Actually, I should say we, for I'm lucky to have a travel companion: MACE, who's the proud representative of the 349 Squadron of the Belgian Air Force. He "flies for charity", as himself and his logbook (which will by then be a historical document, no less) will eventually be auctioned. Mace travels around the world, and even made it to LEO (lower earth orbit for the not-so-geeky among our readers) as a companion to our Belgian astronaut, Frank De Winne. And since he (Mace, not Frank of course...) doesn't like to stay at home (being Kleine-Brogel) for too long, he tagged along to what seemed a nice little trip to the far side of the world. So far, he's been cooed over by the crews of the 4 commercial flights we lined up to get here. Captains have dutifully logged the flights and flight attendants found him too cool for school, quite a show. Hope he doesn't get seasick...
'Caus indeed, we have boarded the Astrolabe, the ship from the French Antarctic Task Force and the Institut Polaire Paul-Emile Victor, which travels between Hobart and the French coastal base Dumont-d'Urville. Actually, based on some overly optimistic view, I expected a somewhat, ahem, bigger vessel... If what I've been told about the roughness of southern seas is true, we're in for quite a rollercoaster ride!
So, no work today: wandering in Hobart, to walk off the jetlag in plenty of sunlight (I'll get to the scientific background of this later, for now, the cognitive and physiological effects of the previously cited jetlag get the better part of my CPU power. And briefing on the ship at 18.00. We sail tomorrow...
Nathalie.
