It was two very stiff and sore people who emerged from the tent at 5.30 the next morning. The sleeping mats did not inflate and we spent the night doing pressure area care every hour instead of sleeping.
Tag: travel
Change of plans
Then after the most boring five days of my life, the Universe smiled on me. I was given the option of flying home instead of taking the ship…. It was a big decision and I carefully considered my options. The benefits home two weeks earlier then planned…. flying not rocking my way through the roughest latitudes in the world… internet access. It took about 2 secs, to recover the power of speech and agree to take one for the team. OK, I’ll fly home since some-one needs to do it. Happy dance, happy dance, happy dance.
Travelling home – part 1
It seemed like hours before finally the blob appeared, with my slightly dodgy eyesight, I had to wait longer then everyone else but it was there. A couple of low flyovers later and a bright shiny red little Basler landed smoothly on the sea ice, gliding to a stop right in front of us. A human emerged from the steps and I think I might have looked like a timid monkey hiding behind the guys peering out. It was the first human we had seen for ten months!!
Spring has sprung
Antarctic in winter as a preview of death!!! In winter the landscape does seem impassive but with the return of life the landscape has become more interactive. You get a response. A seal pup rolling around on the ice annoying its mother. A snow petrel playing chicken with the wind turbine. Squa’s hanging around watching everything intently like a fat kid at a buffet.
Penguin poo smells really bad
…when we find the first little footprints in the snow that signal the Adelie penguins have started to arrive home.
Soon the Island will be swarming with hundreds of penguins. They will be fighting over little rocks, laying eggs and keeping watch. The Rookery Island will be a place of energy, action and lots and lots of fresh smelly poo!!!!!
Learnings from 2 years and 4 landscapes
Three years ago my life took a left turn down an unfamiliar path, sometimes stony, cold and lonely and others times bathed in sunlight, full of love and warmth. This path has felt worn but at the same time narrow and one lane.
Emperor penguin chicks
Kneeling we are almost eye to eye, when you look directly at the birds they shuffle like naughty children, nudging each other to the front of the group. When you look through the camera or away from them, you can hear them shuffling closer on the ice, occasionally they peer up the lens of the camera.
Finding the Emperor penguins
I desperately needed a weekend away, by Friday last week I was turning into a hater, there was not much empathy left in my heart and I needed a urgent recharge. Six weeks on station in a row was becoming a little bit like ground hog day and I was running out of love for every-one, hubby and family…
internet withdrawals
Imagine what it is like to have no internet, how did people used to communicate
Jen Wressell 