Last weekend I went on an overnight trip with two other fellas to Beche Island. The only thing different about this trip was that I was the ‘Trip Leader’. Being the trip leader is more about the planning and admin side of expeditions – I had to put in a trip application which involved documenting where we’re going, what route we will take, what vehicle we will be in and who is on the trip. Both the other guys, Darron and Brilly, were experienced trip leaders so I could always call on them with how to organise everything if needed. It’s nothing overly complicated but basically getting everything properly documented, so all communications and backups are all on the same page with station and looking after the welfare of the group. We headed off after work on the Friday afternoon, quickly got ourselves set up, and then got to relaxing and enjoying the weather. Adelie penguins have returned and began nesting on the island so we went to go have a look at them. Adelies are not quite as comfortable to come up and investigate us as the emperors have been but they are comfortable to have us around so long as we keep a decent distance. A weigh bridge has been set up on the island to monitor the penguins through their breeding cycle, so a little fence has been put up to funnel the penguins over the weigh bridge as they make their way up and down the island. It’s quite funny to see this shin high Adelie-proof-fence. The weather was perfect, only about -3 and almost no wind – we could quite happily and comfortably sit outside with no jackets on, grabbing beers from a bucket filled with snow. Eventually we went inside to prepare dinner. An Antarctic staple is a ‘Fray Bentos’, a steak and kidney pie which comes in a can. I had heard them mentioned with very mixed reports but had not tried one yet. We cut the top off the can, exposing the puff pastry underneath and then put them in the gas oven for 30 mins. I didn’t imagine I would enjoy it but I actually really did much to Darron’s delight having converted another believer. Since there is no actual darkness anymore midnight came around very quickly but it was a very enjoyable night. The next morning, we cleaned and packed everything up and went for a small walk around the island. I have attached a picture with a GPS plot of our route out and back from the island as well as where we walked. There is a lot of life on the island – snow petrels are nesting in small sheltered cracks in the rock and Skuas are constantly keeping close to the penguins waiting for the chicks to arrive and keeping a look out for the sick and injured. In the end happy to report we had a great time and I didn’t lose anyone and we got back to station safe and sound. I now have trip leader status meaning I can organise trips and groups to head out into the field.
Since that trip though we had pretty crappy weather come through with a lot of snow being blown on station and a couple blizz days but it has given me a chance to brush up on my dozer skills while clearing blizz tails from station. From the Friday just gone something very strange has happened – the temperature has soared to above 0 degrees and is currently sitting at about 3 degrees. I kind of forgot about positive temperatures. We are getting a lot of melt around station and yesterday I went out to the back of station and stood at the edge of the plateau and could actually hear running water under the ice. It was actually a really nice sensation to hear running water again. Pools of water are building up at the tide cracks at the edge of the sea ice. It’s nice to see a bit of change. At 3 degrees I am perfectly comfortable to walk outside wearing just a shirt and shorts. However, this means that the sea ice is probably not going to last much longer and we are still planning to try and do one more census at Taylor rookery as late as we can. So yesterday Mark the FTO, Frank the doctor and Me the narrator headed out to the west to check how the ice on our route was fairing. It’s still thick enough but definitely beginning to deteriorate. It was quite strange to see pools of water on top of the ice from surface melt. So, I imagine our next trip out to Taylor will be happening sooner rather than later.
Guy's Antarctica Adventure 2020 