Monday, July 31, 2006

funny sign

Not sure where this is, but nice to know they are thinking of us

Friday, July 28, 2006

July 27 light

This was about 12:30 pm yesterday....you can see the orange light behind me. I know majority of you are in the middle of a hot summer. I am having opposite year, it was about -60 when this picture was taken.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

pretty sky

more light!!

these were taken around 12:30 pm yesterday. The sun is expected to rise for the first time August 19th and I can promise you that will be a very exciting day here in Antarctica.


Saturday, July 22, 2006

Changing Sky

We are starting to see light on the horizon for a couple hours each day. It seems to be coming above the horizon in an orange color and then turning purple


Lots of stars on a clear night

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

A good read...

There have been lots of books written on Antarctica. I just read this and found it pretty darn accurate to describing life on this end of the globe. If you are at all curious what its like day to day..pick up a copy.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Polar Plunge

Well....this was one of those crazy, make no sense kinds of things you do when you find yourself spending the winter in Antarctica.

The water temp is rumored to be 28F, the air temp was around the -35F marker and about 30 of us took turns plunging into the Ross Sea on Sunday.

Very memorable and yes, I would do it again We were harnessed in, just in case we hit our heads, our hearts freaked out or whatever else might cause us to be unconcious and have to get pulled out.
What the set up looks like, this was held at the Kiwi Camp, Scott Base. There are 14 of them there this winter and we often go over for social stuff. They did all the work and got the hole cut, all we had to do was go over and jump in.
Amublance was on standby and thankfully nobody needed it. I got some frostburn on my fingertips, but in a few days they should be back to normal.
I do love to swim and miss the water terribly, so this was a really big thing for me to get in the water. The visibilty is unbeatable, it really makes me want to go diving under the ice....

BBQ frozen style

You know when you just want something cooked outside on the BBQ? Here in Antarctica that takes on a different look...you first have to get a Matson container moved to where you want to cook, then put the grill inside and cook fast enough for you and the food not to freeze.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

running on Antarctica

Seemed like a good idea...a fun run in the dark.

Route goes from "town" down around Discovery Hut and back. 1. 4 miles, no big deal...except that it was "condition 2" which meant, -87 F with a 34 knot wind blowing on us.

48 runners showed up!

Saturday, July 08, 2006

awesome auroras





Lets build an igloo....

lets take a group of people out with the idea of building an igloo... the foundation
almost done
home sweet home

Monday, July 03, 2006

Happy Birthday America

Nothing says Happy 4th of July like a party in the automotive repair shop. All the trucks and tractors were cleared out and it was a great party with a dunk tank, lots of BBQ food, carnival games, 4 bands preformed, chili cook off and an all star frisbee game. Good times!



Spectacular Southern Lights

When we get lucky this is what our night sky looks like. I think these were actually taken from Black Island which is 20 miles away. Crazy to see there is some light on the horizon out there.