Although, when I wanted to give an update I was faced with disappointment as our Internet connection was down. This did have it's benefits though.
Life on the island pretty much continues as usual, except now we have been faced with certain food supplies getting severely depleted. It's not an issue as we have plenty other food to keep us going, it's just that it's our small luxuries that we enjoy most are almost finished. Guess that's a given that they would be the first to go. Not long now until we get some new stock and I'm sure we will all manage until then.
Something all of us out here are desperate for is an orange or avocado. Those will have to wait a little bit longer!
There has also been a fairy buzz about the base the past couple weeks as we prepare for take over in September. Through the year the grass has grown a fair bit and the salt in the air has taken it's toll on the metal surfaces of the base, which has left it looking less than perfect. So we had to attend to this before the new arrivals. So for the past while we have seen Sunette and Marius leading the charge with the weed-eater/whipper-sniper/weed-whacker to the grassy surrounds, whilst Leonard kicked things off with some sanding and painting of walls.
Stepping in where needed Nkoane, Boy and myself also got stuck in. Getting paint in the hair and grass up the nose. Everyone lending a hand so we can get the bulk of the hard graft out of the way so it is not a mad rush just before the arrival of the ship.
Things are now looking great and we are pretty confident that we will get rave reviews on the state of things. Well, we hope so as we have put a fair bit into adding to Gough House through the year with small projects here and there making things here a little bit more homely.
All that's left is to clean the emergency base and food store as well as clean all the rooms so our new guests can live in luxury- Gough Style.
Will be fantastic to treat them to legendary Gough hospitality.
Karen and Sylvain have been kept very busy during the transition into spring.
They have been out checking Shearwater burrows for eggs and at present are returning to check on the hatchlings, and will continue to do so in an effort to measure the breeding success of the species.
The Tristan albatross monitoring continues, and with that I had the opportunity to join them for a day trip out into Gonydale to do nest checks as part of the monitoring programme.
Was an early start one chilly morning in July with a high having being forecast over the island. We have become quite comfortable with how unpredictable the weather out here can be so naturally we went prepared. And thank goodness we did. The walk out from the base went well and the clouds looked like we would be staying dry. This changed for me quite quickly during our river crossing as I misjudged the depth of the water and found myself creating the ideal place for a gold-fish to stay, in my boots. What adds insult to injury is the fact that my waterproof pants are split from front to back and also have numerous rips from where the seals have taken hold whilst we have been weighing them. Had this not been the case the rest of my trip would not have had the accompaniment of the squelching soundtrack emanating from my soaked socks floundering about in my gumboots
Thank goodness we had to keep on walking throughout the day, because the feet tend to get rather cold when wet and stationary for too long. It's on occasions like this when one dearly hopes for an extra pair of dry socks.
Monitoring of the albatross chicks required us to check if the chick had relocated to a new nest. Yes, they move around. Some will build a new nest up to 15 meters away from the original. Why they do this I do not know, but it is not all of them that do so. Inspections also involved checking the area for mouse burrows as well as any wounds having been inflicted on the chicks by the mice. All this provided that the nest had not failed and there was still a chick present. Thankfully my sample area only had one failure and the rest showed no visible signs of predation having occurred on the chicks, despite the presence of many mouse burrows. The nests checked by Karen, also in Gonydale, were also pretty good and she only reported two failures. Sylvain however was not as lucky within his zone in "The Hummocks". The Hummocks is an area just before Gonydale and is a transitional zone from the solid peat to the more marshy moss of Gonydale. This more solid substrate tends to provide a more ideal habitat for the mice and we speculate that this is the reason why he recorded 5 failures as opposed to 3 from the areas sampled by Karen and myself.
All the sampling was done with a chilly south wester blowing over us and bringing brief showers throughout the day. So much for the good weather that was predicted. But it doesn't stop us from having a good time and getting the work done.
Karen and Sylvain have since returned to Gonydale as well as having ventured further into Albatross Plain, with Nkoane once again assisting. Seems Nkoane's off days coincide quite nicely with the field trips, much to his delight. Sadly the results of this trip were less than ideal and a fair amount of failures were recorded in The Hummocks, Gonydale as well as Albatross Plain. This also raises questions about our theory of predation occurring more in certain areas.
From now on we can only hope that this trend does not continue and we can surpass the average breeding success of about 50% per season. The population dearly needs it as they are presently on a sharp decline.
Further on the bird front we have seen the Sooty Albatross return and will shortly see the Yellow Nosed Albatross as well. This bring a bit more colour back to the island and is indicative of the onset of Spring.
The month of August also saw Nkoane and myself once again making the perilous journey down the rope at the cliffs of Tumble Down, to grab hold of a few more seal pups for the 250 day weigh-in.
I was really hoping that the Rock Hopper penguins might have started to make a slow return but my wish was not granted and we were only left with the bark and whine of the pups and the occasional adult female.
Thankfully this trip went off without incident. And by that I mean no serious bites. The worst of the day was a nip Nkoane took on his forearm. But thankfully the chill in the air protected him as he had layered up to stay warm. So he was thankfully able to walk away unharmed.
We couldn't find our 20kg super pup this week and were left with the largest being a respectable 18.5kg male. Largest female on the day was 17.2 kg.
Since the 200 day weigh-in the males have porked out by 400grams and averaged 12.0kg's on the day. The females have shifted by 200 grams to push the days average to 10.7kg's.
All the pups are in good health and are thankfully showing steady gains in weight.
The final 300 day weigh-in will be at the end of September beginning October. In between there is a likelihood that we will be deploying some GPS tracking devices on a couple individuals and possibly also weighing some of the adults during September. Will hopefully hear more about the research plan for the take over period in the next couple of days. This is rather exciting as it will allow me to learn considerably more from my supervisor and expert in the field, Professor Marthan Bester.
It has to be said that the chance to get involved with the seal sampling out here has really stoked the fire of interest in doing a trip to Marion Island as a sealer. Although that was what I initially applied to do when I considered Antarctica and Islands, this has now cemented my interest in doing a expedition as a sealer.
And another Island trip wouldn't be too bad.
On the weather side I have never been so cold. August has seen the mercury plummet on many occasions well past zero and has seen the heaters throughout the base spark into life.
We have finally experienced what the "roaring forties" are all about! With gusts roaring at over 150km/h and the sea swell firing at 5-7 meters. If only we could surf and the water wasn't so dramatically cold.
The southerly swell has chilled the water down a fraction more and is now at a pleasant 10.8 degrees. Compared to the highest of about 14.5 degrees which we experienced in April/May.
Things will slowly start to warm up again on all fronts as we approach September and see Spring kick into gear. Although, the sight of the hills covered in hail will be one that will be missed.
So that is a summation of the past month of island life. Things are definitely looking great in and around the base, and it is dawning on us more and more each day that we will actually have to leave. A thought that is always greeted by mixed emotions.
And having heard the words: "Island life is addictive", spoken so many times by our veterans, Nkoane and Leonard, who have 7 expeditions between them, I have become increasingly aware of how true these words are are.
Something about the simplicity and stress free nature of being out here has taken hold of my heart, and it will be hard to leave this life behind.
One thing of true value that I have taken from this time is the reminder to hold onto to the lessons learnt and not let them slip away, but strive to apply them continually.
The greatest lesson definitely being the truth that life need not be so complicated and stressful. We don't need as much as we may think, and it really is just stuff that complicates and clutters our lives.
All this makes it so clear how warped the world view of success is.
Truthfully the successful man is the content man, for he is the one that has found happiness and joy in his allotment. This is the man I so desire to be.
The best way I can describe this is if we minimise our thoughts of and pursuit of material things that will clutter a room, so it will become evident through all areas of our lives. Because the less clutter, the easier it is to navigate. So the less our thoughts are cluttered by these things the easier it becomes to navigate this life. Free from unnecessary obstacles and complication.
So many people are after the minimalist design in a house, so why shouldn't it be the same with our thinking and living?!
This is something many know so well, but we all struggle to apply to our lives and forget it so quickly once in the rat race.
All I want is a simple happy life.
It's incredible what the island does to a person!
