"...all a man needs to be happy is a full stomach and warmth, and I begin to think it's nearly true. No worries, no trains, no letters to answer, no collars to wear -- but I wonder which of us would not jump at the chance to change it all tomorrow" -- Dr Alexander Macklin, ships surgeon on board the Shackleton's ship, the Endurance.

Science is a go! The field parties were input out into their various sites of interest a few months ago, and results are coming back to Rothera in the form of ice cores, data cards, and photos. I have been out to a couple of field sites with my replacement, Tom, in order to continue the hand over, even spending a brilliant Christmas Day working out at Brennecke Nunatak installing a new power system for the GPS logger there. Power is an important issue for Antarctic science, where instruments can be left for years at a time with no visitors. There is an abundance of wind and sunlight in certain spots, but Brennecke has a history of having too much wind, which, in the past, has destroyed the wind turbines intended on powering the instrument. We were there to install a new turbine, and associated electronics for the power monitoring. Of course, there's always the opportunity for some Hero Posing:



It's not all work though. Aside from the mighty winter band, Jog On Eric, I did a spot of moonlighting in a second band, which seemed to come together out of nothing for one gig, then fizzle away, as band members left to go to their field projects and other exciting places. The Travelling Dangleberries also known as Ross and The Trons (but probably only to me!) got together for a quick jam, knocked out a few songs and played one Saturday night, to rapturous applause. Adam Bradley, the 2012 Wintering Comms manager, did an amazing performance on the sax; Chris Hill, the Lake Ellesworth project manager, knocked the hell out of the drums; Simon Garrod, the stand in Field Operations Manager, put Jerry Lee Lewis to shame on the keys, and an assortment of guest guitarists, bass players, and singers ensured an excellent night.



I was a bit excited when Lorna, our wintering chef took me aside to tell me that she'd managed to get a supply of milk from the RRS James Clark Ross while it had been docked at Rothera. I haven't had milk in so long, and it went down a treat!



Finally, we managed to get out on a bit of a boat ride the other night, and I saw my first Leopard Seal. This one was just a pup, but an adult one was not far away. The Leps can be pretty vicious and their presence means that the marine team cannot make their dives in their vicinity.



The contract here is coming to an end, and I'm starting to think about "weeks" till I'm finished, rather than "months". Before I leave here, I have one last adventure. Next week, I'm on my way to the Amundsen-Scott base at the South Pole...