I’ve made preparations for onward travel –someone in Argentina will only let as many Brits as will fit in one aeroplane above their land so I must spend six days in the Falklands before flying to Chile, I’ll have plenty of time to pack up and walk off some of Rab and Ray’s cooking at least. I fly to Punta Arenas on the 14th March, myself and a few others on board plan to explore the coastline on motorbikes, then I’ll hike the ‘W’ route in the Torres del Paine national park, which provides some of the most amazing scenery imaginable. Then it’s a short flight up to Santiago, and the nearby Lakes District where there is much fun to be had – zip-lining, canopying, which involves swinging through trees on a harness, and horse-back riding expeditions, then I think a few relaxing days on a beach, maybe a little surfing, before flying back to the UK on the 3rd April, so see you then!

Antarctica, Halley and penguins

So finally I make it to Antarctica! We mooored up on Thursday night, at Creek 4, a cove 15 km from Halley base. A tent was set up for me up on the ice cliffs to run an experiment from and since then I have been walking the mile round trip from ship to ice camp every three hours to sample air and emissions from the snow. I have thoroughly enjoyed walking across the ice shelf, seeing the occasional penguin and marvelling at the skies, the cliffs in the background and the differences in weather, which are quite pronounced at the coast. Yesterday morning thick black clouds hung over the ocean to the north and clear blue skies over the continent to the south. Having been on the ship for over 4 weeks it’s nice to get some exercise outdoors too!

We returned from our visit to Halley yesterday to find a group of emporor penguins watching the ships activities. I sat at the end of the mooring lines to take a photograph and they decided to leave, walking down the line towards me. I was soon surrounded by penguins who were close enough to touch, what an amazing experience.

Photograph courtesy Kjersti Daae

Photograph courtesy Kjersti Daae

We’ve picked up about 30 people from Halley, some have just worked the summer season, whereas for others this will be their first time off the icy continent for 16 months. It’s nice to have some new faces on board and last night we played games and drank punch until the early hours of the morning. Getting up a few hours later to pack up my equipment at the tent and carry everything back to the ship in strong icy winds and blowing snow was possibly the least enjoyable way I could have imagined spending my Sunday morning, but it cleared the hangover at least. This afternoon I’m having a little time off, my new roommate Kjersti is teaching me how to knit and speak Norweigen.

Earlier in the week I was taken out in the fast rescue boat to collect pieces of ice and make cores on promisng looking ice floes. The captain himself was in the driving seat on one occasion, I think he enjoyed tearing around in a small boat for a change, and I had a go at driving, it’s quite difficult as the boat takes a while to respond – you end up steering too much and before you know it you’re going in totally the wrong direction. I had also had a go at steering the ship which was great fun, for such a huge vessell she’s suprisingly responsive, meandering round ice floes was a little nerve wracking, the captain took over when we got to thicker ice! 

Photograph courtesy Patrick Robinson

Breathtaking....

This evening there's a full moon on one side of the ship and the sun is glancing the horizon on the other. The sky is a pastel watercolour of lilacs and blues and the waves in the wake of the ship move slowly as the surface of the ocean is covered in a layer of greasy black ice. The purples, pinks and blues make the ocean irridescent, reflecting the seldom seen moon, and creating a blue glow from the white ice. The effect is very unreal, but even a skilled artist or graphic designer could not create a scene so alive with colour and surreal. My camera and I can only hope to convey some of the beauty of the scene, I'm so lucky to be here. As I dashed outside just now to photograph two penguins on a nearby floe, one raised a wing, as if pointing out to the other the reflection of the moon :)