Outside FUN

Matt, me & Delaney out playing on the ice We are standing in front of the only active volcanoe on the continent, Erebus
Group sledding!
This is proof that the sea ice is moving. This crack was not here last time I was out....this is GOOD!
The incredible Barne Glacier













Our version of the Subaru

Happy Halloween

The Halloween Party is one of the biggest of the year. People LOVE getting dressed up down here. The party is held in our basketball gym and with the help of parachutes, bats & lots of colored lights it becomes a party! We made hundreds of cardboard bats!
This is the Summer Recreation crew
friends Cindy, Delaney & Amber
every party needs a Richard Simmons
By day these are town garbage collectors and by night the three amigos
Real life sisters as siamese twins

this and that

newbies, fng's, old timers, polies and on and on. this is the latest group to arrive and we are currently full. no more beds at the inn. the pole has not opened so they are now holding people in Christchurch instead of sending them down here.















Back to 24 hours of daylight, the 1st sunset is predicted for February 22


















back to bunk bed living and am now sharing a small room with 3 other girls
















the helicopters are used to shuttle people out to field camps










these ski planes are just sitting and waiting for the pole to warm up so they can get down there

Cold Pole

The South Pole was supposed to open 5 days ago however the temperature has to be no colder than -54 in order for the planes to land. This has not happened and there are roughly 150 "stuck polies" waiting around town to head south. They are predicting it might be another 5 days or so before its warm enough there for the planes to land. There has not been at the pole since the last flight out at the end of February. The 50 that spent the winter there are very anxious to get out!

about 15 days left...

My time on the ice is getting shorter and am scheduled to leave around November 10th. Many people have asked me what I have loved and not loved about my time here.

favorite things:
1. trip to cape evans to see Shackelton & Scotts hut and getting to see 9 Emperor penguins
2. polar plunge!
3. getting to see the southern lights (auoras)
4. all the creativity & crazy ideas that flow around this tiny camp
5. getting to do the job I really wanted in Antarctica!!!

things i am very tired of:
1. the darkness (although its sunny now)
2. the wind
3. the people that complain non stop
4. wearing 14 layers and 20 extra pounds of clothes
5. being inside so much

things i am really excited to do soon:
swim & dive, play outside, drink milk & eat fresh food, see friends & family, wear shorts & flip flops

a little variety

We are a major airport these days with C-17 planes coming in a few times a week.













My LAST night of working Bingo!! Since 1999 my jobs have always included bingo. I am VERY excited to have a job that does not require this. For not being a senior citizen I know way to much about bingo
















just thought it was a pretty hole in the ice












Castle Rock which is a popular hiking/climbing route

We love the I Drive

We have this great thing down here called the I Drive. Its an electronic bulletin board that everybody here in town can access and post pictures to share.

Here are a few pics I took off there recently

This picture will be familiar to some of you and is the official Antarctic Center in Christchurch. Here you can go and do all things Antarctic: Wear the ECW gear, ride in the crazy snow cat thing, check out penguins and stand in a -40 degree room.

So for those that are really curious about life down here, all you need to do is get to Christchurch, New Zealand and for about $15 you can get a dose of our reality. Our local church "Chapel of the Snows"
How you warm up a frozen pisten bully
With the start of summer that means the helicopters are flying again

Diving for Science! In my opinion, this would be the ULTIMATE Antarctic experience. To be diving in the crystal clear water under the ice. Unless I wake up as an important scientific diver I will not get the opportunity but I am going to volunteer to go out and help with gear, digging holes or whatever else is needed. A curious seal popping through the divers hole

Summer Begins!!!

Today is October 3rd and the official opening of the Summer season here at McMurdo. In the next few days we will gain about 800 people in population. There will be about 1200 here for the summer and its looking like I will be the last "winterover" to leave in November.

mail and freshies!!!!
enjoying the sun on our faces...for the 1st time you could actually feel the warmth

Inside Scotts Hut

This was INCREDIBLE!!!

The hut is 50 feet long x 25 feet wide x 9 feet tall and was used by Robert Scott expedition to the South Pole. They ended up spending 2 years in this hut and its still perfectly in tact, they were last inside in 1911.
There were a few little bunks like these, but certainly not as many beds as there were people
The kitchen will fully stocked shelves

field trip fun

good to have a yellow frisbee on a white ice field This is the Barne Glacier, 150 feet is what you are seeing
The 1st penguin sighting...they really are in the direction I am pointing
This is Mt. Erebus behind me, the only active volcanoe on the continent
Our winter group, our winter group was 202. We were down to about 100 and today the 1st summer flight came in, so the remaining 100 will leave in the next 10 days.
real sea ice
the Barne Glacier & Scotts Hut behind me
what a wildlife tour on top of a Delta looks like...good spot to watch the Emperors
2 angels making snow angels