1. Go to Antarctica

Tomorrow I'm off to do Number One on my list - Go to Antarctica! It all still seems a wee bit surreal - I've spent the weekend moving out of the house I've lived in for the past five years and squeezed all of my stuff into a storage shed. I have a giant pile of "stuff for the Antarctic" on Hamish's floor and it's hard to believe that I'm about to trade a balmy Christchurch evening for 3 months of ice and subzero temperatures. I can't wait!

I'm going to work with Adelie Penguins at Cape Bird and will completely isolated from the world for 3 months. No internet. No phone. Nothing but 24 hours of daylight and ice and penguins and leopard seals and whales and 2 other people in our tiny little hut at the base of Mount Erebus. Should make for an interesting summer!

So this will be it from me for a while. But I promise I'll be back with lots of pictures sometime in February. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and a warm summer to you all!