Antarctic Week 4: I be the bearer of news.

greetings and salutations from a sunny day at the 'Tarc! it's been nearly a month since i've set foot onto the continent and i have good news and bad news AND good/bad news, which, i guess, equates to neutral inconsequential news...hmmm.

anyway, for some good news: i still have not had any frozen fingers or toes! the weather has been pretty brilliant, averaging between 2 degrees Celcius most days. i know this might sound weird, but you can really feel the difference between sub-zero and, err, above-zero (???) temperatures. when the sun's out, i pretty much just wear a tshirt underneath my hoodie jacket with long pants, and that's it. come to think of it, i wear much more during winter when i'm in sydney!! which defies logic and common sense, but i guess that's how it is in Antarctica. there's a popular saying that goes like this:

"Below 50 degrees South, there is no law. Below 60 degrees South, there is no hope. Below 70 degrees South, there is no God."

this must explain why i haven't gone to church or said a prayer since boarding the Aurora HAHA (no la i'm just kidding, mom).

on to the good/bad neutral and inconsequential news: i did some mental calculation last night and realised that i have more or less 8 weekends left in the 'tarc. and when it's put in that perspective, it doesn't seem like such a long time anymore! weekends come and go here in the blink of an eye, and i'm afraid that, before i know it, i'll be packing up my bags and heading home. being in an environment such as this really does weird things to you. a week ago, i was telling people that i missed civilisation and the little things we take for granted, like, grocery shopping (it's true). but just yesterday, i found myself plotting with a friend on station about how to hide one's self just so that one didn't have to go home. what an incredible turn of events! i was actually contemplating NOT coming home and staying in antarctica for forever! i shall elaborate further on this strange disorder next time, possibly over the weekend.

now, for the BAD news: i still haven't started any of my experiments. which is shit because, as you already know, i don't have that much time left on station. the first week was spent resupplying the station and just getting ourselves sorted. the second week was spent unpacking all the science gear and shit. the third week was spent going for survival training and the likes. we've been building the aquarium throughout the time but progress has been going slow. fingers crossed, everything will be set up and ready by next week for some urchin-culling activities! oh, did i say urchin-culling? i'm sorry, i meant, science. at the rate we're going, i might be staring out the portholes of the aurora once more before actually getting any solid data. sigh. ok, nerd talk over.

that's all, i guess. till next time!