One week left

Well in one week I will be leaving this view,which is from my bedroom window, and instead of seeing white,grey and blue I will see a multi coloured world.
The closer it gets the faster I want it to go.
I find it hard to write about my thoughts of leaving Antarctica,maybe only people who have experienced this can understand.

Over night at Lagoon Island cont...

A view over the other side.

Dive bombing Skua.

Smile.

Adelie Penguin.

Over night at Lagoon Island cont...

Elephant seals are so uncaring when they are on dry land. The bog chisel I'm carrying it to ward off aggressive Fur seals and dive bombing Skua's.
I have been hunting like it looks.

The hut from the other Island.

Jason on top of the hill.

Me.

Lagoon Island.

Over night at Lagoon Island cont...

Some amazing views on such a clear day.

Mountains,glaciers plus the wild life.

Jason and I put on Boat suits and waded over to the next Island as there were larger groups of Elephant seals there plus the Island has a higher hill on with a cairn at the top.

Two young Seals fighting.

Yet more seals.

Over night at Lagoon Island cont...

The Elephant seals climb all over each other they sleep tight together farting, burping, grunting and pooping all over each other. All night you could hear them making their noises.

You can see how big they are but for their size they can move fast when they want.

Lagoon Island mainly consists of volcanic lava rocks.

A view of Jenny Island one of the many sights I'll miss.

To gracious looking Furries.

Over night at Lagoon Island

We arrived at Lagoon Island by a rigid inflatable boat at 5pm in the party were Ali, Scott,Jason and me. The first thing we did was to put the paraffin heater on to warm the place up, then we went a walk around the Island.

Although the weather was dull it wasn't to cold -2 to -4. There were nearly 60 or more Adelie penguins, they're so comical and inquisitive.

I had mainly come to get my last look at some large Elephant seals.
The one above was moulting.

A Fur Seal sound asleep it looked so snug on its pile of stones.

More Adelies deciding whether to take the plunge.
After our walk we went back to the hut for dinner then a glass of Port or two.

Mid Winter such a long time ago.

The winter team photo taken on mid winters day.
Back row L to R
Tris, Matt B,Drew,Rich,,Pete,Me,Andy,Roger,Rob,Kelv,Mike,Alistair
Middle row L to R
Birgit,Scott Ken,Ali
Front row L to R
Dickie,Jim,Cyril,Mark,Liz,Matt C.
In four weeks I'll be back in the UK and all this will be a distant memory.
There will be many treasured memories.

A glorious day but cold.

It has been a glorious day at Rothera although a cold wind blows from the south.

While Scott and I walked around the point there were a large number of Adelie Penguins, fur seals and a couple of Elephant seals.

The penguins are in a much better mood now they have finished moulting.

A lonesome Skua.

A day out crevassing

Looking back at Rothera my home for the last 16 months from the traverse.

Looking towards Stokes Peaks and McKay Island.

Grounded Burgs.

Drew our very own Antarctic Rescue + Survival Expert (ARSE for short) was our guide for the day.

Going into a crevasse is very dangerous as they are continually moving and collapsing , so safety lines are put in so we can tie onto them, this would save us if the ice bridge we walk on collapsed but I don't think it would save us if the sides collapsed squashing us flat.

Crevassing

You can never get over how strange and beautiful crevasses are, they are just so blue even when your meters deep inside.

Looking back down the crevasse.

Scott climbing through a tunnel.

Although they don't look it these icicles are meters long and to wide to put both hands around.
The picture above is looking up towards the top of the crevasse.

Looking along the crevasse fault.

Crevasse Ice formations

Ice in crevasses forms in many different shapes, as you can see the one above is so regular in shape.

Small Icicles but some in the crevasse are meters long and over 30cm in diameter some grow horizontal as well as vertical.

This ice has formed in a globular shape.

But this must be my favourite type,also like the top picture.

More and More Fur seals

Since the snow started to fall and the temperature has fallen there has been a large influx of Fur Seals there are now 100's around the base and on the runway.

Smelly and grumpy.

The Base looks better now there is a layer of snow and it will only get deeper now winter is approaching.

I will miss everything about Antarctica from the ice burgs to the wildlife from the solitude to the crashing /rumbling sound of the Glacier falling into the sea.

Surprise Visit by the LMG

Well we had a surprise visit by the Laurence M Gould yesterday which meant another tour of the base but today there were 26 people to show around, their favourite place was the Bar as they are on a dry ship so this was their first drink for a while.
Today we woke to a covering of snow and it looks like its going to carry on snowing for a couple of days.