Diary of a castaway
Sunday 11th July - 1 day before the challenge begins
Being dropped on a deserted island has been a bit of a fantasy of mine since childhood. As a kid it allowed me an escape from parents and school, as a teenager I was fleeing exams and boyfriend dramas and in adulthood avoiding the pressures and constraints of a career. However the reality is never all it's cracked up to be is it? In my fantasy I am washed up on a white sandy beach with a sexy Latin type to keep me amused. I now find myself on a rocky outcrop, it looks volcanic, no beaches in sight, with four other scientists for company. Whoopee!
Monday 12th July - Day 1
Our base is to be an abandoned prison, not exactly the set of my dreams. The place is eerie, every sound echoes through the empty rooms. You can't help but imagine the plight of the prisoners and think about the depraved minds that once occupied the buildings.
The rows of cells call to mind every prison film I've seen, the characters floating around me like holograms. There is something particularly creepy about the old shower block – it makes the place very real. So, five scientists and a prison complex – it's a little way off the island fantasy but there's no time for daydreams, we only have three days to complete our first set of challenges.
My role hasn't been too taxing today, just collecting some ingredients for an insect repellent. I've been enjoying Mike B.'s company today, he's a good laugh if not more than a little unconventional. I've always argued that scientists are given a bad press and that we can be as fun-loving and impulsive as the next guy. We are no longer white-bearded, white-coated eccentric boffins locked in laboratories working on mad-cap inventions.
No, modern scientists are an important section of today's society; creative, logical brains tackling the issues of our time.
So if that's true why does the thought of spending time with other scientists fill me with dread? The others seem friendly enough but maybe they are disguising the fact that underneath they are 'proper' scientists. They might turn out to be nerds with no sense of humour!
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