Claire of the Antarctic

As depicted in this photograph taken just after midnight it is as light as day in the middle of the night here, although on this occasion the moon was also out too. It is quite strange how easily accustomed I have become to the extremes in light, from complete darkness during winter to constant light in the summer, it is also rather bizarre to think that despite the fact the solstice has now passed and our days are shortening again here, that by the time I return to England in April the days will be lengthening again and hopefully I shall be celebrating the next solstice at Stonehenge.

This photo was taken from the veranda outside on the top floor of New Bransfield, it has provided a useful dancefloor on a few nights. A few weeks ago we were dancing around outside whilst also trying to catch falling snowflakes on our tongues, we really must have looked quite unusual to passers by. On reconsideration there are not too many passers by, merely the local seals and penguins, who quite definitely would have thought our behaviour bizarre.

Following the radio scheds to some of the field parties we took the opportunity to open a few Christmas presents around the tree in the tower… some presents were more appropriate for opening in a communal sitting than others… something I have duly noted for next Christmas! Vicki fortunately received photograph friendly gifts, particularly popular was the wind-up penguin and the lego-man head torch which we are hoping will be as effective as a petzl.

Presents opened it was time to run across for a brunch of bacon and sausage baps to sustain us through to Christmas dinner. The chefs, Lorna, Issy and Al truly surpassed themselves in creating a six-course meal, complete with the traditional turkey and Christmas pudding. Thereafter everyone retired upstairs for an evening of dancing and entertainment. I never fail to appreciate the surreal beauty of dancing around at 1 am outside on the verrandah overlooking elephant seals and penguins with a backdrop of icebergs and stunning mountains.

Christmas Day started with a dash to deal with Communications. Firstly Ashley, who was boatwoman at Rothera last year and now finds herself at King Edward Point on South Georgia, kindly used part of her hour of internet time to telephone me in the surgery. Most BAS stations are fortunate to have Internet telephones, save for South Georgia, and so they rely heavily on Skype to permit telephoning at reasonable expense, unfortunately Skype is quite greedy on bandwidth and so the guys at South Georgia decided to divvy up the time evenly, so first port of call for me was to wish Ashley a Merry Christmas. Last year we spent Christmas Eve in the Caboose, skiing until Midnight so it was good to share Christmas again this year, albeit slightly different.

Following this I ran up to the Operations Tower to catch some of the field parties on their daily radio scheds. A merry throng of folk had gathered up in the tower for the occasion, included Dave and Karen the communications guys, Vicki and myself, Terri and Tamsin and Dave Wattam, acting Base Commander. It was really great to chat with the parties who have been out on the ice for many weeks now, some of whom who have suffered really quite terrible weather enforcing weeks of lie-up within the tents… hopefully our rendition of Merry Christmas and various tales of festive cheer may have elevated the mood somewhat!

As previously alluded to the technical gremlins precluded any Advent blog updates and so I hope you will not object to a slight back step into December.

This photo highlights one of the hazards of Antarctic living – the tendency to hoard and save! My mother has been saving copies of The Daily Telegraph, particularly The Weekend and Magazine sections and posting them down, we had a real treat last week when the crossword was only a couple of months old! Recycling is definitely the name of the game, previous newspapers have been read by a multitude of people on base and subsequently fashioned into papier mache pinatas, a useful skill to learn I’m sure for my return to the real world. I was also able to reuse my advent calendar and nativity scene from last year, so room number 19 in Admirals is looking particularly festive.

Featured in the photo are my Christmas presents from home; I love the fact that I have been posted Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream and Molton Brown toiletries, I fear Shackleton may be turning in his grave!

I shall endeavour to catch up with the events and tales of November subequently, but for now I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I cannot believe that this is my second Christmas away. I am very much looking forward to celebrating at home next year, however for now I am fully enjoying my cold climate and all the merits it brings. Skiing whenever you wish and the prospect of mulled wine in the caboose never fails to please!

Vicki and I have been trying to create a more seasonal atmosphere on base (there are a few scrooges present who would prefer it if Christmas did not exist!). We have transformed the upstairs of New Bransfield with an array of vintage Christmas decorations, and performed a mammoth mince pie baking session, which will be fuel for this evenings Christmas Carol singing we hope! Tamsin hosted a Christmas Pub Quiz last night, dressed in an inflatable Father Christmas costume!

We have just managed to catch a snippet of the King’s Nine Lessons and Carols broadcast on Radio 4, courtesy of my mother at home and the wonders of speakerphone, it certainly was quite surreal to be listening to ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ whilst sitting in the Rothera Surgery Office.

Christmas Day was hoped to be a no-work day, however in the pursuit of polar science the planes will be flying and so for the majority of people on base we will be working tomorrow, however in true Antarctic spirit we hope to do it with a smile on our faces. Merry Christmas!

As alluded to previously, Adelies have been largely surpassed by Chinstraps for the most prevalent penguin at Rothera so far this season. I think the reason for the name is pretty evident from the photograph, taken at the end of a recent sealwatch for the dive team.

Prior to every dive the marine team require someone to stand out with a pair of binoculars for at least half an hour to check there are no leopard seals or orca whales, both of which preclude diving for at least four hours. During winter when the sea ice was present seal watch became redundant, however as the sea ice has disappeared a while ago I have been spending a fair amount of time loitering beside the runway on the lookout for wildlife. Penguins provide welcome company to this task, and on this occasion the Chinstrap was particularly inquisitive, taking a nibble at my camera case!

Vicki, the doctor who will be taking over from me and wintering with the 2011 team arrived during November, and has already proved her worth on sealwatch by spotting a pod of orca circling the base of Leonie Island, about ten kilometres away, really quite impressive.

Apologies for the blog silence of late, a gremlin was at play on the technical front, however Nick (who has kindly cobbled together the blog for me) has come to the rescue, just in time for the festive season.

Karen, one of the summering communications officers, caught me trying to chat with a penguin the other day! Bizarrely we have had far fewer Adelies around Rothera this year, and a surplus of chinstraps instead (photos of which to follow later), so I was very glad to hear an Adelie on a recent walk walk around the point. Adelies are by far and away the most amusing penguins, and sociable too. It is quite easy to converse with them, although the new people arriving on base do find it rather odd to see ex-winterers squawking at the wildlife… I have to point out that this time next year the same individuals laughing at us now will be doing precisely the same this time next year!