Author Archives: Rhian

I’m not sure if Emperor Penguins are right at the top, or the very bottom, of the karmic evolutionary scale. "Who would be an emperor penguin?" has not been uttered infrequently around here lately. Abandoned to the loneliest, coldest and … Continue reading →

had brunch with my friend Geoff today, and he turned to me and asked: "does Rhian ever have a day where she just goes to work, rather than being blown away by the fabulousness of where she is?", Felix told … Continue reading →

I left the lab late today, around 9:30 pm, but it had been a productive afternoon so I bore no grudges. A nice little blast of work to clear my conscience for the weekend. Truth be told I haven’t done … Continue reading →

We’ve had some beautiful skies lately. Fire red. What’s another word for sky? That whole space, dome, all the air, that void around you, the entire thing, the bell, the hemisphere is seems, fills with red. Excess light from a … Continue reading →

While writing my weekly letter to my Granny yesterday, I found myself stumped for words. Stumped for material more like. What to say? Nothing has changed since last week, there is no news to report. It’s still cold, it’s still … Continue reading →

It’s been a while – thanks for prompting me. I have no excuses except to say I’ve been working on the Halley May webpage which I hope you’ll enjoy. A refreshing change from my usual drivel, this one contains loads … Continue reading →

I’ve experienced a new dawn today. Seriously – my own Spring has sprung. I’m so relieved. Yesterday, the sun set for the last time until August and I think, in retrospect, that I have been feeling a bit down lately. … Continue reading →

I do love it here. It’s so vast, so expansive, never-ending. We were talking about Space earlier, and going to the moon (was it a hoax, wasn’t it? The first time I’ve not found myself surrounded by die-hard conspiracy theorists … Continue reading →

Greetings from Antarctica! An Argentine helicopter Two BAS ships at Halley Me at my lab Penguins messing up my clean air And finally… manhauling stuff to my lab

If a mother’s love could be shown in presents, I think my mum has just succeeded! The summer crew have left at last and it’s time now to settle in for the winter. First we picked rooms out of a … Continue reading →

It seems to me that we create cities wherever we live, however much we try to escape them. And when we hate them, we go further remote just to repeat the same mistakes. At the risk of sounding overly deep … Continue reading →

It seems to me that a day lasts a week down here, and a week lasts a month. But time doesn’t drag, it’s chock to the brim, and there’s barely time to breathe. But when you do breathe, it’s stunning, … Continue reading →

(A quick note of explanation from Felix: sea ice has blown back towards Halley, and where it meets the sea ice which never detached itself in the first place, there’s a five-foot crack which precludes moving heavy equipment off the … Continue reading →

Note from Felix: Due to email cock-ups, I received both these blogs at the same time. So here they are, Before and After. Before, Part 1: Arbritrary day, arbritrary time. I feel as though we are floating through a mirage. … Continue reading →

This is fairy-tale romance country. Well, my kind of fairy-tale anyway. A long, long time away, in a land far, far ago, is an island. This island, Coronation Island, has mountans like you have never dreamed, snow covered, rearing out … Continue reading →

It was hailing when we got to the Falklands. Really hard. Then snow, sun, rain, sleet, you name it, all within the hour. “A cross between Dartmoor and the Scillies”, “like Scotland but with penguins”, “Bryher with more rust”, “Landrover … Continue reading →