Sundown & Flag Down

Friday 26th May 2017 marked the sundown at Rothera, this is where we lose the sun for a few weeks and our winter officially begins. Every sundown there is the ceremonial lowering of the Union Jack to commemorate the occasion, which is always done by the oldest on base and this year happened to be me. I was asked to say a few words or write a poem, sing a song or dance a jig, whatever i felt comfortable doing that would be suitable for our situation as winterers working at a research station isolated from the world with no natural light.

It was agreed a few days ago that the lowering of the flag would happen on Friday 26th as the weather would be calm enough for us to gather at the flagpole to hold this ritual. It was to be at midday with lunch after which was to be finger food served in the bar, this meant a busy day for me prior to the event. So the day before i prepared cold meats and sandwich fillings, made finger rolls, sausage rolls, quiche and vol au vents etc which made the next day possible for me to leave the kitchen.  The day started dark and gradually got a little lighter, there was a lot of low cloud and i didn't think we would see any colour that day, but by 11:30am there was a splash of orange just above the mountains as we made our way to the flag.

 Shades of Orange in the distance

View over the bay as we walk to the flag

Getting lighter, but very overcast

A grey sky as we congregate at the flag

With low cloud and everyone gathering we start preparations

The flag looking a little bit worse for wear having been flying

constantly through Antarctic weather for the last 10 months or so

Once everyone was there, Paul Samways gave a little speech about how we are very privileged to be part of a winter team and that with the dark nights ahead we need to look after ourselves and one another. He then gave everyone a glass with a dram of whisky before handing over to me for the main event.  I started by saying a few words and went on to read a poem i had compiled, before lowering the flag.

Paul Samways the Winter Station Leader addressing us all

I lower the flag with no problems

Once the flag was down Blair took the official photograph

The Winter team at sundown, with the flag that now gets put away to be raffled at a later date. A few weeks from now, approx mid July the sun rises and the youngest on base gets to raise a new flag. Zoe, our Marine assistant will have that honour

My Poem

Sundown

We Wonder why, when you say goodbye

Beautiful colours paint the sky.

Shades of Orange, pink and blue

all come out because of you.

Although we hate to see you go,

we really do enjoy the show.

I have seen you leave so many times,

and it is still a favourite sight of mine.

But this time as you disappear 

It's not just the dark you're leaving here.

As the shadows on ice exchange with colour of light

so our winter begins and we prepare for the night

With the light and flag both coming down

the darkness cloaks in grand surround.

The loss of landscape beyond compare,

our solace in humanness we share.

Twenty two companions cut off by ice and snow,

supporting one another and helping friendship grow.

With every sunset different, no two ever the same,

this one here and now is ours and forever shall remain.

So as Antarctica freezes with total lack of sun,

I have twenty two good reasons why our winter will be fun.

So let's raise a glass to flag and sundown

with a toast to us all and to new friendships found.

With that, we all raised our glasses drank a toast and made our way back to New Bransfield House where a finger buffet lunch and champagne was waiting. Everyone was given the afternoon off in order to enjoy the rest of the day and to reflect on where we were and what was happening. Dinner still had to be prepared and Matt Bell the Genny Mech had offered to do fish friday for me, so i was able to enjoy the afternoon too.

Rio and Mabell clearing the empty glasses and debris  

the walk back to NBH, still low cloud

Finger food set out on the pool table in the bar

with a few Nachos, nuts and guacamole scattered around

Michael Bell (alias Mucky) enjoying the afternoon

It was a good afternoon with a lot of chatting and socialising, films were being watched and table tennis was being played and people generally happy to be doing what they wanted.

The next day was a Saturday and i had a day off, with Ben Robinson our Marine Biologist being the chef on duty. He was doing an Italian theme so after a few pointers and some choice ingredients, i left him to it and went for a wander round base as the light was much better than the day before.

Here, Maz our Meteorologist and assistant winter station leader

is off for a run up the ramp and along the flagline ( completely nuts)

The sun still showing colours, although the sun is not seen

Maz on her way to Admirals

It looks pretty covered in snow

View of the tower 

Pancake ice forming in north bay with colours of the setting sun

beautiful colours from the window of the dining room

This was approximately 12:30pm

The scene changes from one minute to the next

Low cloud cutting across the mountain tops

We are making the most of the light, it won't be here much longer

A shot from the open window of the dining room

The Italian night was a success with quite a few people getting dressed up in Italian flags or coming as the Mafia with wooden made guns etc. Ben did a good job of the food, with Foccacia bread and Antipasti to start, Calzone as the main and a Panna Cotta with Raspberries for dessert and Limoncello to finish.

Seven weeks into our winter and the mood is still very good with everyone getting along very well. It will be interesting to see how things go when the 24 hour darkness hits. I myself have not had a problem with the dark, Jen Doc has been offering vitamin D tablets should we need them. Although we are still doing very well for fresh vegetables, i have not yet started using any frozen ones and we still have fresh apples and oranges that are very good and will probably last another month or two?

I am now starting to think about the mid winters meal, which is only 3 and a half weeks away and my winter gift that has to made by then. I am sure something will come to me before then!

My Winter Trip

Time is passing so quickly now with only 3 days away from our 5th week of winter, it's mental!
It is now starting to snow, it is getting colder and the info screen is telling us that the sunrise is approx 09:50 and sunset is approx 17:09 with civil twilight approx an hour either side.

The light has been amazing since my Winter Trip and i am still playing with my camera to try and do the pictures justice

It was a beautiful start to the day the morning of my trip, with the sunrise just coming up over the mountains and the fact that i was not in the kitchen for the week made it even more special. I met Blair in Fuchs building straight after breakfast, where we got ourselves ready to face the great outdoors. Armed with all the essentials, lots of layers, down jackets, harnesses, helmets, Ice picks, ropes etc, I was about ready to go. Only it took a while for me to get my boots on, as not only are they a nice snug fit, but there are lots of straps, laces, tongues, flaps, wrap overs and zips that you have to contend with, you also have to get into them and do them up dressed in gear that you can't move in. This is a challenge in a nice warm building that you can stand and move freely in, I couldn't wait to attempt it from a pyramid tent.

Lovely light to start the day

Once we got to the bottom of the ramp, Blair went to fetch a jerry can of fuel for the skidoos. The ramp was still very icy and with only one skidoo at the bottom, Blair said he would take that one to the top, if it was safe enough to drive on he would drop the rucksacks off and come back down for me to drive up while he walked. He is younger and fitter than me! So off he went, leaving me with the Fur Seals, admiring the view and freezing my nuts off, wondering what i had let myself in for.

Getting fuel

Fur Seals play fighting

Blair taking the skidoo up the ramp

Once I was at the top of the ramp, i started to uncover the skidoos that we were taking, while i waited for Blair to walk up to me. The views of Rothera from the top of the ramp were really good, it looked like being a beautiful day, but that was to change half way through the day and become very windy, which is why Blair wanted to leave early, in order to get our tent set up before the weather turned.

The skidoos were filled with fuel and we were soon on our way to the Caboose at Vals where our sledges were waiting for us. It was a beautiful ride across the traverse, although my buff did not seem thick enough and my nose and lips started to freeze.

Sunrise 

Once at the sledges we took our emergency bags containing helmets, harnesses ropes, carabiners and other climbing stuff and fastened them to the back of our skidoos along with our backpacks. We had to dig out the sledges before undoing the ropes in order to repack and secure them properly. When both sledges were freed and ready to go, they had to be locked into a safety system roping them to the skidoos. Blair pulled the emergency sledge by a 10m rope which was then attached to my skidoo by a 30m rope, I then pulled the main sledge with another 10m rope. The idea being that i follow Blair's tracks keeping the rope slightly taut between his sledge and my skidoo in a train. But before we could move off, we had to rope ourselves into the safety system, which meant putting on a harness and a safety helmet and attaching a rope from the skidoo to the harness, this was in case we were to step off the skidoo and fall down a crevasse. Only one more thing to do before we could start our skidoos and that was to make sure the kill cord was attached to my wrist, in the event of being thrown from the skidoo the kill cord would cut off the engine.  All the ties the clips and buckles are not easily done whilst wearing polar gear with thick gloves and goggles that keep misting up, not to mention the cold.

Blair connecting his sledge

Roping his sledge to my skidoo

The sledges being prepared for the journey

Waiting for blair to take the lead, we were heading towards Trident where we would be setting up camp. it was approx a 30/40 minute journey and my face and hands were getting very cold, even though the handle bars on the skidoo were heated.

We arrived at Trident and the weather had started to turn with winds starting to gust, which made it a challenge to put up the tent. Maz and Julie who were out on their winter trip were also at Trident, their camp was set up as they had got there the day before in order for Maz to climb the peaks that she wanted to do. Blair found a good spot for us to pitch our tent so we put up flags and started to unload the sledges. More ropes, ties, buckles and clips, but this time in really bitterly cold winds.

Skidoo and sledge, with Julie and Maz's tent 

in the background

Sledge unloaded with just our P-bags and 

man food boxes on it

Tent erected with door away from the wind and 

Jerry cans of fuel laid out on the base of the tent,

 with snow shoveled onto the rest to stop snow 

from blowing in

I went inside to set up our living quarters, while 

Blair passed me the boxes and guided me as to 

where and how they should be set up

Man food box coming through

Ariel was set up for our communication with Rother

Sledges moved into a position that would make it 

easy for us to get them out in the morning

Home for a few days

The boxes are designed to fit together to create a 

working and cooking space

Here Blair is serving up a vegetable curry and rice,

which i prepared at Rothera and vac packed ready

for the field. Just drop in boiling water

Sleeping systems either side of the boxes with the 

primus stove in the middle and the tilly lamp hanging

above

The Tilly Lamp and straps to hang things to dry

After our evening meal and a cup of tea, It's time to turn in for the night

It was pretty blustery all night with temperatures around minus 10 degrees C, but once inside the sleeping bag which was a fight to get into it was really quite warm, as long as you could keep the bag wrapped around your head to stop your face from freezing. The next day started pretty blustery and to be honest i didn't want to move from my warm sleeping bag, but eventually made the effort to boil a saucepan of snow to make a cup of tea. We stayed in the tent for a while to let the weather calm down a bit, then as it started to brighten up Blair suggested we take the skidoos to N2 which is a mountain popular with the climbers amongst us. I am not a climber so the suggestion was to go up N2 west (I think) that is a peak that you can walk up, providing you have crampons, ice picks and ropes.

So we uncovered the skidoos and strapped our bags to them, dug out the emergency sledge that we had to take, put on our harnesses and helmets, attached ourselves to the safety system put the kill cords round our wrists started the skidoos and off we went, with me following in Blair's tracks and keeping the rope taut. 

it must have taken me nearly an hour to get everything ready and get going and i was very relieved when we started to move, only to find we had reached our destination in 10/15 minutes, where we stopped unshackled and then had to put on crampons and rope on to each other in order to walk up the mountain. Armed with ice picks and lots of layers we set off through deep snow to walk to the peak, which felt quite precarious as we walked across what looked like a large area of overhanging ice with quite a sheer drop either side. You totally had to have confidence in your equipment as the crampons gripped the ice ridge that i tentatively walked along. Blair told me to look and admire the view, but i was too busy looking at where i was putting my feet. When i did stop and take a breath, the view was magnificent and i just stayed there in silence in awe of this majestic landscape.

To be honest the view from the kitchen at Rothera is equally as impressive, without all the faff! These guys that climb mountains are nuts!

getting geared up ready to go

Still getting geared up

This is Blair leading the way up the mountain to

peak, I was on the other end of the rope sweating 

Made it to the peak, that's N2 behind me

The light was amazing, but then we had to get back

down before the light went 

For me that walk was a great a great cardiovascular 

workout, but for the field guides it's a stroll in the park.

Once back at camp our pyramid tent seemed very appealing     

After dinner Blair and I went outside to try and get some 

night shots of the pyramid tent lit up. I tried to get some pictures of

the stars and the milky way, which were stunning that night, but

I couldn't get the settings right on my camera. That is me outside the tent

Not a bad shot!

The next morning and the snow is starting to bury us

This was now the third day and we decided to set off to try and get through McCallums pass. this was a journey on skidoos to the other side of Trident, Blair was unsure as to whether we could get through the pass or not, but would be a journey worth taking to have a look. So we went through all the faff again and set off, this time the sun was shining and it all looked in our favour, it was still very cold but well worth ride.

We stopped about 40 mins into the journey for a quick

snack and to admire the scenery, It was unbelievable to sit

in this pristeen environment with not a soul anywhere to be seen

When we got to the pass, Blair said it would be ok to go through but i would need to put more carabiners on my harness, along with some pulleys and jumars just in case one of us was to fall down a crevasse. More faffing in the cold with thick gloves on. It was well worth it though, as we got to see the ocean on the other side of Adelaide Island from Rothera. Spectacular views.

Blair taking a picture from the other side of the pass

Sitting on my skidoo admiring the view

And what a view!

Low cloud coming in, time to head back to camp

Once at camp the skidoos are covered for the night

and both sledges facing into the wind. This makes it

easier to dig out in the morning

With everything wrapped and secured we turn in for the night. Every evening at approx 20:00 scheds takes place, which is a scheduled radio call from Rothera to all field parties, to make sure all is well and giving up to date weather information which is needed in order to plan the next days activity. We were told that the weather for the next couple of days was not going to be as good as we have previously had. With this knowledge, I asked if the weather would be ok for us to pack away the tent and the rest of the gear in order to go back to Rothera? As I could not sit all day in a tent waiting for weather to change. I don't think my knee would have taken much more punishment and i would much rather finish my holiday back at base, where i can enjoy the space, the comfort, the shower and get on with things that i need to do. It was agreed, so the next morning after breakfast, we started EXTREME FAFFING!!

Sledges were unpacked in order to be repacked

 everything had to come out of the tent to be boxed

and bagged

There is an order to this honest!

Ropes undone and layed out

Then the packing starts, in an order that works well

for balance and stability

The last thing to go on is the tent, then it all has to 

be tied with certain angles and certain knots, which 

is not easy to do when your hands are freezing and 

your gloves are too thick

The Nansen sledges were packed correctly and tied onto the skidoos and we made our way back to vals, where the sledges were to be parked ready for the next trip out. It was another cold journey but i knew there was a nice hot shower waiting for me when i got back to base.

At Vals, Blair releases the rope that pulled his sledge

and i did the same 

We just had to take our P-bags of the sledge and secure 

to the skidoos so we can take them back to base in order

to clean and dry the contents

The sledge with my P-bag

All sledges repacked and ready to go for the next time

BACK AT BASE

It was great to be back on base, where you could walk without having to spend 20 minutes putting gear on and to be able to take a nice hot shower. The other nice thing about coming back early, was the fact that i still had a few days off and Friday was Will's turn in the kitchen, only he wasn't in the kitchen he was doing a BBQ in the garage, on a BBQ that he had built. It was a great night and ended with most of us going down to the wharf to see if we could see the stars and the milky way. I took my camera and Brownie our plumber gave me a few pointers on how to capture night shots. I did ok and while taking pictures of the night sky it turns out that there was an Aurora that we couldn't see with the naked eye, but i caught it on camera which was amazing, I just need to practice now.

View from NBH of the pink sky 

Will our vehicle mech and Matt our genny mech 

cooking in the garage

Will is Australian so knows how a barbie should be

great job Will!

Great handy work 

Barbie and Beer

The Aurora Australis taken from the wharf 

Getting better

One of the stars with a slight shimmer of the Aurora

I was pleased with these shots, not bad for a first 

attempt

Back in Fuchs and the tent is being dried out 

Practicing dark shots, this was a sunrise

Another sunrise

Getting brighter

Pancake ice starting to form

Although i cut my winter trip short, It was an amazing experience and i am sure that if i were to do this on a regular basis i would soon get to know the gear and how to deal with all the buttons, straps, buckles and clips. But as this was my first time out in the field, i was very uncomfortable with what i was wearing  and i don't think my knee would have held up much more had i finished the week.

I am due out in August for my next winter trip and while i am very much looking forward to it, i will definitely be doing a week of day trips, coming back to base each evening.