Afterwards

Around the world in 55 days

Arrival in Townsville (Pictures: Rieke Schäfer)

Since Monday evening I’ve been back in Braunschweig, and my trip is now completed. As my flight from Townsville to Sydney was delayed, I arrived 24 hours later than originally planned. Luckily, everything went well all in all. The things I am currently still noticing the most are just how green everything is and that the day length is very different. The times of sunset and sunrise varied depending on our position in the time zone, but they were always between 5 and 7 pm/am. So, the long days in the German summer are very different.

Descent to Sydney in the evening (Picture: Rieke Schäfer)

Flight routes according to the screens in the planes. With these flights, I completed my journey around the world. (Pictures: Rieke Schäfer)

By the way, the "Sonne" is already on her way again. On Saturday when we left the ship, the next group of scientists was already arriving. It is again a group from the GEOMAR, and they will work with GEOMAR’s deep sea ROV. Their final destination is Singapore.

I enjoyed the cruise. Spending several weeks on a ship, only surrounded by water, is something very special on its own, and having the science in addition makes it even more special. I really learned a lot about how and what is measured and specifically gained experience with the underway carbon measurements. Now, I’ll need to work with the data I collected.

Generally, we were very lucky with the weather: small waves, little rain, little wind. The waves only increased somewhat after we left the equator. But even then, they were noticeable but did not disrupt any work or life activities. The sunsets were very beautiful for the first few weeks, later on we often had low clouds on the horizon, so we couldn’t see the sunset itself.

Last sunset onboard the Sonne in the port of Townsville. (Foto: Rieke Schäfer)