Sunday 22 December 2013

Return of AGB

Return of AGB - 22nd December

Guess what?! The ice is back! Luckily, Andrew is now this side of it. More about that later...

Comments

Firstly, I would like to say thank you again for reading this blog and for all your comments. We have had a few questions about battery life here in the cold, which I will do my best to address. Surprisingly, the batteries have coped very well with the cool weather - we haven't had any issues with regards to them running down too quickly. We have been keeping our batteries inside the main hut or on the yacht over night (which is quite toasty) to prevent them from getting too cold. We have also been keeping them in our jacket pockets on the coldest days, which has probably helped. It is a tough environment to film in but it is worth all the challenges as our subjects are just plain awesome - penguins!! :D
There were a couple of comments about a researcher called Ruth in connection with sharks. As flattered as I am that you thought it might have been me, I must confess that anything shark-related will have involved another researcher called Ruth (yes we both found it hard to believe when we met each other, and worked in the same team at one point!).
It has also been brought to my attention that I misspelt a couple of names in my last blog - apologies to any who noticed them, particularly Darrel from Icebird and the ship, L'Austral.
Finally, I guest-blogged on the UKAHT blog last week so do check it out if you get a chance - you can follow this blog any time to find out what's going on with the AHT team here at Port Lockroy:
http://www.ukaht.org/where-we-work/port-lockroy/blog

A word from Daisy

As some of you know, Andrew has brought his family to the Antarctic to make a children's documentary. They have arrived safely and I will now hand over to Daisy to let you know how they are getting on so far...

Hello it's Daisy! So far my family and I have had the most incredible Antarctic experience, it has been two weeks since we left England, and we have already had our fair share of ups and downs.
After a long journey to get to the tip of Argentina, facing the Drake Passage, with no previous sailing experience, was just as tough as we expected. Although the weather on the crossing was surprisingly decent for the Drake, it didn't stop most people on board from experiencing a horrific amount of seasickness (especially my sister Amy, who spend the journey clutching a green bucket, that has now been christened 'chucky bucky.')
3 and a half days had passed when we reached Deception Island, a semi-active volcanic island and it was a relief to finally be on land. We were able to make a good start to filming, especially with the island being such an interesting place with so much history, and it was also good for everyone on board to have small break from sailing.
We arrived at Port Lockroy on Wednesday 18th, however because there was so much sea ice between the boat and Port Lockroy, we were unable to get to land and we spent the night trapped in the ice. The next day we were finally able to get there, and after scouting a route in the zodiac with Dave, Pelagic was able to tie up and have a look round.
The last few days has been incredible, the journey to get here has definitely been worth it, and we have been filling our days with filming and exploring the island. It has been great getting to know all the penguins and seeing my Dad at work filming them, we have all had to make some huge adjustments, all whilst having a camera in our faces. I very much look forward to spending more time at Lockroy, and although I am missing all my friends and family back at home, I think I can speak on behalf on me and the rest of my family when I say that it has, is, and will be one of the most incredible things we have done.

6 comments:

  1. Wow Daisy, what an adventure for you and Amy. You are so lucky. Your friends will be so envious! Please look after Ruth and tell her to keep the blogs coming!

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  2. Happy Christmas to all at Port Lockroy from the Whittle family! Xx

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  3. Happy Christmas to Mrs G-B and all the G-B family! So good to see your post and that you've arrived safely. It's Christmas Day here and lots of people in the UK are having a hard time with the weather - but nothing compared to what you guys are coping with! Hope you continue to have a great time and keep posting to let us know how you're getting on. Love to Mrs Bee Gee and see you soon!
    Linda (Mrs Ayers - Berrow Primary School, England)

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  4. We all hope you had a lovely Christmas, glad you survived the trip over!! Have toasted you on frequent occasions! We can't wait to see all of your penguin photos! (Sally Brown)
    I hope you are all having a great time in Antarctica, and that all your experience on the Cheddar reservoir(in the little boat with Mulberry) has come in handy!!Thinking of you when sat by the warm fire, with a mug of hot squash!! I hope you all had a great Christmas, and that you enjoy the rest of your trip! x (Molly Brown)
    Hey Amy, hope you're having an amazing time in Antarctica, I miss you loads. I hope you had an amazing Christmas and Anna has asked me to say 'Have you taken a picture of a duck yet?!'. Can't wait until you get back, but while you're there enjoy every second!!xxx (Bonnie Brown)
    Pete says hi too, but he's playing golf today in one of the many gales sweeping the south west during December!! (Pete Brown)

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  5. Hello Amy miss you sooooo much, but hope you're enjoying Antarctica!
    from poppy-min landers

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  6. Hello Graham-Brown family. Our thoughts have been with you over Christmas and we are so looking forward to tales of heroic proportions over bottles of wine of equal proportions! What an adventure - especially for Daisy and Amy, you are going to have so much to share with your friends when you come home. We are all watching your progress and send big hugs to all. (How's the 'camping' going, Emma?!) Stay safe, have fun and keep warm! The Landers family. x

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