Monday 13 June 2005
Countdown to Midwinter
It's just over a week until Midwinter, the biggest event in the Antarctic calendar. Since the days of Shackleton and Scott it has been traditional to celebrate the darkest time of the year with a big party. We all get a week off work, put up the Christmas decorations and organise a whole host of events to entertain ourselves.
Right now the workshops are buzzing with activity as everyone is busy making a winter present for one of the other base members. These have the long-standing reputation for being of a very high standard, often with many weeks of painstaking work going into making them. Presents made last year included a scale model of a sledge unit, a brass and whalebone knife and even a working primus stove turned from brass. Everyone keeps what they are working on secret so it's great fun when we all get together to open them.
The presents are handed out on Midwinter's Day (21st June) just before the traditional midwinter meal. That's followed by a special broadcast on the BBC World Service for all personnel wintering at British bases in the Antarctic. It's a half-hour show featuring messages from our families, requested songs and an interview with a BBC celebrity (it's Ricky Gervais from the Office this year).
Other events we've planned include a Cabaret/Talent night, a "Weakest Link" quiz night, the traditional big screen viewing of John Carpenter's The Thing and bar-room bungee (yes we will get round to it this year!)
Another nice antarctic tradition is that we receive loads of midwinter messages by fax and email from a host of other antarctic bases and countries. They all get printed out and pinned on the wall - it's always good to hear what everyone else is getting up to. So, for anyone reading this from another Antarctic base - Happy Midwinter and feel free to pop over to the Brunt Ice Shelf on mid-winter's day for a few drinks!
Posted by simon at 4:10 PM | Feedback (5)