A few answers to the many questions I get asked..

Do I have time off and can I come home? No I can’t leave South Georgia (until december 2011) but yes I do get time off which means I can go camping, skiing, hiking in the travel area around base.

Can you come and visit? Yes if you pay to come down on a cruise ship but you will likely only be in Grytviken for a day at the most.

How long does it take to get down there? I leave next friday 22nd at 0600 on the RAF flight to Falklands via the Ascensions getting in late that same night. We have a day or so in the Falklands where we meet the South Georgia Governer and then take a ship to base which will take around 4 days.

Are there other bases nearby? There is another BAS base in South Georgia on Bird Island however, we might if we are lucky see the base from the ship on the way down and maybe on the way back out in December 2011.

How cold does it get? We are at the same latitude south as scotland being at 54S however, we are within the polar front so the island is glaciated and there are icebergs and sea ice. When Myles and I sailed Round Britain and Ireland we went to almost 61N. The average temperature is 1.7C or 35F it will feel colder due to wind chill and the damp. In June, July and August is will be around -5C and in February (the height of summer) it should warm up to 9C. The average rainfall is around 54 inches per year which is double the amount of rain that falls in London and San Francisco per year. So basically high humidity, low amounts of sunlight, lots of rain and a little bit chilly!

South Georgia Climate graph contributed by climatetemp.info