THE ROCK & THE GURU - tuesday 29 january

Monday we were hit with a big snowstorm but today the sun was shinning brightly. I rustled up the boys and we hiked out to Castle rock. A superb day.

On the walk back the boys were giving me the usual banter when I quickly responded, "hey I have a photo of you boys holding hands" (cleverly snapped 2 hours prior) arrrh the silence was instantaneous. Heavenly.
But I can't resist boys - here's one for the daily mockery of my kiwi accent. So to the delight and laughter of blog readers - here's some Dave, Heath, Dave 'MANLOVE' (payback is a beautiful thing)

Another highlight today was that I was given a really cool tee to say thanks for my volunteering. It has a newspaper cutting print on the back which was the actual advertisement used by shackleton to gather crew for his expedition. Super superb.

During the evening I went to see my friend Talle speak at her travelogue run in the galley. She's a really keen solo tramper. Talle's spent a lot of time tramping hardcore backcountry tracks in New Zealand, visiting places that even many guru trampers and hunters are scared of. She often tramps in areas that don't have marked trails. She just packs her bag, talks to DOC, hires an emergency locator beacon, grabs her topo then heads into the bush. I remember sitting down with Talle near the start of the season and she showed me some absolutely amazing photos of her adventures throughout New Zealand's wildlands. She's been to some spectacular places.

Talle shared an incredible story with us last night. You know one where you raise your eyebrows, enlarge your eyes, and are left with your mouth wide open.

One day she whilst hiking in Kahurangi National Park, the weather suddenly turned and she became stuck in a severe storm. She came upon a section where two rivers crossed. As an experienced tramper she knew this is how many trampers die in the bush; from crossing flooded rivers. She had been in a torrential downpour for many hours. She couldn't get a fire started, as the fuel was soaked through. Unable to change clothes since her other clothes were damp (she was on day 9 of a hike) she reached for her sleeping bag to which she heartbreakingly discovered was wet through. To keep herself warm she built a step out of large stones and for 45 minutes at a time stepped up and down. Up, down, Up, down. She'd rest until she began feeling cold again then stood up and repeated the process. Around nightfall the river level had lowered enough for a safe crossing. She continued hiking all through the night, (remember this is unmarked/untrailed territory), until she reached the hut 8 hours later.

Now would be a good time to tell you that Talle is 63 years old.

HEADSTANDS & BOATS - sunday 27 january

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DARLING HUSBAND

This afternoon I drove a delta group out to a plane wreck site called Pegasus.

The aircraft crashed on 8 October 1970. About 30 minutes before the aircraft was due to touch down on the sea ice runway, the weather deteriorated rapidly. Visibility was down to zero and snow was blowing, but Pegasus was committed to land even in ‘white-out conditions.' There was no alternative airstrip and fuel was low. The plane attempted to land five times, but had to abort each time because of the excessive snowdrift caused by gusting winds. On the sixth attempt Pegasus finally landed, but veered off the runway and hit a snow bank, which sheared off the starboard undercarriage and wing.

Amazingly, all 68 passengers and 12 crew survived, escaping with only minor injuries, although the atrocious weather conditions meant it took about four hours for rescue vehicles to transport the crash survivors 5.5km back to McMurdo.

It is an incredible sight. Fortunately I’ve seen it a few times with work, but I volunteered to take some "townies" out to see it, as they often don't get the chance to see such things. I kept myself entertained though by doing handstands.

That evening I had the chance to tour the NBP vessel which had just embarked on a voyage from sunny Christchurch to the chilly waters of Antarctica. The journey took 24 days, with waves reaching 50 feet! It is full of scientists completing research projects onboard. The National Science Foundation leases this boat for the small sum of $30,000USD per day. Yes you read correctly. Per day. That's $20.83 a minute. 34 cents per second. That's a dinner for two at a fancy restaurant just in one scientist's toilet break.

WILD LIFE SAFARI - tuesday 22 january

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD. THIS ONE'S FOR YOU.

It was 11.15pm. (21 january) My roommate Keri and I spontaneously decided to take a hike and it turned out to be an immensely PERFECT decision.

Little did we know but we were headed out on a wildlife safari.

We hiked the observation hill loop trail, there had been sightings of whales, and so I had the camera at the ready.
The ice is breaking more by the day, and providing a reasonable amount of open water. It was incredible. So still and quiet. We had only just sat down when we heard the therapeutic silence breaking sound of "phhhhhhhhhhsssssssssss" A minke whale gracefully surfaced. My reflexes are now well tuned for hitting that camera shutter button in a split second.

We sat in absolute awe for over an hour. We saw numerous whales, seals and skewers. We watched as a seal waddled along the ice towards the sea edge, he then dipped only his head ever so cautiously into the sea, no doubt a little edgy about the being someone’s dinner. He looked left, looked right then quickly slipped into the water" Keri and I held our breath hoping not to witness a national geographic moment!

Returning from the whales we found a small inlet, where we saw small fish splashing near the surface. We moved in for a closer look. The silence broke, and the valley echoed Keri's scream. A seal popped up out of the ocean less than 5 feet away from us. I don't know what surprised me more; the seal or the fact that I wasn't the first one to jump or scream!

We left the seal and continued on "wouldn't it be funny to see a penguin next" I thought to myself, and before the words left my mind I spotted a black and white figure on the horizon. Low and behold it was a lone adelie penguin. "Wouldn’t it be funny to see a sack filled with a million dollars next" I quickly thought.

We returned to our room a little after 3am. It was well worth the sleep deprivation.

This afternoon whilst out at the Pegasus runway I had my first sighting of an Emporer Penguin. It was incredible. There were two of them, situated at the end of the runway. They're so much bigger than the Adelies, I stood in awe. We had to use the binoculars to get a better look, but i just felt so fortunate as to see one. People who are on their 7th or 8th season down here have told me they've yet to see one.

BIKE MARATHON - sunday 20 january

"Biking a marathon in Antarctica"

Today's the day and the weather played its part. Blue sky, no wind, and a big bright and warm sun.

I geared up in thermals, grabbed a banana and hit the road - well so to speak!. I must say it's an incredibly unique feeling riding on ice, I guess it felt like I was walking a tight rope, one false move or unbalance and you're kissing the ground. I actually experienced that yesterday on my trial bike ride. The tyre caught a groove in the snow and sure enough my bike and I took a slide. A very long slide. I remember looking at my watch half way through wondering if I was ever going to stop. Fortunately that was the only crash I’d have over the two days.

I can seriously say Antarctica has to be the best continent for cycling. It was such a moving experience, one I’ll not forget in a hurry. I biked my 26.5 mile marathon in around 2 and a half hours. (my friend dave lent me his gps) I stayed on the bike and rode next to some of my friends who were running. I ended up biking a distance of 72km, and raised $800 for the SPCA. Thanks so much everyone for your support. It was greatly appreciated.

RUGBY - Sunday 13 january 2008

McMurdo vs Scott Base. The day is here.

The sun shone. The snow was groomed. The posts were erected.

The crowd eagerly gathered on the sideline, and watched as players tucked in their thermals, pulled on their beanies and neck warmers. Months of training boiled down to this day. 80 minutes of the coldest, most southern game of rugby.

I listened intently as the American national anthem was sung through a megaphone, promptly followed by the ice breaking kiwi haka.

The whistle blew and the game begun.

The snow covered players from head to toe making it interesting to pick out which team held the ball.

The final score was 12-0 to the kiwis.

I dressed up for the game. The left side of my body was kiwi, and the right side of my body was American. I held both an American and kiwi flag.

A BUNCH OF HAPPY WORKERS

My fantastic crew of fire preventers.

I took this photo - encase you were looking for me for over 5 minutes!

ODEN ICEBREAKER – friday 11 january

There is a sweedish icebreaker ship called "the oden" currently breaking its way into McMurdo. It is hired each year to bash a channel through the ice for the various ships we get into town. I might add at a cost much greater than the small change in your pocket. (A little over 12 mill!) I volunteered to be a line handler too, so that'll be another new experience.

30 PENGUINS & A SNOW STORM - thursday 10 january

It's a chilly day today and the penguins agree. At midnight 30 Adelie penguins waddled into McMurdo to hunker down for the night. Being at work, we started convincing our Captain that it was a good idea to go and see them, "crowd control maybe?" 10 minutes later five of us piled into the ambo and headed through the snow drifts down to the pier.

I wanted to give them my duvet.

DODGEBALL - wednesday 9 january

Dodgeball finals tonight. Unfortunately because of my back I couldn't play in our team. But they sure did everyone proud.
3 tough hours, 3 tough games all ended in victory. Well done "dave's team". The dodgeball champions.

MEDIVAC - tuesday 8 january

I spent 9 hours on the ice today. Six of our crew had driven out to Pegasus runway to hardstand for a c-17 flight arriving from Christchurch. Whilst in transition, a snow mobile accident occurred out at Minnow Bluff. The c-17 was asked to standby encase he needed to be flown to NZ. We watched as the helicopter flew overhead on route to evacuate the patient. 3 hours later we were transferring him by stretcher from the helicopter onto the plane. He had a head laceration and broken ankle.

Kiakaha and get well soon.

KIWI RADIO DJ – monday 7 January

That’s right, McMurdo has a radio station, and today I got to play radio disk jockey. My friend Sean was entertaining Antarctic’s residents and I got to sit in. It was an absolute blast. 91zm my résumé is in the mail.

3.45AM HIKE - friday 4 January 2008

Can’t sleep? Take a hike. Problem solved.

24 hours of daylight definitely has its advantages, I thought as I tied the lace of my tramping boot. The weather was chilly and a layer of fog was settling in. I ducked into the firehouse, picked up a vhf radio, zipped my down jacket and pulled my beanie down further over my ears. The wind made its presence noted as I hiked my way up Observation Hill. I reached the summit in one piece, and was shocked to find there wasn’t a breath of wind. Was I in the eye of a storm?

The view replicated a National Geographic magazine shot; one where the mountaineer looks out into a landscape of low cloud with mountain peaks breaking through. I felt the solitude.

I snapped a few photos and then with a smile on my dial hiked back down into my bed. No need for counting sheep this time. I was out like a light. 5am.

BABY SKEWER – Thursday 3 january

This morning I hiked the hut ridge track and stumbled across a very puffed up looking skewer. I took a closer look and heard a tiny squeak. Out from under the feathers popped “junior” a little white fluff ball. Mum and Dad hardly blinked an eyelid at me, so out came the camera.