365 @ 54°30' South: 2015-08-16

Saturday 22 August 2015

August 17: Elephant seal battles

Elephant seals. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 16: Gentoo penguins

Beautiful sleek Gentoo. Photo: Jacque Comery

Gentoo penguins. Photo: Jacque Comery

Gentoo penguin. Photo: Jacque Comery

Roosting Gentoo penguins. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 15: Waterfall Bay Hut to Brother Point Hut

Today I covered the 16 km to Brothers Bay Hut, leaving Rich back at Waterfall Bay to go check out the penguin chicks at Lusitania Bay. A steady uphill climb to Pyramid Peak was followed by the relief of some undulating track. I ducked off to visit the waterfall to the south of Green Gorge, which was a spectacular sight on account of the swollen creek. The climb out of Green Gorge, broke my heart a little, but lots of rest stops and some steady stomping finally got me up and out of the Red River Valley and to the Brothers Point track junction. I was all tucked up in the hut and had another nap whilst I waited for Rich to arrive later in the afternoon. Pasta dinner and some games of crib rounded out the last night of the trip. Early to bed ready for the final day of walking back to VJM.

Atop the waterfall jump up looking north along the east coast. Photo: Jacque Comery

View south east over Waterfall Bay. Photo: Jacque Comery

The tarn at Pyramid Peak. Photo: Jacque Comery

The waterfall near Green Gorge. Photo: Jacque Comery

View to the north down into Green Gorge. Photo: Jacque Comery

The southern slopes of Brothers Point. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 14: Walk to Waterfall Bay

In a last minute decision, I decided to join Rich our Comms Tech on a walk down to Waterfall Bay for the weekend. We left VJM at around 0730hrs in beautiful sunshine, and covered the 24 km down the Waterfall Bay in around six and a half hours.
In a change from my recent trips in ice and snow and a hard slippery track, the plateau was awash with snow melt and very wet, and excruciatingly boggy. The muddy sections sucked your boot back down like chewing gum. Upon arrival I got dry clothes on and then collapsed into an afternoon nap. The two Rangers joined us that night , and Anna cooked up a feast of tofu and noodles. I slept soundly snuggled up in the hut, at the most southern point that I have been on the Island so far.

View south towards Waterfall Bay hut. Photo: Jacque Comery

Giant Petrel resting in the tussock. Photo: Jacque Comery

Giant Petrel. Photo: Jacque Comery

View back up the Waterfall Bay jump down. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 13: Crisp morning, beautiful skies

North head. Photo: Jacque Cmery

Garden Cove at dawn. Photo: Jacque Comery

Pink hues reflected in Garden Cove. Photo: Jacque Comery

The LARC. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 12: Skeleton

Nothing hangs around long enough to decompose here. This skeleton was not here yesterday... today it is picked clean. A good meal for someone.

Skeleton on west beach. Photo: Jacque Comery

Skeleton. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 11: Elelphant seal tracks

Elephant seals tracks through the magnetic quiet zone. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 10: Monochrome snowy world

Frozen LARC. Photo: Jacque Comery

Morning Moon. Photo: Jacque Comery

Southern Aurora Donga (SAD) buried in the snow. Photo: Jacque Comery

Containers an d the plumbers workshop Nissan hut. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 9: Aurora from Wireless Hill

Another starry, yet windy and hazy night. Hoping for a repeat of the beautiful clear skies of earlier in the week, alas the good ol' Macca clouds rolled in pretty quick. Oh Southern Ocean maritime weather how you drive me crazy!

Aurora hiding behind the clouds to the east. Photo: Jacque Comery

Hazy aurora over the plateau. Photo: Jacque Comery

Beautiful green glow behind the clouds over the Southern Ocean. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 8: Snowy seal

Icy whiskers. Photo: Jacque Comery

Elephant seal by the gate. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 7: Stars and auroras

A night of little wind, the clearest skies that I have yet experienced and a spectacular rising moon. Standing out in the crisp air in the wee hours, taking photos, watching the skies dance and the plateau coyly respond to the building moonlight was a wonderful thing.
Had I been without a camera, I still would have stood out there soaking up the beauty afforded by a rare glimpse past the clouds and up into the skies above.
When you when you can cast your gaze above and see familiar constellations, like old friends, it matters not where you are geographically. We are a tiny speck on our small blue planet, in a sea of galaxies. Relatively we are always close to home.

Aurora over The Nuggets. Photo: Jacque Comery

The Hamshack. Photo: Jacque Comery

Aurora to the south. Photo: Jacque Comery

Aurora reflecting on the bay. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 6: Leopard seal

Our first Leopard seal visitor. Just another beautiful creature taking a break...nothing to support the anthropomorphised view of evil and darkness that we humans so readily accept of many of the top order predators.