This afternoon my parents dropped me off at the beautiful Girton College part of Cambridge university. This is the closest I will ever get to an ivy league university. I am attending the BAS conference for a week including an in depth First Aid Course as well as Oil Spills Response course.

First thing to do was kitting out at the clothing store. See the below video to see what is in my kit bag which is now sealed and will be sent south ahead of me for when I get there in November.

Then a few talks one by the BAS Director on the Mission of BAS and what it is all about. These talks were followed by a great dinner in the cafeteria of roast turkey, veg including my favourite roast potatoes lots of gravy, salad and a tasty chocolate cake with chocolate custard. The food is really good which makes me happy that I opted for the large clothing items at the kitting out session – though I am hoping I don’t grow into them!

After dinner we had an Introduction sessions presided over by John the Base Manager who is a really great guy and who I will be diving with in Oban in a few weeks time. Everyone got up and said who they were and what they were doing on base. There were about 75 people going to Rothera for different periods of time including some press from Sky TV and from the BBC. I also had a long talk with the Diving Officer who I will be working alongside on Base he is going down for his second ‘tour’ apparently we will be diving in Oban at a scientific facility.

I am now off to bed maybe I will get some pictures up later this week. Have a great week.

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On the sailing line – Congratulations to RYM clients who were 1st in J120 and 2nd in J105’s at the Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco. Well done Chance team and Arbitrage.

Tamsin is the science co-ordinator at Rothera. She wrote a beautiful poem about being down here which she recited at Folk Night.

ANTARCTICA

To be here, to come here
This place with its view
Means so little to so many
But so much to so few

Who’ve been here, who’ve seen it
Who’ve felt it and lived it
Who’ve kept it inside them
And can’t live without it

Who know its uniqueness
Its whiteness, its bleakness
Who crave its togetherness
And love its remoteness

Who live with the secret
That others can’t know
That this place is special
More than rocks, ice and snow

But a world in its own right
That floods all the senses
Such that nothing else matters
Outside of its fences

And each day I wake up
And feel it take hold
There’s beauty in isolation
And the warmth in the cold

And I know I’m in love
As each time I depart
All that I think of
Whilst we are apart

Is the day I’ll be back
On this floating ice shelf
Or this snowy mountain
And I smile to myself