AntarcticDoctor

The leap day brought with it one unexpected but wonderful gift – the Southern Lights. Even thought there is still a glow of sunlight on the horizon, it is now dark enough to see a few bright stars, and just before midnight the cry went up – aurora! Morgan, our resident scientist working on the space weather programme, had made the sighting. Like excited children we ran for the roof hatch in whatever clothing we could grab, charged up the ladder and tumbled onto the rooftop viewing area into the -17°C night air. Above, thin whisps of emerald green appeared against the blue-black sky for mere seconds before fading away again, almost fooling the eye into thinking they were imagined. We watched greedily as we huddled together against the icy breeze, until the last tendril was gone, and only shivering remained. Shivering, and the joy of a shared dream – witnessing the Aurora Australis.

Those in the know would have been outside in the wee hours of the morning today, to watch the lunar eclipse.  As we’re almost on the Greenwich Meridian, it was easier to stay up here at the base to catch the action.  Unfortunately, the weather didn’t play along.  The snow that had been falling throughout the day halted, but the skies remained overcast.  Unwilling to waste my wakefulness, I took the picture below with a 6 second exposure using the available light – this is as dark as it gets at the moment.  The prominent mountain is Lorentzenpiggen, with Grunehogna (site of an old SA field base) in the background.  The title?  Easy – “The Absence of Moon”

Finally, it is done:  the last summer personnel have been transported back to the SA Agulhas, and she has set sail for Cape Town, only to return in December.  Left behind are the 10 dedicated South Africans who will carry the research through the depths of another Antarctic winter – scientists, engineers, mechanics, and one meat mechanic to fix them if they break.  As if to give us the flavour of the year, the weather has closed in, with strong winds, blowing snow and temperatures dropping below -20°C.  Inside the base, however, the spirits are high.  This is our place now – our home, our castle, our work, our refuge.  Let the storms come…we have each other, and we have plenty of time.