Wednesday 29th December 2010
Lat: 70 12.44S
Today we walked with giants. Surrounded by swirling snow we have crept for ages through valleys of sulking giants, today the clouds lifted, allowing us to truly see where we were, to raise our heads and stare in wonder at the halls we have been allowed into and to hold council with the leaders of the ice.
SA Bukta is truly beautiful. The Antarctica dome slopes up from the top of the ice shelf, disappearing into the clouds as though it rises up forever.
We have two snowman standing on the boat now. After days of snow continuously covering the deck, snow covered layers of ice and sludge have turned the deck treacherous. The snow crystals themselves are beautifully crafted with the cold and one cannot get over staring at them in wonder as they snuggle into your jacket.
The weather is promising to clear tomorrow, which should allow the overwinter team to fly to the base. Their bags left on the Cat train before Christmas, leaving them with one change of clothes - they are looking forward to following their possessions.
That was a few hours ago and having just trudged inside that forecast is starting to look extremely optimistic. We are in swell (as we are surrounded by ice that is quite impressive), have white horses dancing around us, feel like we are in a blizzard and have been banned from venturing outdoors. The tubing of our incubators froze today as the temperature plummeted to -20'C (with wind chill, it is summer after all!). A few hours time is predicted to see temperatures of -10'c (without the gale force winds stirring up). I won't lie, it's feeling distinctly cold right now.
Being outside all bundled up makes one feel like some ancient nomadic Viking on a long ship in the North Sea.
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