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Letter from Reckless  Hi everyone, It’s been a while since I wrote to you all, but such a lot has happened and it’s been hard finding the time to write it all down. Let me see…Well, I met our new Commanding Officer, Captain Nick Lambert, for the first time in August. Just like me, he was really excited at the thought of going to Antarctica on HMS ENDURANCE. He asked me loads of questions about my travels last season and he took time to look at my photographs of icebergs, penguins and whales. He’s hoping to see some of the icebergs from the ship’s helicopters too – just like I did on the last trip. Captain Lambert has instructed me to write to you regularly over the next 6 months to keep your posted on our progress down south. So after lots of preparations and storing up the ship, we finally sailed on Mon 31 October for our 2005/06 deployment. It feels rather strange going away for six months. After all we’re leaving England as winter approaches and sailing south of the equator, where summer is now beginning. Do you know why we have seasons? The Earth takes a year to spin round, or obit, the Sun. The Earth is tilted, so as it moves around the Sun, different parts of the Earth are tilted towards the Sun and receive different amounts of energy at different times of the year. This energy comes in the form of heat and light. Here is how the seasons happen: In December, the North Pole leans away from the Sun. The northern hemisphere (or northern half of the Earth) has winter and the southern half has summer. In March, neither Pole leans towards the Sun. There is spring in the north, and autumn in the south. In June, the North Pole leans towards the Sun. The northern half of the Earth has summer and the southern hemisphere (or southern half of the Earth) has winter. In September, neither Pole leans towards the Sun. Therefore which hemisphere has autumn and which one has spring? The weather is always hot at the equator because the Sun is high overhead and this means that the sun’s energy is concentrated on a smaller area of the Earth than at the Poles, where its rays are spread out and feel much weaker. Have your teachers told you about the northern and southern hemispheres? Perhaps some of you have friends or relatives who live in countries south of the equator, like Australia for instance! Our first stop on the way down south is Madeira. I have to say I’m glad to have almost arrived there as I suffered from a little bout of sea sickness for a few days after we sailed. However our ship’s doctor, Simon, gave me some sea sickness tablets and sent me to bed for a few hours. Soon I was feeling much better! Have any of you ever felt a little sea sick? Anyway I’ll go ashore in Madeira. I’ve been told it’s really pretty there – lots of flowers and scenery. Here’s a brain teaser for you…What is Madeira most famous for? I’ll give you a clue – you can eat it! Before I go I’d like to leave you with some technical terms. Onboard the ship we rarely use the words ‘left’ and ‘right.’ Instead we say ‘port’ and ‘starboard’. Instead of a ceiling we have a ‘deck head.’ and we call the ‘floor’ the ‘deck.’ See if you can practise these terms. I’ll teach you some more next time I write a letter. You’ll all sound like sailors in no time! Right, got to go! I’m helping everyone ensure the ship is clean and tidy for our Madeira visit; or as they say in the Royal Navy, making sure it is neatly ‘squared away and ship shape.’ I’ll be in touch very soon. Best wishes from across the seas, Reckless the Bear x P.S. Don’t forget to send me a Christmas card – that would be nice!!! P.P.S: Here’s a photo of me with my new friends Anchor (left) and Pudsey (right) – we share the same cabin on HMS ENDURANCE. We managed to get out into the sun after the storm we had recently – it really is beautiful when the sun comes out.
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