Weird weather week

Black-brow albatross on a less sunny day, with La Roche our highest peak in the background

This week we have had extremely varied weather! It started off absolutely gorgeous, I actually left base without a coat on and had to slap on the suncream (although I still ended up a bit pink). 

I went over to the east side of the island for an exploration and to find and record all of the Brown Skua nests. It is very different to the west side (which is where most of my other work is done). The path goes along the back of La Roche (our highest peak) and then past Gandalf (another peak). The path is mainly scree which is a welcome relief to the tussac on the rest of the island. Eventually after going over a few small hills you get to Farewell Point- the very end of the island. I walked out to the very tip of the island and was rewarded with stunning views of the coves below me. The seals can almost trick you into thinking that they are dolphins, they are so agile in the water. The sea is so blue and clear here, on a sunny day you can imagine that its warm, although it definitely isn’t! I wish it was sometimes! Whilst standing on the point of the island two Antarctic terns flitted past me calling, and two Blue Petrels which are really really blue!  Stonking little birds! Unfortunately no pictures as they were too quick for me, but I’ll try and get some at some point. I also spotted a Cape Petrel nest on the edge of the cliff. I couldn’t get very close as it was a little bit scary as I couldn’t really see where the edge was because of the tussac. 

Grey headed albatross on a very sunny day!

At one point I got too close to a Skua nest and got smacked on the head by both adults one after the other, it really hurt- they got me right in the ear!!! I came off more lightly than Ruth who came home this week with blood running down her face because of them. Luckily they tend to shout at you as they dive bomb so you usually have time to duck, but not always. 

Brown Skua chick with parent in the background (probably about to dive bomb me!)

A seal with very big teeth- this is what they do to warn you that they are very scary and not to come too close!

On the way back from that side of the island Tamsin and I decided to walk up to the snow line to practice some ice axe arrests (stopping yourself from sliding down snow/ice with an axe). We did a little bit of practicing but then got distracted by sledging down the hill on a orange survival bag. It was great fun! You get a great view of the base from up there and can even see over the hill to Willis Island at the western side of the island. 

A fur seal hanging out above the base

We had two glorious days like that, and then came the rain.......

It rained for two days solid, which everyone apart from our tech wasn’t very happy about. Craig (the tech) was very happy as he had been struggling to get our water tanks filled up, and was having to pump water from the dwindling stream supplies all day. All the tanks are now nice and full. For the rest of us who had to trek up the hills in the rain it wasn’t much fun. My waterproof trousers are already no longer waterproof- they didn’t last long. All the kit here takes such a battering that nothing lasts anywhere near as long as it would in the real world.

Kitchen seal pups- they didn't like the rain either, and decided our house was much cosier

A Light sooty mantled albatross (you can see his blue smile on his beak)