Wednesday 9th January 2002
The sun sits low in the west without ever quite disappearing. As we smoothly make our way out of Holme Bay, it briefly winks out behind a mountain or an iceberg resulting in an hallucinatory blaze of changing colours and providing endless opportunities for still and film cameras which are always at hand. Skipper Tony has earlier predicted that the sight as we sail back again through Iceberg Alley at midnight will be magnificent and he is spot on. I hope that our photos do justice to it all.
At sea again (67.36 deg S, 62.52 deg E)
It is now midnight on what has been another spectacular Antarctic summer day. The sun has shone around the clock, and you can see forever.
We have just finished helicopter activities and are gently making our way north again through light ice towards Iceberg Alley and on to Prydz Bay and our friends on Polar Bird.
It's not like there is a jetty that we could tie up alongside, so sadly none us made it ashore as Aurora wedged herself into sea ice about 2 or 3 miles out from Mawson Base. We did however have an excellent view of the operation as the versatile and reliable French Squirrel helicopters spent all day ferrying expeditioners, baggage, stores and important scientific field samples between Mawson and our ship.
So we're underway again. The weather is excellent and at one stage during the day, I caught sight of a couple of the hardier souls out on the fo’c’sle with their shirts off, taking advantage of the afternoon sun as if they are on Bondi Beach. It is remarkable how quickly we all seem to adapt to the weather. Minus one degree C is practically T-shirts and shorts weather and it is only when the wind strengthens that concessions are made to beanies and woolen mittens. Regular visitors to these parts tell me that it is noticeable that when the ship gets back to Hobart, family members waiting on the dock always seem to have more layers of clothing than returning expeditioners.
After a very long day, where those involved in the activities worked tirelessly, we were finally finished by late evening. With the Squirrels stowed in the helideck hanger and everything once again lashed down, we backed out of the ice, made a 180-degree turn and slowly began again on our way north and eastwards at midnight.
The effect on us of 24 hours of daylight means that there is never a moment when people are not up and about, working, watching, reading books or playing cards. With biological rhythms in utter confusion we sleep when tired and work when awake and some mornings the E Deck Mess is as busy at 0300 as it is at 1800.
We have had another encounter on the way with Nova Tuna 1, who seems to be spending a lot of time within the Australian EEZ just looking.
And so again to Polar Bird – perhaps some time tomorrow or early Friday…
No comments:
Post a Comment