Lots more lying in the sun

The problem with working somewhere like this is that people are always arriving and then leaving again which can be really quite distressing.  This time it was Jo's turn to head home for her 4 months of leave - good for her as she gets to go somewhere hot and sunny, but less good for us!  Since we have had rather a lot of excellent adventures together over the last few months, we (as in Jo, Ella and I) decided we should go for one last trip away before she left the island.  A mid-week trip to Maiviken hut was decided on as the weather looked rubbish and camping would have been a miserable and soggy affair.  This also meant we could take far more exciting food, including poppadums (who knew they could be cooked on a primus stove in a hut).  Jo and I set off a bit earlier than Ella as she allegedly had some proper work to do (boats have a rather nasty habit of breaking unexpectedly), whereas we did not.  As is always the case when Jo goes on holiday the sun did appear as we approached the hut, and by the time Ella joined us we had G&Ts prepared and were able to enjoy one last drink together in the evening sun.  Admittedly Ella's arrival was fairly soon followed by the arrival of snow (probably unrelated) so we finished the drinks inside with the tilley lamp warming the hut nicely.  

The morning dawned clear, but the world outside the hut had turned white overnight, so we were in no particular hurry to leave.  Also, we had bacon and homemade rolls and ketchup to deal with which kept us occupied for a while.  The plan had been to head back to base fairly early (since it was, strictly speaking, a work day and all).  However, as it got sunnier and sunnier our resolve weakened and we decided to go for a walk down to the beach instead.  Quite how I will ever return to a job with strict working hours is something I really worry about!

The walk was definitely a good idea though as it turned into an absolutely stunning day.  I finally managed to get a couple of photos of an albatross in flight thanks to a particularly determined guy who just kept trying to land near where we were sat.  It was incredibly gusty and he kept having to abort the mission every time he got near the ledge.  The twenty or so attempts it took (he looked so proud of himself when he eventually landed) gave me the opportunity to take lots of extremely blurred shots of him with his feet waggling around and, luckily, a couple of less blurred ones. 

After lying in the sun for a fair while contemplating what to do next, we decided to head back up Spencer Ridge as Jo hadn't been up this way before and the view from the top really is amazing.  This time we found a far more sensible way up involving tussock grass and no scree, but the wind was strong enough on occasion to halt forward motion which kept life interesting.

Jo, Ella and I in the grass somewhere above Tortula Cove

When we arrived at the top the wind forced us to find shelter fairly quickly and as a result more time was spent lying in the grass watching the world go by

Gazing out to sea from a warm and sheltered position above Mai Point

Heading back down to Maiviken through the tussock

Ella sat on a rock probably thinking about something very important

None of us were in any great rush to return to base and the journey home involved a number of stops to enjoy the sunshine and a cup of tea at the hut before finally heading back.  It's going to be extremely strange not having Jo about the base, but this was an excellent final trip away!

Enjoying the evening sun on the beach outside base

Elephant seal pup taking control of the wheelbarrow