What an exciting 30th birthday weekend, I flew a plane down the Antarctic peninsula from Rothera to Fossil Bluff, and even helped to land it on the runway back at Rothera which was a little nerve wracking. Then we had a BBQ in the snow, followed by a ceilidh in the aircraft hanger – the band played, Mel sang beautifully, we danced, bucketloads of fun. Thanks everyone for the presents from home, the messages, and everyone here for making it a great weekend.
The last week has been full of memorable experiences, there has been lots of wildlife around - we were out sampling in the boat midweek when a pod of minke whales came close, they were curving up out of the water blowing air, it was amazing to be so close to them. Groups of crabeater seals have been hiding from killer whales, skua are nesting on rocks close to my sampling site so I get dive-bombed by them frequently which is quite scary, fur seals are starting to arrive, and penguins can often be seen - I could sit and watch Adelie penguins for hours, the way they waddle along with their arms sticking out is hilarious
The flight yesterday was lovely, flying down over snowy mountain peaks, glaciers flowing down towards the ocean, large icebergs floating away from the broken ice shelf, sedimentatious rocky outcrops as we approached fossil bluff. The depot there is basically an Antarctic petrol station, used for refueling airplanes flying to and from Rothera, a few BAS staff live there on rotation over the summer, and as the name would suggest, the ground is packed full of fossils.
