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You know it only seems like 40 days (and nights) since we set sail from Hobart. Amazing how time flies.
This morning finds us coming to the southerly end of leg 6 of the krill box about 60 miles north-east of Mawson. It’s been whales, whales, whales over the last 24 hours and there’s been so much krill that even Martin caught some; although yesterday’s prediction that the krill would magically appear as Tom came on shift proved to be spot on. Did I mention that our two senior krill-seekers are sharing a cabin? It must be interesting in there at the turn of the shift.
Preparations for the resupply are really hotting up and, as we draw close to Mawson, it seems appropriate to give a mention to our cooks, Bret, Jarrod and Lynnie, and our stewards, Charmayne, Tanya and Darcy who consistently provide the fuel so essential to doing high quality marine science south of 60 degrees.
However while I want to acknowledge the fantastic food on board, I've always considered it to be a mistake to just focus on the desserts when writing the sitrep. Consequently, throughout this voyage, I've so far resisted the temptation to describe in rapturous detail, the finer points of the pudding, the ecstasy of the éclair and the full blooded terror of the tiramisu.
But I'm only human. It is day 40 and perhaps it's time to discard personal pride and dive headlong into the delights of the dessert bar. Within the dining room of the Aurora Australis (which some people wrongly refer to as "the mess") this innocuous buffet sits coyly between the crockery racks and the self-serve bain-marie. From a distance, it's not much to look at and every dinner time, it's easy to convince yourself that you can just walk right on by; immune to its charms. But as you stroll past, eyes fixed rigidly on the salads, some colourful fancy will inevitably draw your eye and then... do you hear that sound? It's your self-respect slamming the door on its way out as you find yourself putting a second scoop of ice cream onto a steaming pile of chocolate pudding.
For the first week of this voyage, I resisted the gravitational pull of the dessert bar. But, on the eighth day, I surrendered, and I've afraid to say that I've been held prisoner ever since. A few weeks ago, I had a sticky date pudding that tasted so good, one of my major arteries momentarily solidified. And the worst part was; I just didn't care.
And then there are the full cooked breakfasts, the midnight meal for the night shift and the morning tea that makes the line between breakfast and lunch rather blurry. The galley crew are never satisfied unless a few hundred kilograms worth of additional expeditioner gets off the ship at the end of the voyage. But when you are working 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week for many weeks on end, good food provides us all with a reason to get out of bed in the morning. (Or the evening, as the shift dictates.)
So thanks galley crew; a few of us will be taking a lot more than just fond memories away from this voyage.
YINAP
Lloyd and Brett
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.