A day along the Peninsula

Catch up from 27th November. Quite a long day, with lots of photos and some hard work.

4.30am After an earlier check on the scenery it was clearly worth getting up early as we went along Gerlache Strait:

Not posed, honest. On through Neumayer Channel, 7am:

The characteristic skyline at Port Lockroy - time for breakfast and to get ready for the day's work
10.30 and the first deliveries to Port Lockroy are off the cargo tender. We were delivering the components of a Nissen hut to expand the accommodation here. The building is from the WWII Operation Tamarin base and is now run as a museum by the Antarctic Heritage Trust. the Nissen Hut will replace one that existed before, so is true to the history of the site. There were some slightly confused penguins and some very confused American tourists.


What passed for a landing site

The Gentoos


More materials carried up the snow slope to where the hut will be built (or has been now - after the penguins have finished breeding)


One of two containers we emptied

Some time off waiting to be collected at the end of the work (16.45)
And after dinner we reached Lemaire Channel (20.00)

Possibly setting the record for the number of people on the monkey island - the ship was very full. Some people were badly sunburnt after the day outside. The ozone hole means UV levels are very high and skin burns very quickly. The cold temperatures mean you don't notice it happening until it's too late. Still, a lesson for those spending a season (or more) at Rothera.


After a torrid crossing of the Drake Passage, largely held as a hostage, Winnie the Pooh makes an appearance21.00, time for beer

One of several Minke Whales seen during the day

The soft light between 9 and 10pm, together with the calm seas and smooth (capsized) bergs make for a slightly surreal end - it looked computer generated somehow, or maybe I was just a bit over tired.

A special day.