Rothera has been a busy place over the last few days, people constantly arriving and departing, new arrivals and 'winterers' (those that make up the 20 or so individuals that stay over the winter without visitors or food drops from the JCR) mixing in together. I'm sharing a room with Ally, one of the divers who has signed up to be at Rothera for 3 years – quite a commitment! No wonder she has more clothes than me….but only just.
One of the first things we had to do on arrival was the field training. The Brits are the only country that allow recreational sports around their Antarctic bases. The direct area around us is full of crevasses and being summer, ice sheets breaking off as they near the sea, so we're taken out into the field and taught the most amazing skills – abseiling (just ask me about french prussiks and jumars now! whether I'll remember them in a weeks time is another story…….), ice axe arrests, and basic body belaying. Oh yes, the skidoos are the transport of choice to get up the hill.
We camped out in tents the same as Captain Scott himself would have used, tilly lamps and 'man food' (wooden boxes issued for the field full of dried chicken korma, butter, 'biscuits brown' and lots of chocolate…..I sensed a high fat theme going on for obvious thermal reasons and thought it not the place to mention vegetables) kept us well fed (?)and warm. We slept on thick sheep fleeces inside massively fat sleeping bags, it was one of the best nights sleep I've had.
Matt, Chris, Rob, Jamie and I sat and snowboarded on the top of the hill at midnight, and went back to sit inside our tents to drink sloe gin and ponder the universe – another difficult night in the Antarctic……..
