Post the Fourteenth

 

 So, I thought, how shall I do a follow up from the previous episode of Jeff of the South?  The previous post was chock full of WILD AND SPECTACULAR VISTAS! and EXCITEMENT AND ADVENTURE!  How could I possibly produce something to come after that?  Had I peaked too early?

No indeed.  Yes, I had seen wonders far afield from Davis, but it stood to reason that there must be equally interesting wonders in close proximity to the station (near afield?).  It would be those wonders that I would head out and document, and thereby share them with you, gentle reader.

My fondest hope was that I would encounter some of that famous Antarctic wildlife that Antarctica is famous for.  Maybe a penguin.  Maybe even a seal.  If my luck held, perchance I would spy a Weddell seal (!).

I donned my survival gear (of which I am very fond, given my keen interest in surviving), checked out a radio from Comms (also to be used to assist in the process of surviving), and bravely strode out into the unknown, accompanied only by my spirit of adventure and a toy penguin.

It soon becomes apparent to the casual observer that the area around Davis is very different indeed from  most of the rest of Antarctica.  Most of Antarctica is entirely covered by ice.  Snow and ice, but overwhelmingly just ice. 

Here, the snow and ice are called "rocks".

Rocks

It's very barren, stark and bleak.  Indeed, I might even go so far as to say that it is desolate.  Strong language, it's true, but sometimes the strongest of terms are called for. 

In case you don't believe me, here is yet more evidence.

Desolate

Now that I was out in this remarkable landscape, I had the overwhelming urge to stand in a heroic fashion.  So here I am, standing heroically.

Heroic

It's no small thing to adopt a heroic posture like that.  I have no doubt that standing in that manner can lead to strained ligaments, strained muscles and strained relationships.  So I limited myself to being intrepid for a short period of time, and resumed my journey of discovery.

What struck me most about the rocks was the wide variety.  Were I a geologist I would have found them all endlessly fascinating.  (A quick examination reveals that I am not, in fact, a geologist).  As it was, though, I found a certain kind of interest.

For example, they come in different sizes.  Here are some very small rocks.

Small(ish)

 You'll note that I placed a pebble in there to give you an idea of the scale.


And here is quite a large rock.

Sizeable(ish)

After an hour or so's walking, I espied something remarkable.  It was not a rock at all.   In the distance could quite clearly be seen ice!  Unfortunately the road I was on did not take me very close to the ice.  So I couldn't document that for you.  Merely tantalise you with it.

In the distance: not a rock

But there was so much else to document, so not all was lost.  Like, for example, some more rocks!

For some strange reason, this rock got me thinking about roasted chicken.   Doubtless it would inform a geologist about the history of the area, and the processes that built it up.  I however was merely informed that I craved poultry.

Rock hammer lickin' good.

 Fortunately there were no gravy-shaped rocks nearby, or I might have lost all reason.


All jokes aside (but just very briefly) there are some very interesting geological features in vicinity of Davis.  The Vestfold Hills are laced with these features, called dykes, where at some point in the past magma has intruded into existing structures and then cooled.

These particular dykes ran parallel, reminiscent of tyre skidmarks on the road.

Skidmarks

The geological feature shaped like a man wearing a backpack visible at the crest of the hill is called "Patrick".

While I was finding the landscape to be engrossing, with its infinite variety of rocks, it wasn't what I'd hoped to find.  Oh, it was a bonus to be sure, but I really wanted wildlife.

So, in the hope of encountering some I turned back to the station, this time along the coast.  Given that all of the major fauna in Antarctica are marine based, this seemed like a reasonable thing to do.

And, not too far into my walk I noticed a shape on the ice.  Could it be?  Could it really be a Weddell seal?  It was a little bit indistinct, so I couldn't determine whether it was or not.  So, I whipped out my trusty camera, zoomed in as far as it would go, and took a photo.  The viewscreen was too small to tell me, so I had to wait until I'd downloaded it onto the computer to tell.

Imagine my excitement when I saw that I had photographed this:

Not a seal

 Yep.   I had photographed another rock.   Zip-a-dee-doo-dah.


Further along the coast I came across this venerable piece of equipment - the RMIT van.  Manufactured somewhere in Melbourne in the 50s or 60s, this had once been used as a mobile research hut.

Having long since become obsolete for those purposes, it is now available for people if they want to spend a night off-station.

But, that was it.  That was all I saw on the entire walk that wasn't a rock.

I have to say that, as far as goals go, mine for that walk were spectacularly unfulfilled.  For nearly three hours I had slogged around, looking for wildlife and seeing only rocks.  (Or, wildlife with hitherto unknown powers of camouflage).


All was not lost on this day, though!

Word came through after dinner that an Adelie penguin had made its way into the vicinity of the station.  This was it!  Here was my opportunity to document a wildlife thingummy for you!

Hannah and I walked out to the area behind the Met building where it had been spotted, and presto!

Do you see it?

Penguin

Let me just zoom in a bit...

Boo!

Calloo, callay!  O frabjous day!  Who knew that all I'd had to do to photograph a penguin was to sit on my backside all day and wait until after dinner.

The penguin seemed moderately interested in Hannah and me, but eventually grew bored with us when it became apparent we were neither a threat nor made of fish.  And it settled down for a snooze.

Bored

So!  Success in the end. 

Swim-Swim was of course livid when I told him about it later.  He'd wanted to meet the penguin.  Personally I don't think his diplomatic skills are quite up to it, and if he were to meet a penguin beak to beak I fear that it might lead to an international incident.

Anyway, thank you for joining me on our voyage of enlightenment.  See you same penguin-time on the same penguin-channel!