2 2 n d    J a n u a r y   2 0 0 9

this may well be the last post of my antarctic diary!  i am due to fly north to punta arenas on the 26th to rejoin a different and new part of the society that i left behind 2 years and 3 months ago when i stepped on the James Clark Ross in Immingham docks.  It has been an incredible few years, strange and beautiful in equal measure.  I have missed many things but am most looking forward to seeing some great friends and family in the next 6 months, during or directly after an extended period of travel in south america.  thanks for reading the blog - i hope to come back to these pages in future with the next episode in Rob's "Life of Rob"!  here are some photos of the last few weeks...  

above, a day trip for me and matt out to the rarely visited leonie island which is about 10km from rothera by boat, one of the most beautiful spots i've ever seen.

below, a few of us stayed a night at the nearby caboose for an alternative saturday night.  i bivvied outside and awoke the next day to large snowflakes falling gently on my face; that was really a high quality moment.  from left, james wake, me, riet "the angry belgian" van de velde, and matt balmer, one of only 4 others who have been with me throughout my time south.

above, i was co-piloting for james's subsquent deployment for his 2nd field project - this is camp delta 108, the start point for his geology project with morag hunter in the stunning Ellsworth Mountains.  We have just dropped off an  pane load of equipment including the skiidoo in foreground.  This is the mountain range at roughly 80 degrees south latitude that contains the highest mountain in Antarctica - Mount Vinson.  Below we are at a field party depot on the Rutford Ice Stream, to refuel the aircraft, and sneak in a few pictures - Chris, the GA who is working in the area on siesmic and radar surveys was kind enough to take a picture of me with the Vinson Massif in the background....

Until next time!  Rob