South of the Equator Again!
I’m here!
It’s been snowing and there’s snow flurries every now and then. The sun set well before 5pm and it’s probably only about 0 degrees C. It’s fantastic! The landscape is stark and completely stunning. It’s very flat with jagged rock outcroppings. There are no trees or even bushes that I could see, only grass.
Getting here was pretty uneventful. We started taxiing at midnight, only one minute late, and took off just after ten past. We landed in Ascension around 7 am local time (Ascension is an hour behind the UK at the moment), and were there for about an hour and a half.
Coming in to land is most disconcerting as there are no signs of life at all. No boats, no islands, nothing. I could easily imagine that we had run out of fuel looking for this dot in the Atlantic and rather than scare us by telling us he was ditching the plane, the pilot decided to lie that we were landing on dry land. Luckily, this wasn’t the case and land did appear, seconds before we touched down!
Ascension is completely bizarre. It looks like Mars, but with grass. It’s very bare and the rock is bright red.
I was picked up by my new boss and we drove to Stanley. We were the only ones on the road, whose surface went from fantastic to appalling and back again with no apparent rhyme or reason. I had a tour around Stanley before being taken to my new home, a very modern house at the top of the hill; it even has central heating!
I met one of my fellow observers and we went to the supermarket for food. The supermarket is much better stocked than I expected, but is very expensive. We also went to the chandlery, which sells clothes and food. It also had a wider range of produce than I expected, but was also expensive. The strange thing is that a lot of the branded food is from Waitrose, not exactly what I expected!
We had some dinner and I have unpacked and showered. We’re going out to the pub later. I can’t wait!
It’s been snowing and there’s snow flurries every now and then. The sun set well before 5pm and it’s probably only about 0 degrees C. It’s fantastic! The landscape is stark and completely stunning. It’s very flat with jagged rock outcroppings. There are no trees or even bushes that I could see, only grass.
Getting here was pretty uneventful. We started taxiing at midnight, only one minute late, and took off just after ten past. We landed in Ascension around 7 am local time (Ascension is an hour behind the UK at the moment), and were there for about an hour and a half.
Coming in to land is most disconcerting as there are no signs of life at all. No boats, no islands, nothing. I could easily imagine that we had run out of fuel looking for this dot in the Atlantic and rather than scare us by telling us he was ditching the plane, the pilot decided to lie that we were landing on dry land. Luckily, this wasn’t the case and land did appear, seconds before we touched down!
Ascension is completely bizarre. It looks like Mars, but with grass. It’s very bare and the rock is bright red.
It’s mountainous, and looks very volcanic (unsurprisingly, really!). There was nothing to do except wait for the plane to be refuelled and restocked, but we were able to get out passports stamped for a charity donation, which I did. It was very warm, around 22 degrees C, but with a strong sea breeze which made it difficult to decide whether or not to put on a sweatshirt. The sky was overcast and as we began to board it started to rain.
Landing in the Falklands was more reassuring, as land appeared several minutes before touch-down. I saw some small islands and peninsulas, with what looked like sandy beaches. But suddenly my perspective shifted and I realised it was snow! Suddenly tropical beaches turned into arctic tundra! We landed just as it began to snow again and waited in what looked like a converted shed for our luggage.
Landing in the Falklands was more reassuring, as land appeared several minutes before touch-down. I saw some small islands and peninsulas, with what looked like sandy beaches. But suddenly my perspective shifted and I realised it was snow! Suddenly tropical beaches turned into arctic tundra! We landed just as it began to snow again and waited in what looked like a converted shed for our luggage.
I was picked up by my new boss and we drove to Stanley. We were the only ones on the road, whose surface went from fantastic to appalling and back again with no apparent rhyme or reason. I had a tour around Stanley before being taken to my new home, a very modern house at the top of the hill; it even has central heating!I met one of my fellow observers and we went to the supermarket for food. The supermarket is much better stocked than I expected, but is very expensive. We also went to the chandlery, which sells clothes and food. It also had a wider range of produce than I expected, but was also expensive. The strange thing is that a lot of the branded food is from Waitrose, not exactly what I expected!
We had some dinner and I have unpacked and showered. We’re going out to the pub later. I can’t wait!
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