Port Lockroy Update
17th - 29th December 2009
The first day of this diary entry is 17th December when we had a
morning visit from Fram. It was our last chance to send post and
have our laundry done for a while, so there were a few last minute
postcards written and hand-franked to catch the ship before it left
for a longer trip to the Falkland Islands. This day also saw a
visit from Ocean Nova, who kindly invited us on board for their
Flamenco evening and afterwards we were fortunate to catch a 15
minute zodiac ride to Dorian Bay where some passengers were camping
for the night. It was a great chance for Anna, Claire and Eleanor
to see Damoy Hut where Rachel stayed with students and teachers from
Geelong Grammar School (previous blog) and see the latest progress
with regards to painting.
Unusually four 'quiet' days followed with only one ship visit one
afternoon, but there was still lots to be done by the first ever all
girl team in the history of Port Lockroy. Different building
materials and items including 'The Wilderness Comfort Station'
(propane incinerating lavatory) needed to be restacked or relocated
on two separate occasions due to heavy winds and uneven snow melt
respectively. Also we worked on updating the museum database,
cleaning the solar panels, putting up Christmas decorations around
the shop, museum and living quarters and digging the remaining snow
and ice off the pathway from the chains landing to Bransfield
House. The Gentoos have enjoyed our efforts re the latter,
sunbathing on the exposed rock and decorating it ever since. Mr.&
Mrs. Limpet, in particular regularly give us a little more exercise
on our rostered 'scrubbing the steps' day. However, they do provide
us with entertaining moments when catching our breath, especially
with chicks hatching out everywhere over the last week.
We saw Eve get free from her eggshell by the boatshed at 11.30am on
Christmas Eve, then Nowell by the flagpole arrived on Christmas Day
and Dora by the Door on Boxing Day. It is amazing to watch the
chicks struggle to stand, their tiny flippers next to their necks
and heads and then to see them reach up to put their beaks inside
the back of their parents beaks to feed, only to flop down with
exhaustion or loss of balance. We can hear the squeaks of the
youngest ones, indicating that Mum or Dad has stood up to stretch
and adjust themselves on the nest, and look to see if it is possible
to sneak a peak of the little one, possibly intertwining and
snuggling with a sibling. However, the sixteen day old chicks, like
Uno and Mr.& Mrs. Concrete Pillar's pair (the first, third and
fourth chicks on the island respectively) are getting to be half the
size of their parents, who can now only half sit on their fluffy
offpsring to protect them from the cold and hungry skuas. Every
two days Claire and Rachel have been doing a chick count of the
chronology colony by the Stevenson mount (where Base A scientists
used to place the Stevenson Screen that housed meteorological
instruments) to establish when to complete a chick count for the
whole of Goudier Island.
Another bird we see daily (and hear pattering on the roof) is the
snowy sheathbill, which has the body of a dove but the face and feet
of a turkey! They perform quite an amusing rapid bowing dance to
each other and spend most of their day distressing the Gentoos by
walking close to their nests to clear up krill from penguin guano,
but would also take any opportunity to steal an egg or young chick.
We currently have a pair of sheathbills nesting under the decking by
the front door, completely oblivious to most visitors.
One nice afternoon, whilst Claire was filming a hatching chick,
Anna, Eleanor and Rachel went over to Bill's Island, which is
accessible at low tide. There we were lucky to see three speckled
heads popping up from a Dominican gull's nest and two Weddell seals
resting nearby. Other wildlife sightings have included an Antarctic
minke whale in the bay and a red coloured octopus by the chains
landing on Christmas Eve. This evening a leopard seal, which
surprisingly shocked us by its size, swimming several times under
the zodiac that was giving us a lift home after a welcome sauna and
showers aboard Professor Multanovsky.
On 21st December we celebrated the longest day of the year in true
Port Lockroy tradition with a special mid-summer day dinner cooked
by our talented chef and chief Anna. Eleanor had caringly produced
handwritten, humorous menus, which we all signed, and invented the
cocktail 'Antarctic IndiAnna' (one part Aquavit Antarctica, two
parts Pisco Sour, one tsp brown sugar and the juice of one orange
over crushed glacier ice) in honour of the occasion. Dress for the
evening was 'Black Tie and Thermals' or 'Frocks and Crocs', to which
down jackets were rapidly added as the gas for the fire ran out just
as we sat at the table. There have been many other culinary
creations in the kitchen with Eleanor's mince pies, Claire's Thai
and crumbles and Rachel's gnocchi and turkey and mushroom pie.
We had several ships and yachts (Aura and Seal) between 22-24th
December and we donned our Santa hats / reindeer antlers complete
with festive earrings to greet our visitors. A couple of people
from the older generation reminisced on childhood days upon seeing
the gramophone in the old lounge. They enjoyed Rachel playing the
record 'Cheek to Cheek' for them and 'Somewhere over the Rainbow'
for the younger passengers. During this time it was wonderful to
have bacon and pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast on Polar
Pioneer and dinner with Pisco Sours on Antarctic Dream.
Our Christmas began with a special invitation for a barbecue on
Polar Star after their visit on Christmas Eve (the most glorious day
we've had since Tudor left). This was especially great for Anna,
who could spend more time with her cousin visiting Antarctica on
holiday, whilst Claire, Eleanor and Rachel socialised with crew and
passengers, singing along and dancing to Abba. We were whisked
away back to our island at just gone midnight and wished each other
'Happy Christmas' with hugs upon getting through the front door.
After a small lie-in on Christmas morning we exchanged gifts and had
a fantastic combo of cinnamon pancakes, fried eggs, champagne
marmite, golden syrup and hot coffee for breakfast. Eleanor and
Rachel tried to find the BBC World Service in the old radio room
hoping to hear the Queen's Christmas Speech but unfortunately Her
Majesty's voice didn't come over the radio waves as there was poor
reception due to high winds.
At least we had a white Christmas with snow in the late morning to
welcome our visitors from the Dutch yacht Anna Margarette, who were
pleased to share our gorgeous Christmas cake with us from Mrs. M
(Anna's Mum). In the afternoon we were invited on the yacht, Seal,
for Christmas cake and although it was very tempting to join them
for a walk on Jougla Point, our turkey which just fitted in the oven
was ready sooner than expected. Anna again produced a delicious
feast with roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts with walnuts, mushroom
stuffing, cranberry sauce, bread sauce and proper gravy. I don't
think any of us expected a roast in Antarctica – it was truly
amazing and we give much thanks to Prince Albert II, Fram and
Antarctic Dream for their contributions to the delight!
Unfortunately, the Christmas Pudding and Elvis jigsaw puzzle will
have to wait until New Year's Day, as our evening was spent doing a
combined English and Scottish scrum against the insulated panels for
the Nissen hut, that had collapsed haphazardly due to uneven snow
melt. This had to be continued on Boxing Day evening as in the end
it was better to unpack and restack the lot. Still, it was a good
excuse to be outside enjoying the splendour of our Antarctic
surroundings.
Peace and Best Wishes to all for the rest of the Festive Season and
for 2010 from the most peaceful continent on earth.
Rachel |
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