Friday, May 15, 2009
South Pole - for my aunties!
HELLO!I've been absent from the blog for awhile. Sorry folks! While home in April, I had many requests from family and friends (mainly my aunties) who would like to see more photos from my third season on the Ice. Hopefully I'll get more added after today and without a reliable internet connection.
Boarding the LC-130 (aka Herc) at Willy Field near McMurdo Station. Ten of us were given the day off of work to spend six hours on the plane (three hours one-way) to get a half hour on the ground at the South Pole as our reward for being good workers. What a treat!
Patiently waiting to get to the Pole
View from the Herc window
We were each given a few minutes to spend on the flight deck with the pilot and his crew. We flew through the Transantarctic Mountains as I was up there visiting.
The highest peak in the Transantarctics: Mount Kirkpatrick
Flat Stanley came along, of course!
Amundsen Scott South Pole Station
Close up of the South Pole Station main building
Me at the South Pole!
Two Flat Stanleys with me at the South Pole
My reflection in the ceremonial pole marker at the South Pole
The Geographic South Pole
Me at the bottom of the Earth!!
The old dome at the South Pole - this is when my camera froze up because it was -13 degrees Fahrenheit, warm for the South Pole but too cold for my camera.
I was able to warm it up once inside to snap this photo of the greenhouse. That was just about the only photo I took inside.
When we arrived back at McMurdo, the guard guys unloaded this cargo while we taxied on the runway. The pallets just rolled out the back after they opened the hatch! It's much easier for the cargo people to pick up.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Tuna Steak in Paihia
I'm in Paihia in the Bay of Islands with my friend Susie. Tomorrow we start our sailing course. It should be quite the adventure for the next week or so. More about that soon.Monday, March 09, 2009
New Zealand!!
I haven't updated in so long! Oops!Just a quick note that I'm in New Zealand, and it is green and sunny and beautiful!
My brother, Ron, is here and has been for over a week. We spent the first week of his visit on the South Island in Wanaka, the Catlins, Dunedin, and on the Otago Peninsula. We did a farmstay on the peninsula, and in the evening the owner of the farm took us on an evening wildlife tour that we had booked. Ron and I were less than ten feet away from a yellow-eyed penguin and her almost full-grown chick! We saw fur seals and New Zealand sea lions as well and were able to get pretty close to them.
This past weekend, we attended the wedding of two friends of mine: Helen and Blake. I sang in the wedding actually, so now I can officially say that I'm an international wedding singer. Ron and I were invited to visit many people and their farms or farming family at the wedding. Tomorrow begins our first visit at a woman named Jane's place. We have no idea what we're in for, but everyone was so insistent that we visit them... we have to go.
If you're reading this and know Ron and his email address, be sure to send him birthday greetings!
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Phone Calls to Crary and Lab Staff Photos
Everyone seemed to be a big fan of my Toilet Tally back in 06/07, so this year I decided to keep track of some really cool admin information. I have an incoming line here at the Crary lab (not many phones on station can receive calls from off station), so I thought it would be interesting to keep track of all the places on the continent that I received phone calls from.
I am also including our lab staff photos from this season. We couldn't decide on just one pose in one location so we had two photo shoots and multiple poses. These are my favorites:
Regular pose outside the lab with the Crary truck.
Tough Guy pose outside the lab with the Crary truck.
Then to the Boiler Room - This is our normal pose. Check out the guys hiding in the back!
Our goofy photo in the Boiler Room.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Cape Royds
I just realized that I forgot to post photos from my day at Cape Royds earlier this season. One of the grantees, Mary Lynn Price, who was here on station needed some last-minute help lugging her gear around since she had injured her shoulder. Luckily, I was the help! We flew out to Cape Royds in a helicopter and were dropped off for the day. Mary Lynn specializes in web videos and was especially interested in women working in Antarctica. She wanted to interview the women conservators working in the hut that was built by Shackleton and his men in 1907. I got to wander around the hut for hours and had lunch at the edge of the Adelie penguin rookery. After Mary Lynn finished her filming, we went for a little hike to the top of a hill there, and then Paul the helo pilot picked us up for the flight home. Since he had a little extra fuel and time, he flew us over some crevasse fields so Mary Lynn could get some extra video footage. It was a wonderful day!Mary Lynn Price, the grantee I worked with in the field posts her videos to this website: www.womeninantarctica.com. The video that I helped with was posted on November 16th on that webpage. I even got a mention as a production assistant!
Here is a link to the photos I took that day:
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| Cape Royds |
Friday, January 23, 2009
Academy Awards?
I just received notice today that Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World, a movie he filmed here during my first season, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. And although I'm not a big Werner Herzog fan, I'm excited for my friends and coworkers that have a little screen time. One of my roommates from last year took the photo that they used for their movie poster!Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Latin Jazz Stamp Artist
I just found out that one of the grantees who is here under the artist and writers program designed the Latin Jazz stamp. My officemate Karen and I had talked about this stamp earlier in the season before Michael arrived on station. She liked it so much, Karen even had an iron-on transfer of the stamp put on her mouse pad.