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| Hoisting the Union Flag |
Being south of the Antarctic Circle we lose the sun completely for a few weeks around Midwinter; as we also have many hills to the north of us, this time is extended as, although the sun has risen over the flat horizon, it hasn't made it high enough to peek over the mountains yet. We lost the sun a good long time ago - I am not sure of the exact date as it was cloudy for so long, but it was probably some time in April or May.
Last Thursday (22nd July) is the date when the sun was due to pop back up over the mountains for a few brief minutes. The morning dawned bright and clear and there was a lovely orange glow in the sky to the North. Geek Boy and I were on cooking duty and I stood at the sink washing up watching excitedly as the glow became brighter and brighter. With about half an hour to go the clouds came in and my hopes were dashed, but in true British style we didn't let a few clouds stop us, so after lunch we all trooped up to the flag pole to hoist the new flag and claim Rothera Point for Queen and Country once more. A few patriotic attempts were made to sing the National Anthem, until we realised we didn't know the words, and shortly afterwards, also in true British style, we decided that a cup of tea was just the thing. We finished taking photos and went back down to base to put the kettle on and to tuck into our latest cake creation!
Last Thursday (22nd July) is the date when the sun was due to pop back up over the mountains for a few brief minutes. The morning dawned bright and clear and there was a lovely orange glow in the sky to the North. Geek Boy and I were on cooking duty and I stood at the sink washing up watching excitedly as the glow became brighter and brighter. With about half an hour to go the clouds came in and my hopes were dashed, but in true British style we didn't let a few clouds stop us, so after lunch we all trooped up to the flag pole to hoist the new flag and claim Rothera Point for Queen and Country once more. A few patriotic attempts were made to sing the National Anthem, until we realised we didn't know the words, and shortly afterwards, also in true British style, we decided that a cup of tea was just the thing. We finished taking photos and went back down to base to put the kettle on and to tuck into our latest cake creation!
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| Sunrise cake |
The clouds finally dissipated on Sunday morning, and the doctor announced over the radio 'All stations, all stations, the sun has risen!'. I was so excited that I jumped out of bed, grabbed my camera and shot outside. After taking the first photo I realised that being barefoot in pyjamas outside in Antarctica probably wasn't the best plan and went back in to put some more clothes on. Five minutes later when I went back out the clouds had covered the sun again, so unfortunately I don't have much record of the momentous occasion.
In other non-sun-related news, I've started knitting the 5th (of 9) strips of my blanket, and an Adelie version of Pasha The Penguin - photos once it has been completed. At Mech School on Monday I finished turning my bottle stopper on the metal lathe, used a grinding stone to make a point on the threading, and a wire-brush-wheel thing to give it a bumpy finished texture.
We also watched all of the other bases' submissions for the 48-Hour Film Festival, which they can be seen here. I don't know how long that link will stay live for, but my favourites were the animated 'Catch U Chicken' for originality, 'Who's The Chef?' for simply managing to talk for that long in one take without stumbling or laughing, and 'Fitness Month' because it just had a nice feel about it. It was also good to have a look around other bases, and it certainly made us appreciate the standard of living we have here!
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