Moments of relaxation

All I have managed to do this week is read, work, and watch a couple movies.
Personally I enjoyed every second of it! It's taken some time, but I am finally getting used to the idea of relaxing.
Something I will hopefully not soon forget.
Being able to truly relax and let go of all the little things that trouble us is a skill that one has to learn. And I am finally grasping hold of that truth.
Things are always clearer when they are not shrouded by worry and anxiety. And that always makes dealing with those concerns so much simpler and effective.
Freedom from worry and complete relaxation.
So many lessons have been learned!

Interspersed amongst this week of R&R we did squeeze in a smidgen of work, apart from my usual weather observations. We managed to re stock our pantry for the next 6 months. Just like everyone else, we are also required to visit our local supermarket and load up a trolley full of essentials. 6 months worth of essentials for 8 individuals means there is a fair bit that needs to be carted. 

"Waaintjie" Rather heavy when fully laden.

Just like at home we simply load our groceries into our sizable trolley and cart it up the hill from the food store to the base, where it is unloaded and packed away into the kitchen pantry. Easy enough right? Well if we consider the distance that we haul this load and take into account the fairly severe gradient that we have to tackle, compounded with the weight of the load load it begins to tell a bit of a different story. And then this is repeated about 4 or 5 times.
Thankfully, Marius fitted some breaks to the "waaintjie" so we can take a breather half way up and not worry about the trolley getting away from us. And the break is definitely needed!

Looking over the food store from the base.

 We also dedicated a day to visiting a few of the spots close to the base which could provide the perfect backdrop for what would become our team photo. Several sites were visited and many photographs taken. One of which will be framed, and hung on the wall in the bar to join the other faces that stare out and whisper their story to all the inquisitive eyes that fall upon them.

We have all spent many nights staring at the previous teams photos, and thinking to ourselves how few people have actually visited this incredible place. And always we arrive at the same closing thought:  How monumentally fortunate we are to visit this small speck of land which is swallowed up by the vastness of the ocean that surrounds it. A place that so few even  know exists. A seemingly forgotten land. With all of it's astounding beauty and the wealth of unique fauna and flora that is found here. How fortunate indeed!

I hope the teams that follow and carry on this incredible tradition will see our photo, see our faces amongst those that were here before us, and have the same realisation as we did, and never lose sight of what a privilege and honour it is to be here on Gough Island.
These moments need to be treasured, celebrated and shared.

We are still to decide which team photo we will be using. Here are the ones that didn't quite make the grade. Sadly I can't share the ones that are in contention for top spot. That's a surprise for when it goes up on the wall.





 



 

With it having been such a quiet week and not really having left the base i don't have much else to share.
But I do have something all of us over here have been waiting for. And silently dreading! But perhaps it will give everyone a little laugh and an idea of what we all think.
Here is the link to a short video clip of the team on GO/WEG Magazine's website.
During our training in Cape Town one of their reporters followed us around and interviewed the team to try and answer the question: "What kind of person do you need to be to stay on isolated island for a year?"

Enjoy.