Last weekend I went to Beche for the night, it was so good to escape the Station for 24 hours and relax with a couple of awesome chilled out people.

We headed out on Saturday after brunch, just as the sky was starting to lighten, on quads.

Beech is only 3.5 kms away over the sea ice but we wanted a comfortable night so we were taking a generator with us, plus we wanted to explore a little bit.  It was beautiful, -16 but no wind for once the katabatics had died off.  The sea ice was fairly smooth, there is one small baby berg stuck in the ice between the Station and Beche but the light was to dull to make the colours of the ice pop so we scooted past.

There was a couple of little tide cracks in between two Islands, it is kind of freaky looking at them (and driving over them) but they were well frozen over.  It must be an amazing struggle while the sea ice is forming between the plates of ice and the tide of the ocean; the ice trying to bind together and the ocean trying to break the ice apart.

Beche is a Adelie penguin nesting ground, and a research station so it is fairly well set up and I knew that there would be a few penguins around that didn’t make it through last season and had gone to penguin heaven.  I was unprepared for the feeling of expectancy that surrounded the Island, like a holiday home that no-one has been to for a while.  It was like the whole place was missing part of its soul with all the penguins out at sea and feeding.  You could tell that this was normally an inhabited Island just from the missing energy.  In summer we had gone past on boats and watched the penguins, it was a hive of activity.  Little penguins running around every-were talking, arguing and keeping watch, now nothing.

We drove up the rocks to the cabins and dropped our bags and got the heating going before heading off to walk the Island and enjoy the experience of being some-were new.  Some-were that we had never been before.  Everywhere there was reminders of the little ones that hadn’t made it through the summer, a constant reminder of the cycle of life and death that is so obvious in a place like Antarctica.

I always know that life is precious and pay lip service to the fact that we should make the most of it, wether that is just stopping to enjoy the sunset or the sight of the moon or the way the light is reflecting on the glaciers.  Even down here we I have very little to do compared to at home I still forget to take the time to sit and relax, tell people how much I appreciate them, take the time to respond to emails and watch the sunrise and set every day.  The cycle of life doesn’t care, it just keeps on rolling forward wether I am appreciating everything that is provided for me or not!!!!

As you climb towards the top of the Island that faces into the wind, the rocks become smooth, shaped but he wind over centuries.  In places the seaice was bright blue as fresh water had oozed up between the ice and the rocks and gently flooded the ice with clean water, washing away the snow covering.  The view over the seaice towards the Casey Ranges was spectacular and out on the horizon was the massive icebergs stuck in place by the seaice

 

 

It gets dark quite quickly at the moment so by 1400 we were settling into the cabin, a smartie design, as demonstrated in the picture.  These huts are so cool, loads of little storage areas and room to move around a bit.

We were hoping for auroras so that we could take some photo’s without the station lights in the way but it was pretty cloud so no luck.  Instead we just played cards and shared some wine, before finally trying to figure out what Facism was….

The next day on the way home we circled the Island and drove down the other side were the ice had really got churned up with the tides.  There was huge chunks of ice sideways across each other like they had been sumo wrestling immediately before they froze, a bit of a reminder that the sea is only 80cms below us…  eeekkkkk.  Another reminder that life is a cycle!!!