Reflecting on the experience so far

10th December
Normality seems very strange. We were treated last night to dinner with the camp staff: lamb chops, pork, creamy potatoes, broccoli, brussells sprouts, noodles and flan … all eaten off plates, whilst sitting on seats in a nice warmish tent. Today though it’s back to rations, science on the ice (although travelling by skidoo, not on skis) and living in my tent.

We are due to fly out today, spend some time in Punta sorting the kit and then get back to the UK so that we can repeat the physiology experiments at the University of Portsmouth. But …

...currently the weather here is like being inside a ping pong ball – low cloud, low visibility, no contrast, light winds and snow, which means that they can’t land the plane and so we won’t go anywhere. Hopefully over the next few days we’ll get out, hopefully by Christmas, hopefully by New Year, hopefully!

However, our extra time here will give us time to hunt out lichens, look for ice dust and, importantly to me, expose the team to low, low temperatures for longer, making changes to our body more likely (temperatures today are high at -12 deg C because of the cloud cover, but the wind chill is taking experienced temperatures down to about -25 deg C).

I’m starting to look back at the expedition although we still haven’t left Antarctica. The project has a long way to go as we’ve created no teaching materials yet – so keep watching this blog as there is lots to come!

Here are just a few points:

• The hauling has been really useful as it has given me an insight into the books about epic walks to the Poles, and beyond (read Mike Stroud’s ‘Shadows on the Wasteland’). There is nothing better than experience … so long live field trips! Students, get out there and see things, make your own story!
• The weight loss (just under three quarters of a stone) and my attitude to the cold (feeling it less) suggests that our bodies have changed and therefore my project should yield some good results.
• Having life bared down to the necessities and made as simple as it can be (tent living, food to live not to enjoy, hauling everything yourself), for a month, has been an incredible experience as it makes you appreciate everything we take for granted. Look around you and think about what you don’t need.
• Every single moment has been incredible, but it hasn’t all been fun.