WILLY FIELD – Saturday 2 december

Today’s the day. Our ice runway is no longer. The weather is getting warmer and the ice is thining. The new runway is called Willy’s field and is located on the permanent ice shelf, around 10 km south east from Scott base.

The buildings are on skis and require a large cat to move them. As you can imagine, it’s a slow process.

5 of us our stationed out at willy’s today. We headed to work at 6am then took the half hour drive out there. The c-130’s were in the transition and required the fire coverage. After the last plane touched down it became a matter of waiting for the buildings to arrive. The sun was out, so out came the football. We turned the tunes up in the vehicle, and enjoyed a balmy summers day amongst friends.

DIVING – Wednesday 28 november

Today I headed out to watch my friend Addie dive. We met during our sea ice training and became friends. It was a laugh because Addie was super stoked about me being a firefighter, and of course I was extremely excited to hear about her diving in Antarctica.

We arranged that I’d go and watch her dive today.

Diving is a similar setup to fishing. A hole in a hut.

The water temperature is -1.8c, the divers have to gear up appropriately to prevent hyperthermia. They wear drysuits with multiple layers underneath.

Addie was to solo dive for 12 minutes to collect creatures and seabed samples for a science project. You could only see her briefly as she dipped into the sea water, then a fading glimmer of her flashlight until she disappeared all together.
Another diver Rob, stayed on the surface and called out her time length and other information, and constantly checked air, pressure, and the like. Communication between the two was via a radio from within her mask, you could hear Addie breath and talk underwater.

Addie returned to the surface and had to wait 15 feet below the surface of the hole to rid her body of all the extra nitrogen. They call this feeling “nark.” Addie described it to me as a similar feeling to when you’re really drunk.

I asked Addie if she ever gets scared while solo diving. To me it sounds like my worst nightmare. You’re in negative degree water, it’s pitch black. A ceiling of ice lays 175 cm thick above you, with only one exit point. Antarctic creatures surround you, including leopard seals that eat people. And above all the regulators have a tendency to freeze here, as the water is so cold.

“Nah, I really don’t get scared at all. Actually I was staying at my mum and dad’s before I came down here and ended up being in a forest in the dark. Now that scared the living daylights out of me.” Rob the other diver responded. “Well yeah, that makes sense, I mean the bogie monster lives in the forest”

FISHING – Monday 26 november

Happy Birthday Keri! It’s my roomies 33rd birthday today. This morning we have been invited to go out fishing with one of the scientists here. For those that know, yes I am scared of fish. But you can’t give up an opportunity like this in Antarctica. So an enthusiastic Keri, Hally and I trundled down to the ice. The fishing down here takes place inside huts. They drill out a 1metre diameter hole until they reach the seawater.

We peered over the side of the hole with our rods. The ocean looked so dark. The fish we’re catching today are called Bernacchii. They are little fish that hang out on the rock bed at the bottom of the ocean. Around 70 foot deep.

Fortunately I didn’t catch any, but Kevin the scientist caught 2. The group did get to hear me scream though. Once Kevin pulled the line, I excitedly peered into the hole, but as soon as I saw it I freaked, running straight to the other side of the hut.

What an awesome experience.

During the afternoon Keri and I went up to the greenhouse to check it out. WOW. The smell and the colour when you open the door. Phew, what a knock-out. Green stuff. WOW. Antarctica has a tendency to smell the same everyday, since there being no flauna. We lay in the greenhouse hammock and enjoy being one with the tomatoes, cucumbers, sprouts, and herbs.

CUTTING UP A CAR - sunday 25 november

Workday. Today we cut up the car that caught on fire out on the sea ice.

We turned it into a convertible.

TURKEY TROT - 5 KM RUN - Saturday 24 november

Thanks giving day, it’s a tradition to run 5km down to the ice runway and back. It was fun. I won a t-shirt.

I helped out the galley staff today. It’s thanks giving dinner tonight so they’re pretty busy.

Dinner was tasteful. The deal with thanks giving is similar to Christmas; you get together with family and friends and eat far too much.

I ate pumpkin pie for desert.

CASTLE ROCK - Friday 23 november

The kiwis conquer castle rock.

Chippy, Lonnie (an American who now lives in NZ) and I hiked out to castle rock. It was a beautiful day. Calm and clear. Sitting on the rock you get such an amazing view of the landscape. We could see open water in the distance. The ice is starting to weaken.

After a bit of R and R and some photography, we returned to McMurdo for a hot cuppa.

THANKS GIVING DAY – Thursday 22 november

Today’s the day to celebrate the pilgrims discovering America. Thanks giving day. It was nice to be involved in the festivities and be an honorary American for the day.