Sunny Days

Today went a walk around the point then up to Vals for snow boarding I did some of my best boarding until I fell off hurting my thumb,elbow and shoulder ,I thought I'd ripped my thumb off it was so painful.

The sea Ice has almost disappeared now with even the thickest ice broken up it won't be long till theres nothing left.

Blue glacial Ice.

Lazy days for the Weddell seals

A couple of slumbering Weddell seals.
hopefully in a few weeks we might be able to see a couple of seal pups.

This Seal was a sleep in the icy water with just its head poking up it was only when I crept up that it woke up.

Burg and brash ice.

Leopard Seal

A few of our base members went out on boat the other day and encountered a 3+ meter Leopard seal which gave chase after there boat.

These creatures are huge and you don't want to be close to them as they have attacked boats in the past.

(Thanks Ali for the photo's)

Emperor Penguin.

(photo courtesy of Matt Balmer)

A close up of an Emperor Penguin.

Snowboard Repair

After scratching my snowboard the other day Liz showed me how to repair it with P-tex then I waxed it and the following day scraped off the surplus.
In the after noon I tried it out My God it was like a rocket I felt as if I was a total beginner again.

Emperor Penguin on the move.

Emperor Penguin

Today we were visited by a lone Emperor Penguin.
They are the largest of the penguin family.

It was a photo opportunity that we all made as they very rarely visit Rothera .

They are very inquisitive so if you stand still they come right up to you.

Life in the freezer

People think there in no life on Antarctica apart from Penguins,Seals and Sea bird but there is life, although basic there is Lichen pictured above.

Spring Tails.

Fungi ,moss and grass.

Mites.
All these only live in the areas that are only seasonally covered by snow and ice so this tends to be the coastal areas.
Dickie is our Terrestrial Scientist.

Snow board tragedy

Today when the weather improved I went boarding on the point I boarded a tight gully pictured above . The first time it went perfect but the second I hit a lump of ice which pushed my board onto a rock, scratching the bottom of my board, so now it needs a repair.

A beautiful clear day with good contrast.

Some good cornice.

Well another day over

That warm feeling

Today was another breezy day but the sun was out and blue skies all around.
I went snowboarding on my own when I walked to the top I sat and looked at the view, I was in a sheltered spot so I put my hood up lay back and just looked up at the sky.
It was such a good feeling blue skies and a warm sun.
In the afternoon I met up with Drew and Jim then we went for more challenging snowboarding.
A good day had by all.
The object above is used to measure the suns path and hight above the horizon.

Today has been a warm day at -1 but there was very strong winds but everyone made the most of it and went snowboarding and skiing.

Snowboarding

As it was a beautiful day at a balmy +2 with no wind most of the base went snowboarding and skiing on the ramp but Ken and I went around the point looking for different types of snowboarding.
It's amazing that every time you get videoed you fall.

Terrible News from home.

On Friday I had some terrible news from home, and it makes you realize how far from home you are and how helpless you feel knowing that you can't leave here even if you wanted to.
You also realize that some times you need just to be with your loved ones.
Telephones and E mails just aren't enough but everyone look out for one another.

Another Tech Services success story

Following many blockages in the STP I decided to empty the sludge hopper ,climb in and clean all the debris out.
A job for the A-Team.
Kenny as Ba Beracus and me as Faceman.

Not a pleasant job but all in a days work for the A-team.

All safety precautions were taken as it is a confined space with Hydrogen Sulphide Gas present.

Scott as mad Jock Murdoch.

When you've got a problem and don't know what to do
Call the A-Team.

Norway

This Week I received an e mail from Gisle Uren from Norway who has read my blog and has his own Dog sled .

What a way to take your small children out it beats a pram.

I do wish dogs were still allowed down here.

What beautiful dogs.

Cold Southerlies

The last few days we have had cold wind from the south pushing temperatures down to -20 again.
Drew and Alistair finished their Man haul today, they both pulled a sledge behind them as Captain Scott did on his ill fated race for the south pole, this was for Alistair's winter trip.

A view into history

Looking through this piece of glacial ice you can see tiny bubbles of trapped air. Glaciologist's take ice core samples from 100's of meters down,they can see in these cores year bands just like in a tree. They then take ice samples from the bands place them in a machine where they are melted and the air released can be analyzed to find out the make up of the gas. The main gases of interest is Carbon dioxide and methane(greenhouse gases) they have found there has always been ups and downs in the amount of carbon dioxide but the recent samples have found the CO2 is rising steeply and much faster than ever before.
A worrying trend for the future.

Happy 7th Birthday Euan

Happy 7th Birthday Euan.
Many Happy Returns Euan I hope you have a great day with lots of fun, I wish I was there with you to give you a big hug and kiss.
All my love Daddyxxx

Groundhog day

For those that have seen the movie Groundhog Day you will know what I am on about.
Wake up at 8.30 to the same tune on my CD alarm clock,wash, dress have breakfast with the same people, do my rounds, lunch with the same people talk about the same things, work, have dinner with the same people, shower meet the same people for a movie and then bed.
Wake the next day and its exactly the same apart from about 10 or 15 mins where something different may happen.
I find it such a laugh, In fact such a laugh that the doctor gave me a special jacket to wear so my sides wouldn't split,the only problem is when its on I can't move my arms.

Cabin fever

Thing taken for granted

It's amazing how much I have missed seeing the sun over the last few months.
The last few days the sun has been higher than the mountain range in the distance so we have had full sight of the sun for hours, from now it will just get lighter and lighter till we have 24 hours of light a day.

Blow out

A sleeping Elephant seal on whats left of the sea ice after warm temperatures and strong winds blew the rest of the ice away, all hopes have gone for sea ice travel on my winter trip, I was hoping to go to Horseshoe Island to an old wooden hut that used to be a British base.

There is still some sea ice in north cove but to the south it has all gone.

The line between sea ice and the open sea.

Moving the Caboos

Today Tech services tried to move the Caboos that had been drifted in. After lots of digging and pulling with the Sno-cat we still had no luck, so tomorrow we will try again.
There is so much powder snow that it makes any work hard.

Andy Driving
Scott,Kenny and me digging