Antarctic Barbie

Due to the remarkable talents of one Audrey Gayle Fallowes, Barbie has made her Antarctic debut, in full ECW gear. Barbie has been seen out hiking, around Scott Base, and even near the Kiwi helo-pad. Here are some shots of her remarkable journey...

Sea Ice Training 101

I was in desperate need of a spa day in Christchurch. And since the powers that be could not accommodate that need, my supervisor decided to send me out for a day of Sea Ice Training. Spa Day, Sea Ice Training... same thing.

So, my comrades and I climbed into the Hagland (pictured above), and set off from the safety of our beloved volcanic island, to the precarious sea ice. We drilled holes. We measured the thickness of the ice. We learned to read cracks and when to worry about the width of the crack. Did you know the sea ice can get down to only 30" in thickness before you need to start worrying about it's stability in terms of driving a vehicle over it? Seems a little crazy to me. So we learned to calculate whether or not we could drive our vehicle over a crack depending on the width of the crack and the depth of the ice and the length of our vehicle. Sounds a bit close to calculus, but it's not really that complicated.

And when we drilled into the ice, we did hit sea water and we got to collect samples for some group, which included some little creature that came up in the sample. Looked like a little bug sort of sea creature. Just a tiny little guy.

The most exciting part of the day were the gangs of penguins we saw far off in the distance. The Emperor Penguins are making their appearance this year. From our perspective, it looked as if some of the penguins were having a social with the seals. A small gang of them walked up to the lounging seals and then stopped. And hung around. I suppose they were too shy to ask them to dance.

So, no, we didn't actually do facials or manicures or massages out there on the Sea Ice. But it was a fun day anyway.

NO VACANCY

This blog could also be entitled "Trapped at Mc Murdo." Here's the deal. For weeks, the Polies, the WAIS Divide people, the Byrd Field Camp folks, and many others have been trapped at Mc Murdo, mainly due to perpetual inclement weather here on the bottom of the planet. The station has been at maximum capacity, which means we have no more beds in which to put people. There's been a large NO VACANCY sign in front of the station and we're turning people away, left and right. Ok, I'm kidding about the No Vacancy sign, but seriously, people have been held in Christchurch because we have no where to put them.

There is something bizarre about this whole thing. I'm not sure what, but it's just plain bizarre to me.

The Antarctic Jewish Mafia

For the High Holy Days, way back in September, the microcosm of Antarctic Jews joined together for a little prayer, singing and religious banter. Sharon taught some of the folks down here to play dreidle. Apparently, it's become more popular than poker and rumor has it they play for porn. So, we decided to start the Dreidle Intramural Committee and expand that to the International Dreidle Olympics. It could really be quite big. And somehow in the midst of all this, we have organized into the Antarctic Jewish Mafia, where our greeting is "Shalomy My Homey" and our motto is "Shalom, Mother Fucker."

And that's all I have to say about that.

They're Eating Like They're Angry

And that's the motto of the McMurdo kitchen this year.

Measuring weight and temperature on Antarctica

I will be succinct. According the Antarctic scales, I am 10 pounds heavier than when I arrived one year ago. I do not think this possible. Also, according to medical, my internal body temperature is only 95 degrees. It has been taken on 3 different occasions.

How will they know if I have a fever?

Perspective Revisited

After a few days of 50 below and beyond, it began to warm up here at McMurdo. I walked to work one day and said to myself, gee, it's warm out today.

It was still well below zero.

It's so easy for one's perspective to become warped (see "Perspective" from last season's issue).

95 Below 0

Need I say more?

Trapped In Christchurch

Guess what happens when there's hurricane force winds at Mc Murdo Station? You get to hang in Christchurch. Guess what happens when the ceiling is low and visibility is poor? You get to hang in Christchurch. With pay. So, here's how it all works. I get up at 2:45 a.m. I need to be downstairs and ready for the shuttle by 3:15. By 3:00, the little man at the front desk calls the 55 people staying at this hotel to inform us that our flight has been delayed 24 hours and to go back to sleep. Then we board the shuttle at 8:00 a.m. to be whisked off to the Antarctic Center where we get more money to play with and more shuttle passes. Then, we get back into town and decide what to do the rest of the day. I played Paintball today. A new experience for me. It was definitely an afternoon of entertainment. Yesterday I went spinning and napped a lot. Tomorrow may be whale watching in Akaroa. If this continues, I may have to find the local animal shelter and start volunteering.

Welcome to second season.

Season 2: The Adventure Continues

Here we go! Round two. Three days of unbelievably boring orientation and training in Denver. Four hours at Denver International Airport. Five hours at LAX. FOURTEEN hours of chatty Ken from Australia, with bad breath and an accent so thick I had no idea what he was saying anyway. Another three hours to Christchurch. The Eagle has landed. Back at my favorite hotel. Back with my favorite restaurants. Welcome back to New Zealand.

What's Your Date?

This is what our life has become. About a month ago, we all got our dates. Our departure date. The day we leave the land of seals and penguins. Departures of science support folk started on January 30th. Almost everyday, depending on weather, a flight takes away more people. All the field camps have been closed. People not wintering at the Pole have returned and then sent on their way back to Christchurch. My date is February 22. So, for like the last month, the conversation eventually falls on, "Hey, what's your date?" And you talk to so many people everyday, that you forget what their date is, so you have the same conversation evey time you see them. It's wierd. It's kind of sad. Kind of exciting. I'm ready to go. I'm ready to see a tree.

Vessel Evolution

Once a year, in January, Vessel arrives. Why it's called Vessel Evolution is beyond me. First, the icebreaker comes. The Oden, from Sweden. The icebreaker breaks up the ice to clear a path for the Fuel Tanker and Vessel. So, first the Fuel Tanker comes ashore and unloads enough fuel for all the stations for the next year. Then comes Vessel. 150 extra people are flown into the station to help unload the Vessel which holds the next year's worth of supplies for all the stations. It gets a little crazy around here. And that's it. The ships come, and then they go. We're all set for another year at the bottom of the planet.

Why We're So Tired... and the Theories Behind It

• There are no nutrients in the food we eat.
• Constant daylight totally screws our REM and proper sleep patterns.
• The environment is totally screwing us.
• There are no trees. I forgot the reasoning behind the tree theory, but it sounded good.
• It's a Harsh Continent folks!!

Where's The Beef?

Seriously, does 160 pounds of prime rib just disappear from the McMurdo Galley, without anyone noticing? This was a portion of our 800 pounds for Christmas dinner. It went a missing. The station manager checked every possible cooler and freezer on station. We checked the ice caves and the glaciers. We checked the melt pools and the volcanoes. Everyone was frisked and questioned as to their whereabouts on the eve of the missing product. Thus far, the enigma remains a mystery.

You know who I blame? The seals. I think they took it.

Why eat fish when you can have prime rib?