With pre-coffee bleary eyes, we were briefed by British Antarctic Survey’s chief pilot who would fly the DASH flight south to Rothera. It was exciting to receive such a frank synopsis..

We’re going to go. It will be 42 knots of tailwind, so the flight time will be quicker than usual – around 3hr40. About 1hr20 from Rothera we will make the call on whether we can land. If we can’t, it will be about 5 hours back.

That’s the potential for about 9-11 hours with no real toilet. A real gamble on that morning coffee..

We boarded the plane, where our “hold luggage was stowed under nets, and our cabin luggage was secured via carabiner over the top. We drew straws for who got to do take off and landing with the pilots in the cockpit. A few hours in, the pilots updated – we now had 72 knots of tailwind, we were going to land, but we were committed, going back to South America was no longer an option. The pilot Ollie did warn us of a lot of turbulence when we came to descend.

I did go upfront to talk to the pilots whilst we were cruising above the clouds. It’s a bit of pressure to not ask the questions you suspect they have answered countless times but I suspect our enthusiasm was infectious.

About an hour from landing we donned immersion suits, incase of a water landing. The approach was iceberg filled and fascinating. The 900metre runway received us with a much smoother landing than I had anticipated and soon we were welcomed to continent number 7.

The station leader boarded the plane to welcome us. We had to bio secure our shoes and our luggage was randomly checked for seed or soil. South Pole Skuas were the first bit of prominent wildlife – they are massive!

Coming on to station was walking in to an established community, one with routines and function. Luckily the training week in Cambridge meant that there were immediately lots of friendly faces. We had some lunch, got a welcome talk and then were told where our accommodation would be. My two bed room faces the runway and south cove, where around 20 humpbacks were fluking and lunge feeding – an amazing welcome!

Our DASH 18 crew quickly found each other again, bonded after a week of travel. We walked ‘the point’ which is roughly this..

As it is peak summer, it was rocky rather than snow covered. We saw both Adelie and Chinstrap penguins, Weddell seals and “lazy fat slug like” elephant seals. Iceburgs crashed and flipped, and everything we had been prepared for suddenly came to life. So far, getting ready to leave the house feels like preparing for an outing with a two year old, except the two year old is me. “Do you really want to wear that?” “Have you got your hat/gloves/hi vis/ radio?” Camera or binoculars? Suitable shoes for getting there, and then indoor shoes the other end.. I’m still figuring it out and I can’t remember which pair of boots are mine when I come to leave again. Antarctic faff is a whole different breed!

At 6pm we walked straight into our first communal meal, but it couldn’t have been more out of the ordinary. Burns night dinner on a station full of Scots! Fish soup was followed by haggis, neeps and tatties. Tablet for desert and a performance of Robbie Burns poetry by some kilted team members. The bar was opened and the drinks rations lifted to 4 drinks for the special occasion (the price of beer/wine between £1.20-£1.50!)

The Ceidilh began, talented team members forming the band and callers. Just like back in Girton, it was a great way to get to know or re-meet everyone, being flung around and stripping the willow!

Our DASH crew still needed lots of safety training before we were released to our work teams, so for a few days we were still grouped together whilst the rest of the staff wondered if we were scientists or support staff. There’s so much more to report but that’s a good start – making home on Continent number #7!