Today was flight day! After a stop en route to the airport for the Russians to stock up with final essentials (notably 80L of coca cola) we headed to our plane (Lydia, a Basnar), driving straight up to the plane as Aldolfo from Agunsa had already dealt with customs for us. We (Dirk, Steve and I) were catching a lift with the Russians bound for Bellingshausen base – 2 to overwinter on Bellingshausen, 2 flying on to Novo and beyond via Halley to finish the final preparations for a new landing strip in time for an important Aleutian scheduled to land in less than a weeks time. Kirk (Jamaican Canadian) and Jack (Canadian) were our expert pilots. Our cargo consisted of 9 crates of field kit for Steve and I, numerous boxes of fresh food and other supplies, enough clothing and personal belongings for the Russians for up to 16 months (and us for 2 months), and two toilets and various shower and plumbing items for Jubany base as the recent winter weather has played havoc with the plumbing system. Ironically, despite carrying two brand new toilets with us, there was no toilet available during our 4 hour flight to King George Island.

The flight over the Darwin Cordillera before reaching the Drake Passage was spectacular with huge mountains and glaciers peeking out beneath the clouds below. The Basnar was not pressurised so, despite it being cloudy in places, we were flying low enough to get a fantastic view. Half way through the flight there was a noticeable drop in temperature and excitement set in as we caught a glimpse of our first ice bergs. After an hour or so of an ice berg laden southern ocean King George Island came into view. This fuelled further excitement as we saw the encroaching patch of white snow amongst the iceberg sea. What a sight! We got the scenic (and now sunny!) route in as we flew around the Fildes peninsular and Chilean Frei Marsh airfield in preparation to land, spotting the orange, red and grey buildings of the Antarctic Russian, Chilean, Uruguayan and Chinesebases dotted below. I was amazed at how smooth the landing was (though of course we had skis to land on the thick snow) and we were lucky there was no wind to blow us around. A perfect window in the Antarctic weather.

As we landed the international welcome committee appeared almost out of nowhere to greet us. We donned the rest of our Antarctic gear, sunglasses to protect our eyes from the dazzling white landscape, and got off the planeamidst a flurry of excited welcomes and handshakes, cameras snapping and approaching skidoos and extra hands to help unload the cargo.

For everyone on the Fildes Peninsular the arrival of a plane is a huge cause for celebration as with each plane comes fresh food and supplies – and new (or returning) faces which is a great reason for excitement for those who have been overwintering for months on end. Our plane was in fact the first plane to arrive at Bellingshausen this season and so our arrival marked the very welcome and awaited end of winter and start of summer and so waseven more reason for celebration for the Russians. Skidoos and snow vehicles transported the cargo to Bellingshausen. Some people hopped on but some of us walked from the landing strip by the sea at the western side of Fildes Peninsular across to Bellingshausen in the protected Ardley cove at the eastern of Fildes. There we awaited news of a pickup from Jubany but heard the weather was too bad in Potter Cove for the Jubany zodiac to make the journey round to collect us. Despite being a glorious sunny afternoon when we arrived (but cold – I couldn’t keep my gloves off for very long to take photographs!) when we arrived the weather soon started to turn with dark clouds looming at the other end of the cove. Bellingshausen (and Chilean Villa de las Estrellas and Escudero base) are located in by the “beach” in Ardley Cove but beyond this, further east, round to Potter Cove the sea is exposed and and can be treacherous.

So we were welcomed into Bellingshausen for the night and shown to our accommodation, a new building and very comfortable. My room has a picturesque view of the grey orthodox church on top of the hill (the only church in Antarctica). Remarkably there is a mobile telephone signal here so I managed to send an obligatory “I’m in Antarctica” text back home. A celebratory meal and welcome from the Russian Commander, Bulat, marked the start of the summer and food and wine were plentiful – fresh salad, pork, crab stick salad, potato frittata filled with meat, pizza, sashimi salmon, anchovy and egg on toast, tangerine jelly and cherry macaroons. Sixteen people are in Bellingshausen, including the cook, priest, two of the Russians who were on the plane, and one woman. Dinner entertainment was a nostalgic CD mix of 80s music provided by the cook. After dinner entertainment was provided by Alexi the photographer, one of the Russians flying on to Novo, who showed us spectacular photos from his travels around the Antarctic, Russia, the Arctic, and Kamchatka, with photos ranging from all types of aircraft to penguins, seals, polar bears, mountains and smouldering volcanoes.