A bit of a moan - 11 July to 17 July

A word of warning, I'm not in a good mood as I write this. Not at all. I was looking forward to three nights far away from Base and seeing the northern end of the island but that did not happen.

This was shaping up to be a good week and then it wasn't anymore. I had planned to visit the Giant Petrel colony on the west coast of the island to count the number of adult birds in the colony during winter. Since I needed to be there in the evening to get an accurate count this was going to mean a night out. I asked Michelle to come along because she is really the only person on the island who enjoys hiking for hiking's sake. She said she'd come in her next off duty period which happily coincided with a four day spell of reasonable weather. Since the weather was looking good we made tentative plans to hike further and maybe do a circuit of the northern end of the island which we have never seen.
All was going well until Robyn decided to invite herself along. Now the only reason she wants to come along is because she suffers from the Fear Of Missing Out or FOMO and not because she actually enjoys walking; in fact she has on several occasions told us how much she dislikes hiking. Anyway this was still OK because at least she is relatively fit. She would ask Prince to work a double shift and come along. That was until she decided at the very last minute that she would rather stay and let Prince come along "because it was his turn" (I really don't know where she got the idea we were taking turns). Now this was more of a problem because Prince is not fit but etiquette dictates that we can't just say he can't come along, so we set off on Saturday morning for Gonydale.
We arrived at the container, having taken four hours to cover five kilometers and Prince announced his legs were cramping and he would have to return. Prince is a very inexperienced hiker and we could not let him return to Base by himself and so we had to turn around and come back to Base with him. Seven hours in the drizzle and we had managed nothing.

Now this wouldn't bother me so much if it was just for fun and I didn't have work to do but I did and I was not able to do it because I had to play nurse-maid. For some reason people on this island feel that they are entitled to come along simply because they are on the island too. The others on the island have more free time on their hands than I do but, with the exception of Michelle, they are not prepared to even attempt to organize a trip further than a few hundred meters from Base. However, the moment I plan something, everyone and their dog feels that they are entitled to come along, like Remoras stuck to shark, even if the reason I am going is for field work. It would be OK if they were fit enough not to be a hindrance but they aren't. You can't sit in Base all day eating steak for breakfast and lunch and expect to be able to walk around the island. I am getting so tired of accommodating everyone for the sake of their feelings when they don't reciprocate at all. In the real world I would not invite my hypothetical non-hiking roommate for a four day hike in the Hex River mountains and he would not expect to be invited along and furthermore he would not be offended by it either. However come to an island and suddenly everything rational is suspended and the irrational prevails.

Gough Island is clearly not part of the real world and I am looking forward to returning to reality even if it means leaving this incredible, beautiful, unique, place of unparalleled wilderness behind.

Lastly, to those who have stuck it out through this week's tirade, I apologize for being so negative but it is difficult and would be duplicitous for me to pretend to be happy. Also, apologies for no pictures but I haven't taken any this week.