I realise it's been a few days since my last posting, but a lot has
been going on.
Two days ago, we left our position in the fast ice off Commonwealth
Bay and said goodbye to the penguins. I was actually pretty sad to be
leaving. Although I'm sure boredom would have soon set in if we were
contained within the ice much longer, the experience of being in the
ice, photographing the penguins, and generally just being in
Antarctica, is one of the best experiences of my life and something I
hope to never forget. I don't think I will be heading back to the
frozen south for a while, so I'm just extremely happy that I got to
experience what I did.
As we left the ice, the weather could not have been better. The sun
was shining, the water was still offering beautiful reflections of
the sea-ice and icebergs, and the Antarctic continent clearly
visible. I stayed up on the bridge watching the world go by for near
6 hours, until I experienced the first sun set in a over a week, and
then called it quits. The next morning I awoke to open ocean and
consequently a slight swell. It was a strange feeling to be moving
again after being stationary for so long. I just hope the swell
doesn't pick up, and the ocean remains friendly for the remaining
three weeks of the voyage. We are currently heading west towards of
the begining of the I9 transect, which is basically due south of
Perth. From here, the proper work begins, with continuous sampling
every 20 miles or so. The sea-ice is now long behind us, with only a
few isolated icebergs in sight.
Our second special occasion was held last night, with a fancy dress
theme allowing you to dress up as anything begining with a C, T, or D
(if you remember, the CTD is an ocean instrument measuring
conductivity, temperature and depth). I was not particularly
inventive, and dressed as a cardboard box, which literally involved
putting a box around my torso. Easy. Other people went to much more
effort than I. A few items were also auctioned to raise money for
charity - the ships flag, the map used in Commonwealth Bay, and two
paintings the artist onboard has done. In total, $10,000 was raised
with these 4 items!!! Some people clearly earn too much money. Even
the opening bid was beyond my budget.
We should arrive at the start of the transect tomorrow, so I'm
attempting to wake up early in order to get my body in 1am-1pm
mode...I'll try and post some more photos tomorrow - I took 600 on
the evening we left the ice so it may take me a while to sort through
them...
Good night all!
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