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