I promised more good pictures, and hopefully I will deliver. My thanks must go out to Jason for the amazing ariel shots, as he was sitting in the co-pilot seat and had a much better view.
My journey home continues well, with the latest leg taking me on an amazingly scenic, 7 hour flight from the base at Halley, across the Antarctic Peninsula, to the base at Rothera.
The transport for this latest leg, was one of the BAS Twin Otter planes.
Not the biggest of aircraft, but as there were only 3 people onboard, I had plenty of room to stretch out and enjoy the view. After take off we had a final glimpse of Halley from the air.
Then it was out across the coast, which gave me a whole new perspective on the pack ice. After a few weeks of crunching slowly through the ice, it was amazing to see it from the air. I was hoping that we may be able to catch a final glimpse of the ship, but she was back doing science work, and too far out of our way.
For the middle bit of the flight, the only view was the clouds. As we slowly headed westwards, leaving the ice shelf and pack ice behind us.
Finally the clouds cleared, and the final hour of the flight was absolutely increadible, as we flew across the Antarctic Peninsula. There really is no point even trying to put it into words. I just hope the pictures do it justice.
Then it was a nice smooth landing at the base at Rothera.
And a totally new view for me, as I am more used to seeing the base from the ship, which ties up at the other end of the runway.
So thats all for now. I have a few days here, then I will continue my journey on Friday as I head back to Stanley on a slightly bigger plane. In the mean time I will see if I can track down some penguins to photograph, as I am getting withdrawal symptoms.
