Right, I've been given strict instructions that exaggerated tales of knife edge ridges and flooded tents need to be kept to a minimum for the sake of my gran's nerves. I will do my very best to comply with instructions, but I suspect my natural tendency to embellish stories may get the better of me at some point in the future. As always time has been flying by at an alarming rate and much has happened since my last posting. In fact, I probably need to write a few entries to catch up but we'll have to see how things go as I am rather prone to getting distracted by nice weather and the possibility of island exploration. On the subject of weather though, I can categorically say that hurricane force winds are indeed quite brisk. Exact measurements are tricky as we don't have machines that read high enough, but apparently the wind speed reached over 70 knots at the start of the month. Those that actually ventured outside and up a hill (it's too complicated to explain why they felt the need to do this but apparently it was totally necessary) reported that you could lean over and touch the ground during the gusts - exciting times indeed! Personally I ventured outside only to take pictures of the sea (which in no way capture just how impressive it all was) and then scuttled back inside as the wind was messing up my hair.....
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| Hurricane force winds - turns out it's very difficult to convey wind strength in a photo! |
Probably the most exciting thing to have happened since my last mutterings was getting to sleep in a cave........... with fairy lights! As well as the huts that are scattered around the island there are also a couple of old sealer's caves on the coast fairly close to base. Whilst not exactly luxurious, the cave we stayed in does benefit from wooden decking, thus avoiding the need to sleep on the rather unappealing damp floor and, as the entrance has been boarded up, there's no danger of finding yourself snuggling up to an inquisitive fur seal in the middle of the night. There were also tea lights and, due to the generosity of Sue (one of the scientists working down here), battery powered fairy lights - I really do love fairy lights! Thanks to the superior organisational ability of my companion, firewood had already been dropped off and everything was set for a magnificent subterranean adventure. Luckily Micky dealt with the fire side of things - I've never been any good at getting them going and apparently the whole point of taking boys along on these adventures is to have someone to deal with this kind of thing right?! Unfortunately, with no Ella about I was forced to sort out the stove all by myself if I wanted to actually eat something, which I invariably do. There were some rather impressive yellow flames leaping out of it at one point which I don't think were entirely ideal, but eventually I won the battle and it turned blue and started making a more useful sounding roaring noise. This allowed me to prepare a stunningly creative meal of pasta and sauce with cheese (I am truly a domestic goddess!) and, by the time it was ready, the fire was burning brightly and giving off more than enough heat. Dinner was consumed sat next to the crackling fire, with the sound of the sea lapping up against the rocky shore, the occasional grunt from nearby fur seals and accompanied by some quite nice red wine and port (less minimal with the packing this time). Most importantly, I was given custody of the pokey fire stick and was able to mess around with the burning logs to my heart's content. I think I may be spending a lot more time hanging out at the cave over the coming months. If I can find people to come with me that is. And if I can get firewood dropped off by boat so I don't have to carry it over the hill myself. In fact, if things ever get too much for me on base I may just move into the cave permanently and conduct all medical consults sat on the wooden floor with burning joss sticks whilst pretending I'm an African witch doctor.
Right, it seems my imagination has got the better of me right now so I think it's best to leave it there for now and write about other South Georgian adventures another day.
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| Fire being made |
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| So it doesn't look like much from the outside... |
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| But the view from inside is not at all bad |
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