i am 3 days late, but better late than never, eh, eh, EH? as per usual, i was going to do a round-up of 2012 and what memories and experiences it had brought for me, and to try to philosophise about what it all meant. and then i realised that i spent all of my 2012 (except 26 days of December) on Antarctica. which, i guess, technically makes 2012 an Antarctic year. who knew?
it is still quite hard for me to put into words what it all meant, so i'm not even going to bother to try. all i will say is that it was at once the most amazing yet surreal experience in my life thus far. i'm not trying to be all coy and
faux modest when i say that the possibility of spending the winter ever crossed my mind. i mean, sure, the
thought of spending the winter there had materialised in my head once or twice, but the actual possibility of that thought coming true was something i had not dared to even think about.
i'm not kidding when i say that, even towards the end of my season at Davis, i constantly found myself walking through the hallways going 'wtf, i'm still here! wtf...i'm STILL here!' (not wtf i'm still here
let me go home NOW, but wtf i'm still here, HOLY COW THIS IS AWESOME what sorcery is this???).
in a nutshell, my year at Davis was like a waking dream. i couldn't believe it then, i still can't believe it now. perhaps the photos will help convince myself that it was all true.
January. the sea-ice finally broke up on Day 12 and two days later, the rubber boats were back on the water. it felt great to be zooming around amongst the icebergs and broken bits of sea-ice again, with Adelies porpoising around us. boating is probably one of the best aspects of my work in Antarctica, and is something i will never ever trade for. Day 26 was Australia Day, and the usual shenanigans. once again, i did
not do the Australia Day Swim. i don't regret it at all.
February. we got our first proper dump of snow after being on station for 2 months. it was a welcome sight because it reminded all of us that we were indeed in Antarctica, and not in the Kalgoorlie Super Pit mining camp. this was also the month where our resident elephant seals hit their peak numbers. after awhile, one tends to get accustomed to the snorting, burping, farting and growling of the seals.
March. we had a girls-only party on station, with champagne, dainty finger food, cocktails and a butler thrown into the bargain (much to the chagrin of a few men on station). there was quite an inordinately large amount of females on station this year, with three of the top positions on station held by members of the fairer sex (Station Leader, Doctor and Chef). March also meant that we were starting to get equal hours of day and night, and when you have nights, you have auroras. this year's auroral performance was not too shabby. on the last day of the month, the bright orange ship came and took all the summerers away, and winter officially began. downsizing from 75 station personnel to 21 took a little while to get used to, but i think we all managed pretty well.
April. the wintering newbies on station (myself, included) were still trying to adjust to the idea of
winter but life went on and easter came and went. the doc had arranged for easter eggs to be sent down for each of us, so on easter morning, we awoke to easter eggs in handmade paper nests hidden around our living quarters. on Day 14, we also paid homage to the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic by dressing up in period-appropriate attire and the chef cooked us a multi-course dinner followed closely to the final First-Class meal served on the Titanic (she found the menu online).
May. celebrated my 26th birthday with a gigantic black forest cake. 'nuff said.
June. by the time June came along, most of us had been living in 20 hours of darkness for the last 3 weeks, and still had another 3 weeks of said-darkness to go before any semblance of light began to return. the sun rose for the last time on Day 3, and would not rise again till July 10. June was also the month of the Antarctic Midwinter Celebrations. you would've read all about it before so i shan't elaborate too much on it. needless to say, it was a day of much celebration, reminiscing and good cheer all around. June 21 also meant the turning of winter and that the days would start getting longer again. however, i did not do the Midwinters Swim too. i do
not regret a single thing (ok maybe a little, but i had absolutely valid reasons).
July and
August. after Midwinter's, the months just started to really whizz by. with the longer days, all of us had more opportunities to go out and explore the land. the Sorsdal glacier was visited many times, as were the huts around Davis. August was also the time when Emperor penguins became most active as they are starting to walk to and from the ice edge to feed themselves and their newborn chicks, which meant greater chance of us bumping into them, and bump into them we did.
September. Adam celebrated his 35th birthday and i baked him his cake like any good and obedient girlfriend should and would. 'nuff said.
October. a complete shift in day/night lengths happened, and by the time October came about, we were only having about 2 hours of complete night each day, which in itself was rapidly depleting with each passing day. less night meant less chance of spotting an aurora, so this was the very last aurora i saw for the year. as i was taking these photos, i could already see dawn breaking way yonder on the horizon. it was about 2 in the morning. on Day 15, i set off for the Rauers (also written extensively) and it was one of the best jollies i'd ever had. on Day 21, 4 months after our Midwinter's Day, we had our End of Winter dinner. that was the very last time all 21 of us sat down for a Saturday dinner. 2 of our departed from station a week after.
November. by this time, everyone's thoughts were on home. with Joe and Cathie gone and our winter officially over, packing and cleaning up were on everyone's priority. my last jolly of the year was to Woop-woop, the Davis air-strip on the ice-plateau. it was a place i had never been to before, therefore i jumped at the opportunity of going. being able to see endless whiteness right before i left was a privilege and it really hammered home the thought that humans in Antarctica are transient, but the ice goes on forever.
December. the ship arrived on Day 3. it was time to go home.
No words of parting from me; just this:
I do not know whether it will ever be my lot to revisit Antarctica, but the years spent in realising my dream of an Antarctic expedition will ever remain among the most pleasant, certainly the most interesting part of my life
Henrick Johan Bull, early Antarctic explorer.
