A Changing World – by Brian Newham
In slowly deteriorating conditions we travelled the final few km to the Princess Elisabeth Research Station. I think we were all immersed in our own thoughts, reflecting on the fact that this is the end of our travels.
Arriving at the station was a strange experience. It’s clearly manmade and it marks our return to a world of human endeavour but it’s deserted. Nobody spends the winter here and the Belgian team that separate the station and the scientists that work here will not arrive until the first aircraft makes its noisy intrusion in a week or so. So, we are still alone, the bubble is still intact but the feeling of remoteness is slipping away.
Camp is now established about 300m from the station and since we arrived the weather has closed in. It’s snowing and there is light drift in the air. Looking back towards the south our tracks are already being covered and the mountains, which have given us so much pleasure over the last few weeks, are hidden behind a curtain of cloud. The world we have known has gone. Perhaps we will get another glimpse but it’s not going to be the same.
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