April 24th - 30th
Hello Everyone.
As I type the winds are at 50knots and there is massive amounts of blowing snow outside my bedroom window. It’s a pretty amazing sight. Only an hour ago I was watching giant snowflakes gently fall, creating a beautiful winter blanket on the ground. It still amazes me at the speed the weather here changes. It is starting to get really cold now. Friday I had to return to my room and put a second thermal layer on and I was still cold.
I actually hate the cold. Lately I have been dreaming of Thailand and a lovely spa resort where I can unwind in the heat and spend 10 days in luxury pampering myself. Snorkeling in turquoise waters, or wandering along white sandy beaches picking up seashells. Ah Bliss! Sounds like a good plan when I com home I think.
So why on earth did I come to Antarctica for more than a year you ask? For the adventure of course. And what an adventure it is, a cold one, but you can’t have it all hey?
We have had blizzard after blizzard in the last few weeks and all around the earth is nothing but scoured blue ice as a result. Overnight we did have a massive dump of snow and we were all hoping for some calm conditions for it to settle. With the winds up now, it will more than likely be gone in a few hours. Robbie, John, Brian and I are planning a quad ride for the day tomorrow (Sunday) to Robbo’s. Hopefully the weather will subside overnight and be kind to us tomorrow. I am dying to get off station. The weather has been crappy for weeks and weeks on end now and I am going a little stir crazy with not being able to get out and explore and just get away from the red Shed, even if only for a day.
So what have I been up to this week?
Of course, we had Anzac Day. The day before was the most glorious – though very cold – day and the sunrise from the porch of the Comms Building was just gorgeous. I stood with my cuppa and watched as the Bergs turned pink and the sky turned from the dark of night to a glorious yellow streaked fluffy cloud vista as the sun peeked its head over the Moraine line then rose in all its splendor. I was contemplating the beautiful sight it would be to watch the next morning at our dawn Service.
Of course, as luck would have it, Anzac Day was a shocker! We woke to a blizzard and 75knot winds – no lowering of the flags or outside ceremony this year! So we gathered in the wallow and had a ceremony, with flags lowered to half mast on the climbing wall. We paid respects to both the fallen and the servicing service personnel. I have friends currently serving in various war-torn places around the world and my thoughts were with them as well as with the diggers who fought so hard and died so needlessly at Gallipoli.
After the service we had a gun fire breakfast then I helped Robbie in the kitchen making good ol’ Aussie chunky pies for lunch. Afterwards the traditional 2Up was played with Monopoly money used. It is easy to keep betting until it is all gone when the money is not real – as all the boys discovered. ;o]
I have been spending quite a bit of time in the kitchen with Robbie lately. It is becoming a Saturday afternoon habit of mine to join him and help with the Saturday night dinner preparations. I enjoy cooking and I am not too bad in the kitchen, though I rarely cook at home. When you live alone it is often hard to find the motivation to actually cook anything more than stir fry at night for dinner. ;o]
Robbie is teaching me all sorts of things and I am really enjoying the experience. I think he also enjoys having someone who wants to learn from him. He is a great chef, very capable and also very patient when teaching. I’ve actually never met a chef who wasn’t half insane, so it is a nice change to work with Robbie. This week I made the dessert for dinner. Angel’s Food cake & Devil’s Food cake with Crème Anglaise on the side. Crème Anglaise is quite tricky as the eggs can scramble if the heat reaches 82 degrees, so I had to cook using a thermometer as I stirred, and stirred, and stirred….
Robbie had high praise for my end results and that made me quite proud I have to say.
I also started learning Lead-lighting this week. I bought all the glass and supplies I require before I left Hobart and Chris – one of our chippies – is teaching me. I have to say, it sure is a lot harder than I thought it would be! It requires a great deal of patience and the work can be quite intricate and complicated. In saying that, I am enjoying the challenge. I have a small project I am starting with and plan, by end of year, to have made two panels for the entranceway in my house in Newcastle. I also have, in my head, an idea for a bit of an art show piece as well. All I need do it get the design out of my head, onto my sketch pad and then created and constructed. All good stuff.
On Tuesday Andrew leaves on a Travers inland. He will be gone for a week and a half, leaving me in charge. Oh the power! ;o] Actually, every time he leaves the station something major falls over and crashes, so I am crossing my fingers that I am not in for too steep a learning curve on some obscure piece of kit that decides to go wheels up on me the second the boys have all left the station. . Ha ha ;o]
Anyway my fingers are crossed that our weather improves overnight so I can get out and explore in the morning. Hopefully, next week I will be able to show you some pictures of my adventure to Robbo’s on the quads.
Toodles Doodles!
Trace x
As I type the winds are at 50knots and there is massive amounts of blowing snow outside my bedroom window. It’s a pretty amazing sight. Only an hour ago I was watching giant snowflakes gently fall, creating a beautiful winter blanket on the ground. It still amazes me at the speed the weather here changes. It is starting to get really cold now. Friday I had to return to my room and put a second thermal layer on and I was still cold.
I actually hate the cold. Lately I have been dreaming of Thailand and a lovely spa resort where I can unwind in the heat and spend 10 days in luxury pampering myself. Snorkeling in turquoise waters, or wandering along white sandy beaches picking up seashells. Ah Bliss! Sounds like a good plan when I com home I think.
So why on earth did I come to Antarctica for more than a year you ask? For the adventure of course. And what an adventure it is, a cold one, but you can’t have it all hey?
We have had blizzard after blizzard in the last few weeks and all around the earth is nothing but scoured blue ice as a result. Overnight we did have a massive dump of snow and we were all hoping for some calm conditions for it to settle. With the winds up now, it will more than likely be gone in a few hours. Robbie, John, Brian and I are planning a quad ride for the day tomorrow (Sunday) to Robbo’s. Hopefully the weather will subside overnight and be kind to us tomorrow. I am dying to get off station. The weather has been crappy for weeks and weeks on end now and I am going a little stir crazy with not being able to get out and explore and just get away from the red Shed, even if only for a day.
So what have I been up to this week?
Of course, we had Anzac Day. The day before was the most glorious – though very cold – day and the sunrise from the porch of the Comms Building was just gorgeous. I stood with my cuppa and watched as the Bergs turned pink and the sky turned from the dark of night to a glorious yellow streaked fluffy cloud vista as the sun peeked its head over the Moraine line then rose in all its splendor. I was contemplating the beautiful sight it would be to watch the next morning at our dawn Service.
Of course, as luck would have it, Anzac Day was a shocker! We woke to a blizzard and 75knot winds – no lowering of the flags or outside ceremony this year! So we gathered in the wallow and had a ceremony, with flags lowered to half mast on the climbing wall. We paid respects to both the fallen and the servicing service personnel. I have friends currently serving in various war-torn places around the world and my thoughts were with them as well as with the diggers who fought so hard and died so needlessly at Gallipoli.
After the service we had a gun fire breakfast then I helped Robbie in the kitchen making good ol’ Aussie chunky pies for lunch. Afterwards the traditional 2Up was played with Monopoly money used. It is easy to keep betting until it is all gone when the money is not real – as all the boys discovered. ;o]
I have been spending quite a bit of time in the kitchen with Robbie lately. It is becoming a Saturday afternoon habit of mine to join him and help with the Saturday night dinner preparations. I enjoy cooking and I am not too bad in the kitchen, though I rarely cook at home. When you live alone it is often hard to find the motivation to actually cook anything more than stir fry at night for dinner. ;o]
Robbie is teaching me all sorts of things and I am really enjoying the experience. I think he also enjoys having someone who wants to learn from him. He is a great chef, very capable and also very patient when teaching. I’ve actually never met a chef who wasn’t half insane, so it is a nice change to work with Robbie. This week I made the dessert for dinner. Angel’s Food cake & Devil’s Food cake with Crème Anglaise on the side. Crème Anglaise is quite tricky as the eggs can scramble if the heat reaches 82 degrees, so I had to cook using a thermometer as I stirred, and stirred, and stirred….
Robbie had high praise for my end results and that made me quite proud I have to say.
I also started learning Lead-lighting this week. I bought all the glass and supplies I require before I left Hobart and Chris – one of our chippies – is teaching me. I have to say, it sure is a lot harder than I thought it would be! It requires a great deal of patience and the work can be quite intricate and complicated. In saying that, I am enjoying the challenge. I have a small project I am starting with and plan, by end of year, to have made two panels for the entranceway in my house in Newcastle. I also have, in my head, an idea for a bit of an art show piece as well. All I need do it get the design out of my head, onto my sketch pad and then created and constructed. All good stuff.
On Tuesday Andrew leaves on a Travers inland. He will be gone for a week and a half, leaving me in charge. Oh the power! ;o] Actually, every time he leaves the station something major falls over and crashes, so I am crossing my fingers that I am not in for too steep a learning curve on some obscure piece of kit that decides to go wheels up on me the second the boys have all left the station. . Ha ha ;o]
Anyway my fingers are crossed that our weather improves overnight so I can get out and explore in the morning. Hopefully, next week I will be able to show you some pictures of my adventure to Robbo’s on the quads.
Toodles Doodles!
Trace x
posted by Tracey in Casey - Antarctica at 4:21 pm
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