Photo credit to our wonderful resident chef JC 🙂

I had the privilege of playing The Last Post and Rouse for Armistice Day this year, in Antarctica!!! I have made friends with a musician in the Navy, and we’ve had some casual jams together with me on a borrowed trumpet and her on French Horn. Word got around that I have played The Last Post before (though no way experienced or prepared for this), and was essentially ‘voluntold’ to be the live player this year. My Navy friend couldn’t technically perform it herself in the official uniform during a military event without specific qualification. It was so extremely different to play in the cold temperature, the valves froze open and I had to be careful not to get stuck to the metal mouthpiece. But it was absolutely worth it to have had the opportunity, and everyone was really supportive and encouraging.

There are quite a few base staff who are on deployment here from the NZ Defence Force, and they all looked really great in the military uniform, alongside a selection of US military personnel who came over from McMurdo Station.