Sun rise, sun set

"All is good in the hood.  We are travelling in and out of pack ice at the moment. We should be at the Davis fast around Friday.... then a day's push through to be there by Saturday. We are seeing penguins every now and then..... and also likewise seals. The weather is all over the place..........sunny, cloudy, snow, cloud, wind, no wind. The sun sets around 7:30ish I think but it stays light for another 2-3 hours after..........pretty colours. It rises around 4-5ish.. though again it's light at least two hours beforehand."

And from the sitrep...

POSITION:  62° 46' S, 85° 14' E

DISTANCE IN LAST 24 HOURS:  201 nautical miles

AIR TEMPERATURE:  -2 deg c

SEA TEMPERATURE:  -1.2 deg c

ICE CONDITIONS:  4/10 first year small floes 


SPEED:  6 knots

As the night closed in we were cruising along at a fair old speed for the Aurora Australis – 13 knots running on both engines. We were following highways of open ocean that opened up before us through the ice. As dawn approached, the open water had turned into a thin layer of grey grease ice that shimmered, like a piece of silk blowing in a light breeze, as the ship left her wake.

Justin phoned on Saturday morning, and anticipating that, I didn't leave the house.  At around 11am the call came and we had a great chat as always.  I even managed to get his Summer Pudding recipe out of him... I could repeat it here but I would be revealing a secret ingredient and that just wouldn't be cool!  Soooo, I gave it a go and wow, talk about yummy.  Carol, Mum, Jenny, Martin and I thoroughly enjoyed both the Thai curry to start and the summer pudding.  I, probably, moreso just because it was my first and so good.  Now, there is something that I would like to commit to while Justin is away and that is to try one new recipe each week... I didn't think I would start until Martin leaves and I am on my own but seeing as how I already tried something new last night, I thought I would dive in head first and see how I land.  So 1. Summer Pudding... successful.   Watch this space.