Evening Tea at Scott Base

It's always a pleasure to receive an invitation to a
meal at Scott Base. Especially when it's their evening
meal. While our food has been pretty good at McMurdo
this year, the Kiwis don't have to cook for 1100 people,
so it has a lot more of a personal touch. Our counterparts
and friends from Scott Base, David and Gid, invited the
day shift ATO office workers over for the evening. They
must have planned the meal in advance, because we had
real hamburgers and chips for dinner. Really delicious.
Like you would make at home, and not institutional.
Afterwards, I was able to practice my barista skills on
their espresso maker. After doing this for several years
now, it never has gotten easier to foam milk made from
powder! Everyone had an enjoyable time and far too soon
it was time to come home. I'm looking forward to our
next visit to our friendly Kiwi neighbors.

Eating and Drinking

I think one of the things you miss the most about being on the
Ice is the ability to make choices. Especially things you eat and
drink. Especially when you re-enter the world in Christchurch, and
there are so many good restaurants and choices. I went to lunch today
with Melanie and Amy to the Belgian Beer Cafe Torenhof. Susie
introduced me to it in October and it's become one of my favorite
places to eat. They also have really good Belgian Beer as well.


When I left lunch, I walked over to the Asian Market. Lynn and I have
been going here for quite a few years now and although we don't need
any food right now, they have a special Green Tea that Lynn likes, so
I got a few tins to take home.


I also like the Chinese Gunpowder Tea, so I got a box of it to take home
as well.


It's funny because I'm not a big drinker at all, but somehow beer when
you're coming off the Ice tastes so much better. I went to Winnie
Bagoes for my friend Bamma's birthday party and because many
of her friends are also my friends as well, it was great to see so
many people I knew. I had pizza, which to be honest, Winnie Bagoes
has some of the better pizza in New Zealand and a Mac's Great White,
which is also a Belgian-style Beer. At the end of the day, both
my stomach...and liver...were happy!

Whew!

Because I'm probably headed south to the
Ice tomorrow, I ran my butt off silly
around Christchurch trying to get everything
done:
1. Go get per diem money at the CDC
2. Go to breakfast with Tad and Ken
3. Walk around Botanic Gardens taking photos
4. Eat a Souvlaki from Dimitri's
5. Buy cheese at the Cheese Monger
6. Buy Gunpowder Tea at Asian Store
7. Look at Maps at Map World
8. Ride bus to Lyttelton
9. Drink Long Black at The Ground
10. Ride bus from Lyttelton to Christchurch
11. Drop off Library Books
12. Eat takeaway from Thai Smile
13. Do laundry at hotel
14. Sleep
15. Whew!

The Day in Denver

Lynn reminded me tonight that in all the busy-ness yesterday,
we had both forgotten that my Dad passed away, one year ago,
on September 24th. I miss my Dad terribly and I think of him
almost every day. However, I think he'd be ok with the fact that
we forgot as we are making it through the grieving process.
Although not having him here with us is not easy, I hope it will get
easier with time.


So...today, I started the two day process of orientation at the
Raytheon Polar Services Company in Centennial, Colorado. It
seems like the information changes very little year after year, but
attending is one of the requirements of working on the Ice, so
it's something we all deal with. I liked these flags that were flown
at the Pole that are on display at the entrance to the building.


After my orientation was over, we received a message from our
friend (and my boss) Susie. She had left a binder and her itinerary
at the office and asked if we could bring it to her at the airport.
Not a problem, as we drove it there and saw our friend Liz there
waiting with her. For those of you that might remember, Liz
traveled with us quite a bit in Ecuador and Peru. I will see both
of them in Christchurch and have dinner with them the evening
before they head to the Ice. The day before me.


We enjoyed an excellent dinner at a restaurant called Citron New
World Bistro in Denver. We had been here several years ago when
it was still a Marie Callender's Restaurant. Definitely a nice last
dinner in the US for quite some time.


Of course we still had the evening ahead of us and one of
our favorite cheap things to do is going to Border's Books.
We had a big pot of tea and read some books and magazines.
Yes, not exactly an exciting Friday night, but something we
like to do. A relaxing last night in the States.