Tag: Antarctica

The ‘Messiest Yet Most Fun Brunch’

On By Sam HodsonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Each monday afternoon on base we have SITREP – an opportunity for all personnel on station to be in one room to deliver important messages between departments – to warn of inclement weather due or events happening soon.

The call went out from the kitchen for teams of people to take on ‘cook days’ to allow kitchen staff some much deserved time off – Basically cooking for the 120+ people on base…. Me,Matt & Matt found ourselve debating on what shift to take… eventually I became an honorary ‘MATT’ and we signed ourselves up to produce Sunday Brunch – St Patricks Day! A monumental task…with high stakes…

The morning commenced, with us truly overwhelmed with where to start, where to find ingredients and how much to produce – Matt also had the great idea of baking special Irish breads – forgoing the idea of hash browns, some would say controversial.

Dan – station SSA on shift that morning encouraged us to find an all important document that would lead us in the right direction and with that – we swung into production – Bacon being produced by the kg – sausages too – Beans and tomatoes’ being cooked by the cauldron – Bread on the other hand – it was a dark art that we’d decided not to do a dry run on….

-Eggs are also another addition – one that caused great carnage – alongside the chaotic and somehow miraculous production of potato bread – Matt the master baker baked enough bread to fully cover the needs of the station for the week.

we genuinely couldn’t keep up with the stations need for eggs – Dan would exclaim ‘EGG’ literally every 14.2 seconds as the pass filled with egg expecting clientele – the Brat pan was full steam ahead – me and Ivory double teaming to simultaneously cook eggs and the potato bread – it was beyond carnage!

And with that – service comes to a close – The messiest yet apparently – flour covered the floor – beans burnt to the hob and bread dough lay only as evidence to a morning full of laughter,carnage and appetites satisfied.

Flourishing in the cold…

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I am writing this post 40 days after leaving the UK, Time really does act very strange down here in Antarctica…Life moves super fast yet so slowly, it’s beyond a chore to find space and time for yourself amongst the hustle and bustle of station life.

I’ve completely immersed myself in life on the station! Some highlights: 3 boat trips, 2 gruel refuelling shifts, rediscovering the joy of skiing, participating in an Antarctic quidditch match,more on that later, one ‘gash’ shift, all while basking in the perpetual midnight sun!

During the austral summer, when the continent experiences continuous daylight, the sun appears to linger on the horizon, casting a perpetual golden glow. This phenomenon, known as the “golden hour,” bathes the landscape in warm, soft light, creating ethereal scenes that seem almost surreal in their beauty.

The walls here are adorned with pictures of travels past, Shackleton and Scott are just a small number of the endless monotone exhibits. I often ponder what they would make of the comfort we have down here, the 5 daily meals, central heating, and electricity…and of course, starlink internet! Conversing with many Antarctic veterans on base, it’s clear that things are changing here, evidenced by the endless construction noise and the erection of huge, new buildings. These pictures and stories make the base feel like a living history museum of the last frontier, one that’s surprisingly comfortable for us in 2024. We are a microcosm of British society, hidden away at 68 degrees south, and I feel beyond privileged to be here, regardless of my comfort levels. We are a port,an airport,a logistics hub for science further south and a community all working together to keep things running smoothly, well as smooth as possible, after all, THIS IS ANTARCTICA.

With the chaotic,temperamental Antarctic ‘summer’ the seasons can be experienced all in one day, more often than you may think,we’l wake up to a blanket of snow and by the evening the station has fully transformed. Snow melt happens rapidly and plans for recreation after work,are often spontaneous and without set plans.

Sat here, 55 days into this huge adventure, blown away by what I’ve already seen, I’m looking forward to seeing whats to come.. the sun is slowly starting to disappear and the dark nights are rolling in. The nights are packed full of activities to bring us altogether – We’ve had ceilidh’s and film festivals,endless bingo nights with Julie and many days of films,science talks and presentation.

Despite the challenges, many people find working in Antarctica to be a profoundly rewarding experience.. I’ve been interrogating outgoing winterers on their experience of long term antarctica life and the obvious pro’s and cons of life down south

The adventure begins – Rothera beckons

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Uncomfortably lay in a South American airport terminal, I’ve already conquered the 13-hour long-haul flight—an unrestful adventure teeming with anticipation, introspection, and contemplation of the journey that led me to this point. Jet lagged and exhausted, 3 flights endured we arrive into Punta Arenas with a final leap to Antarctica yet to come,weather dependant, we anxiously await that information.


Fortunately, we had just a single day to absorb the sights, sounds, and smells of Punta Arenas. Soon after, we boarded the British Antarctic Surveys Dash plane, their transport for ferrying personnel between Chile, the Falklands and their Antarctic destinations. The journey itself proved to be indescribable as we soared through dense clouds, catching tantalizing glimpses of the icy continent beneath us.

Landing at Rothera Research Station was a culmination of so many,mixed, emotions. It was a place i was so familiar with, I’d spent months researching the base,reading blogs with intimate stories of days gone by and the intense modernisation project well underway. Despite the visual familiarity and breathtaking surroundings, I found myself a newcomer amidst a community of over 140 individuals deeply entrenched in the rhythm of station life. I had to learn and intertwine with the procedures and the way things operate here. One thing I noticed immediately was that base, to me, seemed a microcosm of British society, my new home at the edge of the world.

It was Christmas Eve, I’d been here almost a week, friendships are blooming slowly getting round to catching up with everyone i’d met at PDT in september and to those i hadn’t met – it was a big adventure of getting acquainted to everyone id surround myself with for the next 6 months.

My Christmas eve was spent on two leisurely boat trips, exploring the surroundings of the base. We encountered various Antarctic birds, leopard and elephant seals, and, of course, the adorable penguins! The glaciers and mountains, plunging straight into the sea, offered breathtaking views. Even now, it’s hard to believe how unique and privileged it is to work in this extraordinary place.

Life here is chaotic,fast paced and forever running beyond the realms of any schedule – I hope to find time to write here about all that occurs over the next 6 months

A ‘warm’ welcome to BAS

On By Sam HodsonIn Antarctica 2023/24Leave a comment

3rd September 2023 – I pulled anxiously into Girton College, Cambridge, here I will undertake what is known as ‘Pre Deployment Training’ for the British Antarctic Survey. I was hastily checked into my accommodation – and sent into a grand library for accreditation and mugshots to be taken! The place had incredible arches and polished wooden book cupboards.. it all felt very ‘Hogwarts’… First mistake made – telling my new boss I hadn’t actually watched any of those films and a barrage of abuse has begun.

Long corridors of Girton College - Cambridge
Great Dining Hall at Girton College - Cambridge
Girton College - the commute towards the porters lodge in summer - Cambridge
A beer and my new lanyard i received at pre deployment training for the British Antarctic Survey

An evening meal soon followed in the grand dining hall in which I began to find realise the grand scale of the operation and the amount of personnel required to keep stations running… slowly and surely I found the people I’d be working amongst – against best practice a late night followed entailed ready for an early start at BAS headquarters.

Nicknames started coming about as we learnt more about one another and the roles they’d be doing, intertwined with stories of previous adventures and how they’d come to be here!

Each morning we’d walk to BAS and filter into the building to start lectures and practical tasks to familiarise us with some aspects of station life. We had talks from Home Office, the Environment and Biosecurity Office, Antarctic Clothing , HR and station specific seminars to introduce us to where we’d be living and who with.

RSS Sir David Attenborough - Boaty mcBoatface

As the week progressed we had a full schedule to attend to – many talks on life down south and many workshops to bring the culture of respect on base to our attention. Full days completing Mental Health Awareness training and fire extinguisher training took part outside in the 33 degrees heatwave we were experiencing. Ice creams became you best friend as you sat through long afternoons in sweltering classrooms dreaming of the snowy scenes shown endlessly on presentations. A warm welcome to the British Antarctic Survey was in full swing… The evenings contained BBQ’s and a Ceilidh if you wasn’t already hot enough!

Trips were made into Cambridge – bookshops, beers and brunch ensued as we visited many of the museums – a highlight being the Scott Polar Research Institute – of course a favourite for all those interested in exploration of the polar regions. It was a huge relief to see the equipment and clothing improvements since the golden age of exploration – although many were dreading the ‘Kit Fitting’ we all had – due to having to get changed into ALL of our polar layers we’d be wearing in the Antarctic climate… A perfect task to undertake in the heat we were facing! Truth be told – it was super exciting to given all the layers/safety equipment and endless gloves … it all started to get very real!

South - The Antarctic - Polar research institute - Cambridge

As the week rolled on – we headed rapidly towards our PST course – A course designed to prepare you for an emergency whilst at sea – we spent the morning in a classroom learning about many techniques to sustain life at sea and how to get rescued.

PST Course - learning to flip a life raft

We donned immersion suits and got into a pool (well needed, the temp peaked at 33 in Norwich) we did lifejacket drills and got into the water… from here we had endless tasks to perfect including singlehandedly flipping a life raft onto its right side and how to stay afloat as a group and tread water together. It was a great exercise and it now means I can travel on the Sir David Attenborough ship!

The time in Cambridge ended for me with a full day First Aid Course – one that was delivered by BASMU – British Antarctic Survey Medical Unit. It was a full day of learning how to deal with pretty much every scenario that could arise in a polar environment. This was no St Johns Ambulance course and soon we were splinting legs with poles and learning about all the different painkillers that we’d be familiar with… lots of choking exercises, classic CPR drills and getting to use defibrillators. Hopefully none of this will ever be utilised but being so remote and on average 7-10 days before Medevac becomes possible.. these skills would at least make you more comfortable.

bbq at girton college
fitzwilliam museum - Cambridge

The final night was bittersweet, bidding farewell to all those you wouldn’t see until you were ‘below 60’ and on base at Rothera Research Station. Many of my new friends would be wintering and spending between 12-18 months on base and therefore had another week of intense job specific training.

Leaving Cambridge and BAS knowing more about the adventure, the job and the people I was going to spend the foreseeable with, I could not smile any less as I look forward to experience life amongst the ice.

Personal Survival Technique's

Pre Deployment Training - British Antarctic Survey - September 2023