last night, the sky remained a deep blue with a thin band of orange on the horizon even as i was walking back to my room at 2.45 am. today, the UV meter on our weather display shot up to a Level 4 and issued a 'medium' warning.

this last week has been quite eventful for me. on monday, i left on a mega jolly for a group of islands across the Sorsdal Glacier, collectively known as the Rauers. it was a 5-day trip, and entailed two whole days travelling to and from the station to the Rauers. i drove the whole way there and it was probably one of my most memorable experiences. it was great fun climbing up the ice plateau in a Hagg and then crossing the glacier with all its crevasses, cracks and slippery blue ice. at one point of the trip, the GPS in my Hagg broke down and we were still following the track that had frozen on the screen; it led us to a bit of the glacier that had several big crevasses that all looked as though they were converging to a point. the crevasses were a bit too wide for us to cross without dropping a cab or track in to it, and so i ended up having to back the Hagg plus the trailer that was hitched onto the back of it to safety. there were a few tense moments (and words exchanged between myself and the navigator) but ultimately, everyone plus the Hagg made it to safety. it was definitely a very 'pat on the back' moment.

the Rauers in itself was an amazing place to visit. it is made up of many islands locked in by frozen sea ice in the winter and backing up onto the ice plateau. the geological formations there are also different to what you would find in the Vestfold Hills. according to our station leader (who went on the trip and is also a geologist), the Rauers are about a billion years younger than the Vestfold Hills. the islands around the Rauers are a lot more sheer-cliffed, and when we were there, the whole place was teeming with the incoming Adelie penguins, antarctic petrels and fulmars, and Weddell seals that were just beginning to pup. all in all, it was a fantastic 5-day trip, i mastered quite a few handy Antarctic survival tips, like using the FUD aka female urinary device. i am also a certified full Antarctic expeditioner now, i.e. i had a crap out in the field HAHA. i tried to hold on for the whole 5 days while i was out there, thinking that i would be able to make it back to station for a dump, but Nature had other plans for me. nevertheless, i managed to hold on for 3 days before the levy broke, and i'm still pretty proud of that fact.

in other news, it has really hit home now that Winter is coming to an end. when we got back from the Rauers, we were told that two of our wintering party will be leaving early on the plane due to medical reasons. it was quite a shock to me, because it happened so abruptly. but then again, i guess things happen that way in Antarctica as nothing is ever certain here. a Twin Otter plane is due to arrive some time late next week, and that will truly signal the end of winter. everything is happening so fast!

i'd be lying if i said that i haven't been feeling a bit sentimental or nostalgic the last few days. this place that i have come to call 'home' for the last 12 months is about to cease being just that. i don't know if i'll ever see many of the 20 people i've spent a year with, but i guess time will tell. i can't describe how this place makes me feel, except that, for a month into the dead of winter, i was probably loathing being 'confined' here but now that it is all coming to an end, i am sorry to see it go. the sea ice, the snow, the icebergs, the penguins, the people and the camaraderie, the stunning sunsets, the auroras, the never-ending twilight in summer and the dark days of winter - all that, i will miss.

more photos to come!