On Thursday 19 November, we debarked once again in Port-aux-Français: D
We were warmly welcomed by our friends VSC on the DZ. It was very windy and it had snowed during the night.
We started by going to the post office where we could buy postcards and stamps unique to the TAAF. We toured the premises where there were plenty of maps and photos from missions over the years.
After the visit, we went for a short hike towards the cormorant nests, on the other side of the bay. The weather was lovely, but it was very windy and it wasn't very warm!
We walked along the coast between napping elephant seals ...
Big happy sausages!
Some babies are really curious, and came to sniff our shoes. It was very hard to resist the urge to cuddle them !!
But which shoe to choose ...
We arrived at the colony of cormorants! They are really very beautiful with their blue eyes.
The Marion is still in the gulf, carrying out logistic operations. It is a very beautiful boat!
We continued on our hike with the sun. We were lucky with the weather!
On our way back to the base it was very sad to see a lot of plastic waste along the beach. . We returned to Totoche for lunch and then followed one of the concrete roads to explore the surroundings.
There was quite a bit of traffic!
This famous road leads to various buildings located high above the center of the base, in particular the CNES and the Météo France weather station.
At 4 p.m., we watched the balloon release by one of the VSCs at the Météo France station. A probe attached to a helium balloon is sent into the air and will pass through several layers of the atmosphere. Different types of data are acquired and transmitted directly to the weather laboratory, which allows them, among other things, to make forecasts. Years ago, this manipulation was performed systematically by all weather stations, but with the development of satellite technologies, this is no longer the case today.
We made our way back to the center of the base in the rain. The weather really changes all the time here!
One last look at the elephant seals ...
... and the little penguins ...
... and it's time to get back into the chopper. We spent a last moment with our VSC friends from Ker, and said goodbye; See you in a year!
Once back on board, the boat felt very empty after this stop-over in Ker. A few more days at sea and we will finally arrive at our new home!
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