~HAPPY NEW YEAR!~

To all of our friends and family, we wish you a wonderful 2006 - filled with love, laughter and prosperity (no matter how you choose to measure it!)

Thank you for all of your support and love this past year as we've made big changes and travelled to new destinations.

Much love from Sheri and Michiel

Our ship has finally come in....

Well....the ice breaker has arrived. Its job is to cut a channel through the 6-8 (2-3 meters) foot thick ice that blocks McMurdo from the open water about 80 miles (128 km) away. Since both of the US Coast Guard ships that were built for this purpose years ago are no longer fit enough to do the task, we hire a Russian ship, the Krasin, to prepare the way for the fuel supply ship, followed by the re-supply ship, The American Tern. The Tern has just left California and is expected to reach New Zealand on the 13th or 14th of January to pick up more cargo before making the last leg of the journey to McMurdo.


We've enjoyed watching the ice breaker apporaching from afar - its big smokestack belching out black smoke as it slowly works forwards and backwards to gain enough momentum to break through the ice sheet. The weather has been wonderful - around 37 degrees F (2 degrees C) - and almost no wind. We've spent several afternoons standing at Hut Point and taking bets on when the ship would reach town. On the way to Hut Point, we first pass what is called "Vietnam Village", a colorful collection of dive huts pulled off the ice for the season.


We were also treated to close-up views of swimming Weddell seals and even an Adelie penguin!

New Work Schedules

We've just passed the midpoint of our summer season and tomorrow is SUMMER SOLSTICE, the day with the maximum amount of daylight possible. Considering that the sun last set some time in October, we aren't having longer days, but after tomorrow, we will be moving closer to our next sunset in February.

Along with solstice, this time of the season brings upon a change in work schedules. I now work the nightshift in Passenger Services and my work schedule is 6:00 pm to 6:00 am. With all of the daylight, the difficulty is not with the light, but with the fact that most of the members of our community sleep during regular night hours. It is always a little weird to wake up and encounter people drinking post-work beers.

Fortunately, Michiel's boss was kind enough to get approval for him to work on special projects during nightshift. Michiel and another Materialsperson work 7:30 pm to 5:30 am. It is a great relief that we can be together now and it has proven to be really nice to work nights, as the community is smaller and we have the chance to actually get to know our co-workers and fellow night-shifters.

In other Antarctic news, the Russian ice breaker ship that has been contracted by the National Science Foundation to clear a channel through the sea ice to our station has reached the ice edge and should arrive at the station on Christmas. Once there is a clear channel through the ice, the re-supply ship can get to McMurdo to deliver next year's food and supplies and remove the waste we have generated over the past year.

Nearly 60% of all of our waste is recycled and everyone in the community is expected to sort their trash into several categories - from paper, plastic and glass - to bio-waste (blood- or bodily fluid-stained), food, wood and cardboard.

Faithful readers

Here's a big thank you to all our readers. With a special mention of Marie-Birgitte and Sandra as they not only read our blog often, but also comment/write a lot.
You might think that because of our weblog we get so much e-mail that we cannot keep up. That's not true! We are feeling very much removed from the rest of the world and love to receive e-mails from everyone. The more you write to us, the more we feel motivated to write on our blog.

Keep 'em coming.

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving on the weekend following the traditional celebration day. Everyone on station had Saturday and Sunday off and the galley staff prepared a huge feast with three sittings on Saturday.

My holiday weekend started on Friday evening with a departmental cosmic bowling party. The bowling alley has two lanes with manual pin-set mechanisms. Two people are paid to sit behind and to the left of the pins. After the first bowling ball is thrown, the pin setters place the ball in the return chute and place the fallen pins in the reset rack hanging above the pins left standing. We use fluorescent balls and pins and the pin setters turn off the regular lights and switch on the black lights so that everyone's light colored clothing glows. When we added good music and they switched on the fog machine, we've got a good party atmosphere. I placed a special food order from the galley and we enjoyed camembert and gouda cheese and crackers.

The snow started to fall on Friday night and by Saturday morning there was a beautiful 4 inch (10 cm) layer of fluffy snow on the ground. Many of us were signed up to run the 5K Turkey Trot run out to the ice runway and back but the race was cancelled (believe it or not...) due to snow. In an act of group defiance, many of us ran the race anyway and found that the layer of snow actually made the conditions on the town roads better, as the small stones were covered. The weather conditions also couldn't have been better - no wind and warm sunshine.

After the Turkey Trot, we walked out to the Ice Runway to see the Static Aircraft display. The Air National Guard, who fly the LC-130 aircraft (also known as Hercules or Hercs), gave us a guided tour of one of their planes and allowed us to sit in the cockpit. Very cool! These planes land here and at field camps and the South Pole on skis but can also lower wheels to land on asphalt runways in New Zealand. See the photos on our other blog-site: www.michielandsherithepictures.blogspot.com

Later in the day, we joined a couple of friends in their room for cheese, crackers, wine and stories and completed a fantastic holiday day with a big meal of turkey, stuffing, shrimp cocktail, cranberry sauce and pie.

Terrabus Training

As mentioned below, when we need to transport up to 56 passengers to or from an airplane, we use the Terrabus. The Terrabus is manufactured by a Canadian company called Foremost. Foremost has sold 7 Terrabuses around the world. One of them is here in McMurdo and the other 6 are used in the arctic regions of Alaska and Canada.

The Terrabus is designed to be used on tundra, snow and ice and its huge, inner-tube-like tires are supposed to allow the 66,000 pound (30,000 kilo) vehicle to remain buoyant if it should ever fall through the ice.

Later in the season, I might be called upon to help out an overworked Shuttles Department so I've been trained on both the Airporters (mini-buses) and the Terrabus.



Driving the "boat" is hard work. The road to the ice runway isn't so much of a challenge but maneuvering around town is HARD! Here are some statistics to help you understand why: Length: 48 feet 10 inches (15 meters), Width: 11 feet 10 inches (3.6 meters), Maximum Speed: 25 mph (40 kph), and most importantly, Turning Radius: 72 feet (22 meters). The trick is positioning yourself correctly before the turn and learning when to start turning the wheel.

Sheri Gets A Morale Trip

I got my turn to leave the safety of Mactown for a Morale Trip to Sea Ice Training. Since the annual sea ice (the ice that melts each year) is near to its break-up point, this was the last sea ice training course of the season and I was lucky enough to snag a spot with 8 other people.

Sea Ice Training is mainly meant for scientists and workers who regularly drive across the ice to get somewhere. The purpose of the training is to learn how to evaluate cracks in the ice in order to ascertain whether they are safe to cross in your vehicle.

We learned that the annual sea ice is 2.5 to 3 meters thick, while the permanent ice shelf is over a kilometer thick. The C-17 and LC-130 aircraft have been landing on the annual sea ice and each time a plane lands, surveyors measure the deflection of the ice beneath the load of the aircraft. If the ice sinks too low (that is, below sea level), the C-17s have to take off immediately in order to avoid getting frozen and stuck.


When a you encounter a crack in the ice, you are supposed to clear away the snow to reach the ice itself, then you drill a hole with a power drill and giant, metal drill bit (called a "flight"). Each flight is about 3 feet (one meter) long. Once the entire flight is drilled into the ice, you connect another flight to the first and continue drilling. Finally, you add a third flight and you'll probably hit water. The water that comes up through the hole is crystal clear and appears "blue lagoon" blue. Now, you measure the depth of the hole by dropping a weight and cord on the end of a measuring tape.


You will also measure the width of the crack and determine whether the crack is more than one-third the length of your vehicle's track. For example, the Pisten-Bully has a nine foot track and can only safely cross a crack that is less than 3 feet wide.

In order to try out our new skills, we travelled out on the Road to Nowhere to drill some holes. Along the way, we saw the same seals and pressure ridges that Michiel saw on his boondoggle. We had a clearer day, however, and got tremendous views of Mt. Erebus beyond.




After doing some drilling, we had an added bonus of hiking up a volcanic island that was home to several nesting skuas. The black soil was surprisingly soft (almost like sand) and the aggregate rocks were pitted and sculpted by the wind.

Makin' Music

Being a rock (well....reggae, actually) star is loads of fun! The band is called Jah Chant (I have no idea how Sky came up with that name) and we've been performing every week since our first show at Open Mike night. The band is made up of Sky, who writes most of the songs, sings and plays guitar; Kish, our bassist, who is rock-star epitomized; Devin, who plays didgeridoo and congas and me on drums. The community seems to REALLY dig our music and we always have a group of enthusiastic dancers at each gig (and not just our partners and good friends).




Last night, we played our first-ever Saturday night gig, which is a real treat because Saturday night is the night that most people go out. We played at Gallagher's, the non-smoking bar and played third, just after a tremendous performance by Sean on guitar and vocals.





We're planning on playing IceStock, the big outdoor music festival on New Year's Day, and have been invited to perform at the big end-of-season party in the helicopter hangar. We'll certainly play some more events before then.

All I can say is .....WOO HOOO!

Boondoggles

Every so often we get opportunities to get away from town on some form of fun vehicle. These trips used to be called "Boondoggles" but are now referred to as "Morale Trips".

Michiel won a "morale trip" by being one of the first ten people to volunteer to clean up the gym after the big Halloween party. He was invited to go one evening after work on "The Road to Nowhere".

The Road to Nowhere heads out over the permanent ice shelf ("white ice") towards Mt. Erebus, passing a Weddell Seal colony along the way. Passengers are transported in giant orange vehicles called Deltas.

Here are a couple of photos of a seal in front of the pressure ridges of the Erebus ice tongue.




The Road to Nowhere

Fun Vehicles

McMurdo has a fantastic collection of vehicles for use around town and on the sea ice.

Modified Ford Van

Pisten Bully - Average Speed: 12 miles per hour

Hagglund

Physiological Changes

There are some strange physical things that happen to you while you're down here. Most of them have to do with the extreme dryness – cracked skin, cuts that don’t heal without the help of Crazy Glue (an approved remedy, but not one you should use often), bloody noses, sore throats, and scaly scalps. Others are a bit stranger or grosser…the feeling of arthritis in your hands when you wake up, sticky, fluorescent-green snot and quick-growing fingernails and hair. Furthermore, almost everyone’s “normal” body temperature drops 1 degree Celsius to 36 or 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

I was talking to the Station physician one day and I mentioned that Michiel and I have noticed new gray hairs coming in faster than normal. He had noticed the same phenomenon with his own hair and explained that people seem to age faster here……great…...

Random thoughts

The other day, I was walking home from band practice and looked up into the sky. A skua flying overhead surprised me....not because I hadn't seen the large predatory gull-type birds before, but because I realized how uncommon it is to see other life forms here.

Skuas aren't very welcome by most McMurdo residents; they dive bomb anyone carrying unwrapped food and are particulary attracted to the blue cafeteria trays.

In other news...the Pole Traverse mission departed McMurdo on 11/11 at 11 AM. They are driving a tracked bulldozer-type vehicle across from here to the South Pole in order to (eventually) create a permanent surface route. They probe for crevasses and fill them in with snow along the nearly 1000 mile proposed route. After the route has been flagged (with bamboo poles and red or green flag), we will start sending cargo to the Pole by vehicle. This will free up the aircraft currently running these routes to support more trips to support scientists in field camps.

The Traverse Convoy - complete with living and dining units, scientific equipment and machines to blast enough snow to fill crevasses along the way.



It has been very warm lately - which has brought more snowfall than I've ever seen. McMurdo isn't a terribly attractive place, especially as the snow melts and the volcanic and rocky surfaces of the land become exposed - so the snowfall was a welcome respite from the dirt and rubble.

Scenes From Antarctica

Scott Base: The home of the Antarctic New Zealand Programme. There are about 60 people at their base, which is 1.6 miles (3 kms) away. The base bar is open to Americans on Thursday evenings and the store is open throughout the week. Notice the pressure ridges beyond.



Ice Town: The collection of movable buildings on the sea ice that support operations on the ice runway.



Reflections on the Sea Ice make it seem like we are looking out over open water.



Evening Hike

Food

Food – the subject of intense interest, bitter complaining, and, occasionally, great joy. The dining hall (commonly known as the galley) is open 24 hours a day for coffee, kool aid type juice (lovingly referred to as “bug juice”), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and breakfast cereal. There are 4 set meal times throughout the work day: breakfast, lunch, dinner and midrats (military speak for “midnight rations” – the main midday meal for night shift workers).

Food is served cafeteria-style with a “take what you want, eat what you take” philosophy. Every meal has hot food available and amongst the hot items, there is always one vegetarian option. The galley staff tries their best to make their limited selection of ingredients into interesting and palatable meals. However, meals tend to end up being monochromatic with lots of meat and potatoes. The chicken is the most disappointing - though they dress it up with fancy names, sauces and seasonings, it remains stringy and dry.

The highlights of the meals are the freshly baked breads and desserts. Wednesday is cookie day and Fridays are pizza lunch days. Sunday brunch is a big meal complete with Belgian waffles, eggs made to order, roast, baked brie, and whatever freshies arrived the day before by plane.

Freshies are the most sought-after items from the galley. Since aircraft from Christchurch only arrive 4 days per week and hold space is primarily reserved for science cargo, we don’t have a steady supply of fresh fruits and vegetables. We have green salads, oranges, kiwis, bananas and apples about once or twice per week and on Sundays. Hoarding is common and I must admit that we have our own small stash. There is a greenhouse on the station, but it is only small and can only be considered as an additional source of freshies. However it is a popular place to be, because of all the green and the nice smells (and in winter time for the light).

In between freshie deliveries, fruit comes from a can. When things get grim, jello counts as the fruit of the day.

During lunches, we have a sandwich bar which offers a choice of luncheon meats, cheeses, pickles, onions and, often, lettuce and tomato – all on homemade breads. It’s a popular alternative to some of the more sickly looking warm options. On a few nights a week, we have the option of purchasing burgers and fries at the bar for a change of scenery.

On Saturday evenings, we are permitted to bring wine and beer into the galley to enjoy with our evening meal. This is always a great opportunity to meet new people as they scour the room for a corkscrew.

The gastronomic highlights of the season are Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. The galley staff goes all-out to decorate and bake incredible feasts. Volunteers are recruited from the community to help chop and bake beforehand and to wash dishes during the festivities. The entire community gets an extra day off during each of those weeks and there are extra parties and concerts.

When people need the pleasure of cooking or baking for themselves, they can put in a food request for the ingredients to bake cakes or cookies or to make pizza or other dishes in Hut 10. Hut 10 is a fully furnished stand-alone “home” designed to accommodate visiting dignitaries and important persons (eg. Senators voting on funding for the National Science Foundation) complete with plumbing, heating, carpeting, full kitchen and bedrooms. It is really interesting how you realize how much you miss the comforts and coziness of home when you get inside.

The Community

One of the biggest reasons that people return year after year is not the pay, the location or the work. It’s the community. We have an incredible group of dedicated, adventurous, well-traveled, creative and interesting people working here.

Some statistics about the participants:
Average age: 38 (which makes us youngsters!)
Approximately 34% female
Minorities: 5% (the program is still largely made up of white males, but that is
slowly changing)
Raytheon employees originally from foreign countries: At least 11
Countries represented: New Zealand (lots of Kiwis from the neighboring New Zealand base have married Americans and now work for our base), Australia, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Netherlands (Michiel), Thailand, Poland, Russia, Switzerland and maybe others……
Countries doing science projects, support or transitting through McMurdo: Italy,
France, South Africa, Germany, Canada and probably others.

One of the most talked about statistics this year is the percentage of first-timers (the famous Fingees), a whopping 68%. In the opinion of old-timers and returnees, this is a very bad sign of the discontent that many have with the Program, the bureaucracy and the rules.

Fortunately, many find creative ways to deal with the plethora of new rules and regulations that stem from any small incident. For example, last week, someone came directly from the gym to the cafeteria in his sleeveless shirt and was seen dripping sweat into the lettuce bowl. Very gross, indeed, but what resulted was not a one-to-one counseling with the offending person, but a brand new Dress Code for the galley, which stated that no one is permitted to wear shoes without socks (thus no dress shoes for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners), no pajamas and no sleeveless shirts. When the Polies (people working at the South Pole Station) saw the PowerPoint presentation that someone put several hours into in order to explain the new policy, they responded with their own poster showing the new Pole galley dress code of “Assless Chaps” on Thursdays.

The creativity is really what keeps many of us returning despite the silly rules and bureaucracy. There is an annual art gallery, craft show and Women’s Soiree (an event showcasing women performers – belly dancers, singers, musicians, etc.) as well as an outdoor music festival on New Year’s Eve known as Ice Stock. There are dozens of musicians playing all varieties of music and some years, there is enough thespian interest to put on a play.

Not all members of the community share in the creative spirit, however, and there are plenty whose imagination go only as far as watching movies and getting drunk in the bar. I hate to generalize, but they tend to be the guys operating and maintaining heavy equipment and the members of the Air National Guard who fly the LC-130 Hercules aircraft. For them (and a surprising number of other members of the community), the biggest frustration is that Food Services didn’t order enough hard alcohol and supplies must be rationed. Wine and beer are sold regularly at the station store, but hard alcohol is sold only on Sundays.

Antarctic Science

Since we are here supporting scientific research, our blog wouldn't be complete without a posting on the kinds of projects being conducted. The average worker doesn't get to hear enough about what's going on around us, but the NSF does try to promote different projects by hosting science lectures on Wedensdays and Sundays. Additionally, if you have the time and motivation, the science lab building is filled with displays and data. Tours of the labs and the aquarium are given on Sunday afternoons. Michiel went on a tour last weekend and had an excellent opportunity to touch sea spiders, starfish and other sea creatures housed in the aquarium tanks.

Antarctic Octopus


There is quite a bit of marine biology work being conducted here which require dive shacks (little huts with heaters located such that they sit on top of a hole cut into the sea ice) and dive tenders (regular people who help the divers get themselves and their equipment in and out of the holes in the sea ice). Dive tending is considered a "boondoggle" or morale trip and the opportunity is offered by supervisors to individuals in all departments. Some of the marine biologists are studying the anti-freeze in the blood of certain Antarctic fish and looking at other applications for similar man-made materials.

Other science parties are studying meteorites and life forms (microbes) in the dry valleys, penguins (Emperors and adelies), Weddell Seals, activity in the active Erebus Volcano, and the atmosphere (the hole in the ozone layer (which is located largely above where we are located). I believe the greatest proportion of the work right now is focused on global warming. There are many science groups working in different locations on the continent using ice core sampling techniques, sonar, radar and other technologies to measure the thickness of the ice and compare it to historical data.

One of the science lectures focused on the catastrophic break up of an ice sheet on the other size of the continent. The before and after photos were astounding and particularly worrying because up til now, the melting of glaciers in every other part of the world has been balanced out by the increase in the ice sheet on Antarctica (as the earth warms, the temperature in Antarctica also warms and becomes more amenable for snowfall. When more snow falls in these regions, glaciers increase in size. When the temperature is too low, there isn't enough moisture in the air for snow to fall - which explains why Antarctica is the highest, coldest and DRYEST continent on earth.)

For monitoring weather conditions, scientists send up huge long-distance balloons carrying monitoring equipment that record atmospheric conditions. Here's a photo of one of the balloons that was launched this season.

There's so much going on here in science that it's difficult to discuss or even understand it all. If you would like more info, check out the US Antarctic Program website: www.usap.gov

Dutch Citizenship

Sheri is now a Dutch American! We received a most excellent email from Michiel's sister telling us that I got my official letter from Queen Beatrix. I am a dual citizen of both the Netherlands and the United States. Yippee! or Joepie! (in Dutch)

Recreation

We work hard and play hard. In order to provide recreational opportunities for 1000 people with different tastes, McMurdo has a recreation department staffed by three people.

Gear issue services includes the rental of musical instruments, cross-country skis, climbing shoes, etc. A small 2-lane bowling alley (with one of the last manual pin-setting operations in the world!) is located in Building 63. Open bowling hours are on Sunday evenings. They also have cosmic bowling (using black lights and glowing bowling balls!)

The sports gym is the site for volleyball, basketball, aerobics and other activities. Sign up sheets for league and team play are also posted on the Recreation bulletin board. The climbing wall is also located in the gym. All personnel on station who have received training on its proper use can utilize this wall. Training classes will be announced at various points throughout the season.

The weight room offers nautilus type equipment, free weights, exercise cycles and other exercise equipment. Upstairs, this building has a Ceramics room, a sewing room, and a bouldering cave. The Acey Deucy (Bldg. 78) is completely outfitted with aerobics training equipment. Both facilities are open 24 hours a day for your use.

The library has books on many different subjects and interests that are available for checkout. The library is open most evenings each week.

There are three clubs open to serve the McMurdo community. Gallagher's, the non-smoking club, offers a 'burger bar' three nights of the week. The Coffee House has a cozy atmosphere and serves coffee, wine and cheeses. Southern Exposure is the smoking bar.

Beer, liquor and soda are available for purchase at the retail store during regular store hours. The amount purchased per visit is limited. Video checkout, fax service and pre-paid long distance phone cards are also available through the store, as well as t-shirts and souvenirs, toiletries and maps.

Chapel of the Snows offers a variety of religious services for community members.

A band room is available after work hours and is equipped with amps, sound board and instruments. This season, I am playing drums in a reggae band so our band has a two hour slot on Wednesday evenings for practice.

Aside from the regularly available activities and services, the recreation department ensures that there are clubs, games, special activities, trips and parties every night of the week and on some days (for the night shift workers).

Our costumes for the 70s party and Halloween (I guess you could say that we are Queen's Day celebrators?)




Some of the best of the very creative Halloween Costumes. Costumes were judged for Best Overall, Best Antarctic Theme, Scariest, Funniest, and Best Group costumes. The winners get to go on a special outing by snowmobile to a gorgeous overlook of Erebus Volcano.





Here’s a schedule of the past week’s activities:

Monday, October 24th: Bowling and Volleyball leagues begin tonight! Check with your
captain to get the season schedule! Good Luck!

Tuesday, October 25th: NEW!! Silversmith class with Harry Fishel. You lucky students who are signed up on the rec. board start your 5 weeks of classes tonight from 7-9pm in bldg. 136. Bring your $10 supplies fee.

*Rescheduled Sunday (10/23) Science Lecture in the dining hall at 8:30pm.

Wednesday, October 26th: Morning Movie: "Children Underground" at the Coffee House

NEW!! * Survival Russian language class starts tonight at 7:00pm in 207 1st floor lounge! This is a basic course in Russian language with an emphasis on tactics for traveling the Trans Siberian Railroad.

*Birthday Bingo starts at 8:00pm in Gallagher’s! If you were born in October, you play for free! Bring your ID along.

*NEW!! *Intro Shito Ryu Karate class from 6-7:15pm in the big gym. All welcome!

*Antarctic Movie Night in the Coffee House starts at 7:30pm. Tonight’s movie is “The Crystal Ocean”, all you ever wanted to know about icebergs, glaciers, and pack ice.

Thursday, October 27th: The Ends of the Earth: A three credit course continues through Dec. 15th. Classes will be held every Monday and Thursday 7-8:00pm in the 208 1st floor lounge.

*Every Thursday Night is American Night at Scott Base! Shuttles start at 6:30pm from DJ! Check the rec. board for details.

*Thursday Night Movie: "Children Underground", 8pm at the Coffee House

Friday, October 28th: NEW!! * White Crane Women’s Self Defense Class from 7-8pm in the laundry room.

NEW!! * Shito Ryu Karate Class from 8-9pm in the laundry room.

Saturday, October 29th: Town Halloween Party at the big gym! The party starts at 8:00pm, with costume judging 9:00-9:45pm. Join the fun! See you there!

Sunday, October 30th: NEW! The first 10 people to get down to the gym at 10:30am to help clean up after the Halloween party, get their names on the first recreation trip of the season!

NEW!! * Shito Ryu Karate Open Training from noon-1pm in the big gym.

*Discovery Hut Tour - Sign up on the rec. board, and meet at the handwashing station at 1pm sharp.

*Cinema Sunday at the Coffee House: noon: "Cosi"
4pm: "Like Water for Chocolate"
8pm: "A Soldier’s Story"

If this isn’t enough, there are always hikes and walks around station to get great views of the sea ice, the ice runway, the Royal Society mountain range and the active volcano, Mt. Erebus. Many people ski or run the roads out to the ice runways and Michiel and I are certainly trying to make time to do that in preparation for the marathon and fun runs later in the season.

With band practice, staying in shape, eating and sleeping, we don’t have much time for the other activities (especially with my 12 hour shifts), but we do try to attend the science lectures (more on that next time!) though it's temptiing to want to do a little of everything!

The Antarctic Basics

For those who weren't around (at least in my life) for my first trip down to the ice, I'm sure you have lots of questions, so I'll try to cover all of the basics about life here.

Where:
Michiel and I are stationed at McMurdo, an American science and research station on the New Zealand side of the Antarctic continent. The station was created by the US Navy in the 50's in support of the International Geophysical year. The Navy no longer owns and runs the facility; it is managed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and run by the sub-contractor, Raytheon. Michiel and I are employed by Raytheon, as are almost all of the people who are not doing actual science work.

McMurdo is located on Ross Island, which is surrounded by the Ross Ice Shelf and an active volcano (Mt. Erebus).

Town as viewed from Hut Point. Dorm buildings are in the foreground.


The Work:
70 percent of the workforce is involved with activities to support the science projects that are going on here. People are employed doing such things as housekeeping, dishwashing (my last job here), logistics (passenger and cargo movement), vehicle maintenance and operation, computers, project and program management, and many other things.

Michiel has already mentioned that he is working as a supply person in the plumbing warehouse. I am working in the Passenger Services area and spend a great deal of my day manipulating the out-dated Passenger Transport System database with the names, dates and hotel requests for passengers traveling back to Christchurch and onward to the South Pole or field camps. It’s actually fun work – I get to see where everyone is going and the department is full of fun people.

Michiel shoveling snow

The work week is exceptionally long. Michiel works Monday through Saturday from 7:30 to 5:30. I work 5 twelve-hour days per week and will shift to nights half way through the season. This means that we don’t have a lot of time together, but thankfully, we DO share a small dorm room.

Michiel in the Plumbing Warehouse


The Living Situation:
Everyone on station lives in a dorm. Some dorms have one bathroom between every two rooms and some have ladies’ and men’s rooms on each floor. We live in one of the latter types. Each dorm has a lounge (with TV, DVD, microwave and pool table (or other games)), a laundry room and an area to recycle.

Dorm rooms are very small but people do a lot to make them cozy with wall hangings, linens and bedspreads from home, coffee makers and decorations. They come equipped with two beds, two nightstands, two dressers, a small fridge, and lamps. We scored a television/VCR combo from Michiel's boss for our room. The offerings are meager but it is nice to be able to get the weather forecast (yeah, yeah....I know you're thinking "What does the forecast matter when it's always cold??!!! Actually, it matters a lot if you can see that it is a total white-out (Condition One) and you aren't allowed to leave your building to go to work.) or watch a movie.

One of the challenging things about the dorm situations is that there is a combination of day and night shift workers living in the same areas and even in the same rooms (as Michiel and I will experience later in the season). Day Sleepers have special signs on their doors to notify passers-by.

One of the things that makes decorating easier is a system called "skua", which is named after the scavenger bird that frequents this area. Usable things that you no longer want are placed in bins labelled "skua". Anyone can rummage through the bins or the central storage area. So far, we've skua'ed shoes, clothes, video tapes, wall hangings, a clock radio and other small items. The skua system makes it easier to come down here without packing hundreds of pounds of stuff.

Weather:
Of course, no discussion about life in Antarctica would be complete without a word about the weather. As it is now summer, the air (ambient) temperatures are fairly mild, ranging from -15 F to 20 F (-26 C to -7 C). However, the extreme winds make for awesome wind chills around -45 F (-43 C). These winds create white-out snow conditions that require us to curtail travel outdoors. When we have a “Condition 1”, all travel is restricted, including travel to your work place.

Aside from the cold and wind, the biggest physical discomfort is the dryness. We were lucky enough to "score" a humidifier from the medical clinic, which helps a great deal with nighttime dryness and I've noticed that there are a lot more containers of moisturizer around station, but it is a constant struggle to stay hydrated (we drink liters of water and juice each day) and moisturized.

Furthermore, the dryness seems to make it easier for people to catch colds and harder for cuts to heal. Colds and flu (commonly called "the crud") are a big problem and account for many lost work hours. There are loads of signs reminding people to wash their hands before eating and after using the bathrooms but at any given time, it still seems that at least a quarter of the station has the crud.

Arriving in Antarctica / In Antarctica aangekomen

We were picked up on the ice runway by an enormous vehicle called “Ivan the Terrabus” – this wouldn’t be the first and only strange and adapted vehicle we would see here on the ice. The managers from all of the departments greeted their employees in the lobby of the galley building and afterwards, we attended a presentation on the rules of the station. Once the presentation was complete, we were allowed to find our dorm rooms and pick up our bags.




The following days were filled with courses and trainings, including Mapcon (a ridiculously outdated supply/warehousing computer system) and vehicle training. They use outdated (notice the trend?) loaders and forklifts (including the military green versions of these vehicles, called “pickles”) which we have to be very careful with because parts cannot be easily or quickly ordered and obtained. I drive the pickles, loaders and Ford pick-up trucks (some of which have special tracks instead of tires). I never thought I’d operate this sort of heavy equipment!



I am a Materials Person for the plumbing department and work in building 136 (the plumbing warehouse). I actually belong to the Supply department. I do some administrative tasks (finding and delivering parts to people who request them and then recording the transaction in Mapcon) as well as manual labor (counting and moving goods such as chemicals and propane with loaders and forklifts and shoveling snow). Contrary to what I thought before I came down, I am not warm and cozy in the warehouse all day. I do have a chance to enjoy the weather and the view during the work day.


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We worden van de ijs landingsbaan gehaald door een enorm groot voertuig; Ivan the terra mover. We zullen nog veel grote, aangepaste en gekke voertuigen zien. In de hal van de galley (het eethuis) staan de managers van de afdelingen klaar om hun nieuwe personeelsleden te verwelkomen. Daarna krijgen we een presentatie over de regels en mogelijkheden van de basis en kunnen we naar onze kamers gaan.

De volgende dagen worden gevuld met allerlei cursussen waaronder Mapcon (een oeroud computer programma waarin zo'n beetje alles wordt bijgehouden; van onderdelen en voorraden tot personeelsleden en vertrektijden van de vliegtuigen) en voertuig taining. Ze werken hier met " oeroude" vorkheftrucks, loaders en pickles (militaire vorkheftrucks) waar we heel voorzichtig mee moeten zijn omdat er vaak geen nieuwe onderdelen besteld kunnen worden. Naast de Ford pick-up trucks zijn dit de voertuigen die ik bestuur. Nooit gedacht dat ik ooit zware voertuigen zou bedienen.

Ik ben een Material Person voor de loodgieters en werk in gebouw 136 (plumbing warehouse) en ben onderdeel van de Supply afdeling. Mijn werk bestaat enerzijds uit administratieve taken (het opzoeken en uitreiken van onderdelen aan mensen die daar om vragen en vervolgens administreren in het (oeroude)systeem) en anderzijds uit manuele arbeid als het tellen en verplaatsen van goederen. Het verplaatsen van zware spullen (zoals vaten met water of chemicalien) doen we met behulp van de zware voertuigen. In tegenstelling tot wat ik dacht voordat ik hier kwam ben ik dus niet de hele dag warm en knus binnen aan het werk, maar heb de kans om van het weer te genieten.

The Trip South / De Reis naar het zuiden

After a long trip from Anchorage to Seattle, Seattle to LA (where I had a drink with Sheri's cousin, Liz), from LA to Auckland, New Zealand and, finally on to Christchurch - I was, finally, close to my final destination. In LA, I had already seen luggage with the RPSC (Raytheon Polar Services) bag tags and in Christchurch there were even more. The veterans (or “returnees”) didn’t use the blue tags for the 2005 – 6 season, but tags with other colors to clearly show that they weren’t FINGEES (F%^$@ing new guys – a military term).

In Christchurch, everyone received their per diem for food and lodging and then we had to try on our ECW (Extreme Cold Weather gear) – lots of work and a little strange considering how relatively warm it was outside.

After the following full day of safety training and orientation, we were ready to leave. We gathered very early the next day at the Antarctic Passenger Terminal and put on our ECW and checked in. We received a sack lunch and boarded the military C-17. There were about 150 people and lots of cargo on the aircraft.



After 5 hours of flying, we landed softly on the Ross Sea ice. Unbelievable to think that the ice can hold such a heavy airplane….but indeed there is a little “town” with movable buildings, a fire station and a galley out on the ice. Later in the summer, this ice will start to melt and a Russian ice breaker will make a channel to allow the resupply ship to dock at the station.

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Na een lange reis van Anchorage naar Seattle en van Seattle naar Los Angeles (waar ik een drankje dronk met Sheri's nicht Liz) en vervolgens van LA naar Auckland (Nieuw Zeeland) en door naar Christchurch; eindlijk dichtbij de eindbestemming. Al in LA had ik verschillende tassen gezien met de RPSC (Raytheon Polar Services) naamkaartjes en in Christchurch waren het er vele tientallen. De veteranen gebruikten niet hun blauwe (van 2005-2006) label, maar de anderskleurige om duidelijk te laten zien dat zij geen nieuwkomers zijn. (nieuwkomers heten hier FINGEES (= F*&^%$ new guy/girl)

In Christchurch kreeg iedereen zijn onkosten vergoeding (voor overnachting en voedsel etc.) en daarna moest iedereen zijn ECW (emergency cold weather) kleren aanpassen. Erg veel werk en een beetje raar als het buiten lekker warm is.

Na een volgende dag van veiligheids cursus (daar zullen we veel meer over horen) en orientatie/inleiding zijn we klaar om te vertrekken. 's ochtends heel vroeg moeten we ons verzamelen bij de terminal waar we onze ECW moeten aantrekken. Het vliegtuig is een c17 militair vliegtuig en op mijn vlucht gingen zo'n 150 mensen mee en heel veel vracht.

Na 5 uur vliegen maken we een zachte landing op het ijs van de "Ross Sea". Ongelooflijk om te bedenken dat het ijs zo'n zwaar vliegtuig houdt.

Autumn in Hope

When it isn't raining here in Hope (and we've seen LOTS of rain and wind this month), we try to get out for a hike or a run so we can enjoy the beautiful foliage. The birch and aspen leaves have turned golden and the bearberry leaves on the alpine tundra are now crimson.


We haven't seen much of the black bear lately. Perhaps our local "friend" was the one that got too territorial with someone's backyard apple tree and was shot for fear that its progressively more aggressive behavior was going to become a problem for the inhabitants.

We were invited to have dinner with some friends to enjoy their homemade black bear stew. (That's how it works here - if you help to skin and "dress" the game, you are entitled to keep some of the meat for yourself.) Black bear isn't known as a tasty meat, but this young bear with a stomach full of apples was surprisingly like pork meat. My upset stomach later that evening indicated that perhaps the meat is just too rich or unfamiliar to eat on any regular basis. (well...not terribly likely) Or maybe my upset stomach came from a little bit of guilt about having probably eaten the bear that we had enjoyed watching for several weeks.

Surprisingly, we haven't experienced our first frost yet. It's a bit late in the season for it and maybe further evidence of global warming??? Normally at this time of year, there is a light dusting of snow on the mountain tops (what they call "termination dust" - signalling the termination of the summer). So far, the peaks are snow-free.

This will be our last posting from Alaska. We'll continue this blog as we continue our adventures in the southern hemisphere. Michiel leaves on October 1 for New Zealand and on to Antarctica and I leave on the 6th. We hope you'll keep reading!

Books we've enjoyed reading

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
This is the first of a lovely series of books about the Miss Marple of Botswana. Very enjoyable, feel good and giving you a hint of African life and philosophies. We've read the first three books of the series and liked them all.

Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
Impossible to put down! Compelling story about an Australian who escaped prison and ends up in India. Living with the people in India and learning several languages. Living and fighting alongside the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan.

Shackelton's Forgotten Men - Lennard Bickel
The amazing story of the group of explorers responsible for laying down the supply depots for Ernest Shackleton's 1915 attempt to cross Antarctica. Very topical, too.

America - Jon Stewart
Not just funny, sarcastic and scathing, but also educational and entertaining account of American history. We enjoyed the audio version on our drive upto Alaska.

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
A high-tech (focusing on cryptography) thriller set in WWII and the present. Well-written, funny and engaging.

Up Country by Nelson DeMille
A political thriller set in Vietnam. We enjoyed reading a novel in which the action takes place in many of the locations we visited in 2003. Also interesting to read about these locations from the perspective of a Vietnam vet - not something we got much of while we were in the country.

Five Quarters of the Orange - Joanne Harris
A dark story by the author of Chocolat about a family in France during the German occupation in WWII with the author's trademark inclusion of food and recipes interwoven into the story.

Fateful Harvest by Duff Wilson
The incredible true story of the discovery in a small Washington town that commercial fertilizer companies were (and still are) recycling and re-selling toxic industrial wastes (cadmium, lead , arsenic etc.) as fertilizer.

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
The cover says "prepared to be dazzled"...that's correct! Levitt is an economist who looks at everyday issues from a unique viewpoint. He explains, for example, how the Roe v. Wade (the legal right to an abortion) decision is the real cause of the decrease in crime in America and why some school teachers choose to cheat on state exams for their students.

Various books on running, including: The Lore of Running by Tim Noakes and Marathon: You Can Do It by Jeff Galloway
Michiel is determined to run the marathon in Antarctica this year so he's preparing himself physically and mentally.

As you can tell, we've had lots of time to read. The weather has been gray and rainy and we're hanging out in Hope doing some house- and dog-sitting, so we've worked our way through all the books we can get our hands on. We are, however, saving the other Antarctica-related books we've received as gifts (THANKS!) for the long flights down to the ice.

More wildlife encounters

On the evening we returned to Hope from the Pet Emergency clinic in Anchorage, we had another visit (nearly nightly) from our local black bear. The bear seems to be a pre-teen (based on its size) and is still quite wary of dogs and humans (which is a good thing). He is busy eating as many berries as he can stuff himself with before winter comes and seems particularly fond of the devil's club berries that surround our landlady's property. Now that we are also house-sitting (thus, actually living in the big house and using the outdoor hot tub (woo hoo!)), we can get very good views of the wild area that she calls "backyard" and the critters that wander through.

This time, however, he preferred the front of the house and sniffing around the driveway. He allowed us to watch him for a very long time.


A few days later, Michiel and I were going to do a hike in the Anchorage area, but were running short on time. We opted to drive towards home, stopping at a hike along the Turnagain Arm. I mentioned to Michiel that we hadn't seen any bull moose this year.

The McHugh Creek hike is a pretty steep climb into the forests overlooking the Arm of the Cook Inlet below. We climbed in a steady rain up to a common stopping place at Table Rock for a sweeping vista. As we decended off the plateau to continue onto the trail that would take us higher into the Chugach Mountains, we nearly ran smack into not one but TWO bull moose eating and occasionally butting their huge racks against each other.
We quickly snapped a few photos after getting to a safer location and left them to their business. Since the trail onwards was blocked, we decided to turn back towards the parking area, but first had to make it past the cow moose, who had snorted to make her presence known.

A few days later, we were treated to a sighting of the beluga whales that travel up Turnagain Arm at the beginning and end of the summer. The group of 20 or more white (adults) and gray whales glided gracefully through the water while groups of tourists and locals pulled their cars over on the highway to catch a glimpse.

Recreating?

Our recreation time in Hope always includes hiking on the various trails. If we are dog-sitting Cooper, we bring him along and try to let him off the leash for a while. Big mistake! During our last trip up the Bear Creek Trail, Cooper discovered the delicacy that is porcupine (stekelvarken). Michiel ran him back home with half a face full of quills and we later had to drive him to the Pet Emergency clinic in Anchorage (1.5 hours away).

The vet put him under (narcose) and removed the quills while we went out for a pizza. He also gave him enough morphine to make him basically comatose for the ride home, the transport from car to house and into the following day.

Over the next two days, we discovered that more of the quills had worked their way through his fur/skin/muscles and Michiel held him down while I yanked them out with needle-nose pliers. Quills are evil things - barbed on one end and about 2 inches long.

All is well now and Cooper is back to chasing black bears up trees.

End of the Season

The tour season ended fairly early this year as we didn't have any bookings for the last week of August. It was just as well, really, because the weather turned gray and rainy (as is typical for late summer).

I had five tours in all - two tours that had little physical activity, which are geared towards those who might otherwise do a cruise but wanted a small group, van tour type experience. For me, these tours are tough because they require lots of driving and eating and very little exercise. I end up the week feeling fat and lazy. However, these tours do end up with a wonderful boat tour in Seward. I normally don't go on the tours, but I had a nice group and decided I'd go along. I was thrilled that I did because we saw puffins, sea otters, Steller sea lions and cormorants (aalscholvers) and we were surrounded at one point in the trip by a whole pod of orcas. We also had a portion of the trip in which we had at least 4 humpback whales (bultrug walvissen) in sight. One of them was playing by flapping its tail against the surface of the water. Excellent!

I also led two day hiker tours, which include 5 days of camping and 1 to 5 hour hikes each day. One of the trips (with Michiel) was great and the other was awful (bad weather and a difficult group, who bonded well with each other, but treated me like a servant. The highlight of THAT trip was getting stuck at a road construction stop and talking to a father and son from the Netherlands (Drenthe).)

The 5th trip was a new 7-day itinerary that included 4 days of camping. The weather was incredible! Hot, clear and sunny in all parts of the state. I couldn't believe that we could see every single mountain, including Denali, throughout the week. We even breakfasted at our campsite while watching the colors of Denali change from pink to white.

Now that the season is over, Michiel and I are enjoying recreational time in Hope and soon, we'll start packing and preparing for our ice departures.

Antarctic jobs!!!!!

Hurray, we have jobs at Antarctica. Our time and money that we invested to reach this goal finally paid off. No more worrying about what would happen if only one of us got an offer, or where to go / what to do if we wouldn't be able to get jobs.
Sheri is going to work for ATO (Antarctic Terminal Operations) and is going to be involved with passenger tracking, loading, etc. Michiel will be working in the Plumbing Warehouse as a Materials Person.
I will be leaving on the 1st of October for New Zealand and Sheri will follow on the 6th.

Earthquake!

Tonight we felt an earthquake!
We were on the bed, watching a dvd, when we felt our cabin trembling. After checking outside to see if it wasn't a bear or a moose rubbing against the logs we concluded that indeed it had been an earthquake. Michiel's very first ever.

We were very curious to see if we could find something on the internet and were surprised that only 3 minutes after the occurrence it was already on the internet. It was a force 4 quake, 12 miles southeast of Hope.
Here's is were we found the info.

On tour with Sheri

I've done quite some traveling with Sheri, but this time it was different. There were 5 more people with us. Sheri's bosses allowed me accompany her while she was working. We did the so called "Dayhiker Adventure tour" and it was beautiful. On our way we visited 3 glaciers, did lots of hiking, saw lots of wildlife (the group was very fortunate on the Denali Park bus, exclaiming upon return that they had seen everything) enjoyed gorgious vistas and had lots of fun. The weather varied from beautiful (for instance when we did a tour (with crampons) on the Matanuska glacier) to rainy in McCarthy.

On our 9 day trip we did some 1000 miles (1600 kilometer) of traveling by van and still we only saw a small part of Alaska. Our fellow passengers were amazed to hear that this distance is 5 times (and a bit) as long as the Netherlands from north to south. Of course I was happy to answer all their other questions about the Dutch.

Seeing Sheri work I must say that my already high admiration rose to a peak. Apart from driving a big van safely for so many hours a day she managed to also give info and other conversation while doing so. She took us out hiking and instructed us on how to do that safely. While camping she cooked/provided every meal (which means getting on top of the van an awful lot of times) and did the dishes. Now I know exactly why she is so exhausted when she comes back from a trip. I was glad that I could make life a little bit more easy for her on this trip.

Beginning of July update (beary scary)

We're still having a great time and things remain fun and exciting.

SHERI'S TOURS
Sheri's first tour was a great success with 9 nice and (more importantly) non-complaining travelers. Actually, they had nothing to complain about as they saw lots of wildlife (moose, caribou crossing the road, eagles, Dall sheep, orcas, Humpback whales, porpoises, etc.) and had wonderful food (lots of fresh Copper River red salmon and local halibut) and excellent weather. She will be working nearly non-stop from 19 July until the end of August doing mostly camping and hiking-based tours.


MICHIEL'S ODD JOBS
Michiel has been cleaning cabins and babysitting, as well as, making planter boxes for the garden, sanding our landlady's canoe, and doing other odd jobs. We are particularly excited to watch how fast all of the vegetables grow with all this sunlight. It seems that the bean plants grow an inch or two each day!

WILDLIFE REPORT
While watering the hanging fuschia plant, Michiel discovered a nest with 4 eggs. The nest is well guarded by a little junko bird, who hops up each log on the end of our log cabin to reach the nest.

We also have two bald eagles hanging around our property and often see them flying low over the driveway with something in their talons.

The moose are still around but the dog has managed to not pester them too much so the mom and her calf enjoy munching greenery in our landlady's backyard while we watch from a safe distance away.

Most excitingly, however, was the appearance of a juvenile brown bear on the propoerty yesterday evening while we were enjoying cocktails with Sheri's bosses. The bear was curious and quiet enough to get within 40 feet of us until Barb noticed him and scared him a bit further away. He hung around, though, oblivious to the rocks Todd was throwing at him.

Interestingly, Michiel didn't sleep well the night before because he thought he heard something strange walking around the cabin. He didn't think it was a moose and the strange bite marks on the bags of fertilizer and steer manure for the garden were troubling.

We were pretty nervous after the bear left the first time and brought the dog inside for the evening. After dinner, Michiel heard some noises outside. The bear had returned and was playing with the dog's water bowl and a large plastic container. When Michiel opened the door, the bear moved under the back deck and flipped over our landlady's canoe. We couldn't see the bear but knew it was underneath us as we stepped out onto the deck. The dog was going bananas - pacing, sniffing, growling and whining, so we knew that the bear was close. We starting yelling and the bear rushed out from under the deck...amazing close to us...and we pelted it with firewood and more shouting. It ran quickly into the woods and we haven't seen a trace of it since.

In case you're starting to worry about our safety, please be assured that we did exactly what the Department of Fish and Game advises - make noise and discourage the bear from being around your stuff. We pulled the BBQ and anything else that might have a scent inside the house and we are very cautious when walking between our cabin and the landlady's house. We now sing and make noise when walking over to go to the bathroom. Good thing for that midnight sun - it makes it much less likely to surprise any hiding critters (or vice versa)!

ANTARCTICA
We are still both considered alternate candidates but have to go through all of the medical and dental exams required of regular candidates. We have lots of appointments this week for full dental x-rays and an exam, medical screenings, including full blood, HIV and drug testing, an EKG, and mammogram (for Sheri, only - obviously). At least if we don't go to Antarctica, we will both know for sure that we are 100% healthy at no cost to ourselves.

HIKING and FUN
We have been doing lots of hikes around Hope and Seward and have taken more photos than we can post on the photos site, but we have or will post the best of them. We also helped out the runners in the Mt. Marathon 4th of July Mountain Race by providing water and gatorade to the women racing up and down the 3,022 foot (approximately 1,000 meter) high mountain. We stood a little more than halfway up the peak to give some liquids and encouragement to a few of our friends and lots of others.

We hope everyone is having a great summer and we'll update again soon.

Driver's license!

Hurray! Michiel has his Alaskan driver's license! His Dutch license was valid for 90 days after entering the state. To get an Alaskan license he had to do a theoretical (written) test (many questions about losing your license and alcohol) and a road test. We chose to do the road test in Seward, because its traffic is easier than Anchorage. Luckily Michiel has had lots of time to practice (for instance on the seemingly endless roads in Canada on our way up here) because in the Netherlands he never drove.

Notice the beautiful photo of Mt. McKinley on the license!