Genny Post: Back in Paradise

Back with my Hummy at last!

Last time I was here I had to walk everywhere- now I ride in style!

Relaxing at the beach

A panoramic view of this slice of paradise

So, I'm finally back on Roi with my boyfriend Hummy. It's great to be here again and I get to stay for a whole two months! Nothing to do but nap at the beach, read, swim, all that vacation-y stuff and I'm sure there'll be some fun parties thrown in there too.

Genny Post: Home at Last

Relaxing in the hammock with a good book

I'm finally home and it's great to be here. While Amber's been out running errands, I've just been relaxing at home, getting in touch with old friends and taking naps. It's good to get some rest in because we'll be hitting the road again soon.

Genny Post: Deception Island

Amber and I on the Gould

Me, in front of Neptune's Bellows, the entrance to Deception Island

Amber and I on Deception Island, with Neptune's Window in the background

Deception Island is a small volcanic island on the northern Antarctic Peninsula. It can be really tricky to get into and out of so not many people get to visit it. It used to be a British whaling station and then, when they ran out of whales, it became a resupply depot for the British Antarctic program. It's not an active station any more but there's still lots of things left from when it was. See Amber's website for more pictures.

Genny Post: Genny Leave Palmer

I'm all packed and ready to go!

Amber and I on the Gould

That's not how you hold this penguin!

Amber and I left Palmer on April 6th. It was really sad to leave- I made really good friends with some penguins I met and I'm going to miss them. I'm sure we'll stay in touch over Facebook, though, and we'll see each other again some day.
I had a really great Drake crossing on the Gould, which is pretty rare, and we got to stop at Deception Island on the way. See the next post for more info on that!

Roi Radar Golf

So on Roi we play Radar Golf. Two teams representing the big low frequency radars, ALTAIR and TRADEX, versus my little accurate radars, ALCOR and MMW, face off in a team golf effort. Each team member gets one club for the entire course. Everyone gets a chance to hit and you choose your teams best lie. Then everyone shoots from there. I choose my pink umbrella for a club.



Thank you Jonathan for not hitting me! This was Jonathan's one claim to fame shot. He got right off the green. What can I say? I'm lucky!



Dave didn't play, but rather tried to blind the opposing team with his day glow green Caribbean shirt. I caught a lot of flak for my umbrella being pink. Thanks Amber!




Here are a ridiculous amount of people on a golf course.




This did happen to be a drinking event. I rode on the beer cart.

Christmas on a Tropical Island

It's Christmas. I can't tell, because there's NO snow. In fact, it's just about the same weather as summer time. I'm not sure this is what I signed on for, but at least Dave keeps the AC cranked up for me. Here I am under the Christmas "tree" (houseplants,) but we did have a lot of fun gifts.



Since we were missing the snow we took Dave's new bike, a 6-pack and a pickle to the beach to swim, read and hang out in the hammock. Yes, Dave's the dork with a pirate flag. He'd fly it on a boat if he weren't grounded while the marina takes a holiday.

Out and About

The sun breaking through the clouds

Traveling through the beautiful LeMaire Channel

Me with an adelie- I wish I were that graceful!

The end of the LeMaire channel, seen from Booth Island

Some of my new penguin friends racing up the trail ahead of me

Me, at the highest point on Booth Island

Last week I got to go out on a trip up the LeMaire Channel on one of the tourist ships that had previously stopped at Palmer Station. I had never been up the LeMaire but I knew it was supposed to be spectacular. And it was- we were lucky to get bright sunshine and clear blue skies for most of the day. I met up with some gentoos and adelies and had a nice lunch with them and passed on the news from Torgeson Island, the main penguin colony closest to Palmer. It was a great day and a big adventure for this little penguin!