Festive season indeed

What a week it has been.
Everyone is absolutely exhausted. Even though we should be taking these public holidays easy, the run around and amount of effort that has gone into this past week was huge.
Suppose it's because most days are like a public holiday that this was a bit different.

Christmas and a birthday in quick succession, and soon we will be having a small new years celebration.
Not surprising everyone is taking full advantage of the brief break before our next big event.

But what does a Christmas on Gough entail?
Well there was quite a build up the week before. We had Marius down in the work shop fabricating a Christmas tree, complete with hanging albatross cut outs as well as an angel to adorn the top. See, we try hard to keep the festive cheer, even over here.

Christmas tree. Handy work of Marius.

Once the tree was done it was ready for all the decorations. The tinsel went on as did the fairy lights to create that festive feel in the dining room.
The rest of the room was decorated with all sorts of odds and ends and by the end of it we were looking like the clear winners of the Island Christmas display. It's a bit of a hollow victory with the limited competition. But we'll take it!
The bar area also received a touch of magic thanks to Nkoane's keen eye for Christmas decorations. And voila, we were set. All very proud of our home and have enjoyed the liveliness and cheer that the colour has brought.

The island angel.

As mentioned last week, food is one of the biggest things when it comes to island culture, and I assure you that this Christmas we made sure that that was demonstrated with style.
We all decided on a Christmas eve dinner and each had a specific part to play in the preparation.

Tristan Lobster. Incredible!

For starters, Sunette and myself made a plan with some Jacopewer fillets and Tristan lobster tails on the braai, whilst Marius added the chicken breast fillets in apricot marinade. Definitely living a life of luxury with the incredible seafood.

Relaxing with a drink as the lobster braai's

Main course was courtesy of Leonard and Marius who worked enthusiastically with beer in hand to make tender and flavourful roasts of pork and lamb, which had everyone giving silent approval as they savoured every mouthful not giving up a moment with words.
Dessert was thanks to Karen and Sylvain who went all out and put on a real show with an assortment of chocolate truffles as well as layered apricot crumble squares and freshly baked loaf of peach cake. To top it all off they had a fresh cinnamon apple sauce with ice cream. They definitely showed why the French have a reputation when it comes to there culinary skills.

Sylvain showing off his French masterclass in the kitchen.

But it didn't stop there. We had Nkoane and Gerard climbing right in at the start of the day with some baking. Gerard was busy the day before with some traditional Namaqualand Christmas biscuits, and followed that up with some great bread rolls. Nkoane was back again and showed why he is the master baker, and wowed us all again with his sweet bread and scones.

Candle lit dinner.

Dinner was a resounding success and there was still leftovers for lunch the next day.

Dinner is served.

Following dinner we all made our way over to the bar and welcomed Christmas in with a surprise visit from Santa.
For me it was back to work. Night shift after a meal like that was tough to say the very least. But thankfully I had amazing company through out. Got to share a very special phone call with my special someone. Even enjoyed the sunrise twice! Once as it rose over South Africa, and I had it described to me, and then again as it rose over Gough. My most memorable and unique Christmas yet. What an amazing morning, and a joyous day it was.

And to add to it, I got spoilt rotten by my incredible, loving family and my phenomenal girlfriend, with a few special gifts they had sneakily sent across.
We even squeezed in a spot of fishing. Needed to restock our Jacopewer that we finished. Sadly only two fish were playing along on the day. Will have to make another attempt with the line some time soon. It is now rumoured that the Jacpewer are rather fond of jelly babies as Sunette found out with the fish she landed.

Nkoane, Gerard and Marius in the bar.

And that wrapped up a great, and memorable Christmas.
Despite being at a distance we try not distance ourselves.

Leonard playing his part.

Thanks to all for the special messages and phone calls that helped make it special day. Even though we couldn't be with our family and friends, we definitely did not feel unloved or forgotten.
Your support continues to be a source of great encouragement.

Next week, we will have a look at what we do for a small birthday party, and how we welcome in the new year...Gough style. Even if it will be just 4 of us at the base!

Christmas jelly baby fish. Jacopewer tastes good, despite not looking the part.

Meet your average Islander

Front entarnce of "Gough House"

After a really relaxed week and feeling pretty dull in terms of inspiration on what to post, I had to seek some guidance. On this weeks agenda, the everyday life of an islander.
What does one do to keep busy and pass the time when you have nowhere to be, because you have nowhere to go.

Just a quick rundown on what you need for a overwintering team on Gough.
1x Medic (Someone needs to administer the morphine)
1x Radio Technician/communications officer (Internet keeps us sane)
1x Diesel mechanic/handyman (Hope the base doesn't fall apart and we have electricity)
3x Meteorologists AKA Metkassie (Head in the clouds)
2x Biologists (Anyone seen the birders? Yeah, they in the mountains!)

Well, seeing as I am a metkassie I will give you an insight into what a week may consist of.
First, what am I actually doing here?
Well, I'm here to observe the weather. I report on the weather and send all the data back home so they can try and forecast what you may expect. Doesn't mean you can blame me if it rains when they forecast sunny skies. Not my fault. I just tell them what I see.
We do this by general observations on current weather (is it raining, snowing misty etc.) as well as cloud observations and upper air weather balloon ascents. All of this helps tell a story of what kind of weather is approaching sunny South Africa.
We work a 9 day week. 3 days of day shift from 6am-3pm with hourly weather and cloud observations as well as an upper air ascent (weather balloon)
3 nights of night shift from 6pm-3am with observations every 3 hours and an upper air ascent.
Then 3 days off. this rotates amongst three metkassies and seems to work perfectly.
That first day off is just spent sleeping and recovering from the night shifts. Really takes it out of you. Although there is always something to help pass the time.
Honestly, it is not exactly strenuous work, but it needs to be done.
Between observations and on days off a favourite past time is cooking.

Meteorologist office.

I'm serious about the cooking. Get dumped on an island with food enough for a year and a half and very little to do. You learn to love cooking. From your typical braai to a lamb roast or even lobster. You learn to love food and love preparing it.

Braai area inside the courtyard.

Food is a huge part of the island experience. We really do eat like kings. Despite having zero fresh produce you can still come up with some winner dishes, even with tinned food. The freshest thing we have here is the fish we catch.
Dessert seems to become a nightly event. Whether it be chocolate cake or chocolate brownies. This is definitely not uncommon. you are bound to find someone in the kitchen whipping up something great, just to pass the time. Also good practice. Cause if it flops. Well, not to worry. Just try again. It's not costing us anything. What a pleasure.
I do need to make special mention of Nkoane AKA Jack, and his amazing baking prowess. Fresh bread is always requested when Jack is cooking.
The biggest challenge comes in trying not to pack on the pounds. And boredom and food seem to go hand in hand.

Walk in Freezers. Plenty of meat.

Pantry with fresh canned food. (Food store is separate building)

TV room with the projector screen.

And when you bored and have a couple terabytes worth of movies and series and music, well you may as well climb right in. Another preferred island past time. Vegetating in your room with music blaring or movies playing. Can say we have all watched a fair share of movies and series. And it doesn't seem to get old.

On the odd occasion we may be inclined to pick up a book and try something a little bit more stimulating. Couple individuals have also been known to grab a guitar and try strum a few chords. Although the music side of things is still in it's infancy, we hoping to have a couple songs written by October. First have to learn to play properly. Gosh! Little bit by little bit. Crawl before you walk!

And if things get really tough, we may head over to the bar and get the music going whilst we play a few games of pool or table tennis. This mixed amongst the occasional beer. Oh, that's another island past time that is less well documented. It's not uncommon to see a beer open at breakfast with some individuals. Some even have there own shebeen operating from there room.
And this rule about having a plane fly over before you have a drink. Well, only twice a week does that happen. So that rule went out the window very early on.

Gonçalo Álvares Bar. Sunette (Left: Sunette- Medic/Team Leader. Right: Marius- Mechanic/Safety officer)

So that's the average day around the base for most of us. Our biologists are always out in the field doing there work. And everyone is keen to try help out where they can just to get out and about for a while. If they don't need the help,then we just mission on our own to wherever seems like a good spot.

That pretty much tells you what my week consisted of.
Although, we did try plan a hike up Tafelkoppie for Friday morning. The weather just wasn't playing along and it got postponed until we have sunny skies again. Today would have been great, but seeing as I was working, we had no such luck. Will get up there again soon. Maybe a boxing day hike if the weather plays along. Gotta work off Christmas dinner some how.

Did snap a couple pics of the Moorhen that run around the courtyard with it's chick. We have affectionately named him/her Pitte, thanks to Leonard. The chicks are getting along and growing quickly. Must be about 2 months old and they doing well.

Gough Moorhen with chick

Gough Moorhen feeding it's chick.

Also had our monthly medical check up thanks to Sunette our medic. I seem to be staying in one piece and have a clean bill of health. Plan on keeping it that way.

Not much else. No drama, no nothing. Another good week on the whole.
And yes, I do miss home. Who wouldn't. But I am making the most of this time and learning plenty of valuable lessons about life and myself. So that is always exciting and very positive.

Next weeks post should be fun. Get a big Christams party and a birthday party. Fun times ahead! Bring on the trifle and chocolate cake! Mmmmmm, nom nom nom!

Merry Christmas all. May you all enjoy the company of family and friends and rejoice in the warmth of Christs love over this special time.

Cloud observations. "Altocumulus lenticularis"

It all happens in the last minute

Now I'm sure it is understandable that not every week on the island is going to be action packed and crammed full of adventure. After all, this is our home, and not every day at home is filled with excitement. But this blog gives me incentive to go in search of some sort of adventure and a good story to tell. More so than the usual. The stuff that may start to become mundane for all of us here I figure is still pretty exciting in the grander scheme of things. Definitely helps me not to take it for granted!
So this week was fairly dull in retrospect. But I think I have something that may be of interest. Took a little outing to Seal Beach to check up on the penguin chicks and the seal pups :)

Firstly a quick wrap up of the week that has just passed.
Nothing too exciting. Been tinkering away in the workshop on a chair I am making. Started ages ago and taking my time. No real rush to get it finished. Getting some carpentry skills. Our mechanic/handyman/inventor/bob the builder, Marius, has been helping me out and teaching me how to do things. Been a huge help with the chair. It sounds pretty basic. But it's the small details that make the difference. Seem to spend a fair amount of time in the workshop, or as it is better known; "The brown store". No idea why?!
Always good heading down and having a chat with the Marius and seeing what he is working on and trying to learn something new. It's the sort of thing that interests me.

Scrap wood cut to size for my chair

Chair finally taking shape

Then it's just been work work work! Have to do what I have been sent here to do, and that is observe the weather. More info on that at a later stage. Although we did give our one office a major clean up. Long overdue!

Took a wander down to seal beach with our field biologists one sunny day to sit and wait for some penguins to come in with GPS tracking units that were strapped to them. This is part of the work the biologists have to do for the Royal Society Protection of Birds in the U.K. So that meant sitting on the rocks all day and watching the penguins come in. Also meant time to catch a nap on and catch up on my reading. Was a great time to think a few things through and just get in touch with what is going on. Proved to be a very effective time of contemplation. Get lost very easily when you have limited contact with the real world. Feels like you on permanent holiday.

Had couple days of rain which kept us indoors for a fair amount of time. Also gave plenty opportunity to do some research into things and sit and watch a couple episodes of Lie to Me". One of our favourite island pastimes. Series and movies! Hey, can you blame us. Not like we can just nip out and grab coffee with our mates ;)
Also had a day when communications were down. Not the end of the world. We had our trust radio technician, Leonard was on it right away and managed to restore the phones by evening, and had the internet up again the next morning. A beer was good reward for the effort he put in. Thanks Leo!
Also had a family movie night. Oceans 11 was up on the projector for all to enjoy. Some enjoyed a game of pool and glass of wine instead. Needless to say, we didn't hear much from them the next morning. Ha ha!

That's a brief summary of the week.
Now for the more interesting stuff.

Figured it was about a month ago that the penguin chicks started hatching and it was time to check on there progress. But, it also turns out that the seals have also started to pup!

Hatching Egg (Note the beak coming from the egg)

Northern Rock Hopper Penguins. Adults, with day old chicks.

Seal beach is one of my favourite places. I just can't get enough of the penguins. But to get through to the penguins you now have to walk through a sea of seals. Now these seals sound like dogs barking and also look like Alsatians in terms of colouring. Well, some of them at least. With it being time for them to pup they have all come to the beach and are waiting. Walking across the rocks can be rather treacherous with seals all around you, and some weighing close to 100kg. With a nasty temper and sharp teeth it can be rather frightening. That's why we take a wooden pol with. Just in case they do start getting feisty. A gentle nudge normally helps persuade them to move along. Still got to be careful, cause those teeth aren't something to be laughed at.

Subantarctic Fur Seals lining the beach.

Managed to make my way across and found one of the pups staring out from under the rocks. Cutest little thing I have seen. Fluffy and black! Will wait till next month once there a few more and I have to go out and weigh them. That will be done each month until we leave. Should be fun. Especially doing so amongst so many grumpy adults. Fortunately we have already weighed them at there heaviest. Now it is a slow increase until they grow some teeth and it becomes a real challenge.

Seal Pup. Only a couple days old. "It's so fluffy I could die"

Sleeping on the grassy bank (Subantarctic Fur Seal adult)

Once I made it through the sea of "Swimming Alsatians" I managed to scramble up to the rocks where the penguins have been breeding. The chicks have grown up a fair bit in the past month and are walking around comfortably and gathering in groups protected by an adult. Seems to be a nursery going for the chicks.
Will be monitoring there progress.

Chick after one month.

The "nursery" with adult protecting them.

As for the week, that sums it up. Just penguins, seals and rain. Fortunately no drama in and around the base. We like to keep it that way!


Till next week.
http://llamafont.com/llamafied/3rro

 

Adult, Northern Rock Hopper Penguins(Breeding pair)

Subantarctic Fur Seal, pup (Couple days old)

Subantarctic Fur
Seal, pup

"Swimming Alsatian" Adult Subantarctic Fur Seal (Medium size)

 Southern Elephant Seal (Bit lost are we?)

If there are any requests for more pictures of seals or penguins please just leave me your email address and I can see what I can do for you.

Much has happened, much has changed

This had to happen sooner or later.
Not the thing I would usually do. But this may see a change in my character and who knows I may even start to enjoy blogging :)
I enjoy telling a good story and enjoy writing. Now I get to do both. Here's hoping I can get half decent at it.
I will endavour to do my best at keeping this updated on a weekly basis.
Right! Onto the important stuff.

I need to appologise for not starting this sooner. But I will try and fill in what I can remember since September.
But I will start this post with something exciting and interesting.
My trip up into the mountains with the field biologists, Karen and Sylvain.
I have kept it fairly short and sweet.

On the way to Gonydale

They have to head off to do routine checks on the Tristan Albatross and Giant Petrel colonies in Gonydale and Lowhump. I figured it could be fun to tag along and see what it is all about. Finished up my usual duties at around 3am and was up again at 6. ready for the 6 odd hour hike up to Lowhump to ring Giant Petrel chicks and do counts on the nests and adults. Hike up was pretty grueling but very scenic. Once at Lowhump it was set up camp straight into ringing and counting the GP's. This is a very interesting experience when the chicks only defense is to throw up what there mother had only recently thrown up for them. So working with the stench of fish oil and struggling chicks was left to the experienced hands. Also due to the fact that my 3 odd hours sleep and long walk left me rather shattered and cautious about ringing the chicks.
Dinner followed the days proceedings. Quick and easy tinned chicken breyani. Nutritious and delicious...
Had my own cozy tent and enjoyed a good nights sleep with a brief shower of rain. Ah bliss :)
Up again early to head back to Gonydale to take a look at the Tristan Albatross colony and remove nest markers. Hiking on the island gets easier as you go higher up so the walking was pretty easy by this point and I was managing to keep uop with the Island walking machine Sylvain. Was well happy to get that one right! Haven't got fat and lazy yet!
Once at Gonydale we had a quick lunch and started our collection of nest markers. Left to my own devices I threw in the earphones and put in some hard graft. Got to talk to myself and enjoy the company of the Tristans. A decent sized bird, with a 3 meter wing span and adults weighing close on 15 Kg's.

Adult Tristan Albatross

Day ended rather late as we finished with the markers and scuttled off a luxury dinner prepared by our French chef Karen. Pasta and tuna. Then spent a couple hours looking out for the night birds.
Crawled in my sleeping bag just a tick away from midnight after a very intense day. Was a well deserved rest I felt.
Got cracking early on the next morning so we could finish up the markers and start making our way back to base. Managed to finish up at around lunch time and got everything packed up and we were on our way back.
Stopping along the way to photograph the Yellow Nose albatrosses that had set up camp for themselves and were protecting there chicks which were only a couple days old by this point.
Hike bike down was easy and brisk. Easier going down that's for certain.

Yellow Nosed Albatross with chick

We were all looking forward to a hot shower upon our return, but were instead greeted by the fragrant aroma of coals burning and a red light showing us that the water level was low. No shower! Sorry, but the bucket of rain water outside will have to suffice. Well, we do what we need to do to get by. So cleaned up and was off for a fantastic dinner of lamb chops and wors with some delicious braai broodtjies. Perfect way to finish up a long days walking and working.

All in all, a great trip and incredible experience. Hope to tag along for another trip sometime soon!