Young elephant seals play-fighting in the water.
Here on Signy all is well. We had a nice Christmas and managed to take a couple of days off to celebrate. We had a christmas tree and decorations and ate lots of traditional Christmas food, including the full Christmas dinner of turkey and trimmings, plus we made mince pies, trifle and Christmas cake. Christmas cards and parcels from family and friends were opened and we spent Christmas morning out sledging and learning to snowboard (which I was dreadful at!). It was all very nice.
Our Christmas Dinner (left to right- Yoga, Matt, Norm, Me, Bruce, Mark, Stef).
The JCR came to visit the day after Boxing Day, and took away two of our scientists, and brought 3 more, bringing us up to 8 on base for a while. This was quite busy but nice, as it meant the cooking duties don't come around as often! We celebrated New Year with a BBQ and champagne.
2014 so far has been quite busy with ships. In addition to the JCR visiting at the start of the year we had a cruise ship, the Bark Europa to visit in early January. This is no ordinary cruise ship, but a beautiful tall ship, on which passengers pay for a working holiday of sailing the ship and visiting the Antarctic all in one. We were lucky enough to get on board for a quick look around. I think if I was to visit the Antarctic as a tourist it is definately the best way to travel!
The Bark Europa at Signy.
On 13th January the Shacketon (BAS's second ship) called to take away some cargo and 2 of our scientists. This puts us back down to 6 people on station. The Shackleton brought us some fresh fruit and veg which made a refreshing change. We are now about half way through our season and this is likely to be the last ship we see until the Shackleton returns to close the station in mid March and take us home. Between now and then I have a lot of penguins and seals to count, chicks to weigh and krill to measure. I also need to continue the process of finding myself a job for the summer.
Thats all for now, I will leave you with a photo of summer twighlight over Coronation Island- this was taken just before midnight. Best wishes for 2014 to everyone at home.
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