Southbound

I'm beginning my 13th season on the Ice and my 11th journey south. Every season's flight is very different, and this year is no exception. I would have preferred to fly on the C-17, but instead I arrived on the A-319 Airbus. It's funny though how a little experience helps one have a better flight. I lined up where I needed to after the safety briefing in Christchurch and got a good seat on the bus to the plane, which in turn, got me
a great seat on the flight.

 
About 3.5 hours into the flight, we started to fly over the Transantarctic Mountains, which form the spine of the Antarctic continent. I never tire of this view of the mountains and glaciers. There is a Qantas flight that makes a similar route to ours on New Years Eve and that costs approximately $10,000 per person. Yes, I get paid to make this flight!


Once we start veering toward Ross Island (where McMurdo is located) we start flying over McMurdo Sound. There are lots of icebergs this season. Although they look smallish, each of these is probably about
the size of a city block.


I've seen this view many times, being on the ramp, (this would be called the tarmac at regular airports) but I don't get to see it often from inside a plane. It doesn't look that much different from last year, although I believe the Ice Runway is a bit closer to Scott Base this year.


This is the typical shot of folks leaving the plane after arriving from the Ice. I was contacted by a representative from the NSF (National Science Foundation) for a photo just like this for one of their early season documents. I submitted it, so I hope it gets used.

AVA @ BI

All season, I've been passing out flag stickers representing the Antarctic
Vexillological Association. My friend, Gid from Scott Base slapped one onto
his water bottle right away. This week, he was tramping/camping at Black
Island and wanted to make sure that the AVA was well represented on this
desolate piece of volcanic rock!

The Perfect Gift for a King?

The King of Malaysia arrived today and will be spending
the next few days at Scott Base. Reportedly, one cannot
have alcohol or wear yellow near him. I wonder if he
would like this shirt! Probably not.

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.

McMurdo Birthday

Yesterday, I celebrated my birthday for the 6th time
in Antarctica. I feel much older than 6 years old,
but I'm pretty close to 6 years old in dog years I
guess. Anyway, the Air Services Reps were nice enough
to decorate the Flight Board in honor of my day and
also did some nice decorating in my desk area. As you
can see, my desk is a fairly bleak cubicle, so any
decorating certainly helps liven things up. When you're
on the Ice and from the United States, you technically
get two birthdays. One in Antarctica, and for me, one
in Colorado since it's nineteen hours behind us, on the
other side of the International Date Line. Our Kiwi
friend, Gid, from Scott Base brought me over a delicious
piece of chocolate mousse cake from the Kiwi baker in
honor of the day as well and everyone enjoyed it. I've
had more momentous birthdays, but this one was very
calm and enjoyable.

Yay...Ice Cream!

Our friend and co-worker from Scott Base, Gid, came over today
bearing gifts. These gifts were two containers of ice cream...real
ice cream! Scott Base is a much smaller operation than McMurdo
and their proximity to New Zealand allows them to have the real deal
over on their side of the hill, as opposed to the McMurdo's version
of semi-dairy-semi-betteroffnotknowingwhat'sinthis Frosty Boy.
It was absolutely fantastic as the entire office and the cargo handlers
shared and shared alike. The fact we haven't had real ice cream
for months and the fact that New Zealand's ice cream tastes so good
(I think it's the quality of the milk) made it even better. It's probably
a good thing we don't have it more often, or I'd need my own plane
to go back north!

Dinner at Scott Base

Tonight we had the fortune of joining our Kiwi co-workers
Gid and David for dinner at nearby Scott Base. They were
wonderful hosts and after a nice glass of wine, we enjoyed
a nice steak, Indian dahl, and broccoli and cauliflower
casserole. YUM. The food at Scott Base is always the best!
Of course, I discovered while I was at dinner that I forgot
to put the memory chip in my camera, so I wasn't able to
get any photos! ARRGH! After dinner, I got to make lattes
for some of our dinner companions. It was fun being a
barista again! Then David took us on a tour of the station
and we got to go to some places that most folks don't get
to see such as the Library. It's one of my favorite places
and I haven't seen it since 2001!. All in all, a great
visit to a very cozy spot, just a few miles from McMurdo.

Blue...Really?

The future is here. And I'm not liking it.
A project that is seemingly taking all summer
is the painting of Building 155. And what a
horrible color it is too! Not a happy sky blue.
Not a cheerful robin's egg blue. Blue...I have
no words for what color of blue it really is
although I plan to find out. It reminds me of
the dark blue chalk that comes in one of those
multi-color boxes teachers use on chalk boards.
I've heard that almost all of our buildings will
eventually be painted this color. The reason?
Because all of Scott Base's buildings are painted
one color. However, their buildings are all
Chelsea Cucumber (a kind of mint-chocolate-chip
green). This is just ugly. The blue does give
more credence to my roommate Ben's theory about
the color blue in the Galley though. The color
blue causes one to want to eat less, therefore
saving the Program money. That's why so many
things in the Galley are blue. Trays, cups,
paint trim, the clock, the Dining Attendant's
shirts, the tile floor... So, why not paint the
entire building that houses the Galley blue as
well. Will our appetites be beaten into total
submission by the color blue...or just our eyes?

Ob Hill Loop

Overlooking McMurdo is Observation Hill...or Ob Hill
for short. It stands 750 feet above sea level and
provides a wonderful view of the surrounding area.
On this night however, I didn't climb Ob Hill...I
hiked around the base of it, on the Ob Hill Loop.
This is one of several fun hikes that make up the
Ross Island Trail System. At 3:00 in the morning
there are very few folks to share the trail with so
I found myself alone while making this interesting
hike.


Hiking around the base is a bit of a misnomer. In
most cases one walks across it, about halfway between
the summit and McMurdo Sound, far below. See the line
about halfway up in this photo? That's the trail. Not
a lot of room for error, especially since the trail is
less than a foot wide for most of it's length. When
I told Lynn afterwards that I hiked this trail by myself
(which is totally within the rules), she told me she was
glad she didn't know because she would have been a nervous
wreck!


On the backside there is a small crater that holds a
tiny pond. I had no idea this was here before I saw it.


Most of the trail meanders a bit, with lots of switchbacks
to cover elevation rises and falls.


Although there isn't any life along the trail (Characteristic
of all of Ross Island), there were some areas that seemed
even more barren than others, containing thousands of
square feet of volcanic cinders.


From one point, one gets a great view of Scott Base,
seen on the edge of the Ice Shelf. The fog was pretty
heavy, making it feel very "Brigadoon-ish".


Along one section there were bleached penguin bones
scattered along the cinders. Skuas apparently take
their penguin prey here for dinner and only the bones
remain.


The wind does some weird and powerful things to the
rocks, causing strange formations.


I found it really interesting to see all of the
different colors that were present in the volcanic
rock that makes up Ob Hill.


I knew I had reached the end of the trail when I saw
the trail marker sign showing the beginning if coming
from the other direction.

It was a great hike. It was really really nice to have
complete silence away from town and even have my adreneline
flow a few times. Well worth the couple of hours to
commune with nature.

Weddell Seals

While I was on the trip to the Scott Base
Pressure Ridges, we came across this mother
and pup Weddell Seals. Both were really
animated, which is out of the ordinary
since most seals spend a majority of their
time lounging on the ice, soaking up the
sun.

Pressure Ridges

What is a Pressure Ridge?
A pressure ridge is formed where an ice sheet
is broken and one piece rides over the other.
The actual "pressure" is often provided by winds,
storms or ocean currents that can be many miles
distant acting on the edge of the ice sheet.

This evening, I took a tour of the Pressure
Ridges near Scott Base, with the Recreation
Department. I've seen them for years, but
had never had the chance to go on one of the
trips. In a word, they were FANTASTIC!


They extend for almost two miles along the
edge of the landscape and are eerily other-
worldly. In a way, the landscape reminds me
of Arches National Park, in Utah, but a much
colder, whiter version.


Along the way, we saw a mother and baby seal
that were lounging in the sun. In a few weeks
there will be dozens of these seals here along
the ridges, but for now, we only saw three.


We followed a group leader along "trails" that
had been approved by Scott Base and McMurdo's
outdoor safety group. The trail was fairly
sturdy, but I was glad I had my boot ice grips
and trekking poles. It definitely made for a
more fun experience, knowing that footing would
be solid. There were lots of mushy places though
as well and I buried my foot once in about a foot
of slush. Ugh.


It was also interesting to see Scott Base from
such a different angle.

The tours are ending this week as the ice is
becoming too unpredictable and slushy so I'm
glad I had the chance to experience this
beautiful phenomenon.

How Far Is It?

I've always enjoyed this sign that is located
at Scott Base. Similar to other AA (NZ's version
of AAA Automobile Club) signs, located around
New Zealand, it tells the distance from Scott
Base to different locations around the world.
For those metrically challenged, I've translated
the distance from kilometers to miles:

South Pole: 841
Wellington: 2535
Santiago:4399
Cape Town: 4603
Washington: 9214
Moscow: 10501
London: 10588

Christchurch: 2381
Canberra: 2987
Buenos Aires 4449
Tokyo: 7929
Paris: 10381
Brussels: 10520
Oslo: 11085

For some inexplicable reason, they don't list the
distance to Grand Junction!

Grand Junction:
14135 Kilometers - 8784 Miles

Wind Power

A project that is moving along quickly this season
is the Wind Turbine Project that the Kiwis are
constructing on Arrival Heights between McMurdo
and Scott Base. I found these photos on the
common computer drive here of the progress that
is being made.


These towers are huge. Similar in size to those
found back in the real world, but they are
definitely the tallest things around, considering
the tallest building here is only three stories
tall.


When finished, they will supply all of the energy
that Scott Base needs and about one quarter of all
of the power for McMurdo. Being this is probably
the windiest place I've ever lived, there will be
no shortage of fuel supply, while definitely
lessening our dependency on fuel being shipped in
each year.

Something New

I was out at the runway today and noticed
that this really cool looking helicopter had
just been unloaded from the C-17. It's one
that the Kiwis over at Scott Base have received
for this season. It reminds me of the helo that
I was lucky enough to ride in down here back in
2002, except even more modern. Maybe someday
I'll get to ride in this one as well.

Ice Flags

There are a number of flags around the Ice at McMurdo
and Scott Base that are used for specific messages and
meaning. Over the years, I've acquired most of them.

Yellow = The Infamous Pee Flag.


Blue = Used primarily to signify fuel lines


Orange = Used primarily to mark Condition 1 rope lines.


Green = Used for roads or trails.


Red = Used for roads or trails.


Black = Used to signify crevasses and other dangerous
areas to stay away from.


Pink = I only saw this flag once and it's not a faded Red flag,
but definitely Pink. Was in a pile of flags attached to poles
ready to discard. (Of course I grabbed one) If anyone has
info on this, please let me know.


Checkered = Used on some of the trucks used by Fuelies.
If I'm wrong about this, please let me know.


Kiwi Green = A Kiwi flag, used for roads and trails.


Kiwi Black = A Kiwi flag, used to designate dangerous areas.


Kiwi Red = A Kiwi flag, used for roads and trails.

There is one more Kiwi flag (blue-green) that I will try to
acquire this summer.

A Cry For Help?

Tonight at trivia, one of the questions involved the
playing of a song. The song was Wuthering Heights by
Kate Bush. One which currently resides on my iPod and
I've enjoyed for years. However the question was: Who
wrote the book, Wuthering Heights? I'm aware of the
story and the plotline, but to be honest, have never
read the book. I started once, but found the whole
Heathcliff, Cathy, Moors...blah blah blah...too boring.
The scary thing is...I KNEW who wrote the book. Emily
Brontë wrote it. Emily Brontë, sister of Charlotte
Brontë who wrote Jane Eyre (and WHY would I know that
as well???). I'm beginning to wonder what OTHER useless
stuff is in my head. Why can't I use this knowledge to
find a cure for cancer, stop world hunger, end war,
discover a healthy type of liverwurst? Instead, Emily
Brontë pops into my head...and it's scaring me!

Norfolk Island

Location: Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean
Geographic coordinates: 29 02 S, 167 57 E
Area: total: 34.6 sq km
Area - Comparative: About 0.2 times the size of Washington, DC
Coastline: 32 km
Climate: Subtropical; mild, little seasonal variation
Terrain: volcanic formation with mostly rolling plains
Lowest Point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
Highest Point: Mount Bates 319 m
Natural Resources: Fish
Natural Hazards: Typhoons (especially May to July)
Geography - note: Most of the 32 km coastline consists of
almost inaccessible cliffs, but the land slopes down to the
sea in one small southern area on Sydney Bay, where the
capital of Kingston is situated
Population: 2,114 (July 2007 est.)
Ethnic groups: Descendants of the Bounty mutineers, Australian,
New Zealander, Polynesian
Religions: Anglican 34.9%, Roman Catholic 11.7%, Uniting Church in Australia 11.2%, Seventh-Day Adventist 2.8%, Australian Christian 2.4%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, other 2.7%, unspecified 15.2%, none 18.1% (2001 census)
Languages: English (official), Norfolk - a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian
Dependency Status: Self governing territory of Australia

Ok...you're asking...Why do I need to know this much information
about Norfolk Island? Because we played in the first Trivia Night
of the season tonight at Scott Base and the MC held up this flag
and asked us to identify it. To the best of my knowledge, our team
and only one other could identify it. Even though we finished third
out of ten teams, I knew my vast warehouse of useless information
concerning the study of flags (Vexillology) would someday pay off.

Live Earth?

I received email today from a band called Nunatak
which is playing in some round the world concert
called Live Earth. Not to start an international
incident or anything, but why weren't any of our
bands here at McMurdo and Scott Base chosen? They
can't be any less talented than the folks at Rothera
that were chosen. Hmmm...something slightly amiss here
and I think our folks should at least get a mention in
the press coverage.