I think I'm beginning to get quite excited

Friday 2nd March around 10 pm from Heathrow we'll head south to Antarctica. It's not as if we're going to over winter there -30 degrees in complete darkness. We're not Scott and his hardy (porridge) Oates or Messrs Shackleton and his merry if damp, cold and sea sick men. We're flying down to Buenos Aires thence to Ushuaia and by boat up Drake's Passage spending a delightful 10 days staring at lumps of ice, acres of water and a few forlorn birds, seals and whales. And I cannot wait.

I'm almost tempted to apply for a post at the British Antarctic Survey - they do have vacancies!
There's the post of Able Seaman on the RRS Sir David Attenborough, along with another post on the same boat, that of Senior Steward. Both jobs would mean summer in Antarctica  and summer in the Arctic - perfect. I'm sure my advanced years would not, in any way, hinder my application. I haven't yet mentioned this substantial career change - from retiree to Jack Sparrow - to the missus but I'm sure she'll support my application.

Antarctica as well as being astonishing white is huge. Please, don't take any notice of it as shown on a Mercator map - it's not that big, but big it jolly well is as well as being quite cold. Except where we're heading - the Antarctic Peninsular - isn't that cold. Did you know it belongs to the same up swelling that created the Andes and the Rockies and is quite young relatively speaking. The "Continent of Ice" has lots of rocks except most are a few kilometres below the snow and ice. It's all because once upon a time - long, long ago it, along with all the southern continents, was part of Gondwana, and was for quite a while basking on or near the equator. Apparently some parts of the UK started life south of the Equator and slowly drifted north (fascinating). Anyway Antarctica has had a varied past. It hasn't always been ice, ice ice, baby. Fossil records indicate a temperate, even warm, humid climate with forests, dinosaurs and Rachael Welch.

I've just noticed that our trip includes kayaking - we hadn't booked that but I'm hoping there's a space for me. I fancy doing a Jonah or Captain  Ahab. Riding a gigantic sea beast as it plunges down to the unfathomable reaches of Weddell Sea. [note to self: must check if that's included in the travel insurance]. Which reminds me when old Elon Musk starts regular flights to Mars is insurance included?

I don't think clothing'll be a problem since in January me and me mate were in Svalbard and that was really cold and very, very dark. We had a cold snap at the beginning of the week here so as I was going out on Monday night I decided to wear my Longyearbyen togs - a big mistake. Navigating the seats in the theatre dressed up like an Eskimo was not a pretty sight. The play "The Ferryman" was excellent but I found clapping in polar mittens rather inhibiting.

The next few weeks will be spent learning all I can about the mysterious continent at the bottom of the world. I'll also read up on  Buenos Aires and the Argentinian Tango - apparently "Strictly" is compulsory viewing in the barrios there. [Note to self: do I mention "The Battle of the River Plate" , Jeremy Clarkson or the Falkland Islands?]