Social whirl

We've had some busy days! things are starting to hot up (but not the
weather! still lots of wind and snow - we are digging feet of snow out
of the landing site every time a ship radios us to give warning that
they are about to arrive). But the hardest thing is combining the
meals,drinks and showers on board with work! We didn't know whether the
Nordnorge would come to visit as scheduled since they had been so active
in the Explorer rescue and deviated from their intended route. Then they
contacted us to ask if they could come the following day, in Explorer's
slot. But as before, we had a radio call after dinner to say they were
here in the bay, and would we like to come on board! Mmmm not a
difficult decision, even for me! It was lovely so many of the expedition
staff came over to collect us, and we were home again! So strange being
back on the Nordnorge, and sad to miss Tudor being there too. Then we
were offered the chance to stay overnight, and since the weather had
calmed down Rick said yes. Fantastic. We had a cabin each, and I was
wondering if I would be able to sleep on my own! Then after a great
shower - first for 10 days! (we had resorted to snow washes again over
the past few days) we adjourned to the bar. Captain Hansen came to join
us - he's an amazing man. The staff were all really exhausted after a
hard couple of days looking after the rescued passengers. It was
extraordinary to be on the ship so soon after the event, and very moving
listening to them talking about it. The Nordnorge were near by only
because they had changed their plans, and it still took them 4 hours
flat out to get there. We were amazed that the expedition leader on the
Explorer had the presence of mind in spite of what had just happened, to
ask Nordnorge to pass a message on to say hello to Rick and 'sorry about
your christmas presents - they are at the bottom of the sea!' So sadly
it's true! thanks for anyone who posted things to me, but I probably
won't get them unless you missed the first post! We had a chance to use
the internet - I saw my blog and Rachel's. Thanks James - for putting
the links in it and forwarding comments to me.

So we had a lovely breakfast on the Nordnorge, after actually not
sleeping all that well - we are not used to the humming engines any
more. Then they popped us back on shore with just enough time to prepare
for the passengers. Oh my goodness the Endeavour want to come in today
too - we receive an email. They can see we have an empty slot on the
schedule. They are delayed so we have dinner on board and then an
evening landing. We have a tilley lamp on in the shop which makes a
great atmosphere. They shop well - it always helps if we have been on
board before hand - Rick does his Lockroy talk and promotes the
charitable nature of the shop, and Rachel and I model T shirts! We also
think that a couple of glasses of wine before the shopping helps us add
up faster - Rick is doubtful! We cash up, empty the postbox and cancel
stamps til midnight. Another long day!

Sad news

Rachel wakes at 7 and declares that she can hear an engine - pops
outside and Ocean Nova are in the back bay. We were expecting them at 7
pm! so leap up and dress and are whisked over for breakfast of melon and
yoghurt, sausage, scrambled egg etc great. Shame we are all smelly and
unwashed and in our grubby thermals. Their passengers come shopping and
are gone by 11. Just as they leave the expedition leader tells us that
they have just heard that Explorer has abandoned ship - we retire to our
bunk room for elevenses and check emails and discover that it is news
already and the ship is sinking. Rick is very sad, we are all shocked.
They were due in to us the day after tomorrow. And the ships that are
coming tomorrow, Nordnorge and Antarctic Dream have gone to help, so we
don't know if they will come either. Rachel is gutted as she had quite a
lot of post, gifts from family and friends and stuff she was sending to
herself, that had been put on the Explorer by Stanley PO.

After lunch we restock the shop which takes an hour or so and lie down
to wait for Polar Pioneer due at 2pm. The weather has worsened, and the
penguins are all buried! Still sitting on their nests with just heads
sticking out. The landing steps are completely snowed in again and Rick
goes to dig them out. Read and snooze and keep warm in sleeping bag -
they are here! at 4pm. A nice shopping session, lots of Australians and
friendly staff.

Restock shop again! we keep repeating the mantra 'it can only get
easier..' as we empty boxes. They are piled to the ceiling and stacked
three deep in places. Thanks Tudor! Inevitably the small blue ladies
fleeces are at the bottom of a stack of six. But we are finding our way
around more quickly, each time we find the thing that isn't what we are
looking for we know where it is when we do need it!

Enough from me now, Rachel is blogging like mad! and I am probably
repeating her. Shame I can't send photos, might try and post some home
or to james? cheerio, time for bed, thanks again for emails, Phil, Helen
Karin, David - lovely to hear from you, and that you are all having bike
rides for me!

And then there were three..

To continue briefly - we get up on the Endeavour and have a wonderful
time. Try to make contact with the ships that might have been coming in
to visit us, but they are not in the area, so the Endeavour keeps us on
board for the whole day - cruising through the Lemaire channel, one of
the most scenic spots, and down to Petermann Island where we land and
see Adelies and the Oceanites people who are studying them. The sun
comes out, the pack ice is amazingly thick, we are crunching through it,
the views are stunning. Try not to spend too much time on deck as we
have no sunglasses or sun screen with us. We have endless cups of tea on
board sitting in the library, fabulous food, and a sauna! End up getting
back to Lockroy at about 11.30pm, and a sad quick packing-up for Tudor.
Endeavour has agreed to take him to Ushaia to fly home, so that the
Klebnikov didn't need to wait around to try and collect him. I am busy
counting out money and adding up credit card slips - the zodiac driver
is waiting - Tudor comes to help as I am all fingers and thumbs in the
cold and dark. And he is off at midnight into the beam from the ship's
spotlight. The three of us go to bed feeling at bit sad and quiet.

Fresh fruit! hot shower!

Excitement! We are sitting down to Rick's special curry feast and I am
in the shop titivating when I hear a stampede to the front door - the
radio has spoken for the first time! and Antarctic Dream (who we were
expecting, hoping, would arrive tomorrow morning) is just anchoring in
the bay. We all rush out to look for her - we have been invited on board
for a shower and drink! Wonderful, ecstatic news! Finish eating, quick
wash up dishes, flapping around packing all that we will need, T-shirts
instead of thermals, shampoo, clean socks if I can find any. It is
snowing hard outside, we can't see anything but can hear the hum of
their generator, and the buzz of the approaching zodiac. We have
struggled into our immersion suits for the first time! I love them! they
are super snug with wellies attached to trousers, waterproof full length
zips, neoprene cuffs and hood - and metal hoops at the chest for lifting
us out of the water ....
And a quick hot shower, and up into the bar for presentation to the
viewing public - going to have to get used to being the focus of much
questioning - it's not so different to working at Black Sail really! My
first Pisco Sour, and the passengers present us with a couple of apples
and oranges each. We have many promises of bringing over bacon
sandwiches in the morning! Back to our little hut, bed at midnight after
a cuppa.

The next day, up quickly, no porridge in bed, our first shop. Surprising
how tiring it is on the brain - my adding up is getting noticeably
quicker fortunately. The whirlwind is over and they leave. A quick
lunch, cash up, Tudor and Rachel wrestle with boxes in the boat shed to
get the stock necessary for refilling the shelves. Then at about 3pm we
have National Geographic Endeavour on the horizon. The weather has
deteriorated significanltly - we wonder whether they will try to land
passengers at all. We have done our best to cut good steps in the snow
but the windy is gusty and strong. They make it ashore and we have
another busy couple of hours in the shop. Just beginning to cash up at
6pm, and think about restocking - we may have another ship first thing
in the morning - when the message comes to drop everything and pack
..... we are invited over for dinner and another shower!! Don't even
feel like I need another one for a couple of weeks now. So off we go -
the ride out there is very rough and bumpy, but soon we are in the warm
in someone's cabin, lent to us for showering. A wonderful meal, chats
and drinks, we see the Kapitan Klebnikov going backwards and forwards
through the window, sitting out the storm, we wonder if it will head off
or come in tomorrow to pick up Tudor and take him home as planned. The
weather gets wilder, I'm a bit worried about getting back, and quite
surprised that we came on board at all. But we are staying, the decision
has been made that it would be foolish to go out. A bit of reshuffling
and we are found beds in various cabins. I am the only one who has
brought their toothbrush! But no toothpaste so borrow some from my room
mate. Rachel and I stay up til past midnight exploring the ship and
visitng the bridge.

I am writing this a few days later - we have another ship due in soon,
got to go and tidy up. Thanks for the messages I have had from everyone
- sorry I am not able to spend the time replying individually - it's
been great to hear from home though. Missing my bike a bit! and a pint
of decent warm beer - most drinks are well chilled here! The penguins
have jsut started laying eggs - they have done an amazing job of melting
the snow back to bare rock for nesting on, by pooing on it and then
lying down, they are getting so filthy! It's great fun to see them
stealing pebbles from each other and beating each other up with their
wings, which creates a tremendous slapping sound as they go tumbling
down the snow in a whirl.

Right then, that's it for now, will complete the exciting Endeavour tale
soon! Byee

Lonely as an iceberg...

...only 1500 penguins for company!
Yes, we have now had 4 ships cancel - beginning to worry about the 8
tonnes of stock we have to shift! Carry on painting and scraping and
sanding - the place is looking really good now. The weather improves. I
have breakfast on the verandah for the first time. Totally silent except
for the splosh of diving penguins and the patter of their flappy feet on
the snow, occasional rumble of collapsing glaciers and the squabbling of
the sheathbills. They are getting pretty lively on the roof at 5am these
days so we are still rising early. Eating reasonably well - forcing
ourselves to get through last year's left overs before we begin on the
food we brought. We are getting more and more inventive - chilli con
spam, salmon spaghetti surprise, soya mince rogan josh. We are able to
eat most meals without the use of a knife, or much chewing that's for sure.
I have had three washes too over the last two and a half weeks! Two of
them snow washes at the landing site. A flannel, a dollop of snow and a
good rub, top half and then bottom half. Not as bad as it sounds on a
sunny still day. Great views! And once when the weather was wild for a
while, half a bowl of warm water in the bunkroom in front of the gas fire.
Had a lovely afternoon off the other day - completed a total
circumnavigation of both islands - Bill's and Goudier - at low tide. Saw
much marine invertebrate life. Sea urchins, limpets, starfish and a
giant isopod! which only I was brave enough to fetch for closer
inspection (necessitating removal of trousers, socks, shoes and a fair
bit of a paddle - it was pretty bracing to say the least but I survived,
just a little bit pinker-skinned than before).
Must be time for a cup of tea - bye for now!

ice, ice everywhere, but not a drop to drink!

We wake up to cold, cloudy and windy weather. Three more days of sanding
and painting - a bit of a challenge as each coat takes two days to dry -
it is above freezing indoors, but only just. We are making good
progress, the kitchen is done, the ionospherics room also. We tidy up
again - the Nordnorge is due to visit us - but another email again
brings bad news! Apparently there is a lot more ice around - the sea is
clear where we are, but it seems the change in weather and wind
direction has brought ice out of the Weddell sea and blocked the
Gerlache and Bransfield straits. So they aren't coming! We were looking
forward not only to seeing the staff again, and also to the possibility
of some fresh food, getting our clothes washed and stocking up on water.
And another of the large ships, the Orlova, has cancelled too and the
film crew that were coming out to stay with us for 5 days are also not
coming! Begin to wonder how long it will be before we see another
person! We have a long gap in the schedule now, the next ship is not due
in til the 13th, and who knows if they will be able to come either?

We rally round and cheer each other up and decide that we can do lots
more decorating - much of it hasn't been done since the base was
renovated in 96 by Rick and the other team members. But first we have to
brave the snow and strong winds and go down to the shore with buckets
and ice axes to chip pieces of ice off the beached bergs for our water.
It's pretty wild and windy out there, and we come back with alot of
spindrift down our necks. Got enough for a couple of days though - just
need to encourage it to melt now!

First Shop! Or not.

After a hard day's work moving our 600 boxes and trying to get them all
under cover before the weather changed, we set to getting the shop
organised. First we sanded and painted the ceiling and a couple of
walls, before having a general all round scrub up. Had an email from our
first visiting ship, the Alexander Humboldt, to say they would be with
us a day early with 300 passengers! Help! Spent a very long day
unpacking shop stock, trying to fit 15 different t-shirt combinations of
price and size on the limited shelving - not to mention the fleeces and
kiddies clothing unsold from last year - and then last thing making
prices labels for it all. A late night, all very tired.
Up bright and early, not knowing when the ship will arrive - Rick checks
emails - they say 3pm, so we have time to do the final titivations.
However no ship turns up - and at 4 ish we receive another email saying
that they are unable to make it through the Gerlache Strait - too much
ice. We are all a bit disappointed and deflated, but turn back to more
painting followed by a peaceful evening and early night.

We're In!

Hello all, just a quick message as batteries are low - we got ourselves
and our 600 boxes landed on Monday night - good thing it was light til
11. The weather has been fantastically kind to us, blue skies and
sunshine since we got here, no wind at all, so it is feeling almost
warm! Only just below freezing most days, have a bowl of ice in our
bunkroom which is melting very slowly so I guess not much warmer in here!.

Better go, got snow to dig. The penguins are wonderful! the sheathbills
less so! We have also been visited by a wounded elephant seal and a
chinstrap penguin so far.

Will post again when I can. Thanks for your messages, from Mum and Alan,
it's nice to hear from you - yes, give susannah the blog address, that's
fine Alan. Rachel's blog is very good - much better than mine!

www.rachelhazellisaway.wordpress.com

Helen x