Happy Christmas AGAIN!!!

Happy Christmas to everyone - I'm really missing you all, but you'll just have to excuse me this year! It is strange here, very few decorations, and little sign of Christmas. No radio or television so we are not reminded of it every minute, no shops with those eternal Christmas songs droning on and on - in fact it is LOVELY!!!

I hope you all can move around and that the snow is not too bad, just drive carefully! Have lovely big Christmas dinners - we've been invited onto the base tomorrow night at 8pm to join in with their Christmas dinner. I hope I can stay awake after this busy time!

I hope my niece Sarah who is in hospital in Glasgow is soon much more comfortable and better.

I miss and love you all!! I shall have to cuddle a baby elephant seal for comfort!!!

Lots of love XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Happy Christmas!!

We went through our two weeks of no cruise ships really quickly and now we are paying the price! They are coming in thick and fast, and to be truthful, it is really good to be busy with them, as that is why we are down here! There was still a lot to do in the Museum, but we all got in to a good slow steady rhythm, normal working hours, and lots of catching up with things.

Now the place is alive again with vast numbers of ships' passengers all in matching polar jackets. The shop is full when a ship is in, and when they leave there is all the restocking of the shop, cleaning the Museum floors, generally tidying up, and cleaning the loos, ready for the next ship. There is never more than one ship in at a time - because South Georgia is in such a remote location the cruise companies all agree amongst themselves not to go to a place when another ship is already there, which certainly heightens the sense of isolation for the passengers. So we had one ship, Fram, in this morning, and as soon as she had gone, another, Bremen, in for the afternoon - they are all in the whalers' church now for a short service, having drunk gluhwein in the cold outside, and once they go back on board and sail out of Cumberland Bay, her sister ship, Hanseatic, will come in - gluhwein and nibbles in a small marquee outside the Museum, and then a service at 10pm tonight to which we are all invited.

One passenger from Bremen in the Museum just now, asked Lynsey if he could buy something in one of the glass cabinets in the Museum ... Ernest Shackleton's walking stick!!

This morning I had to go on Fram and give a presentation about the South Georgia Heritage Trust's (SGHT) Habitat Restoration Project, whereby a team are going to drop rat bait from helicopters in a large area around Grytviken to kill the rats that predate on ground-nesting birds, the South Georgia pipit in particular. No more rats will be able to come back into the area because it is surrounded by big glaciers, and they do not cross these. Once this trial has been completed and fully monitored, the rest of the island which is infested with rats, will be baited. Rats live on about one fifth of the land area of South Georgia, around 80,000 hectares, and we are trying to persuade people to donate £90 towards clearing one hectare of rats ... "Sponsor a Hectare" - so I had to try and persuade them to part with their money.

I did one presentation on the Akademik Sergey Vavilov yesterday and 'sold' 9 hectares, but my presentation wasn't very good. Rather than read out what was on each Powerpoint slide - "death by Powerpoint" - I had written copious notes and read these, but I felt it was very stilted. Today I had cue cards with a couple of hints, so that I had to make it up as I went along and it came out much more naturally. But lots of the passengers were either having their lunch on the ship, or were still ashore, and I only had an audience of about 20, and I reckon two of them were asleep, so we only got 2 people signed up. I did get lots of questions from the audience though, and that is always a good sign that they have been paying attention! The expedition leader told me before I went that they would get more donations from the passengers (280 in total) and would send them on.

The ship, Fram, was amazing ... huge, but not one of those big white monsters. Lynsey went on board and walked about with our mouths open, gazing at the opulence. They offered us lunch, a HUGE buffet, and we piled our plates with salads and fish - wonderful! For pudding I just wanted fruit salad but there wasn't any so I gathered up all the fruity decoration from around a chocolate terrine and ate that instead.

During the presentation I had Stefan, a very handsome young tall German man who works most of the time on Svalbard, beside me translating whatever I said into German. The big lounge was really bright so you could hardly see the slides; but I've done it, and that is two presentations under my belt, with goodness knows how many more! And I'm feeling much happier about doing them.

Tonight we have been invited across to the base from our new home in the little Villa next to the Museum for drinks at 8pm, then back to the church at Grytviken for the service, then bed. I am so tired after all the extra work I've had organising these talks, learning all the stuff, then doing them. But it has been fun as well as adrenalin-filled! Two more big ships in tomorrow - Christmas Day, then Hanseatic again on Sunday, then two days off ... yippee!!!! Then it starts all over again!

Sad day

We got up early this morning and went to see the ship back off to Stanley with six 'old' base members, one diving visitor, and the five builders. I know I've only been here for less than a month but they have all helped me, the Museum team socialised a lot with them and they were all great people so I was sad too. It must have been really hard for the team who have taken over from them, but now they can get on with their jobs on their own.

By my reckoning there were 31 people here, and now we have gone down to 19, and in less than a month three of the Museum staff will be leaving - although we may be getting a couple more shipped down! Also Thies and Kicki, the yachtees on Wanderer III, will be heading off soon around the coast for a holiday. So it is all change here.

THEN on the way round the track to the Museum this morning, we couldn't see one of the little black fur seal pups that was born about two weeks ago, and Lynsey and I are worried that something has eaten him. His mum has been going off to feed, then returning to suckle him, and there was no sign of either, although the big male was there. There IS a chance that they have gone across the track to hide up in amongst the tussock grass and we hope that is what has happened.

Today - hopefully, is moving in day. We are going to do as much as we can, but need strong men to help us carry in the larger furniture. My mattress is out in the sun airing and I've put my curtains up in the little bedroom upstairs, so at least I've got somewhere to lie down and sleep, but I've got to get all my stuff from Larsen House at some time. We will have to carry all the kitchen stuff out of the shed and put it through the dishwasher before we can cook and eat anything, and we still need a plug on the freezer! I did find part bottles of rum and brandy in the shed and a couple of bottles of beer, so we're all set to toast our new home (Lynsey and I!), and there are a huge number of wine glasses in boxes in the shed! It is very bare in the cottage (it is known as Drukken Villa but that is far too grand a name for the little place) but we can soon find things to cheer it up.

I'd better go and get on!

It is Saturday again .....

.....and everyone else has disappeared off to the hills, leaving me behind to enjoy the peace and quiet of a deserted base! A lazy couple of hours in my kaftan in the dining room catching up with emails (oh yes, and while I'm on the subject of emails, there is nothing to stop any of you emailing me and telling me what YOU have been doing ... hint hint!!) before doing my share of the housework in Larsen House - tackling the communal kitchen. We have been sharing it with a great team of builders from the Falklands and it's a case of whose nerve gives out first and does the washing up, filling the dishwasher etc. My, this is gripping stuff!
Yesterday's excitement was a documentary team from South Korea who are visiting South Georgia on the yacht "Golden Fleece", who came in to the Museum to film the exhibits. And on yet another domesticated vein, the Villa - our new home - is nearing completion (and with it the loss of our friends the builders on the next Pharos trip back to the Falklands) and someone had to find the curtains that used to hang in there from a large shed, wash them and get them ready to rehang. Now anyone who knows me will know that I HATE hanging curtains, but there was no-one else to do it, so I spent yesterday afternoon washing them and hanging them in the domestic part of the Museum to dry, ready to rehang in the Villa. Now it turns out that we will have to delve in the same large shed and find all the furniture we need, and manhandle it into the Villa before we can move in. Why me ........?
The fur seals are increasing in number along the track between King Edward Point and Grytviken making the walk to and from work interesting! There have been two or three occasions where a young fur seal has rushed up to me aggressively and I have pointed the handle of my walking pole at it (not the sharp pointy end in case I have had to use it!) and the beast has backed away. I don't think I'll ever be relaxed about fur seals but I am getting quite fond of them. Some of the huge males - in big fat breeding condition - that are spaced out along the shoreline have nasty wounds from fighting each other to establish territories. Some have females with them now and some of those females even have little black furry puppies. Most of the mothers have that contended look about them, but I certainly wouldn't venture too close. The puppies bleat like lambs and look so cuddle-able, but I have been told that they are vicious from birth! The elephant seal weaners just get bigger, as if someone is blowing them up with a foot pump. They spend most of the day lying on the shore or the track, regularly clearing their nostrils with a snort that sounds like a sneeze. They have mucous-y noses and I think their nostrils get stuck shut and this is how they get to breathe again. If they fall asleep on the shore line it is not uncommon to see one of these 'babies' lying with its head completely submerged in seawater, just lifting its nose from time to time to breathe. Yesterday we had about two inches of snow, and from the office I could see what looked like a small rounded island close to the shore with snow on top and it turned out to be a very large elephant seal with its head and tail underwater - when you think that these seals can dive to great depths for anything up to two hours, and commonly for 20 minutes at a time, you can understand why lying with its head under the water is not a problem. We are so lucky here having these animals so close by, and we have to walk round them - they don't move for us!
Tonight we have been invited to the base as usual for supper. Sam the doctor is cooking - I think it might be Swedish meatballs. They have a map on the wall in the base dining room and when someone cooks a meal from a different country they can colour in that country in 'their' colour, and Sam is intent on colouring in as many as she can!
I've been getting on with stuff in the Museum this afternoon, but must pack up now and go back and get ready for supper. This is the last meal we will have with them before the winterers who have been here for two years leave - I've only been here for 3 weeks but even I will miss the 'old' ones! Our numbers here will drop by half when the Pharos leaves to take them all back to Stanley. Right - now to brave those fur seals ....!

Two postings in one day

My big sister emailed me and said she had been looking at Google Earth at Grytviken and all she could see were rusty oil drums and litter so this is what I replied to her:

Of course Grytviken has rusty old oil 'drums' - they are big iron containers for holding all the whale oil when it was a whaling station last century. It might look scruffy, but there is no rubbish lying around ... only ARTEFACTS!! Huge whale bones, an old historic jetty, old sheds, the lovely Norwegian church, machinery used in processing the whales. It is really very sad here to remember the wholesale slaughter of all those hundreds of thousands of beautiful whales. I'm just so thankful to Mum that we never ate margarine (whale oil) or used cheap soap - we always had Palmolive, but we would have consumed or used many other things with whale in them - Bovril for a start. When Grytviken first opened as a whaling station they caught enough whales in the bay here for 3 years to keep them working full time. Only recently have whales been sighted back here, but it is so good to know that they can come safely here again.

We live, at the moment, at the British Antarctic Survey base at King Edward Point which is just under a kilometer away along a coastal path. If you look at it on Google Earth, go to the far end of the buildings from the big green boat shed and jetty and there is a longish whiteish building at the other end, on the inland side. This is Larsen House where the museum people currently live; it has 4 en-suite bunk rooms (for 8 people), two stores, an office, a dining room, kitchen, and a laundry, and the doctor's surgery and a hypothermia bath room. It has hot and cold running penguins just outside the kitchen window, and elephant seals and fur seals dotted liberally around what would normally be the 'garden'. We are leaving it to move into Drukken Villa (no, not Drunken!) at Grytviken which, when you look at the front of the Museum with the big mountain behind, is directly to the right of it - some times it looks attached but it's not. It has two double bedrooms upstairs, and one double en-suite bedroom downstairs, a big kitchen and living room, utility room, and shower room downstairs. It has been completely restored by re-lining the walls with plasterboard and something like Kingspan insulation, but the original structure is still there inside. Under the bedroom floors in the gap is a thick layer of cinders which was readily to hand in the whaling station days and acts as insulation. It would all have been like that but you can only see this gap through a doored hatch halfway up the stairs.

The fur seals and elephant seals are marine mammals that only come ashore to breed and moult. All the ellie babies had been born and weaned before I arrived, but are still lying around looking cute, but the furries are just starting their breeding. Huge big ugly, very smelly, males come ashore, and the pregnant females come to join their harems - you have to be really careful with them, but the bad boys are the immature males who lurk up in the tussock grass and wait for a nice lady to come strolling along the track on her way to work and then jump out and menace her! They rush up to bite as their defence - and the nerve-wracking thing is whether or not you can stand your ground and turn them away or use your bodger (big stick) to tickle their whiskers (honestly!) and give them a fright so they back away. Often if you just stand and stare at them and growl or clap your hands, they will suddenly remember something else they should be doing, and will lollop off, but now and again one will go in for the attack. Their bites are extremely dangerous - they have evilly dirty teeth with strange bacteria, and they grab hold of their prey (hopefully not ME) and shake and do the damage that way. So getting to work in the mornings can be an interesting exercise.

For those of you who don't know, you get two types of seals. True seals move around on their stomachs and don't use their flippers apart from a bit of steering and perhaps to prop themselves up a bit to get a better look at something - elephant seals are true seals, and our builders call them blubber-slugs! Eared seals (which is what fur seals are) are far more mobile and can almost gallop around on their front and back flippers, like performing sea lions. As their name implies, they have little ears that stick out (a bit like otters). Eared seals have their testicles outside their body, and I think that this must be the reason they are so grumpy all the time, especially when moving over stony ground! True seals - good, eared seals - bad!

I hope you remember all of this - I will ask you questions later.....

Busy, busy

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted. A lot of ice has slid down the glacier since then. We had a rush of ships on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last week and I can't believe how busy we were. Two ships per day for the first two days then one on Wed - a total of 535 passengers passing through the Museum and the shop. Doesn't sound much but when they are concentrated into about 3 hours per visit that is an awful lot of people crowded into the little shop at once, all desperate to buy presents to take home. And when they are all wearing thick waterproof clothing and life jackets there seem an awful lot more of them!!! In between each ship the Museum has to be swept and mopped, and the shop restocked. I am now a dab hand at the credit card machine, can convert pounds into dollars and euros at the drop of a hat, and can smile for hours. On Monday we were invited onto Polar Star for dinner - a barbecue which was cooked outside but eaten inside in the warm. Huge prawns, steaks, and spare ribs, but - best of all ... salads!
The British Antarctic Survey base at King Edward Point (where we live and get our food) is supplied once a year by the BAS ships, but does get regular supplies of certain vegetables and fresh eggs from the Falkland Islands courtesy of the Fishery Patrol Vessel, Pharos, during summer irregularly every few weeks, depending on her timetable. All fresh stuff gets eaten quickly and we have to then rely on frozen meat, tinned and frozen vegetables and fruit, dried eggs and powdered milk. I've only been here 19 days but I already miss fresh fruit and salad, so it is a real treat to dine on a cruise ship and dig into big bowls of salad and nice puddings with fruit. Even our supply of chocolate and crisps here is rationed and it is up to the doctor to dish it out at the beginning of each month, and if you miss it then - tough! I managed to get a single Mars bar this time - but that's not a bad thing for me!!
Once we had watched the passengers leave on Zodiacs to return to the ship on Wednesday, and then saw the ship sail off, more sweeping and mopping, restocking, and cleaning the loos was done (I have a very important, technical job - but we all take turns and muck in), and we could take a nice breather - this time till 22nd December when our next cruise ship is due.
There is still plenty to do in the office but it is all much more relaxed.
There is one yacht due in on 8th Dec called Isatis. I met the people on the yacht in January 1981 in Ushuaia and was invited for meals on board and never expected to see them again - certainly not nearly 30 years later, so I'm looking forward to meeting up with them and finding out what they have been doing in the meantime.
On Friday night Thies and Kiki invited Hugh and I to dinner on their lovely yacht, Wanderer III. We had to go out on their small tender and again I was at risk of falling in the water amongst all the elephant seals as I stood up to climb aboard. The yacht is tiny and it is their only home. It is so cosy - I was sitting next to the little woodburning stove whilst Kiki cooked a lovely meal on their primus stove. We had olives and pickled garlic cloves for nibbles, ham in white sauce with asparagus, boiled tatties, carrot salad, and sauerkraut, and then a lovely lemon drizzle cake with whipped cream (it was Ewan's birthday so we toasted him with the cake!!!) After wine and hotlemon (cider vinegar and honey with hot water) we had to risk the little boat again to get ashore, and Hugh walked me back in the almost dark, torchless, braving the fur seals along the track. (Hugh does most of the maintenance around the Museum, is an amazing runner, and has to put up with useless females on the Museum staff who are scared of fur seals!)
Last Saturday was a glorious day so I decided to go up to Gull Lake for a walk. It is about the only decent walk you can do from base on your own, and I am too embarrassed and slow to ask anyone to come with me. Gull Lake is where the water for the hydro-scheme comes from. It is a beautiful clear freshwater lake up the hill behind Grytviken. I had my instructions where to go and was expecting a smallish lake with a nice path around it, perhaps the odd seat! Tough! It was huge, and there wasn't even any signs that anyone had been there before. Much of the surrounding land was rocky, and where it wasn't rocky it was boggy. And to add to the hard walk I had to put up with attacks from Antarctic terns who probably had nests nearby - these beautiful little birds can inflict nasty headwounds as they dive bomb any unfortunate walker, but I held my walking pole up over my head and they couldn't get at my head. Add in the hot sun (SG is right under the ozone hole at the moment) and for me it was quite a challenging walk. At least there are no fur seals up there to ambush me! I measured it on the map to be just over four miles, but it was difficult terrain at times, a steep hill up and down again, and it took me almost 3 hours! I was overtaken at one point by Hugh and Keiron jogging - Hugh later told me it took them about 30 minutes AND they were talking all the time. But I did spend lots of time looking at the view and taking photos and just enjoying it up there, and some people were really impressed that I had done it.
Every Saturday night there is a meal for everyone at the base and people take it in turns to cook. This week it was a Great British Pub Night, followed by a pub quiz. We had to wear fancy dress, so I wore my kaftan (that I use as a dressing gown) + lots of beads, and went as a hippy! There was either soup or prawn cocktail for starters, fish and chips, steak pie or mixed grill for main course, and bread and butter pudding or jam roly poly with custard or cream for pudding. And home made dinner rolls! The quiz was very funny, the team I was in came 3rd so we did not badly, and as soon as it was finished I had to go 'home' to bed, I was so tired and had cramp in my thigh.
I woke up to a nice Sunday morning which rapidly turned into a good reason for staying indoors - very strong winds with torrential rain turning into driving snow - not very pleasant. I stayed put until 7pm when about14 of us went to Pat and Sarah Lurcock's house for a sushi evening. As I left Larsen House and crossed the track I was faced with 2 young (last year's) fur seal pups and one of them ran at me - I shouted at it and waved my arms, but it just kept coming and I had to turn and run and leap up the metal steps to Larsen House. When I got back out armed with a bodger (fur seal protection!) they were nearly down on the beach and I could swear they were giggling about having frightened me! We had a lovely meal of sushi and great company and I staggered home at about 11pm.

The weekend at last!

It is now Saturday morning, just after 8am, and I'm surprised that I woke early today after last night! The BAS team decided to have a barbecue and a ceilidh in one of the buildings at Grytviken and we all gathered at around 6.30pm for 3 different stews (cooked earlier and heated up on the fire) and rice, mulled wine and punch - ghurka stew, chicken and chickpea tagine and chilli con carne - which we ate standing round the fire in the cold wind. The musicians went in to tune up so a few of us less hardy mortals ate inside, listening to the music. At around 8pm the ceilidh started. Jon called the dances, explaining the steps, and it was so funny watching them all crashing about till they got the idea. Unfortunately I couldn't join in (more later) and reckon I had the best entertainment sitting watching. The dances were performed with great skill and enthusiasm (and by Richie and Tommy with much leaping and bounding!) and by the end of the evening I was exhausted from laughing so much. Thanks to Rob and George, the fiddlers, on fiddles they had made themselves, and to Jon on bhodran (? - celtic drum - no Lynsey, not the tambourine!!), and George also played on his home-made digeridoo. VERY talented young men. I walked back round to KEP with Ruth and Keiran with one headtorch between us - and it's not easy spotting grey/black fur seals in the darkness. Fortunately we didn't step on any and none jumped out at us.

Now back to Wednesday night. We went down to see the elephant seal weaners at the jetty - large grey torpedoes of cuteness, and sat with our wellies in the water whilst they carefully sniffed and chewed at our boots. There is a minimum 5 metre rule for approaching wildlife here, but we can't help it if THEY come up to us!!! They spent ages peering at us with their lovely large round watery eyes, rolling round on their backs, splashing us with their back flippers - it was such lovely interaction with very wild creatures. The weaners eventually got bored with us and swam off so we walked along the beach, and suddenly a young male fur seal shot out of the water and chased us. I panicked and ran, and tripped over, but he was chased off by one of the others who saved me from being bitten! We stopped off for a drink and a natter before heading back to our home in Larsen House, by which time my knee was very painful, and when I checked it was very swollen. I went to bed but couldn't bear the weight of the duvet on my knee and it was painful all night and kept me awake. I was really worried I might have done something really bad to it and was terrified that it would mean the end of my stay here on South Georgia. In the morning I asked the doctor to have a look at it, and she said there was nothing broken, no infection etc., so gave me painkillers and a painkilling gel to rub on, and I went back to bed to sleep and rest it. I got up later to hobble around - the paracetamol made it possible!, and Ruth called round to say we had been invited for supper on the cruise ship "Vavilov" - I had missed seeing all the passengers in the Museum and shop that afternoon - and as I wanted to see the presentation some of the scientists were giving on board and also Ruth's fundraising talk, I dosed myself up and hobbled down to the boatshed to be fitted for a boat suit. This is a thick, warm, waterproof suit with wellies on the end of the legs which I had to struggle into + lifejacket, and fortunately the BAS people almost lifted me off the jetty into the Zodiac for the trip out to the ship, and out again when we got there - poor old dear! We had to mingle with the passengers (99 of them) and then joined them for their Thanksgiving supper, before gathering in the bar for the presentations. I now know all about the Antarctic food chain - algae, phytoplankton, zooplankton, krill, fish, penguins, seals etc., and how they check their diets by looking at stomach contents and (I hope you are not eating ...) poo! More mingling, then back into my boatsuit and into the Zodiac and home. More paracetamol, then a good night's sleep!

I walked on my own round to the Museum (about 3/4 of a mile) and swept and mopped all the floors in readiness for the next ship on Monday in penance for having the day before off sick. Made soup for lunch while I was eating my breakfast in Larsen House, so we had that with the bread we make in the Museum every morning, did more work in the Museum, then walked back to KEP to get ready for the ceilidh.

Sorry if I have confused you by jumping from one day to the next. Today I'm going to take it easy although my knee is just about better, just a little wobbly. Lynsey and I are going to make Scottish tablet as we found a big stash of condensed milk in the food store and have a birthday present to produce! Last night at the ceilidh Paula brought in a lovely chocolate cake for one of the men's birthdays - she had made chocolate fudge frosting to go on top and had put it in a pot in the fridge, but one of the other scientists had been clearing out the fridge and thought it was some old sauce from a few nights before and poured it down the sink ... thinking at the time, mmmm - that smells like chocolate!!! I'd made some of my chocolate spread/sauce for Ruth earlier in the week, and when Paula went to see her in distress about the lost frosting Ruth gave her the choc spread so the cake was saved!

Another glorious day in paradise

Today the clouds are low over the mountains and it is raining gently, but a yesterday was really stunning - bright blue sky, hot bright sun, and gentle breeze. The bright contrast between the white buildings and their red roofs, the turquoisey blue sea, the green of the tussock was so vivid it almost hurt your eyes - might have actually done that as we are directly under the hole in the ozone layer so have to be really careful about sun exposure - no bikini for me then! No swimming either, with the temperature of the water and all those fur and elephant seals around.
My first job was helping to stain the steps leading up to the Museum front door, then I decided to try and shake the huge coconut mats in the porch there, but they were far too heavy, so I put them over a fence and tried to beat the dust out with a large piece of wood. A heap of fine grit appeared below them, and the fine grey dust blew all over me, but there was no chance of getting it all out so I put them back in place and hoovered them well. (Gripping stuff, this!)

In the afternoon I helped prepare envelopes for sending out certificates to people who had paid £90 to sponsor one hectare of land for rat eradication - the rats in some areas of South Georgia eat the eggs and the young of the ground nesting birds (which is all of the species who breed here ... no trees on South Georgia!!) and are a huge environmental problem. The rats were brought onto the islands here by the whaling ships early last century. In the New Year there is a programme of rat eradication beginning, with helicopters dropping bait to get rid of this huge problem.

It was my turn to cook yesterday. I generally cook EVERYTHING at 180degC for 2 hours, so it was a bit of a challenge for me. Also, we eat when it is ready - whatever time that is - and Ewan and Katie used to say they came for meals when the smoke alarm went off!! I made potato wedges and roasted them in the oven, grilled gammon steaks, and we had grilled asparagus and tomatoes and rock hard peas (not my fault!) I forgot the pineapple rings on top, so we just had to have them with ice cream for pudding afterwards. The rule here is that whoever cooks doesn't wash up, so I had a rest before going across to the BAS bar for a drink and a natter. I was tired (all that beating this morning!) so didn't stay long, but it is lovely to spend time with all those great young folk chatting and teasing one another. They are a funny lot!

Settling In

I arrived here only four days ago and have been so busy ever since. But very happily so! I now know my way around the Museum, have dealt with customers in the shop, know where most things are on the base where the Museum staff live (KEP) and am getting quite used to the fur seals - they are very fierce if you get too close, and have only just started coming ashore to breed and are still in low numbers. Apparently the place will be crowded with fur seals before too long, huge big males, very fierce and protective mothers, and tiny pups (who are aggressive from the word go!)
My first task in the Museum was to spring clean two of the rooms and exhibits, with a couple more to do this coming week. It gives me a good chance to look around at all the exhibits and get to know a lot more about Grytviken and its history. It is lovely to see photographs of old friends and people I worked with in the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge in the '70s - Nigel Bonner, Peter Prince, Inigo Everson, Duncan Carse, Sir Vivian Fuchs and lots of others - a real nostalgia trip for me.
Every Saturday night there is a big meal at the BAS base at KEP, to which all the 'residents' on the island are invited. This week it was the turn of the Museum staff to cook a meal and we chose to do a 'carvery', with three different roasts, lots of veggies, and puddings. Tony (Museum manager), Julia (the other Museum assistant like me) and Hugh (who maintains everything in and around the Museum) prepared the meat and all the vegetables, and Lindsey (curatorial assistant) and I made two different crumbles (and custard) and two big trifles. No trifle sponges in the big food store, so I had to make the sponges (and we had enough left over to make a small Victoria sandwich cake for afternoon tea with raspberry jam and butter cream ... mmm!) Everyone dressed up for dinner in the base dining room, lots of posh glasses on the table and wine, and the food was soon enjoyed and demolished, and we all retired to the bar except the washer-uppers. They are all really friendly here and do everything they can to help when I am lost, or can't find something or need to find out anything!! There are about 30 people here, including the new incoming scientists and staff for the next year, but after a couple of weeks' handover some of the 'old' ones will be leaving and numbers will be greatly reduced. That's a shame when people like me are just getting to know them!
The food store is wonderful. Imagine being let loose in a small Tesco store, with a basket, and being able to help yourself! Of course it has to last the year so we can't go crazy, and things like chocolate and crisps are rationed (the base doctor has responsibility for handing them out!!), but there is a mind-boggling choice of foods to use. It is my turn to cook for the Museum staff (only 5 of us, thank goodness!) on Tuesday so I'm trying to think up something impressive to cook - but might start off simply with my favourite - shepherd's pie. We only have a certain amount of fresh veg at any one time, so I'll have to use Smash for the potato topping!
As it is Sunday, most people have gone off walking in the hills around KEP and Grytviken. I needed to download my photos from my cameras and catch up with lots of bits and pieces (still sorting myself out) and do some laundry, but I'm just about to go out with a picnic and my camera to walk round the base and take photos of all those beautiful animals out there. I'll sit quietly somewhere and just soak it all in. This is South Georgia to me - the wild snow-capped mountains surrounding the bay here, and the amazing wildlife living so closely to us. It is not quiet here, with the sound of the seals and seabirds, the waves and the wind, but it is so very peaceful.

South Georgia at last!

No posts for a while (sorry!) as I had great connection problems in the Falklands, and then the long ship journey, but I have arrived at King Edward Point/Grytviken after four glorious days at sea (instead of the five gruesome days I was expecting!) The weather was perfect, just a gentle roll of the ship that only served to help me sleep so soundly at night! Sunshine and blue sky all the way - it was amazing. Stopped just off Bird Island to drop off a scientist, fresh eggs, fruit and veg, and their mail, so I had a long distance look at where Ewan spent the last 30 months. We then steamed halfway along the northern coast of South Georgia and into Cumberland Bay to King Edward Point, the British Antarctic Survey base which is where I will be living for the next four months. The scenery was stunning - conditions were so good - and the wildlife amazing. Saw near Bird Island a humpback whale and calf, and later the blow of another whale - probably a minke. Everyone on the ship has been so kind and friendly and I was sad to get off, but even before I did, a man from the base (Hugh) rushed on and gave me a big hug and said "that's from Ewan!!" and then helped me get all my stuff to our accommodation. It has all been a bit of a whirl and I'm really tired now, but wanted to get something written. Everyone here is lovely too, and so helpful, and my head is in a whirl with all the people and places I have to remember, so I'll have to finish this tomorrow. I feel a bit as if I've been dropped off at a new boarding school, but it is very exciting. The views from our 'house' are stunning, there is a large group of king penguins right outside the kitchen window, and there are seals all around us ... bliss!

A grand day out

Mid-morning, Ailsa took me out for a drive around the northern part of East Falkland. Last time I did this (with Chris in 1980/81) there were no roads, just tracks across the land, over grass, rocks, bog - but after the 'conflict' (Falklands War) new gravel roads were built making most journeys much quicker. We visited three settlements - Johnsons Harbour, Port Louis and Green Patch, and called in to see some of Ailsa's friends in all three. To an outsider their lives seem incredibly hard and I don't think I could cope as well as they do, even though I would love to live down here. But the sense of community is great and they all help each other when help is needed. I had forgotten just how remote the Falklands are. Imagine something in your house breaking down and having to order a new part from the UK which then has to come down by ship. Everyone is resourceful here - old things are kept for spares and nothing is wasted. It is a truly green society. In the UK we just chuck things away and trot along to the shops to buy a new one. What a horribly wasteful way to live.
This is a photo of Estancia - the lovely cosy house is centre right and the big green shearing shed is centre left. In the foreground and background is the pasture for their sheep and cows and you can see in the distance the peat banks for their fuel. The tidal water beside the farm is actually 23 miles from the open sea.
We're off to the bright lights of Stanley tomorrow ... how will I cope?!

Snow and sunshine

So hot when I went to bed last night I turned off the radiator in my bedroom - woke up early a bit cold, looked out of my window to see a covering of snow - brrrr! Heavy snow showers now alternating with bright sun and blue skies! Ailsa is going to take me out for a drive in a while, but until then we are staying indoors in the warm!

If you want to see where I will be living on South Georgia, and information on King Edward Point, look at:

http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/living_and_working/research_stations/king_edward_point/index.php#Location

The museum staff (and 3 builders) are living in Larsen House.

The builders are working on museum living accommodation round at Grytviken, beside the Museum, and once that is finished we will probably be moving there.

Beautiful day!

I don't think you can beat a lovely sunny day in the Falkland Islands anywhere else on Earth! Still breezy, but that just means the Proven wind generator is spinning frantically, and the washing dries quickly. It is lovely that they can get all their heat and light here with peat and wind. I haven't been doing much, just helping out where I can. The three farm dogs were off their chains today so I've been able to talk to them - it is so good getting my hands on a collie or two again! There have been a few visitors here today so it has been good getting to know a few more folk. This is such a lovely place!

A Falkland Islands traffic jam. The shorn sheep being returned to their field.

Ailsa and Tony's sheep farm is over 13,000 acres and they have 1,900 sheep - all farmed by just themselves.

Today we have had a quiet restful day, Ailsa baked 3 lots of biscuits, a chocolate cake, chocolate brownies, and a tray of flapjack this morning. I was chief washer-upper. I went for a short walk up to the gate on the road but it was windy and cold so I rushed back into the warm house.

Sheepy day

I woke up at 6.15am to the sound of the generator going for the men to start shearing in the big shed. Ailsa had said I was to lie in and get up when I'd had enough sleep, but as they are 3 hours behind GMT (so 9.15am at home) I felt fine, so got up and showered, and then had breakfast with them all when they came in for a break.

I went out to 'help' with the shearing - just did whatever I could to help out. Did a bit of fleece sorting on the big table, pulling off any stained fleece, before rolling up and putting into wool sack. The wool is fantastic, so fine, and I chose a few fleeces to take to South Georgia with me to spin and look forward to working with such lovely fleece. Two shearers clipped 300 sheep - they dragged these huge sheep in, clipped them, and then pushed tiny ones out down the chute! They have such huge fleeces on them.

We then had to drive the sheep along the road back to their field, probably over a mile, with one Landrover in front and one behind.

You can't imagine just how quiet it is here. I love the isolation, the smell of peat smoke from the kitchen range, the wind generator whizzing round, the sound of the sheep. It is lovely to be back in the Falkland Island again after seven years, with old friends.

Long journey

Train from Aberdeen to Oxford on Thursday ... 10 hours, flight from Brize Norton to the Falkland Islands on Friday ... 18 hours. Flew with Air Seychelles (courtesy of the RAF!) and had my summer holiday during 1.5 hour stopover on Ascension Island, a balmy 26deg C with palm trees and bouganvillea. So relieved to arrive at Mount Pleasant Airport outside Stanly in the Falkland Islands and meet up with Ailsa who took me to their home - Estancia - a sheep station about half an hour's drive out of Stanley. I was shattered and crumpled from the long journey and it was great to sit and relax in their lovely cosy home and catch up with all the news, drink a big glass of cold spring water then go to bed!

Nearly there!

Twenty-four hours before I set off on my big adventure. Very excited, but also very nervous - for so many years I have been the anchor at home whilst my family have ventured away on very long trips, I still can't believe this is my turn! I've got lots to do today - finish my packing, charge up cameras, netbook and toothbrush, burn copies of my favourite CDs, and tidy up the chaos I have left around me. I'd better go and get on ...