The last couple of weeks have been full of mixed emotions. During training with my fellow expeditioners in Hobart, the prospect of the looming trip is understandably the main topic of conversation and it's easy to get swept up in the enthusiasm and excitement and forget about what you are leaving behind.
Reality soon brings you back to earth when it's time to say goodbye to the people you care about though...
I am as guilty as the next person of not finding the time to spend with my friends and family when I have the chance and it really hits home when you are in a position where it will be impossible to see them for at least the next 13 months. I guess it's a case of not knowing what you have till its gone. If I'm able to offer any advice, it's don't take the people you care about for granted, find the time to catch up and make the most of that time, it is invaluable.
Anyway, that's enough morbid, deep and meaningful stuff...
One less difficult goodbye I had to go through this season was with my partner, Sarah. Luckily we have the opportunity to winter together this season while she works on sampling microbial communities in some of the inland lakes around Davis. Deep lake, one site she will be working at is a super saline lake which surface is 50 meters BELOW sea level and is so salty that it will not freeze until at least -30 degrees! It isn't just the icebergs and wildlife that make this place unique!
Well, this will be the last post from me for a few weeks while we roll our way to Davis. The latest news for our voyage hasn't been that rosy either, the forecast for the first 4 days of our trip are 9-12 meter swells and apparently the ice around Davis is the thickest recorded EVER!! Hopefully once we are on solid ground on the continent I will have some impressive videos and photos of how nasty the Southern Ocean can be! (or how much vomit I can cover myself in!?)...
Ill leave you with a picture of another loved one I'm leaving behind, and ill take this opportunity to say how grateful I am for understanding parents and large bedrooms! Thanks mum and dad!
