Back at Rothera

Jo with skidoo

Our first campsite

You have probably guessed by now that I am back at Rothera! I arrived at midnight on Friday, after a really long day waiting for the planes and watching the weather deteriorating rapidly. It was a bit too exciting for my taste....we heard the planes but couldn't see them, because there was a lot of low cloud around our campsite. Then eventually they descended through the clouds and I breathed a sigh of relief. But it was not over! They landed O.K., and we packed up both planes with all our gear. This took quite along time because we had two skidoos and three large sledges, as well as 2 tents and all our other gear. Then the first plane tried to take off, bounced down the skiway in a very alarming fashion (pitching nose to tail all the way) and tried but failed to take off at least 3 times. It was horrible to watch, especially knowing I was going to have to do the same in a few minutes! In the end the pilot decided to take out some of the load, and we had to leave a depot of equipment at the site. If the skiway had been less bumpy, and my rocks lighter, the plane could probably have got off the ground with no problem. Anyway, then it was our turn. I was a bit more optimistic because our pilot is very experienced indeed, and seemed quite confident he could do it. But he said we needed to hold on tight because it would be bouncy driving down the skiway. I held onto the seat, shut my eyes and concentrated on wiggling my toes, whilst praying we would get out alive. I heard the sound of the engines change, and Roger tapped me on the shoulder only seconds later to say we were airborne, and I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. Finally we were out of there! The rest of the journey was uneventful. I got to be co-pilot on the second leg from Fossil Bluff, and it was beautiful because by this time it was 10pm and the sun was going down. The light on the mountains was very pretty.

A Twin Otter flying to our first campsite

When we arrived at Rothera, it was really quite dark, and I couldn't see much because I only had my sunglasses with me! We managed to find some food when we got back, and then I had a very quick shower (nice) and fell into bed. It was 2am. Since then I have been very much enjoying relaxing, chatting to other people, and eating food I have not had to cook myself and that is not highly processed. It also does not make me fart! It is the weekend here, and so there is no great emphasis to get on with any work. I wanted to go skiing today but the weather is not great (cloudy and snowy), but I am lining myself up for a little boating trip later this week and hope I can get out for some exercise at some point. I saw lots of seals and penguins last night, and 2 humpback whales in the bay during coffee time today. Other than that, I am packing cargo and helping out other people with their work if I can. It's a very nice change, and a very nice slow introduction to the real world again. I fly out of here on 6th February. I am looking forward to it now it seems so close. The mountains, sledges and tent are already quite a distant memory - but one, of course, that I shall cherish. As my field assistant commented one day, even money couldn't pay for a trip like we had. I basically said where I wanted to go, and we went there! Private expeditions cannot do that :)

Sledging across Johnston Glacier

Not such nice weather - Echo uplift in nil contrast

Oh and I weighed myself again - verdict 60kg with my heavy boots. I reckon that means I have not gained or lost any weight (it was 59kg before I went away), or alternatively that I have gained 1kg in muscle!

P.S. I am no longer using my field party email account, so you can now contact me on my gmail account.