Tuesday 12 October 2004
Day Trip to the Seaside
On Sunday a few of us decided to take advantage of the first sunny day we'd have for ages to take a trip down to the coast to visit the penguins again. Last time I went down there it was a couple of months ago and it was a dull and cold day. Sunday couldn't have been more different - clear skies and sunshine made it feel positively summery (although it was still -25C).
Six of us took a sno-cat and drove the 16km to the coast. It was the first time we'd been off base on our own without the Ed our field assistant so it had a slightly different feel - more like a few friends going to the seaside than an antarctic field trip! When we reached Windy Creek we put on our climbing gear and crampons and set up the abseil point at the top of the cliffs. The abseil point had changed significantly since we were last there - one crevasse had filled in completely and the edge of the cliff had formed a big overhanging snow cornice. We also caught our first glimpse of flying birds in around six months as there were quite a few small sea birds gliding around above the cliffs.
Once on the sea ice we found that once again some of the more curious penguins had wandered over from the main group to come and check us out. We'd been told that now they are nursing their chicks they would be more cautious and nervous than last time but that didn't seem to be the case. We walked across to the main group which were stretched for a couple of miles along the coast near the ice cliffs. We sat down for some sandwiches and soon found ourselves surrounded by a posse of curious observers. Without any natural predators on land they are very bold and came within a metre of us to pose for photos.
We spent a few hours on the sea ice watching the penguins and their chicks (which had grown dramatically since our last visit) before heading back to the abseil point and climbing back up onto the ice shelf. I'm sure you're all fed up with penguin pictures by now but it was such a nice day that I got some good ones so here's a couple more:
Posted by simon at 6:59 PM