Here we are, off ice. We finally got a seemingly last minute flight into the Pole just a few days ago with more disappointment to immediately follow - a 24 hour weather delay of our flight from McMurdo to Christchurch. While we sat around in turmoil for a few hours trying to figure out our travel plans and any other chaos, most of us winterovers tried to make the best of the situation.
On our last night in McMurdo the day before our flight out into the real world, we compiled a team to compete in trivia at one of the bars on station. Jason, Steve, Eric, Jeff, Ryan, and I were "Team Toast," how apropos it was considering our current state of minds. Despite all of that T3 syndrome amongst us and the multitude of beers we each consumed, we managed to score 3rd place! Thank god for some of the nerds on our team to inspire answers for Harry Potter, Star Trek, and IT-related questions; I certainly remained quiet during those rounds. I never expected to do so well at trivia, and I assume neither did my teammates, but nevertheless we made an impressive and formidable bunch.
Earlier that day, our friends Linnah and Caroline took us up to the Discovery Hut and brought us inside. Linnah was my lab manager at Palmer in 2014, and Caroline took over for those last remaining weeks that I overstayed that season. It wasn't something that I expected to enjoy, but after seeing the inside of the hut I am glad that I went. Just outside the main entrance was a 100+ year old seal carcass, clearly something Scott and Shackleton and the other older explorers once caught to feed themselves and their crew. Immediately inside to the right (after brushing our shoes off as is required to preserve the environment), there was a stack of old seal blubber. It wasn't the most pleasant smelling, as it slowly oozed into the flooring, but it nevertheless was an interesting site. Likely one of my most favorite sites of that excursion includes the 100+ year old onions and potatoes. And we thought South Pole food was old!
To fast forward quite a bit - here I am in Christchurch writing from my hotel room. Who would have guessed that the internet could move this quickly. I have been able to fool around on the internet and check my email in rapid succession. In fact, we have almost spent an entire day just hanging out alone in this room trying to catch up on all of the details of life.
The first day back in Christchurch we spent trying to shop and get ourselves together for vacation. Whilst I couldn't find a proper pair of women's jeans, Jason was able to make do with a pair of men's jeans that he found in one of the local malls. He keeps complaining that they're so metrosexual, but they'll be fine for getting us through vacation. After some shopping, Jason wanted a total body massage. To waste the hour during which he got a massage, I decided to get a mani/pedi. What a disappointment honestly, but I guess my nails are in a better state than they were a few months ago with my charcoal-soaked mittens (our hand warmers at Pole were charcoal based, activated by air, and would leave residues on our clothing). Hopefully that's the blackest my nails and fingers will be in quite a long time.
The best part about that day to be honest was our lunch - 3 avocados amongst the two of us, some pita chips, and a small round of single creme brie. I couldn't have been more delighted. Jason had the foresight to scour some salt from god only knows where for the avocados, making our lunch even more delectable. It's the little things that are delicious once you leave the Pole :)
Following day we met up with good ol' Jeff Keller for lunch. We went to Dux, a common USAP watering ground, for lunch and some drinks. I ordered some fish tacos and we all split some steamed mussels, likely one of the more delicious meals that I have had in a while. The mussels down here actually come in a beautiful green shell, making them unique to look at. I haven't noticed a significant difference in taste quite yet, but maybe I will as my expertise sharpens.
So here we are today: Sunday. This is the last day just relaxing prior to our vacation. I got a pair of hiking pants today as I cannot seem to find agreeable Kiwi jeans. Unfortunately Jason thought he was being cute by buying the same exact pair of pants as me, only in men's form. Now we will be twins on the road or like that couple in Best in Show. After shopping, we stopped to get something small to eat just to satiate us until dinner. Normally in the real world I would be peeved by birds flying nearby to get a taste of my meal, but shockingly enough I was feeling a little Cinderella-esque and almost wanted to invite the birds over, hoping to have them help me make a bed in the future. Obviously I never quite extended the offer, but the thought was there!
We finished off our evening by eating dinner at The Monday Room nearby Dux in Christchurch. What a great little restaurant! Jason and I had been talking about ceviche for a while, and TMR had an appetizer of lime ceviche. We both ordered a plate to satiate that taste. He got the lamb rump for dinner, and I got the sweet potato gnocchi. I couldn't have asked for a better "final dinner" in Christtchurch until the real vacation begins and we start cooking for ourselves.
Tomorrow's plan is to check out of the hotel, get our luggage, and pick up the camper van. After that, we will try to ship a suitcase home so we don't have to lug around our ECW all vacation-long, and then we will go grocery shopping. I am so excited to load up on veggies and fruits. It has been much too long since I've had a truly roasted red bell pepper. Hopefully I'll make an update of our vacation prior to getting home, but, if not, enjoy this for what it's worth :)
Just 12 days in a camper van, then Jason and I will meet up with his brother Brian in Australia for some diving. So looking forward to that one!
Saturday, November 11, 2017
Sunday, September 10, 2017
The Final Stretch
It’s been a while since I’ve last made a blog post so here I
am updating the world. Not too much has
dramatically changed down here, but there are a few exciting bits of news that
I can share:
The window coverings are now down! We had to have them up since March to block
out all artificial lighting in the building.
There are optical instruments on the roof of the elevated station that
look at the auroras. I’m not totally
certain how the science works behind the experiments as it’s never been
explained to me (and I’ve never asked), but the essence is that no white lights
can be observed by the instruments as it messes up the data. This is why we would walk around with red
headlamps to get to and from the outer buildings and why the heavy equipment
had all been equipped with red headlights.
Now that the sun is up, albeit not over the horizon yet still, the
auroras cannot be observed; the
experiment is over. We’re free to remove
the window coverings and actually enjoy the view outside of our windows!
It’s still a bit dark outside from the perspective of the
station windows however. All windows are
tinted so as to block out some of the sun’s light and radiation during the
summer months. They thusly give the
false impression that the outside world is still cast in darkness. Not true!
My team and I went for a walk last week before we got a strong wind
storm so that we could enjoy the view.
It was -90F, a beautiful pink and purple glow on the horizon from the
sun, and I was able to maneuver without totally tripping over the sastrugi and
new drifts. Of course it’s me though so
at least some tripping is required.
 |
| Sunrise! Photo taken by Brett Baddorf (the one I took is on a different computer) |
We have also been getting more information from the Denver
HQ about our redeployment. Right now it
appears that there will be a KBA (Ken Borek) twin otter plane arriving at the
Pole on October 15th. They’re
just passing through, but it still signifies the first new person that we have
seen since the first few weeks of February.
They also, as is rumored, will be bringing freshies! You don’t know how excited I am to eat an
orange again. Yes, we have the
greenhouse so we aren’t going completely without fresh foods, but we haven’t
had fresh citrus in months. I have a
feeling that my diet is going to dramatically change in those few weeks; I will probably go completely raw vegan and
just engorge myself on freshies if it’s possible.
Of course with the announcement that we’ll be seeing some
friendly Canadians coming down our way in a month signifies just how close we
are to redeploying. There are still
things to do on station to prepare for the arrival of the summer crew such as
prepping the skiway (runway for you on terra
firma), getting all of the heavy equipment up and running, and preparing
any retrograde cargo that may have to leave the station. The past week or so my team has had a lull in
our workloads as we wait for the extremely cold temperatures to break and the
extreme winds to die down (yeah okay not as extreme as McMurdo or
Florida/Texas, but pretty extreme for here), but soon enough we’ll be
busy. We’re tired and mentally fatigued,
whether we know it ourselves or not, but I think the knowledge of our soon
departures will reinvigorate us a bit.
 |
| And it's a good thing too - we have to start shoveling out enough snow to get a loader in here to scoop it away. From left to right: Brett Baddorf, me, Steve Ashton |
Thursday, August 24, 2017
SUN!
Stole this photo from Brett. He took it this afternoon. The sun is almost here!
Aside from that exciting news, nothing new is happening. I got an official redeployment date. I will be off of the ice on November 4th, which likely means I'll be leaving the South Pole on November 3rd. Jason unfortunately won't be redeploying until 6 days after me so I'll be spending about a week by myself in New Zealand, waiting to start vacation.
We booked our open water course in Cairns, Australia with Pro Dives as well! Brian will be joining us for this portion of the trip and in the open water course with me. First two days for us will be spent in the pool with the dive instructors, and then all three of us (two Spanns and me) will be going on a liveaboard trip with Pro Dives to the outer reef of the Great Barrier Reef. Brian and I will complete our open water course there, and Jason is planning to get a mixed gases certification done as well. Now we just have to book hotels and get Brian on a plane.
Our transportation for the road trip part of our trip in New Zealand is also booked. It turns out that there is a holiday happening on the South Island the same week we are traveling so it's a good thing we booked our trip so far out. We likely wouldn't have been able to secure a spot otherwise!
All that remains I guess is figuring out our flights, booking our Sydney part of the trip (Brian will be joining then too), and deciding if we want to go to Bali or not. I feel like since Brian is traveling as far as he is that he should have some say in this last leg of our trip. He's okay with going to Bali, but perhaps he'll want to see something else in Australia (HINT HINT BRIAN DO SOME RESEARCH PLEASE).
So that's all. Just two more months and I'll be outta here.
Aside from that exciting news, nothing new is happening. I got an official redeployment date. I will be off of the ice on November 4th, which likely means I'll be leaving the South Pole on November 3rd. Jason unfortunately won't be redeploying until 6 days after me so I'll be spending about a week by myself in New Zealand, waiting to start vacation.
We booked our open water course in Cairns, Australia with Pro Dives as well! Brian will be joining us for this portion of the trip and in the open water course with me. First two days for us will be spent in the pool with the dive instructors, and then all three of us (two Spanns and me) will be going on a liveaboard trip with Pro Dives to the outer reef of the Great Barrier Reef. Brian and I will complete our open water course there, and Jason is planning to get a mixed gases certification done as well. Now we just have to book hotels and get Brian on a plane.
Our transportation for the road trip part of our trip in New Zealand is also booked. It turns out that there is a holiday happening on the South Island the same week we are traveling so it's a good thing we booked our trip so far out. We likely wouldn't have been able to secure a spot otherwise!
All that remains I guess is figuring out our flights, booking our Sydney part of the trip (Brian will be joining then too), and deciding if we want to go to Bali or not. I feel like since Brian is traveling as far as he is that he should have some say in this last leg of our trip. He's okay with going to Bali, but perhaps he'll want to see something else in Australia (HINT HINT BRIAN DO SOME RESEARCH PLEASE).
So that's all. Just two more months and I'll be outta here.
Friday, August 18, 2017
Things I Miss
I recently called home, and my parents were asking me if I missed the sun or summer. I figured that I'd make a blog post dedicated to things that I miss (aside from freshies because that's an obvious one). It's weird what things you'll feel like you're "going without" when on the ice for this long (and being this isolated of course as well).
At Palmer I remember missing some of the smaller things like nail polish that I had back home. I tried to be prudent this go around and bring those items with me. And yet, I find myself not even using them! I guess they weren't all that important after all. Here is what I am missing this time:
At Palmer I remember missing some of the smaller things like nail polish that I had back home. I tried to be prudent this go around and bring those items with me. And yet, I find myself not even using them! I guess they weren't all that important after all. Here is what I am missing this time:
- Weather. In Massachusetts, we get all four seasons. My first year living in Colorado didn't exactly provide me with them. It essentially remained hot year round, and hot for me in the winter is anything above 30 degrees in December/January. The fact that I didn't break out a peacoat until, well, ever really was sad. The fall was much too warm for my taste (seriously?! 70 degrees in November??), and the colorful leaves aren't as colorful as home. Then again, I can't really expect autumn to be any better than how it presents itself in New England. At the Pole though we don't get any weather...at all really. This includes snow. I know, shocking, but it's too cold here for it to snow so we don't even get those beautiful flakes.
- The sun's warmth. I think this one is another obvious one though. I don't necessarily miss the sun itself because I know what it's like here with sun (no sleep as it never sets), but I miss feeling its rays. While the sun is starting to come up and we can see its glow on the horizon right now, I won't feel any warmth until I get to New Zealand.
- DOGS! Oh my God do I miss dogs. I keep looking at adoption ads and upcoming litters for sale of various breeds. I more specifically miss my dog, Lilly, but she's warm and safe at home in Boston with my parents. I will be so excited to pet a dog again when I leave.
- Walking. Another weird one. It's too cold for me to spend too much time outside walking around. I get all paranoid about damaging my facial skin from the wind too so all of the layers on my face can make breathing uncomfortable. I try to walk on the treadmills here every once in a while so I'm not totally just sitting on my ass, but that's really boring. It's not like there's much outside stimulation. I am so looking forward to walking to the point that, gasp, I am excited to get back to CO and go hiking, snowshoeing, whatever have you. Who would have guessed I'd be excited to do outdoor sports?! Certainly not my friend Emma Soucy.
- Cooking. We don't really get to do much cooking just for ourselves down here. If we cook, we are supposed to cook for the whole station. I did that a few times at Palmer and helped Mike in the kitchen quite a bit, but it was a smaller population there. I'm just not interested in cooking a meal for 46 people. I miss cooking whatever I like and just for myself.
- Good Internet. Also an obvious one. It sucks not being able to load bank accounts most days or getting up early to use the internet on the good satellite only to find out that it's down for the day. I'm looking forward to being able to stream on YouTube and Netflix again as well. We have lots of movies here, but not many new ones or ones that pique my interest.
- The smell of rain. Not so much the water itself, but how water makes our olfactory senses work overtime. We can pick up on the smells of flowers, grass, and other wildlife. Hell even the dirt. I miss all of that. There aren't any scents here, and the greenhouse smells more chemical to me than like the earth.
- Looking like me. Odd again. I am always in Carhartt bibs here and most days when not in them, I look like a freaking hobo. Sweatpants and old sweatshirts or tshirts abound. It's because I didn't want to bring any nice clothing down and ruin it. It's also pretty pointless for me to do anything to my hair or wear makeup here. It'll be nice to get home and not feel like a slob. Yeah, I could put jeans on, but they don't really keep me all that warm. Oh and dresses...yeah can't wear those here.
- Sunglasses. No sun here so I don't need the. Even with the sun up, they won't help me much. My Ray Bans are metal-framed so a big no-no in the cold. They also won't do much to protect my skin from the cold wind so when the sun is up, I'll need to wear my goggles for some kind of sun protection. Why do I miss my sunglasses? Because I usually end up using them as a de facto headband. I don't know how else to keep my messy hair out of my face so, yeah, looking like a bridge troll it is.
So there's a short list (or not so short) of things I can think of right now that I miss. I only have 77 days left until my assigned off-ice date of November 4th. Weather can always push it back, but I'm hoping that I get to leave on the assigned date (means I'm out of the Pole on the 3rd, one night in McMurdo, and Christchurch on the 4th). It may take me a while to remember how to be a functioning human in the real world. Let's hope I don't embarrass myself out there too much.
Monday, August 7, 2017
Christmas in July and other July Events
It's been awhile since my last post, but this is mainly because I was hoping and waiting for some photos to be put on our Common Drive on the network. I haven't been great at taking photos this winter, so I've mainly been relying upon other people's efforts. Recently a few photos were uploaded to the I Drive (Common Drive), so here we are!
Christmas in July is a yearly tradition at the Pole. It occurs the weekend closest to July 25th, this year being on Sunday, July 23rd. The week before the celebration, volunteers decorate the galley with Christmas trees, lights, garland, and all other tacky Christmas decorations that you can think of. Kim spearheaded the efforts this year, and the galley looked great and well-lit.
A few days before Christmas in July, a group of us got together to decorate some sugar cookies in the galley.
On the 23rd, Kim got up early to bake us all some continental Christmas brunch items. She was also kind enough to supply the station, with help from some donations, champagne for mimosas. Our plumber, Brian, took it upon himself to donate some spicy vodka for those who love Bloody Marys. For those of us who love Christmas, we spent the day in the galley watching a variety of Christmas movies. A Christmas Story is traditional and thus it was watched.
In the evening, Kim served Christmas dinner. Her dinner entailed some of the traditional dishes you would expect for Christmas in various parts of the country. Roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, stuffing (she called it dressing?), and a sweet potato dish. I don't know much about sweet potatoes and marshmallows as I hail from the great area of the US that is New England. We don't exactly eat that there in my experience, but I'm sure the southern folks on station loved it. There was also a Christmas punch that, well, tasted like Christmas. It was some sort of vodka cranberry spiced punch that had hints of nutmeg and cinnamon.
After dinner, we began the Yankee swap (White Elephant for you heathens not from New England). While there were a few gifts that were homemade and Antarctica related that I wanted, I knew that my number was too early in the game for me to go after those coveted items. It was best that I strategize and go for something that's acceptable to me but also that I would not lose. I stole a bottle of Glenlivet then from our station doctor. It was a sure bet as that would be the last available steal for the gift. I figured that Jason would like the scotch so he could have it, and perhaps he could go for something that I wanted since his number was later in the game.
It worked out pretty well! He stole (for the final steal and again from Sarah - don't worry I apologized to her after for targeting her gifts) an original copy of a National Geographic issue about the South Pole. The issue was published sometime in the 1950s and is in beautiful condition. I really like flipping through it to see the advertisements from back then (oh yeah and the stories are cool too). There were some crackers and a candy bar in the box as well, but the real meat of the prize was that magazine. And, luckily, Sarah got a great gift that wasn't stolen from her in the end - a machined miniature version of our pole marker for next year. I unfortunately am not allowed to share photos of the marker until January 1, 2018 when the real deal is revealed.
As for other July shenanigans, I had a birthday at the beginning of the month. Birthdays at the Pole are starkly different from birthdays at Palmer. At Palmer, I remember the galley being decorated on the day of my bday with some Happy Birthday signs like the ones that you would see at children's birthday parties. Mike, our chef that winter, went above and beyond for me that day as well. I got to try some of his award winning cowboy coffee, and he cooked a Massachusetts-themed dinner (fisherman's platter) that, as usual, was delicious. My cake was an ice cream cake that looked like something out of a bakery. He made his own ice cream with Bailey's, Kahlua, coffee, etc. It was my 21st, hence the alcohol theme for his ice creams. I also was gifted a balloon, Sam Adams, and a signed card from the station that day. Some mystery dried fruit appeared from the recent ship's port call at the station so there really was a surprise gift that day.
At Pole, most of those things don't happen. I am going to wager a guess that it is because the population is full-time double that of Palmer, although at the time of my birthday at Palmer we had just around 40 people on station. Here, the galley crew were kind enough to make me something for dessert that may fit my fancy. I find cake to be putrid little sugar bombs so that was not what was made. They made a peanut butter mousse instead which certainly was able to calm my sweet tooth and peanut butter cravings. The whiteboard sign in the galley also said happy birthday. Dinner that night followed the menu and recipe as dictated by Denver, and there lies the largest difference from Palmer to Pole. I had an enjoyable and relaxing day. I slept early in the evening as I am always tired by the end of the week here, and I really can't complain about it too much.
Christmas in July is a yearly tradition at the Pole. It occurs the weekend closest to July 25th, this year being on Sunday, July 23rd. The week before the celebration, volunteers decorate the galley with Christmas trees, lights, garland, and all other tacky Christmas decorations that you can think of. Kim spearheaded the efforts this year, and the galley looked great and well-lit.
 |
| The decorations |
A few days before Christmas in July, a group of us got together to decorate some sugar cookies in the galley.
 |
| Cookie decorating! Turns out I suck at this. |
 |
| Cookies. The ones I decorated have M&Ms clearly lined in a pattern or look like a small child attempted it. |
On the 23rd, Kim got up early to bake us all some continental Christmas brunch items. She was also kind enough to supply the station, with help from some donations, champagne for mimosas. Our plumber, Brian, took it upon himself to donate some spicy vodka for those who love Bloody Marys. For those of us who love Christmas, we spent the day in the galley watching a variety of Christmas movies. A Christmas Story is traditional and thus it was watched.
In the evening, Kim served Christmas dinner. Her dinner entailed some of the traditional dishes you would expect for Christmas in various parts of the country. Roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, stuffing (she called it dressing?), and a sweet potato dish. I don't know much about sweet potatoes and marshmallows as I hail from the great area of the US that is New England. We don't exactly eat that there in my experience, but I'm sure the southern folks on station loved it. There was also a Christmas punch that, well, tasted like Christmas. It was some sort of vodka cranberry spiced punch that had hints of nutmeg and cinnamon.
After dinner, we began the Yankee swap (White Elephant for you heathens not from New England). While there were a few gifts that were homemade and Antarctica related that I wanted, I knew that my number was too early in the game for me to go after those coveted items. It was best that I strategize and go for something that's acceptable to me but also that I would not lose. I stole a bottle of Glenlivet then from our station doctor. It was a sure bet as that would be the last available steal for the gift. I figured that Jason would like the scotch so he could have it, and perhaps he could go for something that I wanted since his number was later in the game.
It worked out pretty well! He stole (for the final steal and again from Sarah - don't worry I apologized to her after for targeting her gifts) an original copy of a National Geographic issue about the South Pole. The issue was published sometime in the 1950s and is in beautiful condition. I really like flipping through it to see the advertisements from back then (oh yeah and the stories are cool too). There were some crackers and a candy bar in the box as well, but the real meat of the prize was that magazine. And, luckily, Sarah got a great gift that wasn't stolen from her in the end - a machined miniature version of our pole marker for next year. I unfortunately am not allowed to share photos of the marker until January 1, 2018 when the real deal is revealed.
As for other July shenanigans, I had a birthday at the beginning of the month. Birthdays at the Pole are starkly different from birthdays at Palmer. At Palmer, I remember the galley being decorated on the day of my bday with some Happy Birthday signs like the ones that you would see at children's birthday parties. Mike, our chef that winter, went above and beyond for me that day as well. I got to try some of his award winning cowboy coffee, and he cooked a Massachusetts-themed dinner (fisherman's platter) that, as usual, was delicious. My cake was an ice cream cake that looked like something out of a bakery. He made his own ice cream with Bailey's, Kahlua, coffee, etc. It was my 21st, hence the alcohol theme for his ice creams. I also was gifted a balloon, Sam Adams, and a signed card from the station that day. Some mystery dried fruit appeared from the recent ship's port call at the station so there really was a surprise gift that day.
At Pole, most of those things don't happen. I am going to wager a guess that it is because the population is full-time double that of Palmer, although at the time of my birthday at Palmer we had just around 40 people on station. Here, the galley crew were kind enough to make me something for dessert that may fit my fancy. I find cake to be putrid little sugar bombs so that was not what was made. They made a peanut butter mousse instead which certainly was able to calm my sweet tooth and peanut butter cravings. The whiteboard sign in the galley also said happy birthday. Dinner that night followed the menu and recipe as dictated by Denver, and there lies the largest difference from Palmer to Pole. I had an enjoyable and relaxing day. I slept early in the evening as I am always tired by the end of the week here, and I really can't complain about it too much.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Talk of the Town - Redeployment!
It's still a little too soon for us all to have official redeployment dates, but we're getting closer to having those assigned. Rumor has it I will likely be leaving the Pole in early November (the 3rd to the 6th) with the first LC-130 to arrive on November 1st. How exciting! No idea when Jason redeploys, hopefully close to my date, but I have a feeling it may be a bit later than me as he has a much more important position on station than me and therefore turnover may take longer.
Because we're getting closer to the end (3.5 months left!), we're getting more serious about vacation planning. We have to lock in our dates for diving in Cairns by the end of the month as apparently early December is a popular time for people to go dive in Australia. Jason's brother, Brian, will be joining us in Australia. It'll be nice to have somebody in my open water class with me. Plus, it'll put our American Airlines frequent flyer points to good use! The USAP has changed the carrier we fly with (now United Airlines) so I likely won't have much use for the AAdvantage points. We're going to "gift" the points to Brian so hopefully the long and expensive international flight to Australia won't be so bad. And, of course from his perspective (that I'm going to assume as I haven't spoken to him in a few weeks), I'm sure he's ready to take a break from Colorado living for a little while and do something new.
The toughest thing with trying to book our plans right now though is adding in buffer days. I have been told that in November the South Pole tends to experience some stormy weather that can cause cancellations and delays in flight plans. While we will be assigned "official" redeployment dates, nothing is truly official. As is such, we need to pre-plan some days to spend in Christchurch in the event that we don't make it there on time. I don't like the idea of paying for a hotel booking that I may not be able to use, but that's life. I had to do it in Punta Arenas in the event that the Laurence M. Gould, my chariot out, was delayed or stuck in some sea ice. Worst case scenario is that we arrive too early in Christchurch to begin our road trip and just have to hang out there for a while. If that happens, we'd likely try to take day trips to the surrounding area (a visit to Hanmer Springs for their hot springs/spa sounds lovely right now) to try to get some use out of our money.
We've also been reading more on car camping in New Zealand. As it turns out, their laws are much different from the United States'. In most places it will be illegal for us to just pull off to the side of the road and camp there; we are required to pay an entry fee for a campsite for the night. That will add a bit more expense depending on the campsite. You are also required to have some kind of portable water system/bathroom with you...which means a more expensive rental. We were planning to just camp like normal beings and use a hotel some nights to shower and freshen up as the rental was going to be so cheap. Maybe we'll still do that, but it seems like paying double to me at this point so I'll likely protest.
Their National Parks work differently too. In the US, I am used to just showing up and paying an entry fee to enter the park. I did this in Zion National Park August 2015 and Great Sand Dunes National Park August 2016. In NZ, apparently for some of the more popular National Parks (of course these are the ones I want to see!), you have to make a reservation for the date(s) you plan to be present. Normally when I go on a road trip with Jason, we just...go. Get in the car and drive. It makes it a lot more fun to just spontaneously go and see things. Of course some things are planned, but it's not like we abide by a strict itinerary. Unfortunately, this road trip is going to need to take a bit more planning to ensure that we hit our reservations on time. It takes the spontaneity and fun out of it, but at least I'll get to check out Milford Sound.
After all is said and done in NZ, we'll fly to Sydney and pick up Brian from the airport. The plan is to spend just a few days in Sydney as it is so expensive and, really, just another city. I want to see some of the more famous landmarks of course so those few days may be jam-packed with some touristy activities. Then, we'll fly to Cairns, where Brian and I will begin our open water class. I think we'll do the 4 day class as it's about $300 cheaper. I miss out on a couple of dives, but after two days of living on a boat and diving all day I think I'll be okay. After our liveaboard diving trip (Jason's still not quite sure if he wants to do another class or just join us for some diving), we need to spend a day in Cairns for a decompression stop. It's not safe to fly so quickly after diving.
From what I gather, Jason, and likely Brian, will want to do something else after this. See Australia or something. We talked about going to Bali as the flight is cheap and the living there is even cheaper ($20 for 5 star hotels!), but, man, I really don't want to be there at peak tourist season with all of the college backpackers from the UK and the States. There isn't anything at Bali either that makes me really want to go. Buddhist and Hindu temples are cool, but not that cool for me. Plus, to knock off Asia as a continent (leaving me only with Africa), I want to make sure nobody makes some nonsense claim of how Indonesia is an island and not really on the continent. If we were to stick around in Australia for longer, we'd probably go see Ayer's Rock or explore the Gold Coast of Australia. Not sure, once again, if I want to spend money to see some giant red rock, even if it is an impressive rock, but we'll see. The Gold Coast would be new for all of us so perhaps that's an option. Brian has 3 weeks of vacation he can waste, and we don't have any pressing need to return to winter in the US.
After all of that, we may have to fly to Auckland, NZ to catch our redeployment flight home with the USAP. Luckily Brian can just leave straight from Sydney and endure that 18+ hour flight again. Travel works a little differently from this side of the continent. At Palmer, I just called American Airlines to unlock my ticket and did delays in various spots on my trip home from the station. Here, the USAP supplies an actual travel agent that may be able to just give us the fare credit to do with as we please. Regardless, the USAP is required by contract to see that we make it home safely so we have to follow their rules. This doesn't bother me at all of course since the most expensive leg of the trip is covered by the company.
Once home, my plan is to eat some goddamn good Mexican food. Something with spice. Something with green chiles. Something with a margarita. Hopefully my tongue can handle the spice again. I should also probably be a good daughter and call my parents in Boston since phone calls have been difficult from the Pole for me. After that, well, I guess it's back to reality; I have to visit the Office of Student Services at school to register for my classes for the spring 2018 semester. This mini adventure has set my graduation date off by 1 year, but I knew that going into this. I'll complete my P1 year and be a "regular" person again, dealing with traffic, grocery shopping, and electrical bills. God it sounds so awful (mainly the traffic) when I put it in writing.
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| My penguin timer! It tracks how much time I have left on the ice. I started it when I first started getting paid rather than my date on the ice (2 days later) so I could have an idea of how many paychecks I'd get this winter. The 4th for a redeployment date is a rough estimate. |
Because we're getting closer to the end (3.5 months left!), we're getting more serious about vacation planning. We have to lock in our dates for diving in Cairns by the end of the month as apparently early December is a popular time for people to go dive in Australia. Jason's brother, Brian, will be joining us in Australia. It'll be nice to have somebody in my open water class with me. Plus, it'll put our American Airlines frequent flyer points to good use! The USAP has changed the carrier we fly with (now United Airlines) so I likely won't have much use for the AAdvantage points. We're going to "gift" the points to Brian so hopefully the long and expensive international flight to Australia won't be so bad. And, of course from his perspective (that I'm going to assume as I haven't spoken to him in a few weeks), I'm sure he's ready to take a break from Colorado living for a little while and do something new.
The toughest thing with trying to book our plans right now though is adding in buffer days. I have been told that in November the South Pole tends to experience some stormy weather that can cause cancellations and delays in flight plans. While we will be assigned "official" redeployment dates, nothing is truly official. As is such, we need to pre-plan some days to spend in Christchurch in the event that we don't make it there on time. I don't like the idea of paying for a hotel booking that I may not be able to use, but that's life. I had to do it in Punta Arenas in the event that the Laurence M. Gould, my chariot out, was delayed or stuck in some sea ice. Worst case scenario is that we arrive too early in Christchurch to begin our road trip and just have to hang out there for a while. If that happens, we'd likely try to take day trips to the surrounding area (a visit to Hanmer Springs for their hot springs/spa sounds lovely right now) to try to get some use out of our money.
We've also been reading more on car camping in New Zealand. As it turns out, their laws are much different from the United States'. In most places it will be illegal for us to just pull off to the side of the road and camp there; we are required to pay an entry fee for a campsite for the night. That will add a bit more expense depending on the campsite. You are also required to have some kind of portable water system/bathroom with you...which means a more expensive rental. We were planning to just camp like normal beings and use a hotel some nights to shower and freshen up as the rental was going to be so cheap. Maybe we'll still do that, but it seems like paying double to me at this point so I'll likely protest.
Their National Parks work differently too. In the US, I am used to just showing up and paying an entry fee to enter the park. I did this in Zion National Park August 2015 and Great Sand Dunes National Park August 2016. In NZ, apparently for some of the more popular National Parks (of course these are the ones I want to see!), you have to make a reservation for the date(s) you plan to be present. Normally when I go on a road trip with Jason, we just...go. Get in the car and drive. It makes it a lot more fun to just spontaneously go and see things. Of course some things are planned, but it's not like we abide by a strict itinerary. Unfortunately, this road trip is going to need to take a bit more planning to ensure that we hit our reservations on time. It takes the spontaneity and fun out of it, but at least I'll get to check out Milford Sound.
After all is said and done in NZ, we'll fly to Sydney and pick up Brian from the airport. The plan is to spend just a few days in Sydney as it is so expensive and, really, just another city. I want to see some of the more famous landmarks of course so those few days may be jam-packed with some touristy activities. Then, we'll fly to Cairns, where Brian and I will begin our open water class. I think we'll do the 4 day class as it's about $300 cheaper. I miss out on a couple of dives, but after two days of living on a boat and diving all day I think I'll be okay. After our liveaboard diving trip (Jason's still not quite sure if he wants to do another class or just join us for some diving), we need to spend a day in Cairns for a decompression stop. It's not safe to fly so quickly after diving.
From what I gather, Jason, and likely Brian, will want to do something else after this. See Australia or something. We talked about going to Bali as the flight is cheap and the living there is even cheaper ($20 for 5 star hotels!), but, man, I really don't want to be there at peak tourist season with all of the college backpackers from the UK and the States. There isn't anything at Bali either that makes me really want to go. Buddhist and Hindu temples are cool, but not that cool for me. Plus, to knock off Asia as a continent (leaving me only with Africa), I want to make sure nobody makes some nonsense claim of how Indonesia is an island and not really on the continent. If we were to stick around in Australia for longer, we'd probably go see Ayer's Rock or explore the Gold Coast of Australia. Not sure, once again, if I want to spend money to see some giant red rock, even if it is an impressive rock, but we'll see. The Gold Coast would be new for all of us so perhaps that's an option. Brian has 3 weeks of vacation he can waste, and we don't have any pressing need to return to winter in the US.
After all of that, we may have to fly to Auckland, NZ to catch our redeployment flight home with the USAP. Luckily Brian can just leave straight from Sydney and endure that 18+ hour flight again. Travel works a little differently from this side of the continent. At Palmer, I just called American Airlines to unlock my ticket and did delays in various spots on my trip home from the station. Here, the USAP supplies an actual travel agent that may be able to just give us the fare credit to do with as we please. Regardless, the USAP is required by contract to see that we make it home safely so we have to follow their rules. This doesn't bother me at all of course since the most expensive leg of the trip is covered by the company.
Once home, my plan is to eat some goddamn good Mexican food. Something with spice. Something with green chiles. Something with a margarita. Hopefully my tongue can handle the spice again. I should also probably be a good daughter and call my parents in Boston since phone calls have been difficult from the Pole for me. After that, well, I guess it's back to reality; I have to visit the Office of Student Services at school to register for my classes for the spring 2018 semester. This mini adventure has set my graduation date off by 1 year, but I knew that going into this. I'll complete my P1 year and be a "regular" person again, dealing with traffic, grocery shopping, and electrical bills. God it sounds so awful (mainly the traffic) when I put it in writing.
Monday, July 10, 2017
Updates on Station Life
A little less than four months left of our winter stay, and the sun is expected to peak just slightly over the horizon (more like its light rather than the ball of gas itself) in only four weeks. We've all been busy plugging away at our winter projects the past few months, and now we are reaching the final stretch. Currently there are a few things happening on station that affects our lives.
Right now the carpenters are busy replacing the flooring upstairs in the elevated station. What this means for us is that parts of the upstairs hallway in front of the galley entrance is blocked off during the day. Detours are put in place for us in the evenings so that we can still access the galley without having to go outside or in the beer can (cold!), but they change every night as the carps make progress on the project.
This morning, after having not gone to dinner last night, I found myself having to navigate around the blocked off areas by taking a few flights of stairs. My room is in the lower level of the B1 wing, and the only access to the elevated station is through a flight of stairs in the wing. So, every morning I must climb three flights of stairs to even get to the main part of the station (as if I don't climb enough stairs each day). This morning I climbed the stairs, noticed that the hallway was blocked off from where I would normally access the galley, and had to come up with a different method of getting to breakfast. So I went down the station stairs, down the hallway of the lower level, and then back up three flights of stairs in the beer can to get to the galley. Talk about a morning workout.
The station safety engineer is really good about sending out emails each night notifying us of which parts of the hallway/station will be inaccessible and which parts we can still use. Last night though I was incredibly tired and didn't process or retain the information in the email. I haven't been feeling well either, oddly enough, with some swollen glands and a sore throat. Shouldn't be the case since there should, in theory, not be new viruses on station...but here we are. So, back to the main topic, I was a little confused waking up this morning on what to do to get to the galley.
As for other projects, my team is busy continuing with our inventory of all items on station. This winter we have been specially assigned to count the items in four electrical milvans. The newest milvan, milvan 3, has been staged for us to go and inventory. We have been told that it has double the amount of parts of the previous milvans and is kind of a mess. Oh joy. We should get started on that inventory today.
And, as a special request I guess from my coworkers, other events have been happening on station. This past weekend and the one before it were the South Pole Winter Games, aka the poleympics. I didn't compete and chose to enjoy a more quiet station as everybody else pulled sleds outside, but from what I have heard it was a lot of fun. Quite a few winterovers were walking around on Sunday after the medal ceremony looking like Mr. T.
Unfortunately my coworkers, Brett and Steve, dishonored our department by not winning gold in the team sled pull. The two of them, with the help of our electrician, were pulling Brett's wife, Sarah, in a sled from the geographic pole to the ceremonial pole. They came in second place after a group of guys all hailing from Michigan won gold. Such shame Brett and Steve have casted upon the logistics department. I suppose second place can do just as well as gold, but that's if you're really a loser at heart and don't have respect for yourselves.
Right now the carpenters are busy replacing the flooring upstairs in the elevated station. What this means for us is that parts of the upstairs hallway in front of the galley entrance is blocked off during the day. Detours are put in place for us in the evenings so that we can still access the galley without having to go outside or in the beer can (cold!), but they change every night as the carps make progress on the project.
This morning, after having not gone to dinner last night, I found myself having to navigate around the blocked off areas by taking a few flights of stairs. My room is in the lower level of the B1 wing, and the only access to the elevated station is through a flight of stairs in the wing. So, every morning I must climb three flights of stairs to even get to the main part of the station (as if I don't climb enough stairs each day). This morning I climbed the stairs, noticed that the hallway was blocked off from where I would normally access the galley, and had to come up with a different method of getting to breakfast. So I went down the station stairs, down the hallway of the lower level, and then back up three flights of stairs in the beer can to get to the galley. Talk about a morning workout.
The station safety engineer is really good about sending out emails each night notifying us of which parts of the hallway/station will be inaccessible and which parts we can still use. Last night though I was incredibly tired and didn't process or retain the information in the email. I haven't been feeling well either, oddly enough, with some swollen glands and a sore throat. Shouldn't be the case since there should, in theory, not be new viruses on station...but here we are. So, back to the main topic, I was a little confused waking up this morning on what to do to get to the galley.
As for other projects, my team is busy continuing with our inventory of all items on station. This winter we have been specially assigned to count the items in four electrical milvans. The newest milvan, milvan 3, has been staged for us to go and inventory. We have been told that it has double the amount of parts of the previous milvans and is kind of a mess. Oh joy. We should get started on that inventory today.
And, as a special request I guess from my coworkers, other events have been happening on station. This past weekend and the one before it were the South Pole Winter Games, aka the poleympics. I didn't compete and chose to enjoy a more quiet station as everybody else pulled sleds outside, but from what I have heard it was a lot of fun. Quite a few winterovers were walking around on Sunday after the medal ceremony looking like Mr. T.
Unfortunately my coworkers, Brett and Steve, dishonored our department by not winning gold in the team sled pull. The two of them, with the help of our electrician, were pulling Brett's wife, Sarah, in a sled from the geographic pole to the ceremonial pole. They came in second place after a group of guys all hailing from Michigan won gold. Such shame Brett and Steve have casted upon the logistics department. I suppose second place can do just as well as gold, but that's if you're really a loser at heart and don't have respect for yourselves.
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| Second place winners in the team sled pull. From left to right: Steve Ashton, Sarah Baddorf, Brett Baddorf, Peter Bammes |
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