Marching orders (again!)

How time flies!

We have only just managed to get back into the swing of things after the Antarctica field mission, and they send us right back out again.

This time JY and I are going to the French Sub-Antarctic islands of Crozet, Kerguelen, St Paul and New Amsterdam. This will not be my first journey to this part of the world. I first went there in 2006, only a few weeks after starting my job here in Strasbourg. I have great memories of that trip!

These islands are all in the southern Indian Ocean, and are accessible only by ship. We shall be traveling on the Marion Dufresne, a multi purpose ship: part research vessel, part cruise ship, part cargo ship, part tanker, part helicopter carrier. As comfort and stability go, it is way better than the Astrolabe (the ship we took to Antarctica three months ago).

We set off on April 3rd from Reunion Island, then visit each of the islands in turn, starting with Crozet. We are expected back at Reunion Island on May 2nd. You can follow the ship's progress using either this web page or this kml file for Google Earth.

By popular request, I shall be field-blogging again, so stay tuned for more exciting stuff from the world of seismology...