1^st Dec

Today I arrived at PL. Woke to a morning of such beauty up on the 8^th floor in the viewing area of the Ocean Albatros. Excited I had packed my bags and out on deck to be greeted by a mirror sea and reflections of glaciers and mountains that were truly spectacular.

A quiet breakfast and then back out on deck as the ship manoeuvred to PL. I had recognised the Seven Sisters mountain range. Many of the kiwis onboard rightly liken them to the Remarkables in Queenstown,

We slowly inched our way towards Goudier Island and the PL buildings came in to view and I could see my fellow UKAT work mates ready at the shore waiting for the zodiac to bring them over to the boat. Lots of waving when the approached and they got onboard bringing shop merchandise with them to sell to the to the guests and in doing so raise money for the Trust and the work it does to maintain the 6 heritage sites in Antarctica.

A presentation was given to the passengers an a shop set up. Passengers were doing the polar plunge where they jump out into the sea for that ultimate cold emersion challenge. this will be a steep learning curve for me, knowing the ropes, getting familiar with the presentation and answering passenger’s questions. Once all was packed up it was back on the zodiacs this time with my bags.

So I have arrived. Even with my post COVID reduce ability to smell, eau de penguin guano was cutting through. Gentoos are everywhere. There is a nominated walkway up to Bransfield House (the museum) and onward to the Nissen Hut, my accommodation for the next 2 months plus. He guys me the key to open the Nissen, welcoming penguins sign drawn by Laura greeted me. The Nissen is very cosy. Lots of new ways to learn just as Clare has guided the new crew in the last few weeks. Christmas decorations are up! I opened my first advent calendar envelope… thanks Izzy brilliant xxx.

After a cuppa, it was over to Bransfield House and the museum. So much to take in but all the pictures I had seen of this building and now I was here. Goodnessthis is such a treat. I have a lot to take in and learn. The outer part of the building is looking a little shabby, paint peeling but it is unclear if there are any plans to paint the building this season.

Penguin highways criss cross the island. Gentoos waddle back and forth, some walking from nest to shore, others just collecting stones for their nests sometimes stealing them from other nests with resulting indignation from the robbed nest. There is penguin chatter all around. Many sheathbills trot around. We use to call them mutts Signy. The are pigeon like white birds that hang out around the nest and building eating anything they can find. We went out to get to know the precarious process of emptying the toilet contents into the sea…. I will not go into detail, but it is a necessary part of life here……. a trek down to the shore with lidded buckets… so many home comforts here, but his is not one of them… Got my first round of postcard franking… so into the swing of this never ending task. With two if us at it, we have cleared the back log. There is a ship coming here in a few days, so we are keen to get as many franked and sent as possible. All postcards from the ship I was on are franked and ready to go. We went for a wander to the shore to watch a lost chinstrap mooching around the gentoo nests. A gentoo nesting pair had made a nest on a now submerged rock after the tide came in. The egg was now under water and mum and dad were trying to sit of the submerged nest and egg. There is not going be a good outcome to this☹

I am writing this after I decided to sleep on the sofa after my post COVID cough decided to keep me awake and I did not want the others disturbed.

It is early in the morning (2^nd Dec), mutts are quick stepping on the roof on the Nissen hut and tapping on the windows. They make a particularly big noise that reverberates in the lounge as they tap the flue pipe. If you tap back, they are quite for a short while. Together with the penguin noises and intermittent crashing ice into the sea it is a wonderful wake up call…. as long as it is not too often! The VFH radio is always on so sitting in the lounge so you can hear nearby ships radioing their presence as they pass through the Neumeyer Channel warning others. It is a beautiful but narrow channel, so it is customary to let other ships know.

Today we have been catching up on jobs, no ships visits. Been packing stock in Bransfield House in bags ready for tomorrow morning’s pop-up shop on the next ship. It is quite labour intensive this new way of working and some ships are still bringing tourists to the museum. IATTO have recommended this does not happen, but as a Trust we cannot enforce it but just try to ensure there is a 5 metre distance from the penguins at all times. Two of us have to stay at the museum if this happens to assist the tourists whilst others are on the ship. We have been taking photos and requested videos for social media today which has been entertaining. The sun has come out this afternoon, blue sky so think it is time to go and wonder at the beauty of this place.

Day 2 Saturday

Unusually today there are no ships. Still work to be done but it will be more relaxed than next week. Two ships a day, every day. There is some concern how pop up shops on board ships and the logistics of this and when some ships still bring tourists to the island. It’s a juggle how to manage presentations, pop up shop and we have to have two people on base if tourists come ashore. We will see how this all works the coming days. The evening was spent doing a murder mystery night with a fondu, so an end to a good day. I started some meds to finally rid myself of this hacking 40/day cough… will please all those who have listened to me for the last 3-4 weeks!

Day 3 Sunday.

Today was a pickup at 8.30 by the ship’s zodiac and straight to the ship. We had 5 gerrys to be filled with water from the ship, weighed waste that the ship also takes for us and all the merchandise for the shop that was carried in a pulk from Bransfield House to the shoreline. The way down to the zodiac is a little precarious but with setting up a line of us we pass stuff from one to another and into the zodiac. Whole process is repeated when we get to the ship and we start to set up the shop whilst Jerome and Clare started the presentation about the base history and life on base.

A lot of Chinese with an interpreter came to visit the shop which made the process a little slow but we got through it. Then another presentation for all those tourists who had previously been out on zodiac trip and then they visit the ship too. Did my first part presentation with Jerome, talking about who we are and what we do. Seem to go ok. Got to get to grips with the history side of the presentation next.

Tomorrow Shab is going to show me the ipad payment system that seems to have a life of it’s own and I need to understand. We will see how it goes. The crazy thing today after finishing the shop was the offer to go kayaking near Damoy Hut and in amongst the glacial ice. Oh my what a lucky lot we are. We went back to PL, got some base layers to wear whilst the zodiac waited for us, then back to the ship for lunch and then out to kayake with ship’s staff who were out because the sea was like glass. A gloriously sunny afternoon and in the double kayake with Shabs. Kayaking amongst glacial ice is truly amazing and with so much sun there was a sun halo… it just gets better and better. We spent about an hour mooching around, penguins porpoising next to us then back to ship for a shower. Still sunny we return to PL, 6 Chinstraps were at the shore (the colonies here are gentoos and are the predominant penguin of the peninsular, so together with one Adelie, this is unusual here. There was a Weddel lazing on some glacial ice in front of the base and then some whale blows seen in the distance by Clare. Quite a day!

The amount of internet on ships is pretty limited and might have to resort to only writing and not photos but will see what the next week brings as I work out the tech…. slowly!