{"id":1908,"date":"2014-08-06T19:58:02","date_gmt":"2014-08-06T18:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=1908"},"modified":"2014-08-13T22:57:44","modified_gmt":"2014-08-13T21:57:44","slug":"empire-antarctica-an-interview-with-gavin-francis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2014\/08\/06\/empire-antarctica-an-interview-with-gavin-francis\/","title":{"rendered":"Empire Antarctica &#8211; an interview with Gavin Francis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/wpid-wp-1407966784604.jpeg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"wp-1407966784604\" class=\"aligncenter size-full\" alt=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/wpid-wp-1407966784604.jpeg?w=640\" \/><\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Gavin Francis spent more than a year working as the base camp doctor at the Halley Research Station in Antarctica, cut off from the rest of the world &#8211; including his girlfriend &#8211; and spending three months in darkness during the winter. With the sea frozen, it is said to be easier to evacuate somebody from the International Space Station than it is to get them home from Halley in winter.<\/p>\n<p>While he was there, Gavin wrote his award-winning book, <em>Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence and Emperor Penguins<\/em>. It brings together beautifully his longing for emptiness, a fascination with the continent and his interest in the only creatures which can survive in temperatures that slump to around -50C.<\/p>\n<p>I will be speaking to Gavin about his experience in Antarctica during this year&#8217;s Inverness Book Festival, which is supported by The Inverness Courier. The event takes place on Wednesday 20th August at 6.30pm in Eden Court&#8217;s OneTouch Theatre.<\/p>\n<p>For more information on the event and to buy tickets, <a href=\"http:\/\/2014.invernessbookfestival.co.uk\/2014\/06\/12\/gavin-francis\/\" title=\"Gavin Francis at Inverness Book Festival\" target=\"_blank\">visit the book festival website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><code><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/75753702\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/75753702\">Empire Antarctica By Gavin Francis<\/a> from <a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/creativescotland\">Creative Scotland<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\">Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><\/code><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/wpid-wp-1407966666028.jpeg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"wp-1407966666028\" class=\"aligncenter size-full\" alt=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/wpid-wp-1407966666028.jpeg?w=640\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n* Photos courtesy of Gavin Francis and subject to copyright. See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gavinfrancis.com\">www.gavinfrancis.com<\/a> for details and contact information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gavin Francis spent more than a year working as the base camp doctor at the Halley Research Station in Antarctica, cut off from the rest of the world &#8211; including his girlfriend &#8211; and spending three months in darkness during the winter. With the sea frozen, it is said to be easier to evacuate somebody [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5M0xs-uM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4664,"url":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2019\/01\/28\/let-it-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":1908,"position":0},"title":"Let it snow!","author":"John Davidson","date":"January 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Weather can cause all sorts of problems for people in the mountains, not least during the winter. But we had a rather unusual weather problem in the Cairngorms earlier this month \u2013 how do you run a winter navigation course without any snow? I was about to find out. I\u2019d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Active Outdoors&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Active Outdoors","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/content\/active-outdoors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Winter-navigation-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Winter-navigation-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Winter-navigation-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Winter-navigation-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Winter-navigation-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2307,"url":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2015\/10\/16\/read-active-outdoors-magazine-online\/","url_meta":{"origin":1908,"position":1},"title":"Read Active Outdoors magazine online","author":"John Davidson","date":"October 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The autumn\/winter 2015\/16 issue of Active Outdoors is now available to read online. It contains a special feature on the Dava Way, which is marking its 10th anniversary since officially opening, and a look at the gear used in my Land's End to John O'Groats cycle ride earlier this year.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Active Outdoors&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Active Outdoors","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/content\/active-outdoors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Active Outdoors Autumn\/Winter 2015\/16 issue eight","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/SP25_09_15P01_Active_1-321x450.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":518,"url":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2010\/11\/30\/winter-cycling\/","url_meta":{"origin":1908,"position":2},"title":"Winter cycling","author":"John Davidson","date":"November 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"With all this snow about, I've had to winter-ise my bike again. So here it is in the snow tonight after the commute up the hill. I'm using Schwalbe snow stud tyres which grip really well in hard, compact snow and ice - they're a little slippery on slush and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;John's blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"John's blog","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/content\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/winter_bike-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6134,"url":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2019\/12\/17\/coire-an-t-sneachda-offers-first-blast-of-winter-mountaineering-fun\/","url_meta":{"origin":1908,"position":3},"title":"Coire an t-Sneachda offers first blast of winter mountaineering fun","author":"John Davidson","date":"December 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Snow and ice transform Scotland\u2019s mountains into a unique and beautiful landscape but it can also be a somewhat hostile environment.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Active Outdoors&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Active Outdoors","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/content\/active-outdoors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Cairn-Gorm-and-Sneachda-12.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Cairn-Gorm-and-Sneachda-12.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Cairn-Gorm-and-Sneachda-12.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Cairn-Gorm-and-Sneachda-12.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":548,"url":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2011\/01\/09\/a-winter-weekends-cycling\/","url_meta":{"origin":1908,"position":4},"title":"A winter weekend&#8217;s cycling","author":"John Davidson","date":"January 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"What a fantastic weekend I've had getting out and about on the bike. On Saturday I did a short but satisfying off-road route between Contin and Little Garve, where I discovered some excellent sections of route and a superb Caulfield bridge on the old military road. (You'll be able to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;John's blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"John's blog","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/content\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/CTC-Black-Isle-4-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":546,"url":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2011\/01\/07\/the-five-sisters-of-kintail\/","url_meta":{"origin":1908,"position":5},"title":"The Five Sisters of Kintail","author":"John Davidson","date":"January 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Take a look at the new TGO for February, which includes one of my routes down in Kintail. It's the famous five sisters walk, which includes three Munros and - on the winter's day we did it - some unforgettable views. The main pic TGO have used is one of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;John's blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"John's blog","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/content\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The new TGO magazine includes one of my winter mountain walks","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/TGO_Feb2011.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1908"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1921,"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908\/revisions\/1921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}