The time has come for us to say to goodbye to this winter wonderland. We have been in Antarctica 4 months on February 9. My where has the time gone?? It certainly has gone by quickly. I really can’t believe that we will be going back to Christchurch, New Zealand this coming Wednesday (weather permitting of course). From there we will travel with my friend Sandy and her boyfriend Joel for 2 weeks in New Zealand. Eric will be our travel guide. He already has all of our hostels booked for us. What a guy! Yup, he’s a keeper alright! After NZ, we will head to Australia for 2 weeks where we will drive down to Melbourne and hang out around there and possibly to Tasmania. The next stop will be to Hawaii. I’ve never been to Hawaii before. The final stop will be in LA where we will visit my side of the family for a week up and down the coast . Raytheon, the company we’re working for is offering the free stops in Sydney, Hawaii and LA. So we are taking them up on their deal. The reason we have decided to travel to these areas instead of the planned NZ, west Australia and then Africa is unfortunately due to cost. The plane ticket to Africa is really expensive from down here, so we decided to try for Africa from the States, or possibly from Paris, France when we’re there this June for my friend Nikki’s wedding. There is also the week in Puerto Rico for my friend Adrienne’s wedding in April. So we definitely still have some traveling left in us, and that they include weddings is always a plus!
As for the past few weeks. What have I been up to??? I last left off talking about the holidays, MAAG, Ice Stock, penguins and the possibility of going to the Dry Valleys. Since then I am happy to say that I was able to go on my first helicopter flight out to the Dry Valleys. I went on an hour helo ride (with anti-nausea assistance from a small pill) with 3 others from the carp shop out to 2 locations, called Lake Fryxell and Lake Hoare. We went to take down large soft shelter tents called Polar Havens. Both didn’t take too long to take down so we had the opportunity to take a hike. What I thought would be a nice couple hour hike turned into a bit longer of a hike that I had anticipated. Oh my goodness!!!!! It was one of the most difficult hikes I have ever done in my entire life. It was beautiful, but then we started heading up what I am going to refer to as “the mountain from ^%$#” which I truly believe it is. After having hiked for 3 hours we started scrambling up this mountain to see some ventrifacts. I believe these are boulders that are carved out by the wind. They were huge and beautiful. But before we could see there, we had to get there. I had to stop every few minutes to take a break and breathe. It was exhausting. I almost gave up more than a few times. “Please let me go back down the mountain.” I would think. I finally made it up and it was completely worth the pain. They were amazing. We climbed in and around them and took various pictures. Then we had to start the trek back to our camp at Lake Hoare. 7 hours, 18 miles and 1 completely exhausted Texan later, we were back at camp, eating dinner and heading to bed. What a day! I had a great time in the valleys and as you can see from the pictures, it was a breathtaking place to be.
Now for the really fun part of the trip, as if that hike wasn’t fun enough, right?? We got picked up the next day from the helicopter and I nonchalantly asked the pilot if he had seen any whales out in the open water. As the season has gone on, the ice breaker has been breaking up the ice out in the ocean and exposing more and more open water. So this pilot Paul looked at me and said, “Well let’s go and see!” Little did I know it was a great question to ask. The next 30 minutes we spent flying over the open water right over Minke and Orca whales, seals and penguins. It was the coolest experience. We were right over them, but I don’t think we were causing them any harm. There were pods of 5 or 6 at a time that looked like they were just having a good time, swimming in the open water. So great!
Another highlight of the last few weeks was a science lecture that I attended where Sir David Attenborough was the guest speaker. He was down here for a couple of weeks with the BBC doing some filming for their “Frozen Planet” series that I spoke about a few blog entries ago. He gave an hour speech on his beloved birds of paradise from Papau New Guinea. It was a fascinating talk and just hearing his voice took me back in a time warp to growing up and watching his nature documentaries with my family. I know that my dad was beyond thrilled when I told him of this experience and wanted me to talk to him and tell him what a great voice he had. The best I could do was say hello to him and then we proceeded to discuss the dessert selections for the evening. I often thought about telling him how great he was in “Jurassic Park.” Yes, I know that it was his brother Richard that was in it, but it would have been funny nonetheless.
Last week I headed back to WAIS Divide with about 8 others from the carp shop for the close out of WSD. Eric had been there for the week prior doing inspections with the NSF and camp close out as well and ahead of schedule. It was nice to be back at WAIS. It was almost like coming home, since I had spent 5 weeks there earlier in the season. Back to sleeping in a tent in -10 degree weather, but it was quite enjoyable. One last freezing cold hurrah! We had a lot of fun and the close out went really fast. I got back a week ago Tuesday and have been closing out things at the carp shop getting ready to leave on Wednesday.
I really don’t know where to begin to sum up what this experience has been like for me over the past 4 months. Life changing? Challenging? Fun? An adventure? All of the above and more. Sometimes you really don’t know what kind of strength you have inside of you, until you’re put in a very different environment and challenged physically, mentally, emotionally and come out better in the end. I have loved the experience that I have had being in Antarctica and have learned skills that I can continue to build on. It has been truly exceptional and I am even more fortunate to have have had the love and support of friends and family back home who have encouraged me all along the way. The friends that I have made down here as well, will last me a life time and I am truly blessed to have met them. One Coloradan imparticular! Thank you for all of the good times CS! Maybe it is due to the fact that I am turning 30 in a matter of 2 weeks that makes me reflect on what the last 4 months have given me, but oh well. Such is life! Of course I am forever grateful to my sidekick Eric who made this adventure even possible. Thank you my love for the encouragement, support and humor along the way. You are amazing. He has been at my side the whole way through and I hope we will continue with our crazy adventures side by side.
My love and thanks to all of you for your support, e-mails and packages along the way. They have made it just that much easier to be so far away from home. I will be back before I know it! Until then I hope that you have enjoyed reading the blog and seeing the pictures. It has been great fun and I will let you know what out next adventure will be as soon as I know! My love and prayers always.
Love,
Erika
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Yes... I still am in Antarctica!
Hello everyone!
Happy 2010! It is now almost mid January and the countdown is on! For what you ask??? Why for the fun to really begin. New Zealand, Australia, Africa and Puerto Rico, here we come! Eric and I deploy from McMurdo Station, Antarctica on Wednesday, February 10. That is only a month away. Can you believe it? It sure hasn't felt like we've been here for 3 months. But time flies by when you're having fun, right? So here is the update for the past few weeks.
We had Christmas and New Year's in McMurdo. Thank you friends and family for the lovely Christmas cards. They hang in the room as we speak. It definitely wasn't the same as being home with family and friends, but we did our best to stay cheery and in the holiday spirit. I even awoke Christmas morning to some cold weather socks on the wall acting as stockings, and presents we had from family and for eachother. It was very nice of him (Santa of course)! We even had a white Christmas! We went to many Christmas parties that week and I got to sing in the Christmas choir. Not at all like the one at home, but it felt good nonetheless. We sang to the field camps including WAIS and the South Pole. On Christmas Day evening we attended "MAAG" which stands for McMurdo Alternative Arts Gathering. People made artistic type exhibits that either were way out there and made no sense at all or were really cool. A few pictures from that are added. New Year's was a bit different, as we had to work the next day, so we didn't even make it to midnight. Lame I know, but you know how I get without my 8-9 hours of sleep. We ended up watching an old movie, "Arsenic and Old Lace" with Cary Grant. I highly recommend it, if you haven't seen it. But we made up for it by staying up way past midnight the night after! Doing what you might ask...
Why we attended "Ice Stock". It is an all day music festival of sorts. There were 19 bands playing from 12 PM to 1 AM, ranging from rock, ska, funk and punk to lots in between. It was a beautiful day with no wind and great music. There are some pictures of the festivities. Pretty neat to come down here and be able to go to an outdoor music festival. I thought I would only find that at home. They also had a tie dye booth where I made an Ice Stock bandanna, face painting (I got a flower) BBQ, and a "Saw Bucks" coffee stand that the carps ran. I volunteered there for part of the day. We also had a special sauce we added to their coffee or hot chocolate if they asked for it. It was really Bailey's and kept everyone nice and warm throughout the day. Eric helped run the sound booth and seemed to really enjoy his time learning the equipment and assisting there.
Life is still great here. I've been based back up at the Carp Shop and have pretty much been doing various projects in town ranging from doing resupply for the WAIS Divide field camp we were at, putting up a jamesway for when the vessel arrives in a few weeks, to cutting up 2'x8's into 44 3/4 in. lenghts for scientists. That was a fun job. I also got to cut 15 pieces of pink foam insulation for them as well,
2'x 2' and 2" thick. For 2 days I filled in for the WAIS Divide Cargo Coordinator as she went to WAIS for a few days and the carp shop offered me up to fill her shoes while she was gone. I made sure that cargo got to WAIS including passengers and resupply items as well as taking care of lots of other details. I really enjoyed having that different working experience. I had 3 afternoons of trainings with her last week, learned a lot and did my best to keep things afloat until she got back. Good times had by all!
The weather has been pretty nice. We had a decent dumping of fresh snow last week, which made McM beautiful with about 4 inches of the fluffy white stuff. Too bad it doesn't last more than a day or so. It's been in the upper 30's as highs most of the days. I even think that last Thursday, it was warmer here than it was in Austin! Crazy! Last Sunday was a gorgeous day and perfect for a friendly little game of Rugby. The US team took on the undefeated (after 20+ years or so) New Zealand team and alas could not break their losing streak. Oh well, we played our hearts out and it was a fun and crazy game to watch. But what's even crazier and more cool is.....
PENGUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's right! Eric and I went out to the sea ice with a group of others to see 4 Emperor penguins. Pictures, ohhhhhh so cute are provided to the right. We had to take an almost hour (very bumpy) ride, on what they call deltas out to see them. But it was totally worth it. A picture of me with the wheel is provided. The ice breaker, the big ship that does pretty much what it's name is, has arrived in McM and in doing so has broken up the ice enough for penguins to make there way to McM. There have been numerous "peguin spottings" around the perimeters of town, especially up by Hut Point where Eric and I like to go for walks. So far I've seen seals and penguins here. I'm hoping to be able to see some whales soon. People that have been coming down here for awhile have said that this is the earliest in the season that the sea ice has broken up and that our chances of seeing more wildlife is higher than ever! Yeah!
Another "Yeah" item is that I got word today that I get to got on a helicopter ride out to the Dry Valleys to take down some Polar Havens. This area is less than an hour away from here and apparently is beautiful. A very different scenic view of Antarctica. I am very excited as it will be my first Helo ride ever. With Dramamine in hand, 3 other carpenters and I hope to fly Thursday for an overnight stay and be back on Friday. The powers that be have also decided to send me back out to WAIS Divide to help with camp take down. I guess I did a good job with camp put in, that they want me back. Oh tent city here I come! That would be from around January 25 through early February. Eric would also be there for part of that time.
One last yeah for the day! Sir David Attenborough in in town doing some filming with the BBC. I sat next to him at dinner last Friday nigth without even realizing it. That is until I heard that famous voice of his. I grew up watching his nature programs with my family and was so happy to have him sitting a few feet from me. He will be giving, what I am sure will be an amazing and packed Science lecture next week in the galley here at McMurdo. I'll be sure to write about it.
I thought I'd also write about a few things that I do and do not miss from home:
Things I miss:
1. My family and friends of course
2. Greenery, flowers, trees!!!
3. Stars, the moon and darkness at night
4. A bigger wardrobe to choose from
5. Cooking
6. Driving
7. Deciding what I want to eat, not what they tell me is available
Things I don't miss:
1. Car horns
2. People attached to the hip to their cell phones, I-Phones, technology of any kind. People have great conversations here over a cup of hot chocolate or coffee like the old days!
3. Bugs (including spiders,flys, mosquito's etc.)
4. Can't think of much else. I really am enjoying it here.
All is well otherwise. I hope that the New Year is off to a good start for you and that 2010 brings you good health, happiness and a maybe even a little bit of adventure!
I leave you with a couple of quotes I found:
"The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
--Marcel Proust
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-- Mark Twain
Love,
Erika
Happy 2010! It is now almost mid January and the countdown is on! For what you ask??? Why for the fun to really begin. New Zealand, Australia, Africa and Puerto Rico, here we come! Eric and I deploy from McMurdo Station, Antarctica on Wednesday, February 10. That is only a month away. Can you believe it? It sure hasn't felt like we've been here for 3 months. But time flies by when you're having fun, right? So here is the update for the past few weeks.
We had Christmas and New Year's in McMurdo. Thank you friends and family for the lovely Christmas cards. They hang in the room as we speak. It definitely wasn't the same as being home with family and friends, but we did our best to stay cheery and in the holiday spirit. I even awoke Christmas morning to some cold weather socks on the wall acting as stockings, and presents we had from family and for eachother. It was very nice of him (Santa of course)! We even had a white Christmas! We went to many Christmas parties that week and I got to sing in the Christmas choir. Not at all like the one at home, but it felt good nonetheless. We sang to the field camps including WAIS and the South Pole. On Christmas Day evening we attended "MAAG" which stands for McMurdo Alternative Arts Gathering. People made artistic type exhibits that either were way out there and made no sense at all or were really cool. A few pictures from that are added. New Year's was a bit different, as we had to work the next day, so we didn't even make it to midnight. Lame I know, but you know how I get without my 8-9 hours of sleep. We ended up watching an old movie, "Arsenic and Old Lace" with Cary Grant. I highly recommend it, if you haven't seen it. But we made up for it by staying up way past midnight the night after! Doing what you might ask...
Why we attended "Ice Stock". It is an all day music festival of sorts. There were 19 bands playing from 12 PM to 1 AM, ranging from rock, ska, funk and punk to lots in between. It was a beautiful day with no wind and great music. There are some pictures of the festivities. Pretty neat to come down here and be able to go to an outdoor music festival. I thought I would only find that at home. They also had a tie dye booth where I made an Ice Stock bandanna, face painting (I got a flower) BBQ, and a "Saw Bucks" coffee stand that the carps ran. I volunteered there for part of the day. We also had a special sauce we added to their coffee or hot chocolate if they asked for it. It was really Bailey's and kept everyone nice and warm throughout the day. Eric helped run the sound booth and seemed to really enjoy his time learning the equipment and assisting there.
Life is still great here. I've been based back up at the Carp Shop and have pretty much been doing various projects in town ranging from doing resupply for the WAIS Divide field camp we were at, putting up a jamesway for when the vessel arrives in a few weeks, to cutting up 2'x8's into 44 3/4 in. lenghts for scientists. That was a fun job. I also got to cut 15 pieces of pink foam insulation for them as well,
2'x 2' and 2" thick. For 2 days I filled in for the WAIS Divide Cargo Coordinator as she went to WAIS for a few days and the carp shop offered me up to fill her shoes while she was gone. I made sure that cargo got to WAIS including passengers and resupply items as well as taking care of lots of other details. I really enjoyed having that different working experience. I had 3 afternoons of trainings with her last week, learned a lot and did my best to keep things afloat until she got back. Good times had by all!
The weather has been pretty nice. We had a decent dumping of fresh snow last week, which made McM beautiful with about 4 inches of the fluffy white stuff. Too bad it doesn't last more than a day or so. It's been in the upper 30's as highs most of the days. I even think that last Thursday, it was warmer here than it was in Austin! Crazy! Last Sunday was a gorgeous day and perfect for a friendly little game of Rugby. The US team took on the undefeated (after 20+ years or so) New Zealand team and alas could not break their losing streak. Oh well, we played our hearts out and it was a fun and crazy game to watch. But what's even crazier and more cool is.....
PENGUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's right! Eric and I went out to the sea ice with a group of others to see 4 Emperor penguins. Pictures, ohhhhhh so cute are provided to the right. We had to take an almost hour (very bumpy) ride, on what they call deltas out to see them. But it was totally worth it. A picture of me with the wheel is provided. The ice breaker, the big ship that does pretty much what it's name is, has arrived in McM and in doing so has broken up the ice enough for penguins to make there way to McM. There have been numerous "peguin spottings" around the perimeters of town, especially up by Hut Point where Eric and I like to go for walks. So far I've seen seals and penguins here. I'm hoping to be able to see some whales soon. People that have been coming down here for awhile have said that this is the earliest in the season that the sea ice has broken up and that our chances of seeing more wildlife is higher than ever! Yeah!
Another "Yeah" item is that I got word today that I get to got on a helicopter ride out to the Dry Valleys to take down some Polar Havens. This area is less than an hour away from here and apparently is beautiful. A very different scenic view of Antarctica. I am very excited as it will be my first Helo ride ever. With Dramamine in hand, 3 other carpenters and I hope to fly Thursday for an overnight stay and be back on Friday. The powers that be have also decided to send me back out to WAIS Divide to help with camp take down. I guess I did a good job with camp put in, that they want me back. Oh tent city here I come! That would be from around January 25 through early February. Eric would also be there for part of that time.
One last yeah for the day! Sir David Attenborough in in town doing some filming with the BBC. I sat next to him at dinner last Friday nigth without even realizing it. That is until I heard that famous voice of his. I grew up watching his nature programs with my family and was so happy to have him sitting a few feet from me. He will be giving, what I am sure will be an amazing and packed Science lecture next week in the galley here at McMurdo. I'll be sure to write about it.
I thought I'd also write about a few things that I do and do not miss from home:
Things I miss:
1. My family and friends of course
2. Greenery, flowers, trees!!!
3. Stars, the moon and darkness at night
4. A bigger wardrobe to choose from
5. Cooking
6. Driving
7. Deciding what I want to eat, not what they tell me is available
Things I don't miss:
1. Car horns
2. People attached to the hip to their cell phones, I-Phones, technology of any kind. People have great conversations here over a cup of hot chocolate or coffee like the old days!
3. Bugs (including spiders,flys, mosquito's etc.)
4. Can't think of much else. I really am enjoying it here.
All is well otherwise. I hope that the New Year is off to a good start for you and that 2010 brings you good health, happiness and a maybe even a little bit of adventure!
I leave you with a couple of quotes I found:
"The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
--Marcel Proust
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-- Mark Twain
Love,
Erika
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