103 Days of Darkness

Life on an Antarctic research station when the sun's gone down for the winter...and then come back up again...and then come home and resumed normal life!

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St Helena

We made a brief stop on the magical mid-Atlantic island on the way South. Utterly beautiful.

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Crossing The Line

Part tradition, part immersive theatre, the ceremony for first time crossers of the Equator at sea.

Neptune and his court are welcomed on board and a trial is held for all those crossing over for the first time. I was inevitably found guilty of terrible crimes, received my punishment, was cleansed and then welcomed into the Order of Shellbacks (I have a certificate and everything...so it’s official)!

more here...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony

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Southbound and Down

Sunny skies and calm seas approaching the Equator on the way to Antarctica

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Life On Board

Scenes from a ship heading South...

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Looking back to where it all began...

Setting out from the UK in 2012, on board the RRS Ernest Shackleton

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103 Days of Darkness turned 2 today!

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Lone penguin welcoming committee! #penguin #Antarctica #lonely #welcome (at Halley VI, Antarctica)

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Stepping Into The Ice

People have done some crazy things while down in Antarctica over the years, but as Christoph (electronics engineer in my first winter) here shows, there's always room for that little something extra!

His Footbag (Hackey Sack) session amongst the Emperor penguins at Windy Bay takes extreme 'sports'/stupidity to a whole new level! 

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So then lovely people of .tumblr

...after 2 years in the icy clutches of Antarctica I've just escaped and returned to the UK. Thank you so much for all your interest and support during the last couple of years, it has meant the world to me. There'll be more pictures of ice and infinite skies and penguins to come as I indulge in the benefits of the wonders of broadband, but for live love from Antarctica that's it...for now!.... jt Xxx

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Penguin Impressions Anyone?

This is Richard, the meteorologist at Halley trying his best to blend in with the Emperor penguins down at Windy Bay...

...I fear they're not entirely convinced!

Still...points for effort!

(photo credit here to Michal K - data manager at Halley)

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UNDERCOVER WITH THE EMPERORS

My attempt to blend in with the Emperor penguin colony was soon foiled when one of the chicks tried to get me to feed them...

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PENGUINS

PENGUINS

Penguins

penguins

...the colony down at Windy Bay from a few days ago.

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Aurora Australis

Glowing and rippling across the sky for hours last night

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"...a thing that exists here because everything else does not and can be noticed because other things are absent."

Robert M. Pirsig - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

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SUN SUN SUN!

With the darkness of winter behind us and the 24 hour days of summer a couple of months away we have the night and day of 'normal' life during the Antarctic spring.

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HALLEY VI

impressionist version