Happy 2015 to all!
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| Photo credits for this one go to Gordon Tait |
Here at Casey it was very well
celebrated, with costumes and dancing galore! How best to usher in
the new year, than by spending it with a bunch of adventurous,
passionate and downright good people in one of the most remarkable
settings in the world?
Anyway, Sylvester celebrations aside,
today's blog is going to be a bit about the different recreational
opportunities we have available to us around station and nearby.
One of the great ways to get away from
the red shed station life is to go for a ski on the ski loop just
outside of station limits. This is in a zone called "extended
station limits" which means you dont need to have your survival
bag on you to go there, but you do need to carry a radio with you and
fill turn your tag on the intentions board in the Red shed. The ski
loop is just under 4km long, but ventures just out of direct line of
sight and sound of the station. One of the the most striking things
here is that when you get a hill away from station you realise just
how noisy the generators have been, and how silent the world around
you is (unless you're on the other side of Reeve's Hill and can now
hear the penguin colony, but I'll get to that in a minute).
The ski loop can be walked, or skiied
(obviously) with some of the supplied cross-country skis of varying
ages and condition. Despite my childhood dislike for the endurance
aspect of cross-country skiing, I have found the ski loop to be a
great way to clear ones mind and get some exercise.
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| Expeditionner Jason with the Reeve's Hill view of Shirley Island |
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| Snow petrel pair guarding their eggs |
One of the other great places to go
close to station is Reeve's Hill, which sits just between the station
and water, off to the western side. After wandering past the
waste-treatment plant and some bright orange C-containers, you start
a walk up the small hill which is home to several pairs of breeding
snow petrels tucked away in the rocks, storm petrels sweeping past,
and the ever-impressive skuas.
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| Evenings are full of swooping birds |
From the Northern side of the hill you
get a stunning view of the bay, and the sea ice shelf where you can
often spot the odd bunch of Adelie running to or from their colony on
Shirley Island.
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| Garnets just sitting on the hill |
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| some of the local lichens |
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Reeve's Hill also has some wonderful
mosses and lichens growing on it, which we have to carefully avoid
disturbing. The mosses here grow at a rate of about 2mm a year,
drying up completely before winter so as to not freeze in the cold,
and gorging on water and growing during the summer months when they
are exposed from under the snow.
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| Moss bed "oasis" in the snow melts |
These and the lichens provide pretty
much the only vegetation I have seen in months now (aside from all
the plastic foliage around station to keep morale up), which is a
very strange thought.
Another fantastic thing that our
station leader has set up on weekends are the "Berg cruises".
These are cruises open to anyone on station, taking 4 to 6 people on
each of 3 zodiaks (IRB's) out to see the closest line of icebergs. 
Some of these that we can easily see from station are hundreds of
kilometers away, but it does not take more than a half hour drive out
to the closest ones to have your breath taken away by the colors and beauty of the
icebergs we can only imagine the true size of.
I have never seen so many shades of
such stunning blues. There truly is such a thing as ice-blue, and no,
I cannot adequately describe it, or even capture it in these photos.
The other incredible thing is the size
of these chunks of floating ice. When the part visible to us on
surface is about 5 stories tall, and you know that approx 90% of it
is actually under the water, it just becomes a dizzying mass of
frozen water.
And now, I really don't even have words to describe the feeling of awe in being near these icebergs, so I will leave you with these photos in silence for a few moments, because that was the best way to soak in the majesty of it.
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| Now there's a size reference for you |
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| Embracing the amazing experience! -photo credit goes to Jason Burgers |
I had also intended to discuss the
field huts and "jollies" that can be had out from station
on the weekends, but would rather be able to post more of these
iceberg photos, and have a full article about the different huts I
have made it out to so far next time.
Pertinent reminders to update
this blog might help me actually update you more often, but I sadly
make no promises to that effect.
Life here seems to have a strange
tendency to focus it'self on the station and everyone it contains.
It's like having a form of tunnel vision, and does not mean that I am
not thinking of you and trying to get my real life outside of here
organised, it just means that I am easily trapped in interesting
discussions on my way to grab a cup of tea, and might not make it
back to blogging as quickly as planned. It also comes from all of the
activities constantly going on in the evening, film screenings,
science talks, and interesting people who'se brains I get to pick.
Much love to you all for this new year,
I know mine is off to the very best of starts, and from the plans
already being made, is going to lead to many more happy moments.
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| Happy penguins porpoising |
