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End of October update.... how I got to the Ice...

So, getting to the Ice was an adventure, again, of course. Make sure you look at the photos to get the complete story. I had the usual (and normal for all Ice people) mad packing, almost forgetting important things, trying to get out of the house and to the airport... It wasn't as bad as last year when I couldn't find my passport, and had to build a bass case the day before I left. But, it was mentally exhausting none the less. Thanks Mom and Dad for putting up with me. SO, I got to the airport & said goodbye to Mom (I'll be seeing her again in New Zealand, in March), and got on my first flight to Denver. Now, I've been flying Delta for so many years, that I've gotten in such a habit of flying to Salt Lake City first. Going to Denver was quite a treat. I recognized so many awesome mountains, and was excited. We first flew over Trail Creek (saw Lynn's house), and over Paradise Valley.... Then, straight over my mountains I love to hike so much. Recognized so many mountains and lakes.... to the point where it was no question as to right where we were. Good thing I'm such a map addict and have memorized the layout of the Beartooth/Absaroka Wilderness. Felt so honored to be flying above them..... and I didn't even have to pay for the plane ticket.

Yay. Anyway, got to Denver and left the secured area (gotta take a train to do that, and I now believe that that was the last mode of transportation I needed to add to my list, so that I can say I have traveled on every form of transportation imaginable in the past year, excluding various forms of hoof transport). So, I needed to take that train to check it off my list, but more importantly, I got to spend my layover time with my friend Ashley... We had smoothies and caught up on things. I may go visit her in South Africa one of these years as I leave the Ice. Then I had go get back through the secure area (getting so used to it with all the traveling I do these days). Boarded the flight to LA.... Didn't have much of a conversationalist for a seat companion, just a business traveler who did work on his laptop the whole way. When he had his laptop off and we were landing, we finally had a conversation. He asked me where I was going, and I said Antarctica of course. I don't think he took me seriously... something about the Ice does that. Anyway, as we were getting our bags down from the overhead compartments, another passenger on the plane turns to me and we have this conversation: "Did you say you were going to Antarctica?" - "Yeah" - "Me too, are you on the flight that leaves at 9:42?" - "Yeah" - "How do we find our gate?" - - - and so, I met Damon, a FNG (first timer) Plumber Helper, on his way to McMurdo for the first time. Now, getting around LAX can be quite a headache. Especially since we were totally switching airline carriers, and had to go to the far terminal. Luckily, I've been there before and knew all the confusing things you needed to do. SO, I got us to where we have to check into our next flight, but they had changed things around a little, and we had search around a little for the right counter. That's when Jocelyn spotted our green luggage tags that all us Ice people have.... She introduced herself and pointed us in the right direction (she'd been there just long ennough to figure that stuff out).... So, the 2 of us made it through the secure area, and were heading to our gate, when we started seeing green luggage tags all over. I think there were about 200 Ice people on that flight. It was a party at the gate. I got so see so many old friends, while making new ones. We of course were all in our giddly moods and excited as can be. The FNGs are always the most fun, with their fresh energy. So, I was sitting in a circle of FNGs, and said, "Who wants to go skiing on Saturday?" They said, "I don't know about you, but that's the day I'm scheduled to fly to Antarctica." and I said, "Of course you are, all of us are, but the flight will probably be delayed, and we need to have a plan B. It's spring Skiing now, and by the time we get off the Ice, the areas won't have opened up for the winter yet.... a delayed flight is our only chance - who's with me?" Jocelyn was totally for it, and pretty soon we had a small circle of people all planning to go to the ski area on Saturday.

So, after a few hours of making new friends, and catching up with old ones, we finally boarded the flight. The flight from LA to Aukland is 12 hours, but Quantas is a nice airline and it's quite comfortable. I was quite happy just wandering around socializing. I saw Jonathan sleeping peacefuly, as I chatted the night away with his neighbor.... Jonathan and I had stayed up all night on this flight LAST YEAR, and I guess he learned that it is important to sleep on the flight. I guess I got a little sleep, but more would have been nice. Well, things were confusing when we finally made it to Aukland. We had to go through one customs gate, claim our baggage, go through another customs gate, change terminals (15 min. walk), check in, go through security, and catch our next flight - which was leaving about 1/2 an hour after we landed. Of course, I get stopped in customs, and they have to inspect all my nicely packed bags. The ones that the U.S. TSA (travel security admin) hadn't already opened were now opened by the NZ customs people, as they needed to inspect my hiking boots and anything else that may have contaminations. Then, it was repacking my bags, and making the mad dash from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. I knew the system, and the tight connection, and grabbed the people around me, and started jogging over. I made pretty good time, but just as I got to the check in counter, they took the last person on the flight. Most of us missed that flight because of the tight connection. So, we had to go stand in line at the re-ticketing counter.... As we stood in line, I heard the 3 people in front of me get, "you're confirmed on the 9:45" (we were originally on the 7:45), then I got there and they said, "you're confirmed on the 12:45, but we'll put you on standby for the 8:45," and then the person behind me, "you're on the 9:45." - Now wait a minute, this is making no sence whatsoever. Why was I put on the 12:45, I'd been one of the fairly early ones of getting there. So then, after I'd been sitting there a while, trying to figure out the 8:45 standby thing, some of my new FNG friends showed up.... we were planning on sticking together once we got to Christchurch, so I could show them around. Of course they got on the 9:45... this was making no sence. I almost made it standby on that flight, but got stuck on the 12:45. So, I sent my FNG friends ahead, with instructions on how to book rooms at the YMCA (so we could share rooms and it would be cheaper).... And then there were just 5 of us stuck their in Aukland, waiting for the 12:45 flight. Why we were the lucky 5, out of 200, we don't know.

So anyway, what felt like a week after leaving Bozeman, I finally made it to Christchurch. (OK, so I left BZN on the morning of Oct 5th, and got to CHC on the after noon of Oct 7th). With only 5 of us coming in, we were able to get our baggage, collect our money (not only are we on salary, but they give us a nice cash par-diem whenever we're in NZ), and catch shuttles to our hotels nice and quickly. I was at the YMCA again, and when I got there, I was already booked in a room with Jocelyn and Nicole. After a little shower and refreshing, they came back from their walk... we then found Josh & James (staying at other hotels), and hit the town. That was our little group, and we had so much fun together. By getting home to Christchurch (and that's what it felt like), I finally got caught up on the news: The first flight to get to the Ice this season, tore up the Ice runway, and they were unable to land airplanes there. SO, things were way backed up, and we didn't know when we were leaving. Turns out there were 800 Ice people in CHC at that time. Now that was weird, and fun. I saw people I knew EVERYWHERE. It was pretty much the town of McMurdo floating around Christchurch. Bailies was crowded with all sorts of Ice people. It was nice to see so many people.

The next day we had our orientation and clothing issue. As Jocelyn, Nicole & I were leaving the Y in the morning, with all our heavy bags (seems as all you do is schlep schlep schlep during this whole process), Mark suddenly showed up, and he had a van. So, instead of paying $5 each to get a ride to the CDC, we got a free ride. Of course Mark got a little lost, and then we laughed about our getting lost and bottemed out sailing incedent back in June in the San Fran Bay. But he got us to our orientation and took our bags to the CDC for us. So, this was the long boring day of paperwork, repetative news, and then trying on all our ECW (extreme cold weather gear). Since we knew we weren't flying the next day, because of all the backups, our plans to go to the ski area were finallized. I took charge of this group. First thing - we had to get a van. So, I call the rental agency, and they say they only have one van, and it's already rented out, but it may return by the time we need it. They explained that it was rented to Antarcticans, who weren't sure when they were gonna fly out.... The rental agency was nice and told me who it was rented out to. Turns out, it was the very same van we had ridden in with Mark that morning. So, the next day, I got up early and took Mark and people on his flight to the CDC (airport) to catch their flight to the Ice and then kept the van... Then I went around town picking people up (to head to the ski area). We stopped by the CDC to pick up our $150 for the day, and then 10 of us were on our way to Mt. Hutt for a day of snowboarding. The crew: Jocelyn, Nicole, Josh, James, George, Trey, Greg, Mike, Ariel, and myself. Everyone was a FNG, except for myself and Greg (a polie). Greg was happy not to be in charge, and I was happy running the show. Everyone else was just stoked to be getting the extra treat of snowboarding they hadn't counted for. They didn't rent telemark gear, so Greg and I (the two tele skiers) were stuck with snowboards... I was shaky at first, but did OK by the end of the day. No one skied, we all snowboarded, and it was an awesome day. Turns out Jocelyn and I were the two beginners, and were quite compatable. (well, the other two beginners, Mike & Ariel - the Puerto Ricans - - they didn't leave the lodge the whole time... This whole cold and snow thing was a bit much for them). Anyway, we had a great time. Jocelyn and I tried the T-Bar, but we both failed miserably, and she got one heck of a bruise. Don't know why I even bother tried the T-Bar. I can't ride them with skis on, and snowboards certainly weren't easier.... oh, and I'm not a snowboarder! Oh, well, we had fun anyway. I still can't get off a chairlift without falling. It rained, sleeted & ice-chuncked on us. But the weather was still a lot warmer than we were expecting when we were to head to Antarctica in a few days.

After snowboarding, we got back to Christchurch and heard the news that we were scheduled to fly the next day. We didn't like that, we wanted to play. We had to report in at 5:00 am, so we had to be up at 4:00 am. Well, we were in the lobby of the Y at 4 something-ish (by then Josh & James had moved to the Y, and so the 5 of us (J, J, J, N & Z) were all at the Y), when we got the message that our flight was delayed. We now had to check in at 11:00 am. Well, we were awake and ready to go (showered and moved out of our rooms), and figured we might as well start the day. Now 11:00 was too early of a time for us to make it to the hotsprings and back, so we decided to go to the beach instead. It was still dark out, and this very well could be our last sunrise for the next 6 months, so we figured to take full advantage of it.... It was cloudy, so there was no spectacular sunrise, but it was very beautiful none the less. This was Josh's first time to the ocean, and it was so awesome for all of us to be able to share that experience together. We had a full and awesome morning, and then went to the CDC to check in at 11:00.... well, turns out that now our flight was cancled. So, after collecting our $150, we piled back into the van and headed to the hot springs. Several more vehicals were rented, and a great many Ice people enjoyed a soak in naturally hot water for the day. We kept it to just the 6 of us (we added Greg) in that van, as we'd discovered the previous day (when going snowboarding) that keeping track of 10 people is too stressful. We had probably 20 people trying to load into that van with us. We're glad we kept in small. We got to the hotsprings first, and then a bunch of other people showed up (Mike, Nicole, George, Brien, Stan, Emily, Amy... to name a few). It was awesome to soak our poor/tired/out-of-shape snowboarding muscles in hot water. We went to Maruia Hotsprings, which is a bit more of a drive than going to Hanmer Hotsprings - but it was worth the extra effort. We almost go into an accident on the way. It was a windy mountain road on the Lewis Pass road, and there was a one lane bridge (without a warning sign ahead of time - it must have gotten knocked over), around a blind corner. We were going pretty fast, and there was a car coming the other way. The other car had the right of way, and we had to swerve to the guard rail to miss it. James was driving, (good thing we'd added him to the insurance plan), and I must say that he is an excellent drive.... he was our token ambulance driver of the group. Anyway, as we were skidding towared the guard rail, I had already accepted the fact that we were slamming into the rail. By then the van was in my name... and I just knew we were hitting that rail. But, at the last minute, as the other vehical cleared the bridge, James swerved over and we went barreling across the bridge. There was a car coming the other way (and remember they had the right-a-way), but they saw what was going on and pulled over. Anyway, we somehow made it through that incedent with no accident.... I don't know how, but we did. Meanwhile, carsick Josh got thrown from his seat, and was in read bad shape by now. He was asking for us to pull over quick... but we were still on a windy mountain road, with lots of blind corners, and no-where to pull over. Finally we found a place, and Josh was out of the van in a heartbeat. We were all pretty shooken up... I took over driving after that, as I was the one with the most NZ experience (remember, they drive on the left side of the road there).

It was probably midnight when we made it back to the Y.... our rooms were booked, and the message was we were supposed to report in at 6:00 am the next morning for our flight to the Ice. This time all went as planned and we made it to Antarctica. One try, no boomerangs this year - YAY!!! As I'd done this before, I knew the tricks.... they load guys in the back (where they have a funnel into a U-barrel), and the girls in the front, closer to the only bathroom. I told my guy friends, to get on the plane first, so that they could hopefully spread out onto the cargo pallets in the back. I kept my gal friends, and made sure we got on the plane last. There was a little room for us to spread out (not much, but more than everyone else on the flight), and we were able to make ourselves comfortable. Then Jocelyn and I ventured up to check out the cockpit, and were allowed in. No one else came up asking to see the cockpit, and we were able to ride there for almost the entire flight (until it was time to land). It was an awesome experience, and almost seems unreal. The scenery was AWESOME.

And then, finally, I was home in McMurdo again. I got a great room assignment this year. I'm in dorm 211, which is right between 155 (town center) and 143 (where I work) - a perfect location. I was so excited when I got to my room.... and then, 5 minutes later, my roomate walked in, and I found I got very lucky with roomate selection. My friend Stan(short for Kristan), was my roomie!! We had just been hot-springing together the previous day, and we had been on the same flight. Before we even had our bunny boots off (required for flight, but never worn any other time), we were pushing around the furniture and trying to make our room perfect. Within a few days, we built ourselves an awesome loft, and have made our room an oasis. We have room for both of us to do Yoga at the same time, and all sorts of nice little trinkets that make a room special. Last year I never hung out in my room, but this year, I can tell I will be hanging out there plenty. After being a gypsy and living out of my car all off season, it's nice to have a home again.

Work is awesome. I hand out auto parts in Antarctica for a living.... not so bad. It's more money than shoveling snow. Check back here for more updates about work and all the crazyness McMurdo has to offer.....

Halloween update (written around Christmas)

OK, where do I start? If you paid attention to this site last year, you'll know that I'm not that good at updating it in a timely fashion. Here go the same set of excuses again: There's a lot going on around here. There's barely time for me to do anything I want to do, and as it is, sleep seems to be lacking. Finding time to sit down and work on this site, so you people back home can know what I'm up to - well it's a lot of work - sorry. So, there are days when I'm feeling ambitious ennough to work on this site, but then it seems as if something always goes wrong. The best atmosphere for doing computer work is in the Coffee House. Now, finding an electrical outlet anywhere near an internet outlet is quite a challenge. You're lucky if you can find both. Well, by the time I do my regular internet business (email, check out photos on our local server... etc.), I'm usually running low on electricity.... either that, or I was able to get electriciy, but not internet. Hmm.... Well, say I finally am connected to the internet, and I have time to work on my page... guess what I have to deal with now? The speed of our internet. OUCH - it's slow. It makes dial-up back home seem like the fastest internet connection ever. In fact, I just pretty much avoid the internet around here. It can take 20 minutes to just get into my hotmail account. (so, I only check it like once a week). Now, try uploading photos with that sort of speed! I guess I could be like my friends who have blogs, and do that , and just tell you about what's going on with plain text - but I'm a picture person - I want to tell my stories with photos. I'm not that good at this writing thing. Gotta check out the photos to get the whole story with me. I'm just a visual person, what can I say? Anyway, I'll try a brief synopsis of what's going on:

Halloween was awesome - deffinetly check out the photos to get that story. Sorry it's taking me so long to get those photos up, I know many of you are waiting to see those.

So much is going on... I really don't know where to start. Running around with my head cut off... I work 54 hrs a week, handing out auto parts, and doing misc. supply chores, like doing inventory. The rest of my time is spent playing, bouncing around from one social event to the next, playing music, giving massages (my massage table FINALLY got here), and socializing. Going anywhere in McMurdo is like going to a grocery store in a small town. And of course I have to stop and chat. Yeah, just look at photo captions as I get them up... that'll help you learn the story. Just understand that this place is awesome & I love Antarctica to death. Halloween photos are finally here... and more should be following close behind, soon... honestly... I know, it's almost Christmas, and it's not really halloween anymore, but you'll enjoy the photos anyway.

End of the Summer update - written in late February

Alright - FINALLY - here's the update from this year's Antarctic adventure. As I was collecting photos and figuring out what I was going to say here, I realized that I had a relatively boring summer. If you really want interesting Antarctic Stories, go to Last season's entries '03-'04 and hear about what life as a GA is all about. I worked in Supply this year and didn't get out much. Most of the photos are of friends around McMurdo... I also have a few work photos, in case you're wondering what I do here, for work.... The collection of play pictures is much bigger, though. Even though we work 54 hrs a week, we play even more hours than that. There is a great community here in McMurdo - I love the people. I'll be leaving the Ice on February 18th. I'm sorry I haven't been giving you all updates all season. I'll just have to tell ya all stories when I see you in the real world. Follow along the captions of the photos for the full story. There are Work Photos and Play Photos.

Work Photos

Play Photos

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