Well hello there. Over the next three months I'm going to be going from Japan to Australia and New Zealand... via 2 months spent on a big boat in the North Pacific. I'm part of the scientific team for IODP Expedition 324, which aims to sample deep basement rocks from a giant underwater volcanic-plateau called 'Shatsky Rise'. Should you be interested, you can follow what I'm up to here...

Sunday 25 October 2009

Meet you in the middle

On a slightly less high-brow philosophical note; we're about to cross the equator and I'm really starting to wish I wasn't a lowly Pollywog...

By way of explanation, over the last week or so posters have started to appear in the hallways with overtones which range from the jovial:


(Our esteemed (and usually very pleasant and genial) captain pictured to the left

to the downright sinister:



Apparently it's a big deal crossing the equator at sea for the first time, and there seems to be this whole horrific initiation thing-doubtless inherited from old naval traditions- planned for Wednesday, where all the newbies are made to "pay due homage to King Neptune".
::Gulp::
Until you cross you're known as a (lowly, pathetic, useless, squirming etc etc) "Pollywog", before hopefully being accepted into the order of the (mighty, all powerful, worshipful) "Shellbacks", after your ordeal.

Seriously guys, when you're at sea you've gotta amuse yourself somehow!

This is a pretty big event-week actually. We've got crossing day on Wednesday and Hallowe'en on Sunday, which is also incidentally Julie's 30th birthday.
Some of the yanks have been thinking about their costumes for months. I'm taking the more British approach of hmm-what-have-i-got-in-my-wardrobe-that's-clean-hmm-nothing-ok-i'll-just-wrap-myself-in-tin-foil-and-go-as-a-baked-potato-then.

So, yeah anyway, could get messy.

See you on the other side...

x

p.s. I've made it pretty clear that If anyone so much as looks at my hair with a sideways glance and a pair of clippers, I'll be throwing the first punch. Hopefully this has not drawn undue attention to me which..would...be......bad........oh dear...

1 comment:

  1. Hope you had a successful crossing of the Equator - surely there aren't many girls from Streatham at sea, looking at the stars, looking at rocks even, planning a Halloween costume on the way to OZ? The baked potato outfit does seem a step too far though!Enjoy the party anyway. Love and kisses, Mum.

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