SUSPICIOUS SMELL- saturday 8 december

Bang bang bang "fire department" I heard from outside my dorm room door. I opened it up to see a fellow firefighter, standing in his turnout gear smirking. "Hey lizzie, we've had a fire call here to the smell of electrical/gas burning. Have you noticed anything?" I stepped out into the hallway and could instantly smell the offender. I helped the boys search. They were knocking on everyone's door trying to narrow it down. I popped into the bathroom and on my return found a lot of laughing firemen. "smell this lizzie" I heard as Mike shoved a work boot to my nose. We've found the electrical/gas smell. It turned out that my neighbour Dave, who is a firefighter on my shift, left his work boots in the back of one of the vehicles (surrounded by fumes) heading out to the runway yesterday. His roomies had complained so he left them in the hallway for a little bit before bringing them back inside. The mixed smell of fumes and smelly feet was enough for one person to call it in to 911!

During the afternoon I couldn't resist another session on the skis.

Heath, Eddie, Scott, Randy and I skied the Armitage trail today. This is a route that runs from McMurdo to Scott base along the sea ice. It's due to close in the next week due to the thinning ice, so to ski it now with the recent snowfall is a better time than any.

We reached Scott base in good time, skiing the 7km route in just under an hour. After a short break, Eddie and Scott carried on to castle rock, Heath jumped in a shuttle back to McMurdo, and Randy and I skied the armitage back to base.

SKIING CASTLE ROCK - friday 7 december

Another beautiful day on the white continent.

It has been snowing quite consistently here over the last week. Everything has the beautiful shade of white. Today it's time to make the most out of this recent, but uncommon snow fall.

Heath, my lieutenant Eddie and I, donned cross-country skis and hit the castle rock circuit. This is a 17km loop track, passing some stunning scenery.

It was fantastic to be back on skis. Whilst trudging along the mind slips into thoughts of past explorers, slogging it out on unfamiliar terrain.

Along the route there are a couple of rather steep down hills. Maybe the equivalent gradient of a blue run at a ski resort, but being on cross-country skis instead of downhill skis - now that's a whole different story! Needless to say; we fell, we laughed and we fell again.

With tired legs, but smiles on our faces, we rolled into Mcmurdo in time for dinner.

SKIDOO & SEALS – Tuesday 4 december

Today was such a fantastic day. Probably my best day on the ice.

Five of us were given the task of providing an alternative route for scientists on a seal research camp. The sea ice is thinning every day now, and these guys needed an alternative route back to McMurdo over the permanent ice shelf.

We eagerly loaded the Skidoos (snow mobiles) with the equipment needed, and started the hour-long journey. It was such a buzz to be riding a skidoo, cruising at 30 miles/hour, through such an amazing landscape.

The weather was an incredibly warm, blue-sky day. A perfect day.

We arrived at our destination and began work. We prodded the route with flagpoles whilst looking for signs of cracks. If one were discovered, we’d dig it out, drill it and take measurements. Some cracks once uncovered from snow produced, to our amazement, crevasse size depths of 30 to 40 feet. These required bridges to be secured in place. It was amazing, while we were tying of the brigde ropes to snow stakes we could hear seals goaning through the ice from the ocean.

After lunch we began the process of flagging the route back to the research field camp. I drove the skidoo whilst T stood on the trailer, and threw out a flag at each required measurement. The trailing skidoo would stop, drill a hole into the ice, then secure the flag in place.

Once the job was done we drove over to the field camp. The camp consists of 10 scientists, which sleep, eat, work and play out here for up to 6 weeks. The camp is a sweet little set up. They sleep in scott tents and a james way, have a lab, kitchen, a hangout area and a long drop with a close up view of Mt errebus.

The research being done here is around mother-pup relations.

We had the great fortune of being invited to walk out to the seal colony. After a short walk we found ourselves surrounded by 50 seals, basking in the warmth of the sun. Many pups were feeding or cuddling up to their mothers. It was an absolute unforgettable experience being that close to these mammals, and in their own environment, not caught up in some marine centre playing tricks for the entertainment of humans. It was a moving experience to say the least.

Returning to the field camp we chatted and sipped a hot drink, said our goodbyes, then rode the skidoos back to McMurdo Station in time for dinner.

CYCLE RACE - sunday 2 december

Tour De Antarctica.

Today I participated in a cycle race around mcmurdo. Well they call it cyclecross actually. You run, then bike, do push ups, then bike again.

I came 3rd out of the women.

I was stoked to recieve my prize - a $20 gift voucher at kathmandu.

That was my first time on a bike down here. Biking in Antarctica - who'd ever guess.

There is a marathon that takes place here on the 20th of January. My goal is to bike it. My friends Dave and Heath are running it so I volunteered to be their support, carrying food and water.

So that only leaves two continents left to bike on now, South America and Africa.
Brilliant. I'll add them to my life goal list.

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.