Our flight to the South Pole was moved from our flight on Tuesday to one on Wednesday at 6.45am. Then that moved to 8.45am, then 9.15, then 10.15, and then at 10.45 we got confirmation that it was cancelled. So we are on a backup flight for today (they have three flights a day - if one can't fly to wherever it's supposed to go because of weather, we get to fly). At the moment it's snowing hard enough that I'm struggling to see the hill out of town (maybe 500m?) so I'm guessing that that's not enough visibility for a plane going at 800km/h.. I think this weather is supposed to last for the next few days, so I think we'll be spending Christmas here. Worse luck, I think... the food's better at the pole :) It does, however, mean that I can have a shower and be clean for Christmas. I've also found a room with a bookshelf and a bunch of jigsaw puzzles (not as many as the Kiwi base, but still...) so I'm pretty snug. Also, it's snowing (cats and dogs?) so we'll get a white christmas.
Mum - I forgot to tell you.. the majority of the jigsaw puzzles at the Kiwi base are Wasjigs.. also. They had this variety show put on by the general staff.. interesting to say the least, buuut, the theme of the show was keep calm and carry on...
Annnyywayyy.. yesterday after our flight got cancelled we went for this walk/ski called castle rock loop. It's about a 12km loop, up a hill, along a ridge, down a ski slope and walk/ski back into town. We had to hire skis etc, and the hire place only opened at 6.30pm, so we left at 7.30. (for the parents.. you're not allowed to do this course unless you've done an outdoor safety lecture, take a radio, and check in and out with the firehouse, so they know as soon as you're missing. It's all as safe as they can make it.). The first km or so is uphill, not a bad uphill at all, but hoo boy did I struggle. Clearly, I am not fit at all... We're all kitted out in big fluffy jackets, thermals etc, and it was sweaty and gross and HOT, and then there's this freezing cold wind that you're trying to hide from..and then you get cold and sweaty and gross.. I think I haven't got the technique down pat.. :) Also. Snowflake, in an ice puddle:
After a bit it flattens out, and we tried cross country skiing.. so now, that's an experience. I have never done it before, and cross country skis go straight. That is all. They don't turn. They are reasonably difficult to stop in, on even a slight downhill, and they have a tendency to cross over each other... surprisingly, I only fell over once (in this section). Cam gave up for a while, and Luke went with walking (and beat both of us)... Then we got to the downhill. Aaaallll kinds of fun. I'd borrowed a tray from the dining room, but I was a bit reluctant to use it. Cam went down the first bit on cross country skis... and it looked like so much fun that I went down on the dining room tray :) Soooooooooooooooo much fun. I think Cam has a video. I got covered in snow though. Luke snowboarded.. after he'd fixed the snowboard. He did good. The front footclamp thing (I'm sure there's a name) was fairly unstable (it's supposed to be fixed), and the back clasp was broken. So after some fancy engineering, he was good to go, and kicked all our butts... I did try cross country skiing down one of the less steep sections of the slope. The only successful way of stopping I found was to fall over. So about six falls later, I gave up and walked down the rest of the slope. It was faster than Cam on cross country skis, and I got a fantAStic view that didn't involve digging myself out of the snow.. :) We were the only people in the whole world, and the whole world was white and beautiful. Turned out that what I thought was a bunch of footprints in the snow (looking from up high) was the end of a glacier feeding into the ice shelf. SO COOL. (yes,yes, pun. I would say that is probably the most used pun in history.. ). Scale is reaally hard to judge when everything is white and the light is so flat.. it's a bit like walking with one eye closed.
The rest of the walk was about 5km of flat flat snow, and a km or so of hill. I think I got the hang of the skis (finally!!) on about the last km of flat. Walking up the last section of hill was difficult.. partly because I am so unfit, and partly because I think my muscles were so used to the cross country skiing motion and were objecting to having to walk. :)
Anyway. It was all kinds of fun (even if I didn't make it sound so much) and beauuuuutiiiiffullllll. We got back somehwere around half past midnight, and I had a much-needed shower.. hoooo boyyy was I smelly...
Pictures:
(left) The ocean on the horizon, some icebergs, the sea ice shelf (not a permanent one) and all round prettiness. From about this point on, there was no sign of life other than us, except the flags marking the route, and some emergency shelters. (right) This was on the flat section on the way home. The black speck is Luke, The small red person shaped blob is Cam, and the rest is open, white, crystal space. I can make these bigger if they give anyone difficulty, I just feel a bit guilty taking up bandwidth uploading photos...
I have come to the conclusion that snow is like sand that doesn't play fair. You step on this patch of snow that's all soft and fluffy and turns out it's a not-quite-thick-enough covering over ice, and you wave your arms frantically to keep your balance, and then you think you've got it all sorted out, and so you step carefully onto the next patch of ice, and your boot goes straight through into ankle deep snow.... gah... I think I need more practice with it. We shall have to organise a ski trip, jah, jah??
Pretty sure that about covers it. I think there's a rock climbing wall in one of the (!!) gyms here, so maybe we'll give that a go today. Although, it's a tea-and-puzzle and nana nap kinda day today, so maybe not. I think we'll be here for a few more days, so I'll keep y'all updated with fascinating tidbits.. "ate breakfast. Had a banana. It was good"..
love you(s) lots,
Yael
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