Post the Thirty-Second

The Leaving of Davis

or

The day we left Davis without actually going anywhere.



The thing about inevitability is that it is inevitable.  For the most part, anyway.  And this day - our final day at Davis - was inevitable.  The manner in which it transpired, however, was not.

You see, we left Davis on the 2nd of February.  But we didn't leave Davis until the 3rd of February.  Confused? 

I shall elucidate.



But before I do any elucidation (or any other fancy words), here are a couple of random photos.  They don't form a part of my narrative in any sense but I wanted to include these photos, and this is my blog, and who is gunna stop me?

So on the final evening on station I thought I would take a stroll around the environs on a kind of 'farewell' tour.  As I approached the helipad a saw a rather amusing sight: an Adelie penguin examining a helicopter.  Too good a photo opportunity to pass up!

'ello 'ello 'ello...  What's all this, then?

Were I prone to anthropomorphising at all I would have had the distinct impression that the little guy had a bit of flight envy going on here.

Got a spare seat, guvnor?

Still, he seemed satisfied that all as in order, and after a while waddled off with an air of a job well done.  Perhaps he was auditioning for a job with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.



Aaaanyway, with that digression out of the way, let's get on with the meat of this story - the (non) departure from Davis!

So, the first priority on this day was to ensure that everything was packed securely.  We were going to be transferred to the Aurora in Zodiacs, and were thus limited to carrying only a small bag each.  All other cabin baggage needed to be sent separately in cage pallets aboard the barge. 

Here then, is a photo of my room, denuded of my personality save for the survival gear I had to wear on the Zodiac, my camera bag and, naturally, Swim-Swim standing guard over it all.

Farewell to thee, O faithful abode

At the allotted hour Swim-Swim and I began to make our way down to the Davis wharf to join everyone else in being ferried out to the ship.  And what a corker of a day Davis turned on for the last day.  Simply stunning!

We'd been told on our way down that most of the summer weather at Davis would be of this ilk, but disappointingly it turned out quite differently.  Our summer had been quite windy and overcast, alas.  It was ironic then, that the day we left should have been so spectacular.


And here is the first boatload of ex-Davisites heading out to the ship.

I'm lea-vin' on a jet plane inflatable rubber boat...

The Zodiacs zipped back and forth between the ship and the shore, each time carrying a load of three expeditioners as well as the two-person boat crew.  After a few boatloads had gone it was Swim-Swim's and my turn.  We hopped on the Zodiac along with two others (Swim-Swim not being accounted as an expeditioner, strangely) and we moved away from the wharf.

I can't live wharf or wharf-out you...

On the way out we passed the barge heading in with a load of cargo, and a few waves were exchanged with the barge crew (along with some good-natured questioning of their intelligence and parentage).

Barging past.

In no time at all we came up close to our destination.  And here she is, in all her cargo-handling finery, with containers and pallets littering the upper decks and cranes akimbo.

Aahhh, there she is.

We were heading for the small hatch which you can see amidships, with a jacob's ladder hanging down from it.  The boat crew tied us up to the lines at the base of the ladder, and we clambered on board.  The Zodiac then swung about and headed back ashore to collect another three expeditioners.  And so it went during the afternoon, with the two ship's zodiacs heading back and forth until the wharf was clear of returning expeditioners.


It was a bit like coming home, in fact, and Swim-Swim and I were both quite delighted to be back on board for the next part of our adventure.  Swim-Swim simply can't help himself but express his pleasure at being back on the Aurora.

Woo hoo!

Indeed, he insisted on having this gratuitous photograph being taken of him.  Simply insisted!  (Have I mentioned before how persistent and persuasive penguins can be?)

Gratuitous

So there you have it.  We have left Davis, right?  Gone.  Departed.  Exited.  Elvis has left the station.  Been removed.  Ridden into the sunset.

Haven't we?




Nope!




Even thought the majority of summerers were aboard the ship in preparation for departure, the resupply (THE RESUPPLY!!!  dahm dahm daaaaahm) was still unfinished, and would in fact not be completed until midday the following day.   So we had the weird sensation of having left without actually having left, and would be spending the night still in the vicinity of Davis.  Weird.

Mind you, it afforded a smashing opportunity for some photographs, and I'll be blowed if I was going to pass that up!  Particularly since it was such a lovely day, and the the year was getting old enough now that the sun was beginning to set late in the evenings.  And furthermore, as well and in addition, it turns out that the moon was going to be rising directly behind Davis from the ship's point of view.  No way was I going to waste this!  No way, baby!


So first up, for your viewing pleasure, I present a view of the Davis SMQ (Sleeping and Medical Quarters - light green), LQ (Living Quarters - dark green) and SAM (Summer Accommodation Module - maroon) in the late evening sunlight.  This photo was taken at about 10:30pm local time.

Pretty colours...

The grey band in the background is the Antarctic Plateau, which rises behind the Vestfold Hills and covers 98% of the continent.  That is one big chunk of ice right there!


Next I offer you:  the moon!  Well... a photograph of the moon anyway.  It had recently risen behind the station.  Unfortunately your correspondent's photographic skills have not sufficiently improved over the course of the last couple of months, and all of the shots I took of the moon rising from behind the plateau were simply horrible.  Just horrible.

This one seemed to work, though.

Moon!  There is one in Antarctica too.

As sunset approached (at 11:33pm local time) the iceberg band behind us began to exhibit some truly magical colours.  Simply splendid. 

It's a great pity you couldn't see them.  Instead, you'll have to make do with this:

Oooh!  Aaaaah!

And this:

At the moment of sunset I pointed my camera back at the station and was rewarded with this shot.

Shortly after the sun dipped below the horizon, the colours all around us altered again.  Anchorage Island looked beautiful in its coat of many colours.

As for the iceberg band...  breathtaking.

And with that, the sun had set. 




Roll credits.






PS.  We'll actually leave Davis tomorrow.  I promise!