Walk to the Wallow

Well I was having a bit of a day off today as it had been deemed needed. Who am I to argue, so I found myself twiddling thumbs and getting antsy to go and do something. These are the main highlights of a 3hr walk out the the Old Wallow. The first pair of characters being these two Emperor Penguins that are a long way from any colony. How imbarassing for them!

Next stop was at the Wallow where the stence of the Elephant Seals started to get to you nose a good half a km away. They just think they are so cute and soooooo sexy lounging about on the beach in the sun! Check out these hotties, Hubba, hubba!

I didn't really like the way that this one was looking at me. They are constantly burping, belching and farting and it was a lot like being at home really.

Some red sea weedy stuff that was floating in the water was really just a nice colour change!

This little guy nearly landed on top of me when he launced himself from the water.Making the most of it he put on quite a show for the camera. Adele's are just wackers arn't they!

SAR Training and a Room with a View

This was just a little session the Dr and I ran on the Oxi-viva, medical kits and secondary surveys. It was just a part of the SAR training schedule that will be happening once a week.

This photo is the current view from my room. It is much nicer with the snow outside for a change. Currently has been snowing for 3 days and it really makes it all look a lot nicer than it usually does.

A Symphony of Sounds

The sound of the fresh water lake ice was a real hoot. As you walked across the questionable surface protruding ice pieces broke off creating a little musical as you walked. The sound of the ice scattering across itself sounded a little like a gordy chandelier in the wind just tinkering over and over. It was a little hard to drown out the sound of the boot chains as they wreaked havoc with the crystal structures of the lake.

Boxing Day Trip into the Wilds

Spectacular ice cliffs, wind scours, hallucinations, ridge lines, melt streams, frozen lakes, sunscreen in eyes and more to cap off the walking. Arrived at the Melon at 18:30 and collapsed inside out of the sun. What a relief! Bloody hot in the sun, in fact sweating bullets would really sum up the afternoon! Great view as we skirted along the Plateau but the sun softened snow really is annoying!

The above photo is along the southern side of Trajer Ridge looking west towards the Melon. Below is a photo of just one of the many cool rocks in the Vestfold Hills.

The next couple of days proved to be more of a winter paradise as the wind and snow was constantly driving into our faces.

However I did find time to pose as an Xmas Star in  brief moment oif clarity. Watts Hut is just out of sight behind the rock at knee height on my right hand side!

Santa's Here and Tucking in the Penguins!

As we all gathered outside with the chill in the air, Champaign flowing and the pancakes of leftover sea ice floating along the beach we heard the distant rumble of a Hagglands racing across the rocky ground. As it came into sight Santa was seen hanging out of the escape hatch on the roof! As it drew nearer there was some general concern growing in the crowd as the overzealous driver realised that the Fire Hagg with its 1 tonne of water (The sleigh) was a little heavier than expected. Having difficulty stopping due to the downhill facing weight it drifted through the crowd towards the cliffs! These were narrowly missed as Santa pulled his head in very fast and it continued down the road. Circling around and stopping Santa got out of the Hagg along with his Elves. Santa was dwarfed among the Elves as they were the tallest people on station and he was the shortest.

At the end of the day many kicked on into the night but it was all quiet on the western shores as these little fella's caught a few Z's to get over their Xmas feeding frenzy!