ONE MORE SLEEP - monday 24 december

Happy Christmas Eve!

Returned to work yesterday on light duties. It's great to be back.

Tonight we have our Christmas dinner, talking to the head chef; duck and beef wellington are on the menu. He said they tried to get a meat order from NZ and the suppliers responded that McMurdo's "one" order would completely drain their entire stock! I guess when you're feeding 1300 mouths that's a lot of tucker!

Nasa released one of its long duration weather balloons yesterday. The balloon itself is 3 football fields in length. They cost millions to make/prepare and they set three off during the summer. These balloons are picked up by the prevailing winds and carried around Antarctica's entirety. I was fortunate enough to be able to have a tour of their facilities. A lot of work has gone into this project, along with a few pennies! I was shown by the experts a tiny glass solar panel, which he stated costs $10,000.
I saw the balloon high in the sky over McTown yesterday - it looked like a planet passing by.

Tonight at 11.15pm, I’m going to a carol service at the resident chapel. I have to work tomorrow but not until 11am.

I'M BROKEN - sunday 16 december to current

I pulled my back out. Apparently I sprained a ligament in my back and my pelvis was out of line causing more pressure.

So I’ve been flat out, not literally, but horizontally. I've been at one with the floor.

I'm starting to feel better now; I’ve been given a brace from my physio to wear when I move around. I get to go back to work tomorrow (light duties) which I’m super happy about. Needless to say I am beyond bored!

Anyways, less negativity and more positively. It snowed yesterday. Real snow. Just like the flakes on Christmas cards. Great timing. I stood outside in total awe. I felt like I was on a movie set and someone was standing above me on a ladder dropping super light fluffy snowflakes, it was incredible.

POLAR PLUNGE - monday 10 december

It speaks for itself.

I bared all and jumped into the freezing ocean of Antarctica!

The water temperature was negative 2.c. A little chilly. But a whole lot of fun.

I didn't shower for days - I realised just how much I missed that salt water feeling on your body, like when you come in from a surf or a swim. That refreshed feeling. Bliss.

(Don’t worry the photos have been censored!)

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.