Should probably read the fortnight that was, I came to Antarctica thinking that it would be a fantastic time to learn; do some yoga, concentrate on some mindfulness training, finish my thesis and maybe get an article published……

We only had to get one job finished before the Kingdom was ours, the 14 of us could settle down for a winter all alone in one of the most breathtaking places in the world.

We had to do resupply, resupply or as I call it the worlds biggest shopping trip and it went well, we smashed it.  Everything was unpacked and sorted really quickly and efficiently, the freezers were full, the potato shed and onion shed were stocked and I had my scented candles.

Then a blizzard hit, it was an amazing example of the force of nature, driving horizontal snow so thick and fast that there was only visibility for about a metre.  Winds that made the roof creak and groan, and created eddy pools behind any buildings.  When I tried to open the door to the house the snow came inside with such intensity that I couldn’t hold the door open because I was getting drowned….in snow.  It was kind of nice to sit in the big picture wind and watch the weather rushing past, there was no pressure to do anything because you really couldn’t.

Then the impossible happened and the little red resupply boat outside ran aground in the middle of a blizzard….. it was one of the worst moments of my life both personally and professionally……..knowing that a group of people are about 300 metres from you possibly in serious trouble and there is very little, maybe nothing that you can do…… and with a blizzard predicted to last another 36 hours, a long tense wait was ahead of us.

So much relief when the blizzard finally stopped and it was a clear beautiful day, the wind was dropping and people could finally safely come ashore.

In the ensuing couple of weeks there have been so many opportunities to be thankful, most I am only just beginning to process and thank the Universe for.

Firstly no-one was hurt and we all had food, warmth and a bed to sleep on.  Then secondly I have had so many experiences to be grateful for that I would never have had and met some fantastic people.  So apart from learning an huge amount about boats……who knew they should be called ships, boats is so much cuter.  They have ballast tanks and guest lines……. maybe I’ll work on a fishing boat next, anyway off topic, so we were waiting for rescue and there was nothing to do but take advantage of the skills that our suddenly larger group had to offer; we had water craft operators, pilots and last years group to act as tour guides.

Water craft operators were called upon first to launch the boats so we could have a look at a few places 1. the nearby island where all the Adelie penguins live, 2. an ice-berg and 3. to see the edge of a glacier as it meets the sea.

Firstly the Adelie penguins are hilarious, they are only about 60cms tall and have attitude in abundance.  When the boats got to the islands there was hundreds of them and the smell was truly appalling….. combination fish curry poo and chicken manure.  They talk and sqwark like a bunch of old ladies at South Melb Market, kind of cute till they start walking towards you sqwarking….. then they are kind of scary those beaks look sharp.  Leaving the islands behind we came across a massive stately ice-berg just hanging out in the bay.
The evening light was bouncing off it making the dark blues and sharp whites glisten like stained glass windows, and they are huge at least 10 stories high.  I felt very insignificant next to a huge ancient piece of glacier.  Behind the ice-berg was a glacier slipping into the sea, it looks like a piece of molten vanilla ice-cream that has frozen and then been snapped in half, the edge is all jagged and brittle.

Then on a little icy mound was a single Emperor penguin, standing so stately against the sky, totally ignoring the Adelie’s.  He or she looked like a supermodel standing amongst a group of vertically challenged people, very elegant.

I came back after 2 hours away very relaxed and chilled out, back in peace with the Universe, ahhhhhhh

.