I came on fieldwork not expecting to need to dress in smart, let alone Christmas, clothing so Christmas morning comprised a walk into Stanley to buy a Christmas frock ready for drinks with the Captain at noon. The JCR ukulele and recorder duo (aka me on my Antarctic recorder and the Doctor on Uke) provided entertainment. At least that was our aim.

After lunch a group of us walked to Surf Bay, a nice brisk walk along in the sunny breeze to the most beautiful white sand surf beach. Surf Bay was in apparently one of the most densely mined areas during the Falklands war (over 1000 mines were laid in the area, comprising over 5% of total mines) but mine clearing was completed in 2010 and it is a popular surfing spot. We had the beach almost to ourselves today (the South Atlantic is rather cool so this was perhaps not surprising) – the JCR Christmas day swimming team was later joined by an inquisitive seal splashing around in the surf. On our walk back we also spotted dolphins. This was a fantastic final day to mark the end of a fantastic 9 weeks of fieldwork, networking and fun. A Christmas to remember.