Antarctica: My new home

The final big day of training involved heading out onto the sea ice to check out and identify ice cracks and measure ice depth. All of this is very important when traveling across the ice to remote field camps, because swimming around here is no fun.

McMurdo from afar

The Dry Valleys southwest of McMurdo across the sea ice. Piston bullys, the best way to travel

Me an a big ol' ice drill. I have a meter bit on, but you can continuously add bits dependent on how thick the ice is. The United States Antarctic Program declares that the ice must be at least 30 inches thick before foot or vehicle travel is allowed.

An iceberg trapped in the sea ice

Me demonstrating my Ti Chi capabilities as I balance on my water bottle.

A straight edge crack heading right up to an iceberg

Discovery Hut, this is the original shack used in Robert Scott's 1901 exploration of Antarctica. It was prefabricated in Australia based on the houses used in the Outback. This was a very bad design to model the hut after, because typical Outback houses are made to shield one from the heat not insulate one from the cold. Aside from basic design flaws the Discovery Hut was insufficiently insulated with felt, making the structure so cold that the explorers all slept on the boat. It was used primarily as a storage shed and theater. McMurdo base is right next to the hut, and so I took a guided tour of the grounds.
Oldtime vittles

Me in the hut

The Meat locker

Vince's cross, erected in memory of George Vince, a member of Robert Scott's crew who died in an accident during their exploration of Antarctica.

Antarctica is the coldest and driest place on earth - the best way to combat this harsh environment is to kick back in a warm humid greenhouse every now and then.

Antarctica: The Beginning

We finally got the word that the weather had cleared up down on the ice, and so at midnight we headed off to the Antarctica terminal, and went through all the usual airport business. Then we boarded the aircraft (Boeing C-17) and headed south. Five hours into the flight, just 30 minutes away from McMurdo, the pilot gave us some bad news "folks your going to feel the bird move to the left a bit, and that movement is us turning around and heading back to Christchurch." Later, we were informed that a storm had quickly moved in causing a instant whiteout on the runway stopping us from being able to land. The next morning we went through the whole process all over again, but were rewarded with sunny skies and a smooth landing.

Me waiting in line with my gear wondering what the hell I'm doing.
The inside of the C-17, not first class by any means
View of Antarctica from the sky
After landing on the ice we quickly shuffled through the dinner line, met our roommates and headed to the bar. The next day I was sent off to "Happy Camp." Where I was taught the necessary skills in order to survive a few nights out on the ice. The final test of the course was to actually spend the night out there, which I did enduring temperatures -30 F and below in a 2 man tent. Our camp before we set up our tents, snow caves, quincy, and wind walls.

Me in front of Mount Erebus (12,451 ft.) the most active volcano in Antarctica.
The tents on the left are Scott tents (four poled and floor less) the same tents designed and used by Robert Scott a 100 years ago for his expeditions across Antarctica. They are very heavy, but setup properly they can withstand winds over 100mph and you can cook in them. To the right of the tents we are setting up a wall of ice to protect our camp from winds, which predominately come from the south. That night they blew hard, but came from the NE and created a bit of problem for those who opted to stay in snow trenches (they neglected to create any defense if the wind came from any other direction causing their trenches to fill up with snow, burying them in the night)
The making of a Quincy (fast igloo). We piled all of our baggage and covered it in a foot of snow, and waited for a couple of hours. Next we dug a out a trench leading into the dome, and removed our baggage. This structure is both very warm and strong - I was able to climb onto the top of it, and I couldn't get it to collapse even after jumping on it.
A couple of guys working on their snow trench.

Christchurch Before the Ice

The weather in Antarctica went south so to speak, making it impossible for us to fly down there, so we made the best of a great situation (getting paid per diem and a wage to hang out in Christchurch) and rented a car. Sadly, my memory card bit the dust and I was only able to recover a few of the photos of our adventures.

Countryside and mountains around Arthur's Pass

Hanging out on the Castle Hill rocks
The gang
View from Castle Hill
Took a bus down to the South Brighton beach and saw a wide variety of wind driven machines This guy was by far whipping off the best tricks. He's riding a mountain board with a kite attached to his body.
On the last day in town we headed off to the local go-cart racing track. The sign said "Persons caught drifting, running into barriers or other cars will be given one warning before being told to leave." We hit the track with ten people, and it became a non stop high speed drifting bumper car race - thankfully I made it out uninjured.