Before winter begins (in 6 weeks time everyone leaves 22 people on base for 7 months)...us winters get to have a little holiday, well it involves work but mostly it's about having a bit of a relax and alone time before the fun begins!
I was co-pilot for the trip there and back which was INCREDIBLE. On the way there it was very sunny, the scenery was breath taking. On the way back 4 days later the weather was not so kind, however I thought this was awesome as I got to do some instrument flying, Ian even taught me how to feather the prop and adjust the torque. We also found some wave to climb up in!
So for 4 days I was based at a place called Fossil Bluff which is in the middle of nowhere. It is the most idyllic and historic place I've ever been to.
Below is Bluebell Cottage. This was mine, Samways, Bryony and Joe's cottage for 4 days. It was over looking King George IV sound placed on Alexander Island just off main land Antarctica.
Whilst at Bluebell cottage, one must read Silent Sound which is by Cliff Pearce. He was one of three to first build and winter at Bluebell cottage. He named the book silent sound because when you sit at outside at fossil bluff it is the most silent place in the whole world (except when I was there) and you look over King George IV sound.
On our first day there we hiked up Belemite Valley to find these beautiful fossils, hence why it's also called Fossil Bluff.
This rock is so hard to walk over!
It's the most peaceful I think I've ever been to. Plus, the BAS issue RAB sleeping bags are incredible.
So apart from a ''holiday'' we were actually there to work. Fossil Bluff is actually in the spot it is because it acts as a refueling station for passing aircraft that are flying back into Rothera from the field, so I absolutely loved it here even more because I got to work with twin otters!
When we were not refueling planes we were doing met obs (meteorological observations) every hour from 0650 am (the earliest I've been up in months). I found this a great task as I love the weather, mainly because of how it can change so quickly, here in Antarctica that is exactly what happens. One minute it goes from drifting snow, the next minute it's full on snowing like a snow tornado.
WE use china pencils to write down the observation on this board, then we relay this weather ob over the radio to Rothera who pass on the information about the weather around fossil bluff so they can decide if it's safe to land or not, therefore we need to be very accurate.
When it's a no flying day we keep Bluebell cottage running, mostly by doing lots of baking and walking, doing circuits, going climbing, playing chess, reading... Samways made brownies and I invented 'Yellow Snow,' this was actually Lemon sorbet which was lush. I basically mixed sugar, antarctic snow (not with wee on it) and lemon together. It genuinely tasted amazing with the brownie.
All in all we had an amazing little break and I can't wait to go back again after Winter. This is our little gang playing UNO which we got very addicted and competitive over.
