The older you get, the more robust your inner critic becomes – you’d think it would back off a little by the time you have chugged through a few more decades with a reasonable amount of competence, but no, it learns as many new tricks as you do. The latest is that nagging feeling that continue reading »
It’s hard to believe that a year ago my trip to Antarctica was just about to begin. I had just finished eight days of quarantine and was on my way to join HMS Protector in the Falklands, nervous and excited. Since coming back in January the memories of the voyage have formed the background to continue reading »
More from the sketchbook diary of a wandering artist – my travels on board HMS Protector as Artist in Residence for Friends of Scott Polar Research Institute Pause for a moment and look at a world map. Let your eyes travel south, away from the busy squabbling human places, and follow the mountains that form continue reading »
At 4.30am on 4th December I went on deck, expecting to see a solar eclipse. The sky was clear with a steel-cold wind and indigo sea, and there seemed to be no sign of anything different about the sun. Instead, there was South Georgia, close up, a range of sharp edged mountains and glaciers. I continue reading »
I’m home, after 16,000 miles by air, 4,335 nautical miles by ship and two months away. I have been to the Antarctic Peninsula via York, Brize Norton, Falkland Islands, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands, South Orkneys and South Shetlands. But in all those miles the only time I stepped outside the UK was on the continue reading »