Another note from Nikki, our pal from Port Lockroy, talking about the changeable weather down on the Antarctic Peninsula:
No doubt the snow and ice will be moving in imminently to Port Lockroy – upon arrival to Goudier Island we were faced with a front door half buried in a snowdrift, and spent the next few days digging out around the building – the bunkroom and museum windows were obscured by a blanket of white. At least the shovelling warmed us up at the start of the day and burnt off a good few calories; we were often invited to join guests for dinner on the ships, and the food is fantastic – no comparison with the dried/tinned goods on base, although we managed to whip up some pretty good grub with just a few basic ingredients!
I particularly loved the months of January and into December as we had a significant amount of snowfall and the island was kept lovely and clean with the snow on the ground. Slowly as it melted away from the island, the smooth grey rocks and craggy crevices appeared, together with many other treasures – huge whale bones from the tragic time when the island had been used by the whalers, old dogsledges and the wooden skeletons of waterboats.
After Christmas we were lucky enough to have some long spells of gorgeous sunny days with bright blue skies, however days like this were dotted throughout the whole of the season. The landscape became particularly atmospheric in the low cloud and overcast skies, and during calm days the reflections of the ice in the silvery water were just spectacular. Amidst this grey and white expanse the blue tones of the icebergs were even more vibrant and provided amazing photographic opportunities. The impressive storms and howling winds that occasionally came through often blew in rafts of bergy bits and brash ice. Some of my most memorable walks down by the shoreline at low tide were after such storms; one day the weather blew in great sweeps of crushed ice, which, when the waterline fell, were unbelievably beautiful – they looked like handfuls of diamonds littering the rocks.
Leopard seals would float on their iceberg beds just off the island, and often sitting on the rocks looking out into the Neumayer Channel I could hear whales blowing in the distance. I could reminisce forever! The narrow waterways, crumbling glaciers and looming mountain peaks, as well as the animals that call it their home, make this the most magical place in the world for me *sigh*.
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