Claire of the Antarctic

It is funny as looking back at these photographs they do not appear to capture that much light, but believe me, in comparison to the light exposure recently experienced on base, these fleeting rays were akin to standing in front of a halogen lamp! And then all too swiftly the sun passed behind the Stokes Peaks again, reappearing briefly where dips in the geography permitted. Although the appearance of the Sun was brief, it was fabulous, I do not think I realised how much I missed it!

It seemed rather apposite that the Sun should actually make it’s Austral Summer 2010 debut on a Sunday; and even more so that this should occur whilst I was practising yoga and performing sun salutations! It was fabulous to feel the sun upon my face at last, and as I rushed to grab my camera to capture this moment, I noticed the shadows, it was rather like a scene from Peter Pan, remembering that I did indeed have a shadow after all!

My yoga was rather distracted following this, because as I tried to continue with the series, the scene outside kept mesmerising me, the sun progressively arcing higher in the sky, reflecting off the icebergs in North cove, and seeming to act as a guiding beacon for incoming birds, with the return of the Blue Eyed Shags to Rothera. What I missed for in daily stretching was compensated for greatly though, by reacquainting my eyes and skin with sunlight again.

Rebecca, our meteorologist may have foreseen the clouds and so prepared instead a sunny cake for our tea and medals after the ceremony.

I also apologise for the particularly pale cup of tea in the shot; I hasten to point out this is precisely how Rebecca likes her tea rather than any failure on my part to make a proper pot anymore! My skills in some departments are possibly becoming obsolete, driving for example, and hedgerow foraging, but tea making remains something I still have an aptitude for!

Despite a promising start to the day, clouds gathered along the Northern horizon stealing our much waited for rays, and so instead we enjoyed the Moon rising to the East.

Antarctic winters are punctuated by traditions and so it was that yesterday, 22nd July 2010, all the winterers ambled up to the flagpole to raise the Union Jack above base to celebrate the sun reaching base again.

The flag was lowered back in May when the Sun dropped behind the Stokes Peaks to the North of base, by the eldest person on base. This task fell to Alan, one of the mountaineers and the chap whom I spent a fortnight with at Fossil Bluff. The youngest member on base raises the flag and Terri, the Marine Assistant, took the role this year.

Antarctica may be far removed both geographically and in style from Cannes and Venice, however we do share one similarity, Our Film Festivals.

Apparently this idea originated from the American base where they annually held a film making competition, and then in 2008 opened the competition to all Antarctic bases.

The premise is that you make a short film, which must include specified props, lines and a character, all within 48 hours.

For 2010 we had to include a grumpy diesel mechanic, a mop, bottle of mouthwash, a siren and the line, ” Has anyone seen my chicken?” .

John volunteered for the role of Director, brave soul as he spent the rest of the weekend dealing with the actors paddies and complaints about the cold, the wind and the snow.

Tom came up with an Austin Powers-esque story, forming the basis for our flights of fancy. Becky set to knitting a chicken, Sage, within 8 hours, whilst the rest of continued in creating a storyboard and working out what props would be required. Bruce was prop man extraordinaire, creating a miniature Antarctica from snow, and also a Dad’s Army style battle board.

Alan jumped at the chance to be our mop-wielding cleaning lady, and to be honest it has been tricky to keep him out of drag since.

Ben, Cheese and MVT formed our film crew, and the remainder of people on base took their roles and added some unexpected ones also, Dickie, our Winter Base Commander, makes a delightful cameo skiing in a lime green mankini!

I hope that you enjoy the film. The pressure is on for Rothera as we have won the contest for the last two years… fingers crossed!

Enjoy the show chaps, Tally Ho!

From a medical perspective it was quite interesting to be subjecting ourselves to cold water immersion, albeit slightly falsely owing to the boatsuits. To aid exiting the water you are called upon to remove either the ice axe or ice screws from the carabiners on your harness, whilst wearing mittens in my case, in water measuring -2C… quite a challenge I assure you.

In a very graceful fashion you then adopt the manner of a beached seal and kick like fury whilst jabbing in the ice screws (not ordinarily carried by seals!) and hauling yourself up and out!

Note to self if this does occur to you then exit hole from the side which you entered it from, since you will know this ice is sufficiently strong to hold you. Try to get as much of your body out of the water as you can, kicking your legs to aid forward motion, and spread your body over a wide surface area.

If you ever witness someone else fall through ice don’t be tempted to rush over and haul them out immediately or dive in yourself… two casualties are worse the one! Ensure you call emergency services with your location before you potentially join the victim.

In a worst case scenario if you are unable to haul yourself out completely and you are alone, then try to haul as much of your body out of the water, and then remain still, hopefully the icy temperatures will freeze you in situ, such that even if you lose consciousness you will not slip into the icy waters and hopefully someone will find you prior to that point. Cheery thoughts! Maybe not such a useful piece of knowledge in balmy England at present but may serve you well one day!

A slightly blurred photograph but I do promise I was smiling as I jumped in! It’s the closest I’ve been to swimming since Studland beach in November the day before I departed!

Sea ice training would not be complete without a dip in the icy depths surrounding Rothera, Cheese volunteered to jump in first.

It was really quite remarkable to be skiing upon an area which only a week before we had been boating in with Andy aboard Terra Nova. Everyone on base is hoping the ice will firm up sufficiently for exploration of the grounded caverned iceberg, or maybe even for the Shackleton shaped berg which would probably tower the ship itself!