DIY Geoblogy
All about my participation in the Homeward Bound Project, including fund-raising activities.
OK, so I wasn’t going to post this one on here but it’s proof I did take the plunge. Water was -1.5 degrees C, air temperature about +1 degrees C. Wet storm-trooper costume and thermals, about -40 degrees C. https://youtu.be/DbDxMO0mJkw
Homeward Bound 2016 was for me, quite literally, the trip of a lifetime. It was filled with ocean, snow, ice and the incredible beauty and rawness of nature aboard our real ‘Mother Ship’ – the Earth. As a geologist having worked in thermal coal for the last fourteen years, I climbed on-board the M.V. Ushuaia on the 2nd December with a huge dose of imposter syndrome, fearing I may be vilified and ostracised by this group of 75+ female climate change activists. The knowledge that a film crew would be present conjured images of ‘Survivor Antarctica’ and the potential for me being voted off the boat even before we’d crossed the Drake Passage. Fortunately, however, I found my companions were all incredibly intelligent, engaging, thoughtful and inclusive. Although occasionally judgemental of the content of the HB program and how it was being run, I was surprised by the other participant’s…
Trilobites are extinct arthropods… distant relatives of modern lobsters, horseshoe crabs and spiders. They lived from the Lower Cambrian Period (521 million years ago) to the end of the Permian (240 million years ago). Their emergence and extinction bookend the Paleozoic Age. https://research.amnh.org/paleontology/trilobite-website/twenty-trilobite-fast-facts. Teddy was my ‘rock’ throughout the trip, always there for me in a (large) pocket of my jacket or sleeping in my backpack. He was made for me especially for the trip by my Mum, Beth Lucas. Although mistaken for a whale shark and horseshoe crab (understandably) amongst other things, he also served many new friends on-board the M.V. Ushuaia as a pillow, flying object/ball for getting someone’s attention, or simply as a placebo pet for a therapeutic pat. Teddy is pictured here on his first continental landing at Brown Bluff* on Day #7 – 8th December, 2016. *Lat: 63° 30’ S, Long: 56° 52’ W.
Massive head-ache, unfortunately not alcohol induced. I developed razor blades in my throat overnight. So I’m officially going to kill all the diseased people on the boat. Quite cranky because I was sooo full of energy and feeling great after yesterday’s tobummoning at Orne Harbour (pictured). I struggled through breakfast even though I WAS really hungry. Shared Mary-Anne’s drugs, some sort of squirty throat thing the on-board doctor gave her. I then washed the squirty bit really well, and passed it on to Kit. “Drugs are good… Mkay?” Did a few laps outside on deck as the weather changed overnight and it was a balmy 3.7 degrees and just lightly snowing. I don’t understand how I can go outside here in that sort of temperature in thin tracky-dacks, ordinary socks and sketchers with a skivvy and light jacket and feel just fine. If it were 3.7 degrees at home I’d be going out…
After “patching up” with scopolamine imported from New Zealand some months prior to the trip, I forced myself onto the boat. And yes, I was shaking like a leaf. Went and found room 213 with room mate Meredith. Single beds either side of the cabin and our own en-suite, wow, pretty flash! We reached agreement that the heater in the room should stay off given the stuffy environment on-board. Two travel calms popped before we headed out into the Beagle Channel. Nerves starting to recede. Rules and inductions in the main lounge of the boat, which apparently is actually a ship, although I still insist that ships “wreck” and boats “float” so I shall continue to refer to the vessel as the latter. The life boat drill was mandatory, obviously, and we got to sit inside one to make us feel really hopeful that we would never have to use them. Lots of photos…
December 1, 2016. Whoa. Hold up there… I cried on the first night, that’s just not on! There was massive excitement in the hotel before the inaugural HB dinner. We all walked over to a neighbouring hotel (in the rain) to a function room with a fantastic view over Ushuaia. After intros by the faculty, the film team etc we were given instruction to record a 10 second video to our ‘terminally ill mothers’ and then post it with #mothernaturesdaughters and #homewardbound16 on every social media site we normally use. There was wifi in the hotel but obviously it wasn’t coping with the overload of some 80-odd phones trying to access the net all at once, so this turned out quite convenient. So, somewhat bewildered, Jen and I recorded each other’s videos. Mine was hopeless as I was a little lost for words and was particularly annoyed at this seeming high-jacking/exploitation of my relationship with my…
Santiago airport was quiet compared with Sydney. Met up with Andrea R and Sam G and had beer and greasy pizza. Experienced the usual feeling of not entirely knowing what we had ordered but we got there. The café even had a power-point so the others could charge their laptops. Bluebell (my new 11 inch dell laptop) was still telling me it had 8 hrs battery life left – amazing. I was on my own for the flight to Buenos Aires and almost every announcement was in Spanish only. Although it was only a 2 hr flight it wasn’t great as I was stuck in a middle seat between two blokes who both fell asleep almost straight away and snored. I fell asleep too but was jolted awake every few minutes with falling head syndrome. I couldn’t get up to the overhead locker to get…
Phone alarm went off 4am. I turned it off and rolled over. Harv got up. OMG it’s happening. Guess I’d better get up, but after a very restless night… I just got to sleep. Made it to the kitchen after a nice shower and proceeded to be picked on for getting up after him, even today. Boys gowned up, slippers on. “Where’s Dino? I want to take him too but when we get to the station, next week, he can stay in the car so he doesn’t get lost”. Good idea, Callum. It’s today though, sweetie. Bye-bye home, see you on Christmas day… eventually. Uneventful drive marked by outbursts from the back seat, “it’s froggy!” & “I can see the sun coming over the Earth.” Fassifern station, 6am, platform 1. Mandatory selfie with Pete and Cal. I’m still thinking they were more excited about the trains coming and going than…
Just working myself up to the fact I’m going cruising on a non-cruiseliner in ocean that is rarely “flat” or “calm.” I’m certainly NOT about to go and watch Titanic again… I am so glad I have my friend Teddy Trilobite to cuddle when I get scared. http://www.antarpply.com/en/the-ushuaia/the-ushuaia-gallery