Category: Uncategorized
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POLE POSITION – A WINTER AT ROTHERA
DARKNESS AND LIGHT The antarctic strips all unnecessary layers until only the essentials remain. Stay long enough in the freezing cold at the bottom of the earth and things you once deemed important will fade away, leaving you somewhat bemused as to why you ever cared for them in the first place. As you stand…
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POLE POSITION – A WINTER AT ROTHERA
BLONDIE Last summer we received the surprise visit of a blond fur seal. It’s not an albinos, just a blond version of the usual brunette prototype. It rolled around on east beach with a gang of other seals and the next day it was gone leaving me wondering if blond seals have more fun. L’ete…
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POLE POSITION – A WINTER AT ROTHERA
ANTARCTIC WILDLIFE – PART 2 Polar Skua A brown, mid-sized, perhaps slightly uninspiring bird at first glance the skua turns out to be one of the most interesting animals around base, mainly due to its energetic displays and the way it puffs up its feathers, which makes him look fierce, menacing and interesting to draw.…
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POLE POSITION – A WINTER AT ROTHERA
ANTARCTIC WILDLIFE One of the most amazing things about living in the Antarctic is the chance to observe wild animals at a distance that is simply unthinkable anywhere else on earth. Thanks to man’s thin and sporadic presence on the white continent coupled with a total ban on behaving in a standard human way (ie.…
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POLE POSITION – A WINTER AT ROTHERA
LAST CALL It has been a long and tiring summer season but at last the end is in sight as the ship docks in for the last time before the start of the long Antarctic winter. We finish in style by hosting the first ever gay wedding on the frozen continent in the shape of…
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POLE POSITION – A WINTER AT ROTHERA
Winter trip – Part 2 The Antarctic is a very humbling place, especially for us, anthropocene creatures pumped full of hubris. Down here no amount of technology will allow you to escape the weather for very long, it dictates what you can or cannot do. Ignore it at your peril. Luckily the Antarctic gods are…
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POLE POSITION – A WINTER AT ROTHERA
Hi all, I am only too aware that I haven’t posted anything for a while; I suspect the daily discipline of keeping a diary might not be the best means for me to try and share with you this polar venture, I am therefore going to change tack and rather than be bound by a…
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POLE POSITION – A WINTER AT ROTHERA
WELCOME TO THE FACILITY Rothera is an interesting place, since it was first established in the 1970’s it has grown organically into the current mix of gleaming, state of the art infrastructure and, shall we say, “lived in” barracks, hangars and workshops that have weathered a fair few antarctic winters and bear the subsequent scars…
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POLE POSITION – A WINTER AT ROTHERA
ARRIVAL You will have to forgive me having taken so long to actually start writing this blog in earnest but summer is short in the Antarctic and as a result the working season tends to be pretty hectic. Even now, as I sit in my pit room writing this blog there are twin otters landing…
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POLE POSITION – A WINTER AT ROTHERA
Beckside Farm – Falklands There are nine of us on the minibus taking us to an isolated cottage a short drive away from Port Stanley. A 15mns drive doesn’t sound like an awful long time but on this island it’s enough to take you to the middle of nowhere. Beckside farm, our new residence, is…
Antarctic Chef 