anna'z travels

Mt. Erebus

2012-01-20T00:51:00.000-08:00

Last week I joined a crew that consisted of: 2 of my favorite carpenters, 1 field support magician (who happens to also be one of Antarctica's most amazing woman) and 2 hilarious alternative energy boys, up at the Lower Erebus Hut (LEH) for maintenance and the close of the camp where scientist research this incredible volcano. We spent two days acclimatizing at FANG camp, took that camp down and shuttled up to LEH by snowmobile. While there we worked hard but made time to explore the amazing landscape around us, hiking the rim of the volcano itself as well as exploring ice caves and fumaroles surrounding the volcano. This was certainly the highlight of my season, and of all my seasons since I started coming down to the ice three years ago.

The trip started with a helicopter ride up to FANG camp where we spent two days acclimatizing to the elevation. Fang camp sits at about 9,000 feet, and we could really feel the altitude up there. The scenery was beautiful from Fang ridge we could see the open ocean water and icebergs, the Transantarctic mountains and Mt. Terror, another volcano by Erebus. After two days, we took down the 4 scott tents and packed up the camp to picked up by helo's and taken down to McMurdo for the winter. We then rode snow machines up to LEH.

Flying above Mt. Erebus, hiking the rim of Erebus, and exploring ice caves and fumaroles :)

A little info on Erebus:

Mount Erebus is the world's southernmost historically active volcano. The volcano is located on the western half of Ross Island, with a summit elevation of 12,448 ft, and is located on Ross Island. Mount Erebus is currently the most active volcano in Antarctica, the summit contains a persistent convecting phonolitic lava lake, one of five long-lasting lava lakes on Earth. Characteristic eruptive activity consists of Strombolian eruptions from the lava lake or from one of several subsidiary vents, all lying within the volcano's inner crater. The lava lake crater is 160 m in diameter and 100 m deep. It is located in the Main Crater (500 by 600 m diameter, 120 m deep). Lava bombs ejected from the lava lake are on average 30 cm to 2 m in diameter and usually land on the Main Crater floor and rim.

The Ice... Round 3

2012-01-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

Ooops!! It has been 9 months since I updated my blog. I blame Facebook :)

Since Nepal I travelled in India, spent the summer in Wisconsin and visited friends and family around the US before returning for my 3rd season at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. This time, I came down earlier than ever before for the season referred to as "winfly" or the winter fly-in, when the first people arrive on the ice since the winter season began in March.
( http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contenthandler.cfm?id=2495#top )

This is a very special time of year in Antarctica. It is still winter, so it is dark most of the day, with only a glimpse of sun that paints the sky for a short time each day. I would walk up the hill to work each morning in the dark, stars and moon shining in the sky above me and for about 4 hours from 10-2 the sky would turn a gorgeous orange and purple, sunrise and sunset colors, splashing the Transantarctic Mountains across the sea ice with it's colors, then turn to darkness again.

There were a fraction of people here for this time of year, some winter-over folks and the fresh winfly folks making for some great times. In October, the main body season began and with it hundreds of people came in waves of C-17 flights every other day and also with it came the sun, back again 24 hours a day, as well as the beginning of the science season.

This year I was the Painter in the Carpenters shop. I paint what the carpenter's craft for science or for the town, maintain the town paint and drywall needs, and help out with whatever I am asked to do! I had the privilege of joining the carpenter's to open BYRD filed camp in Western Antarctica in November, one of three deep field camps that we stet up this year. ( http://byrdcamp.com/)

This camp supports science and is an airport linking planes to other deep field camps like, PIG. ( http://pigiceshelf.nasa.gov/ ) We spent two weeks setting up tents, basically building a village in remote Antarctica. It was a pretty amazing experience. I lived in a mountain tent, ate gourmet food, played music with great musicians, shoveled for hours, settled down into a fierce storm that had winds blowing snow drifts up to 6 feet around our tents, didn't shower for 12 days, had a thanksgiving feast that rivaled any thanksgiving feast in the past 28 years and met some great folks from all walks of life. I also got extremely frustrated at being stuck there for 5 days because of weather! I learned what the famous Antarctic proverb, "IF a plane lands, get on it!!" meant and true it is! (see photo with outhouse graffiti)

The month of December at McMurdo is always a treat. It is the holiday season, which here means about two or three Christmas decorations and lots of parties :) The annual Women's Soiree is always a treat featuring the numerous talents of the women of McMurdo, as well as our annual art galley party on christmas night, followed by Icestock, the continents only music festival, which this year had great warm weather and a chili cook off. All these things help to make the 6 day work week bearable and are a large part of the reason, i reckon, so many people are drawn to and return to this place. I also got out to Salmon Bay for a day trip to take a tent down and was able to hike to the Hobbs Glacier nearby... Salmon Bay is right across the Ross sea from McMurdo, the gateway to the Dry Valleys.

Tomorrow, I am going up to Mt. Erebus camp, to maintain the hut there. The floor needs paint, badly I hear form the scientist who have worked there. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Erebus) I will go with a few carps and other field support staff for a week to maintain and shut down the huts. This will be the trip of my season!!! I am super excited to hang out at the top of the southern most volcano in the world!

With 5 weeks left in my 6 month season, I am more than ready to set foot on green grass again! But 5 weeks on the ice can contain so many surprises... Stay tuned.

Nepal in April

2011-05-09T20:07:00.001-07:00

A 21 day trek over two 5,000 + meter Himalayan mountain passes left me in love with Nepal. Even more so, it left me in love with the gorgeous Tibetan villagers I met nestled into the mountains on the way. My friend and I walked from village to village, staying in tea houses and eating freshly cooked dal bat (rice adn lentils) from the indoor open fires. We followed rivers and passed through some of the highest peaks in the world, trudging through snow during early morning alpine glowing skies. The ancient villages are forever burned into my memory; the stone buildings, painted stupas, prayer flags and mani walls strewn through the land.

This is a place of beautiful spirit and loving hard working people, the Manaslu and Annapurna circuit opened my eyes to a truly precious part of this world.

These are Buddha Eyes (also known as Wisdom Eyes), and they look out in the four directions to symbolize the omniscience (all-seeing) of a Buddha.

Hills covered in prayer flags...

Shawtel and I try riding on top of the local bus from Gorka to Arughat

LarkeLa Pass 5,135 M

Loving the mountains

A Tibeatan woman who is very proud of her rice moonshine

Mt. Manaslu 8,156 m from the village of Lho

Lho Horse racers

A typical bridge crossing in Nepal

A woman in Lho at the Empowerment festival

I N D I A

2011-04-06T09:44:00.001-07:00

VARANASI, INDIA... a city situated on the banks of the River Ganges, Varanasi is the holiest place in the world in Hinduism (and center of the Earth in Hindu cosmology). It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and probably the oldest in India.

Arriving in Varanasi I was left off the rickshaw near and alleyway and told that my guesthouse was straight ahead. I walked into the maze of old narrow alleyways past cows, shops, street food,temples, and so many people asking my way with many varying responses. This city is probably the most unique place I have ever experienced. It is a place of pilgrimage for people all over India and the world. People come here to pray and to die and be cremated on the Ganges. Open cremation happens 365 days a year and sometimes 200 people are burned per day. It was hard to realize that I was seeing a burning body in front of me, as if it should be a bigger deal or people around me should be sad. The approach to death is so different here, and everything happens in the open.

A woman sends a prayer with her candle into the Ganges...

Morning on the Ganges...

Life on the Ice

2010-12-13T10:19:00.000-08:00

In December I was given the enjoyable and lovely task of flying back to Lake Vida to take down the camp we put up in November! It was another helocopter ride through the dry valley's and a nights stay in a polar haven with a few great folks. We took the camp down to the bare bones and hooked up loads to hovering helocopters to wisk away back to McMurdo, leaving Lake Vida in it's pristine condition, for another 5 years.

The following photos encompass some outdoor trips, work and play from the season... I have gotten out into the field on some incredible helicopter flights, had some great hikes around McMurdo, enjoyedlocal skate skiing trips out on the sea ice and had the pleasure of being involved in McMurdo's up and coming music scene! The beauty of this place never fails to humble me and every time I look out across the sea to the Royal Society range I am reminded of what an awe inspiring land this is and how lucky I am to take it all in.

MAAG!

McMurdo's own Alternative art gallery! Christmas has a whole new focus here in Antarctica! Let us feast and make merry with crazy art projects and a fashion show!

ICESTOCK 2011!!!

This year I had the pleasure of playing elevtric guitar for ANNIE AND HER GUNS, my friend Annie's band! It was really really cold outside and our fingers froze but it was so much fun to play for a bunch of happy people!!! There were tons of bands and we all danced our way into the new year!

The Women's Soiree

Annie and I played a few songs at the Women's Soiree, an annual event put on by the women of McMurdo to benefit a cause for women and children in New Zealand. We played for a big crowd, and a DVD of the performance is available for 10$!

running the Thanksgiving Turket Trot with the lovely miss Angie

Out dancin with my girls, three bands, lots of swinging around, and perhaps too much tequilla :)

2010-12-13T10:08:00.000-08:00

A day in the Dry Valley's at the Lake Hoare camp; one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We flew in by helo and tightened down one of the Polar Havens. The camp is located right beside a massive gorgeous glacier and surrounded by beautiful jagged peaks. It was only a day trip, but the mountains beckoned. Fingers crossed, I will return in January to paint the huts!

Lake Vida

2010-11-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

"The wind shakes the walls of the Polar Haven tent violently as the five of us lay around, waiting out the wind storm, waiting for supper. It's 7:00 pm and the wind has been blowing, gale force winds have been blowing now for hours. The winds started just as we finished the final tasks of setting up the Lake Vida camp for the summer 2010 season. We arrived on Friday morning by helocopter on a beautiful calm and sunny day..." -my journal, October 31rst 2010

The crew crammed into the helo

After a 45 minute helo ride across the Ross Sea Ice, stopping to refuel at Marble Point and then flying into the Dry Valley's we landed and exited the helo at Lake Vida. When the helo left a few more flew into the valley dropping off more cargo boxes and finally flying away, leaving us in the middle of the frozen lake surrounded by mountians, sand dunes, glaciers and boxes of cargo containing our tools, our shelter, food and scientific equioptment. We proceeded to unload our tools and set up the first and smaller of two Polar Haven tents in which we would cook out of for the next few days and a group of scientist will work out of for the next 6 weeks.

Lake Vida lies in Victoria Valley, the northernmost of the large McMurdo Dry Valleys, on the continent of Antarctica. It is isolated under year-round ice cover, and considerably more saline than seawater. It came to public attention in 2002 when microbes frozen in its ice cover for more than 2,800 years were successfully thawed and reanimated.

The Dry Valleys are so named because of their extremely low humidity and their lack of snow or ice cover. They are also dry because, in this location, the mountains are sufficiently high so that they block seaward flowing ice from the East Antarctic ice sheet from reaching the Ross Sea. At 4800 square kilometers, the valleys constitute around 0.03% of the continent, and form the largest ice-free region in Antarctica. The valley floors are covered with loose gravel, in which ice wedge polygonal patterned ground may be observed.
The unique conditions in the Dry Valleys are caused, in part, by katabatic winds: these occur when cold, dense air is pulled downhill by the force of gravity. The winds can reach speeds of 200 mph, evaporating all water, ice and snow.

Spending Halloween in the Dry Valley's had to include a little costume :)

Around 4 pm winds started to blow and sped up to at least 90 mph!
The storm started just as we finished our last tasks for the day and blew for the next 14 hours! They shook the polar haven tents and blew my mountain tent into the ice! We slept in the Polar Haven's that night to the sound of the tent poles shaking and the walls being whipped around by the winds. In the morning all was finally calm.

walking back from my little hike in a wind storm!

An incredible view of Mt. Erebus with open waters...

Flying back into McMurdo after 4 days in the field, the bright blue building of 155 welcomes us!

Back to the Ice

2010-10-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

Summer came and summer went. I find myself back in Antarctica for my second year at the bottom of the world. It's funny but true that once you get back down here, you feel like you have never left. You settle in to your rooms and get into the groove of work and snuggle back into the community life here and all the past evaporates.

This year I am working as a "town" or "science" painter. It is a vast improvement from last year in that I have a department, a work place, a break room, painting projects and variety of paint color! I am also working inside most of the time which is a nice switch as well as spending some time out at the filed camps on the very continent of Antarctica itself!!

These photos are from the journey downt to the ice from Denver which was a little less nerve racking as last year, still a long haul, and nearly as exciting as last year. It was hilarious that all along the way I would see Ice people on my flights. The plane from Minnesota hosted some new Ice folks that I could pickout at baggage claim in Denver from their penguin tagged bags. The plane from Denver and from LA to New Zealand was full of a cast of characters I recognized from last year or met in Denver. And of course the C17 flight down was among friends, landing succesfully on the ice runway and driving up to none other than Building 155, or the "blue" building as it is now called. I still get loads of comments on the Blue color from folks, ranging from but I think it looks rather sharp myself.

This first week in town I went out to "Happy Camper" which is a two day survival training in which we camped out on the ice and dug snow trenches to sleep in. Infamous from WEner Hertzog's film, you know... the scene where people wear buckets on their heads and walk around in "white out conditions".

Mt. Discovery looming behind the New Zealand Scott Base

This year I came early enough to catch the sunsets and sunrises over the Ross Sea ice. Many a beautiful night sky over the Transantarctic Mountains.

One of these bulidings is not like the others!

An Oregon summer...

2010-06-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

Friends, expanded upon, exponentially transformed by the thousands in the form of... plants

Spending the summer in Williams Oregon is like taking a walk into a lull in time, a place connected to the land but nearly removed from the world. Buzzing on its own pollen, healthy when left to thrive, like so many things.

It's official. I am in love with plants. Dreams are coming true.

The Calypso orchid (Calypso bulbosa), also known as the fairy slipper or Venus's slipper, is a perennial member of the orchid family found in undisturbed northern and montane forests. The roots of this plant are used in traditional Native medicine.

This summer I am one of 15 interns living, learning, playing and working at the Herb Pharm in Williams, Oregon. This is a 10 week adventure which includes working on the Herb Pharm farm crew during the week harvesting herbs as well as many classes throughout the week on the subject of natural healing with medicinal plants, good nutrition, and conscious living. We are in week two and already I have learned a great deal about making medicine, harvesting and plant identification, nutrition and the body, good herbal first aid techniques and other fun things from fellow interns from all over the country. We work in the sun harvesting herbs and gardening, have classes, make medicine and enjoy this valley and it's surroundings. There Lots of good local markets with good organic foods and local music and folks. I love camping outside all summer, it feels so simple and easy to be able to just set up shop in the woods! I am learning lots and very excited to delve deeper in this realm of earth healing.

Check the farms website out if you are interested! http://herb-pharm.com/

Some days you wake up in the desert with hot air ballons taking off in front of you

2010-05-17T11:34:00.001-07:00

A week with Dad in Durango

2010-04-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

I spent the past week and a half down in the southwest corner of Colorado, a place where water, mountain peaks, canyons and magic abounds... a town called Durango. Durango is Spanish for "place of abundant water" and it is also the place my Dad calls home. The Animus River runs through Durango and from town you can see the snowy peaks of the San Juans, the snowy peaks of the La Platas as well as the cliffs canyons that surround downtown. My darling girlfriend Holly and I drove down from Summit County to visit my poppa. The drive to Durango from Summit County is gorgeous. You are surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides and on a clear sunny Colorado day you can see the peaks in every mirror.

Holly and I take a pit stop!

Spending the week with Dad was great. We took it easy while he recovered from surgery and had nice mornings with coffee and conversations of adventures with the heat of the wood stove keeping it cozy. It was a rare occasion to spend time together and catch up on life without distractions like work or hiking mountains! My boyfriend came down later in the week and we took day trips to nearby canyons visiting new friends, sharing inspirations and coming across old friends in the most random places! We went to Chaco Canyon and ventured through Pueblo Bonita and the Petroglyph trail. We drove over Molas Pass to Silverton, Dane and Dad drooling over the mountains the whole way. "Pull over here!" was about all they said to me as they picked out ski routes and climbs on the snowy peaks. It was a great trip and so good to spend time with my father who is truly a special man. I am always amazed by his knowledge of the natural world and his child like awe and enthusiasm for it. It is so inspiring and fun to spend time with such a knowledgeable mountaineer. I am so proud of him for his accomplishments and for following his dream of living in the mountains that he loves.

Easter in Durango

The night before Easter Dad and I revisited the joys of playing with markers, eggs and food coloring!
Art in any form makes me happy and we had fun dying eggs; the themes of petroglyphs, mandalas,
mountains and spirals made for some very pretty eggs.

CHACO CANYON

Road trip to Silverton

"The Naked Lady Couloir" was topic for great discussion and much excitement between Dane and my Dad. As Dane picked out ways to skin up it and ski down, Dad looked at climbing routes.

The boys pointing out more climbing/skiing routes...

A winter view of Mt. Engineer, a peak Dad and I climbed a few years ago.

Dad and I coming down the pass into Silverton, an old mining town in a valley surrounded by peaks.

Leaving Antarctica

2010-03-25T15:36:00.001-07:00

Leaving Antarctica was exciting.

It was time. The work was done, the thrill was diminished, the body was ready for night time, green things and missed loved ones. The night before leaving the ice we had a going away gathering... it was simply lovely. Lots of friends gathered and Kirk presented an excellent slideshow of our time on the ice together accompanied by songs with the theme "Blue". It's all over now Baby Blue, Blue Suede Shoes, Blue moon, etc... It was the perfect way to wrap up our time together and celebrate the friendships we had made and the experiences we had.

The following morning it was snowing. This made us nervous that our flight would be cancelled. I was being re-deployed with a number of my friends and we were all anxious to reach Christchurch that day and begin adventures on the green island!
After breakfast and one last coffee at the coffee shop I gathered by belongings and wearing full ECW gear, bunny boots, Carhartts and all trudged up to the cargo area where about a hundred of us waited with our orange carry on bags for the shuttles out to the airfield.

We caught buses out to the airfield and were all unloaded onto the ice to await the landing of the C17. It was a bit of a nostalgic moment standing there on the ice with all these friends and strangers surrounded by the familiar yet completely alien landscape that had become my home the past three months. I was excited to leave, but was also trying to soak up every last minute possible of the beauty of this place, knowing I would be back, but not sure when.

The C17 came flying down out of the clouds and landed on the ice runway. We were told to wait while it parked and unloaded crates of cargo. The anticipation was mounting. Everyone had there orange bags in hand and were all waiting as if for a marathon to start to get to the plane! Finally the lady said okay! go! and we all hustled across the runway to get on the plane and get the seats we wanted. I sat in the back of the plane with my friend Jules. We both shared a deep excitement to be leaving the ice. Once everyone was strapped in the loud engines roared and the plane took off. Up up and away from the land of ice. I understand now why people fall in love with this place. It was both exciting and sad to leave. It was as if we were flying out of a long magical dream, away from the dream land of Antarctica and back to real life.

Flying over the continent on a clear day was a special treat. We were free to get up and walk around and look out the little circular windows. I also got up into the cock pit for a bit and learned that we were flying low today to avoid some weather which was fantastic when flying over the mountains! It seemed like we were right next to the peaks. We could also see the ice breaking up and glaciers pouring out over the mountains! It was incredible.

After awhile we were back to flying over the ocean and everyone on the place was snoozing or reading, on their laptops or chatting loudly over the engine. Jules and I enjoyed a treat of pears and blue cheese that we had snagged from the cafeteria on our way out and I thought back to my past three months of life on the ice. With a contract signed for next year already, it is clear that I truly enjoyed my time and feel that living and working in Antarctica is a good fit for me at this time in my life, supporting the dream to travel the world one adventure at a time...

The adventure doesn't stop here.

The Last Days on the Ice

2010-03-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

The day before I left Antarctica, the paining crew finished Building 155. This is a view of the building from the post office and yes, we know that it is very blue! It was very satisfying to see the completion of the project before leaving the ice. The odds were against us from the beginning but with the steadfast leadership of Ruben and the hard work of Peter, Ken and Kirk we were able to overcomet he odds and paint the whole dang building blue!

Finis!

So close...!!!!

Almost done!!!!

The week before leaving the container ship came with all of the next year's supplies. It took three days to unload and then load back up with all the trash and things to send back to the mainland.

Gone North

2010-02-05T18:28:00.001-08:00

On Friday, the 5th of February, Building 155 took it's last hit of blue paint. That same day, I flew North! My re-deployment date was pushed up with the fast progress on Building 155 and that was fine with me! I flew to New Zealand on the
C17 and stepped out into a balmy night in Christchurch. The smells of fresh land air and the buzz of the city was exciting to get back to. Stepping out of the dreamland that is McMurdo Station into the real world again feels really good. It was an amazing opportunity and experience to be down in Antarctica and I dare say I will return. For now, a little easy going travelling in New Zealand is in order. Ocean time, hiking time, camping time with mates from the ice with nothing to answer to or work to do is exactly the medication one needs to go on after such a crazy experience!

I will be posting photos and writing more about my last days in Antarctica once I have more free computer time, but until then I am a rambling gyspy once again. Sending love out to all of you on my long way home, I wish you all the care and bliss in the world. -Anna

The South Pole

2010-01-29T21:20:00.000-08:00

This week I was blessed to have the opportunity to go on a "sleigh ride" to the South Pole. This came as a total surprise. It felt like a great honor to get such a great boondoggle my first year. A boondoggle is a project “that wastes time and money”. In this case it was letting 10 people get on the C130 plane that was carrying fuel to Pole and then taking cargo back to McMurdo. We had 25 minutes at the Pole to walk to the ceremonial south pole which is surrounded by the flags of the countries in the Antarctic treaty and then walk hurriedly to the geographical south pole which moves on the ice yearly, and then through the South Pole station and get right back on the plane and take off for McMurdo! I got to sit in the cockpit for landing back at McMurdo. We could see McMurdo approaching, Mt. Erebus looming behind, half covered by clouds, and the channel broken out to the open sea water 50 miles beyond the base.

It was a three hour flight and we wore full ECW gear as it can be 60 degrees colder at pole than McMurdo. The South Pole station sits atop a featureless, windswept, icy plateau at an altitude of 9,306 ft about 800 miles from the nearest sea at McMurdo Sound. The ice is estimated to be about 9,000 ft thick at the Pole. The day we flew there it was around 20 below, sunny and calm. It was noticeably colder than McMurdo, the sharp crisp cold biting my face and hands as I took photos. The whole trip was totally awesome and it was really cool to run around the South Pole station, but I would say the most incredible part of the trip was the plane ride over the continent. Below is a little vignette from my journal that I wrote out during flight and photos that hardly do the natural beauty justice...

Pegasus Airfield

Sally waiting on the bus to the plane

Boarding the C130

Inside the plane

View of the Transantarctic mountians from the plane

Beardmore Glacier that Scott took to the Pole

Stepping out at the Pole

Buildings around the landscape

The South Pole!

The Geographic South Pole

The back entrance to the Station, called the "Beer Can"

Back on the plane!

View of McMurdo and Erebus beyond

January 26, 2010

This moment is surreal and dare I say Sublime. We are flying over the polar plateau, over mountains, glaciers, crevasses and ice, endless ice, flat and white as far as the eye can see. I went up into the cockpit when we were flying over the Beardmore Glacier. The glacier winds and curves down through the mountains, ice and millions of tons of pressure carving its way taken by gravity to the sea. I think of Scott, Amundsen and Shakelton and the members of their teams, the ponies and the dogs that travelled with them below me a hundred years ago. Walking, skiing, and sledding from the sea across this vast land of ice and perils of nature. Craziness or courage? The way has been lead for us by others, others willing to die to explore the unknown lands of the world. Here I am one hundred years later, flying in the sky to the South Pole, a flight of 3 hours compared to weeks of brutal cold, hardship and for some death. This continent brings me to my knees with its powerful, uninhabited emptiness. A land without people or plants only ice, rock and a few evolved species that dwell in it. There is a peace here that I have never experienced before. It is the peace of stillness. Silence, clean pure snow and ice, empty of all, the past buried under thousands of miles of ice. Is this the future of all land? The slate wiped clean, the mistakes buried along with the triumphs? Antarctica is evidence in my mind that all is indeed impermanent, that as full and phenomenal, as wretched and horrifying as human life can be, ultimately there is peace, and there is stillness. There is nothing. A land without people.

Scenes from MacTown

2010-01-25T02:53:00.000-08:00

This past week has brought a few new arrivals to MacTown. The Oden icebreaker ship from Sweden has been breaking up the ice from the sea edge to McMurdo for about two weeks now and clearing the path for the Oil Tanker that arrived on Saturday, bringing in fuel.

The weather has been great now for over a week which means that we have been making building 155 VERY blue! We finished the roof and are now making our way around the building. It's fun to see the progress on the walls and hear everyone's opinions of the blue. It is so very very very blue! I like it. I think its great and refreshing in this muddy town of brown.

Here are a few photos from around town, the helo pad, one of our fish huts being moved, putting away the asbestos equiptment for the last time adn of course a popcorn break at the VMF (mechanics shop where you find the best popcorn on station and a (hopefully) endless supply of fireballs.

Moments of Antarctic Bliss

2010-01-16T20:10:00.000-08:00

My special blanket loves spinning in the snow

2010-01-16T19:59:00.001-08:00

This blanket was given to me by my friend Arne who I met at a 10 day silent meditation retreat in a jungle in Thailand. We both had the chore of putting candles out around the ponds each day. He put the candles out around the rectangular male pond and I put the candles out around the round womens pond where we would do silent walking night time mediation around the ponds by candle light with the sound of monks chanting in the distance and frogs chirpping. Although it was a silent meditation and I never spoke to Arne, seeing him everyday we smiled at each other and became friends. At the end of the Vipassana we decided to hitch hike to an island together and ended up sharing bungalow's to save money. At first he let me borrow the blanket because he had two and I loved it so much that when we went separate ways he ended up giving it to me. He in turn had bought in India. It is a soft warm and incredibly cozy wool blanket and I take it everywhere with me, it rolls up real small and makes me feel at home instantly. Thanks Arne!

Weekend Camping :)

2010-01-16T19:29:00.000-08:00

A nice little Saturday night camping trip out by Castle Rock on a sunny, warm and windless night does a soul good after a week of seemingly never ending work! It was fun to be able to have a tent all to myself and curl up into a cozy sleeping bag and scrunch down into the darkness to avoid all the light that never goes away! From where we camped we could see the sea ice slowly approaching as the Swedish icebreaker ship the Oden moves slowly up and down the channel opening up the ice so that the fuel tank and re-supply ship can come in a few weeks to McMurdo. We climbed up Castle Rock and enjoyed the endless beauty of a still night in a world of snow, ice and mountains...

the Oden breaks away the sea ice in the distance

"Car camping" with a Piston Bully

The little apple warming station

Mt. Erebus

Recebba

Mandy

View from the top of Castle Rock of our tents below in the snow

someone got his face rubbed into the snow

The view from my little tent in the morning.

Top Ten Reason's my Job is Hard

2010-01-16T19:11:00.000-08:00

1) "Special" Project
2) Biggest building on station
3) 10 hour days, 6 days per week
4) 1 monster spray machine, paint thinner, and fumes
5) no materials
6) not enough materials once materials arrive
7) leaks in the hose
8) heat trace on hose starts on fire
9) harnesses, ropes and respirators
10) Painting outside in Antarctica is cold

Me working on the roof of 155, making it (electric!) NSF blue. I have been able to do some of the spraying which is very physical work, wrestling the "Anaconda" hose around.

Adelie Penguins!

2010-01-09T13:33:00.001-08:00

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling entirely rested and rejuvenated after falling asleep at 9:00 the night before! (There is totally something to this getting a good night of sleep thing!!!) So as I am walking out of my dorm building I see my friends Kira, Rose and Marty running past. Marty has a camera. "Penguins!" they yell, "come on!" This is 7:10 a.m. and I have to be to work by 7:30. I toss the idea of skipping it to be on time for work, eat breakfast etc... and proceed to toss my backpack and heavy Carhartt jacket on the side of the road chasing after them. WE jog all the way down to Hutt Point which is probably only a .5 mile away and run up over the little ridge to see... a family of about 30 Adelie Penguins!

They were all sitting next to the opening in the sea ice while a seal swam near by in the water. It was a magnificent moment and a wonderful way to start the day. Being witness to such wild beauty here is such a blessing and one of the reasons I love working in Antarctica.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelie_Penguin)

2010-01-07T00:39:00.000-08:00

January 7, 2010
I am sitting in the Coffee House in Antarctica. It is summer here and the snow has been falling for days. On these solo journeys there are times when you feel a little bit alone. Naturally. Being down here I very rarely feel lonely. There is always someone to relate to and to spend time with, always something going on to participate in, in fact it is the most actively involved in a community I have been since I left Ithaca. But there are moments, like right now, that I feel like I WANT to be alone. To digest the past few months here and where I am at with myself.

Life always has those funny ways of picking you up and putting you down on a road you never knew existed. This time I have ended up at the bottom of the world with a collection of people who drift with the wind and have lived and danced and loved and fallen and gotten up again all over the world. Talking to people about the places they have been and the lives they have led leads one to think of what kind of life you want to live. What is important to you? What do you want to do with this one wild and precious life?

Some people seem to know the answer to this question. Some would say there is no answer; some might say that there is no question to begin with... We put one footstep in front of the other, we happen upon new influences and inspirations that either bounce off the skin or sink in, saturating our souls and pushing us to pursue our dreams. I have a million dreams. But somehow I also feel one plane away, as if there was a magic portal into another life that I can see into but haven't figured out how to enter. Which way to go? East of the sun? West of the moon? North of the pole? Indeed, north of the pole. Into the next dream, one of love and healing and adventure. Do our thoughts rule our lives? And if they didn't where would we be?

A favorite by Spanish poet Antonio Machado for you:

Wanderer, your footsteps are
the way, and nothing more;
Wanderer there is no way,
the way is made by walking.
By walking one makes the way,
and looking behind
one sees the path that never
will be traveled again.
Wanderer there is no way,
only trails upon the sea.

Cartoon of the Week

2010-01-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

This is a cartoon drawn by a guy who works down here, and i thought you all might get a kick out of it. It is a bit of an inside joke because Skua's are the birds that sit and wait outside of building 155 where
the cafeteria is. The Skua's are fierce looking birds with curved sharp beaks and they literally stand guard at the doors waiting for some unsuspecting victim to walk out with food. This is a common practice, to take
your meal on a plate to another building and when you walk out and get stared down by a Skua you better watch out because they will dive bomb you! Along the loop around Ob hill you will find a whole graveyard
of bones from steaks, chicken, and other various meat that the skua's either stole off of someone's plate or simply dumpster dived! Sometimes they will do a dry dive bomb and just go after people who smell like food! I have not been attacked, I don't think I smell quite like "food".

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T19:38:00.000-08:00

January 3, 2010 Well, 2010 has already brought many things down here on the ice. For one, we finally got our paint (roof coating material, not really paint, but... whatever!). So that means that we will be back working on building 155 starting tomorrow. This is good! There is a shortage of beds at the moment at McMurdo and so they have to send some people home early. Getting our paint was one of the factors in our favor to staying on for our whole contract. The welcoming in of 2010 was rather lovely as well down here. On New Year’s Eve I went for a ski on the Castle Rock loop. I am using alpine skis that I rented down here. They are older than I am and were working rather well except for all of the first time tele turns that I was attempting! At the bottom of the massive hill one of the bindings completely fell off, so I had to walk the two miles back to Scott base.

At 11:00 I hiked up Ob Hill with a few friends and we floated into the year of 2010 on top of the hill, looking out over the ice continent. The sun was out and the hill was blocking the wind so it was fine to just hang out and sip fine whiskey and nibble dark chocolate talking and welcoming the New Year in.

We worked on Friday, January 1, but had the 2nd and 3rd off. Having two days off in a row feels like the most amazing gift possible! To make it all the better, Saturday was Ice stock. This is an annual new year's celebration down on the ice. My friend Jade and I painted the Ice stock banner under the stage which was really fun! We had a beautiful day for the event; the sun was shining and no wind. 16 bands played outside and ohhhhh the fun we had... The icers were out in full form, costumed up and frolicking around, dancing and merry making. I never thought in a million years I would be attending a music festival in Antarctica. Who knew? Hush hush now friends... (wink wink!) mural painting! Happy New Year! The Ukeladies Helen the Hooper Jade

A whole new kind of Christmas...

2009-12-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

I wish all of you a Happy Holiday season! I send my love and hugs to family and friends from across the world. Thanks for all your cards and gifts too... It is so incredibly sweet of you to send me mail down here!

The Christmas spirit took on a whole new meaning this year at the bottom of the world... Music, Art and celebrating the holidays with new friends (all of whom seem to possess many a hidden talent) was a theme of the past week. I am not at liberty to describe the events in detail as there is a certain amount of discouragement to publicly portray certain Ice events so I will include some of the more pc photos and leave the rest to the imagination.

From the floor of the Waste Barn all cozily snuggled in with the lot of us I enjoyed the songs of Leonard Cohen, John Prine, Bluegrass tunes and McMurdo's own take on Christmas classics all sung by fellow icers in a dome shaped barn that normally contains our trash and recycling, but felt like the Varsity Theater!

Castle Rock Ski Day

2009-12-26T13:23:00.000-08:00

A little post Christmas ski on our day off... The Castle Rock Loop is a nine mile hike or ski with some incredible views of Mt. Erebus and the Ross Ice Shelf around. I took off with three friends and hiked away from McMurdo up a big gravel road to get to the trail head. The conditions were a little icy at first but once we got up the hill we put on our skis and had a nice cruisey ride down a little hill and then up a little hill to Castle Rock. You can climb all the way to the top but we just hiked up to a ridge were we could sit and take in the spectacular view. It is times like these that I actually remember I am in Antarctica. Mt. Erebus smoking right in front of me, the little squiggly crevasse dancing right up it, seals in the distance sun bathing on the ice, the Ross Ice Shelf going on and on white as white can be. It is amazing such a breathtaking hike exists only a few miles out from McMurdo. The ski down the other side of the rock was great too. It is a fairly steep hill and on cross country skis that can be a little sketchy. Don't go too far off the flagged trail either because there are crevasse along the way!

Mt. Erebus and Castle Rock

Kirk stepping out of the "apple" warm up station along the route

Life on the Ice

2009-12-09T22:47:00.000-08:00

December, 23 2009

Today is cold. The wind is blowing hard and we are working outside with it chilling our bones and freezing the saliva dripping out of our respirators. It is an Antarctica sort of day. We are still working on the giant fuel tank, grinding rust away and then priming it with oil paint. It is quite humorous to be painting in this weather. The paint literally freezes to the walls and like i said, our own spitt freezes to our coats. But I have stopped caring what task I am told to do. Keeping emotions out of work here seems to be a good survival method. Making special projects work and succeed in Antarctica is like giving a group of kindergardeners the tools and peices to make a space ship and fly it to Jupiter. At least that's how it seems most days. Today a group of Russian tourists stopped by McMurdo. They came off of a boat near the sea ice and somehow got here, wearing matching yellow jackets and taking photographs of the workers digging and going to lunch. IT's funny being on the side of the workers here. A much different expereicne than the scientists or the full time emploees. It's a tribe. And this is a fun week to be part of the tribe. There are Christmas parties hosted by many of the departments, the MAAG opening, Chalie Brown Christmas play, Christmas dinner, etc.. .etc... trying to sleep, work and play this week is an exhuasting task! More on that soon....for now, lunch is over. I had my bowl of chilli and now it is back to the chillly winds.

Snow Day! Today I woke up to big snow flakes falling and accumulating on the ground! We have been having really nice, sunny, nearly hot days in the past fwe weeks, but toady the clouds formed and the wind was blowing snow our way. Funny because today is the summer solstice and everyday will be one day closer to wintere and the sun setting for months. But for now, the sun is spinning in tiny circles, never getting close to the horizon. We had an interesting day today. We were unable to work because a) the roof was wet and snowy and b) we don't have any material to put on the roof! So we were given the fortunate task of scraping and grinding the 2 million gallon fuel tank that is "supposed" to be painted this year, but most likely won't be painted and will surely rust again, making our work seem futile and pointless. However, the snow made us happy and the acoustics on the fuel tank were unmatched by even the tallest silo, we sang and echoed inside the tank, which made the whole grinding and painting in the cold and snow thing a whole lot better! And so another day in Antarctica passed...
Ken, Ruben, Anna B.Nana (aka Zepherette, Good Bye-girl or Annaconda), Kirk and Jade

A beautiful day for a ski out on Willy Field with Mt. Erebus looming behind me, smoking and alive!

The view across the Ross Sea ice to the glaciers beyond...

A sunny summer day in which I actually got to hold AND use a paint brush!!!!

Our two little fish huts that were placed next to buliding 155 to hold our supplies. appropriately named for paitners who are commonly seen wearing ty-vech suits and respirators!

I started my first jewlery class last wednesday night with with a fellow named Harry who has been making jewlery for 30 years... I am very excited to resize a ring and learn the basics of the art of silversmithing...

Notes from a Sunday.....

Walking down from the softball tournament to town toady I heard this incredible sound that makes me stop in my tracks every time. It sounds like a choir of whales, or an eerie howl, and i love it. It comes from the wind blowing through the metal on buildings. It makes me feel like I am in a magical place, hearing mystical singing from cathedrals...

And then I snap out of it. I am at McMurdo Station, surrounded by heavy equiptment, trailors, trucks, and machinery. It is cold and windy today. But it is Sunday, the day of rest, so there are no complaints!

This was a photo I took near McMurdo of a seal that had only moments prior jumped from it's sun bathing into the icy Ross Sea.

The year of dreaming about coming down to Antarctica is over. Here I am and after two weeks of training and travel and nearly three weeks of work I am finally settling in to life on the ice. Clearly life goes on no matter where you are in the world and every place you go or every place you live, you are on a journey. Well this is a bizarre journey! Life here is unlike anywhere I have every lived. It feels like work camp for crazies. I mean that in a very good way. (insert wink and smile!)

McMurdo Station (this is for you holly!)

McMurdo station is the largest U.S. research facility in Antarctica. It is located on the southern tip of Ross Island and lays 2, 415 miles south of Christchurch, New Zealand and 850 miles north of the South Pole. The National Science Foundation (NSF), through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), coordinates U.S. scientific research in the Antarctic. Research performed in and around McMurdo includes marine and terrestrial biology, biomedicine, geology, and geophysics, glaciology and glacial geology, meteorology, aeronomy and upper atmospheric physics.

During the austral summer the population of scientists and support personnel at McMurdo often exceeds 1, 100 people. In the austral winter, the population drops to roughly 250 people.

A view from Ob Hill of McMurdo Station

It is now summer in Antarctica.

I have been training and working for three weeks now. The first week was a lot of safety lectures on fall protection, respirators, driving the trucks around town etc... The project that my crew was sent down here to do is quite the ordeal. We are to paint Building 155, the largest building on base. Inside it are many dorms, the cafeteria and offices. It is the main building, where everyone walks in and out of so we are very visible and easy to find.
Building 155

We are to paint the building a dark blue, which will be satisfying as it is now a light tan color. The biggest issue with the building is that it has a layer of asbestos coating under the lead paint. Yippee! This means that we wear respirators and full ty-vech body suits at all times when climbing up on to the roof to clean it off in preparation to paint it. And oh yeah, the paint was only just shipped a few days ago from Kansas. So One week of waking up at 6:30 working from 7:30 a.m. -5:30 p.m. six days a week can feel like a month. Luckily, I enjoy my crew and we manage to have fun even surrounded by asbestos! Well, most of the time. Unless it is cold and blustery and breathing ice wind down our faces! Things take time down here. Things take longer down here. It is Antarctica after all.

The weather also contributes to the work. We had a few cold blustery Antarctic days when we first arrived but overall the weather has been really nice. It all depends on the wind factor and if the sun is covered. When the wind blows it is darn cold. Yesterday was a strong cold wind can't hardly walk it's so windy kind of day. Today I was priming some boards in a t-shirt. It's unpredictable.

The sun shines 24 hours a day here. No stars, no moon, only sun. This makes me want to be up and at it 24 hours a day! I am learning to return to my room when it feels like 2:00 p.m. but it is really midnight! Very deceiving to us northern hemispherians. There are a lot of folks from Alaska here who do the Antarctic Summer and then the Alaska summer, chasing the eternal sun year round.

A few strange things about McMurdo are the fact that there are indeed no trees. There are also no children. There is a bird called a skua that is a mean looking thing and they hang out around town scavenging for scraps of food. Seals pop up out of the ice right next to town and I have heard rumor that when the ice breaker ship comes to restock the town in January the whales and penguins will frequent the area around town as well.

So yes, work is fine, funny, and ridiculous at times but overall it is work and the first full time job I have really ever had! After work there is an endless amount of activities to partake in, performances, parties and art shows to organize, yoga and soon to be belly dancing classes, science lectures, scrabble and cribbage in the coffee shop, x-country skiing and hiking and the occasional bar tour. I haven't had such a free for all social life since college. It's a nice community of folks from all walks of life. Everyone is quick to send a smile and welcome you to their table. So time is passing quickly. Already it is mid-December and no there is no paint on building 155; but I have rented ski's and a party costume for MAAG, (McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery Dec. 25th) I have been to Scott's hut and seen emperor penguins, I have hiked Ob Hill and skied Cape Armitage Loop, I have played fuse ball and eaten my share of frosty boy.... And these adventures my friends are the real work of life on the ice.

A N T A R C T I C A

2009-11-19T22:01:00.000-08:00

Somehow I ended up in Antarctica. Life is funny like that at times. One moment you are living cozily in love in an RV named Lucy with a nice wood fire burning surrounded by falling orange leaves and the next thing you know you are swooped up and flown to the continent of ice, working 60 hour weeks and living with 1,000’s of people! Surrounded by ice, mountains, scientists, artists, musicians, nomads, travelers and folks who just couldn't find work in America; McMurdo station is proving to be an interesting place to live. I am enjoying it. It’s like summer camp for adults, only it’s an Antarctic summer which means that the average temperature is freezing or below and although everyone is an “adult” it feels a little bit like Jr. High! There are free yoga classes in the chapel, Zumba classes, arts and crafts rooms, hiking, skiing, movies, lectures, the coffee shop, two bars, a library and a gym as well as endless talented and interesting people to talk with. Today I drove an underwater video camera called “skinny” under the sea ice with a remote control, viewing the computer monitors I could see star fish, worms and Volcanic Sponges covering the bottom of the sea. I also saw two Wendell Seals pop out of the ice for a sun bath. Never a dull a moment in Antarctica!

A caged Mary of McMurdo sits along a ridge over looking town.

"Skinny" the under

water camera

"3 foot hole in the ice to launch "skinny"

My first ski on the Ross Sea ice

A Mural painting on a random wall in the Supply Building

My cozy coffee shop hanger!

Scott's Hut at Cape Evans

This week I went on a field trip to Cape Evans. It was a very special trip for a number of reasons. Basically it was one in a million. All of the right people came together at the right time to make it happen. First of all, the night before the trip to the Cape Dr. Julian Dowdeswell , the Director of Scott's Polar Research Institute at Cambridge University, gave a lecture about the great Antarctic explorers; Scott, Shakleton and Amundsen and their subsequent journeys to Antarctica in the early 1900's. It just so happened that Julian was room mates in the dorms with two of my painting crew and was sitting with us at dinner before the trip to Cape Evans. Also sitting at the table was Ruben, my painting boss and his friend, a snow plower on the Ice. I sat down to dinner and learned that Julian was on the field trip and found out that he had been on three previous attempted field trips that all failed from getting stuck on the way out to the Cape. When I learned that he had never been there before, and this was his last chance as he was leaving the next day, I said " So this is a big deal!" and he replied, "Yes, very much so." (In a British accent.) Ruben's friend was at the table with us and knowing it was all of our last chances to see the Scott hut on Cape Evans as the ice was rapidly melting was humbly quiet and didn't reveal his plans to accompany us.

We piled into the Delta, a big tank-like sort of vehicle and left McMurdo for Scott's hut. Scott's hut is located on the north shore of Cape Evans on Ross Island in Antarctica. It was erected in 1911 by the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910–1913 (also known as the Terra Nova Expedition) led by Robert Falcon Scott. Driving along the sea ice away from town was a great feeling. The sea ice is 54 inches thick but summer is approaching and in summer the ice melts and the road obviously closes as well as the airplane runway. In the summer killer whales, seals and penguins swim along in the sea right by town. For now, it is still ice and we were driving along on top of it. On our left was the Transantarctic mountain range and multiple glaciers pouring out around them. Miles of ice and snowdrifts and Mt. Erebus on our left. Mt. Erebus is the southernmost historically active volcano on Earth. With a summit elevation of 12,448 ft, it is located on Ross Island, which is also home to three inactive volcanoes, notably Mount Terror. Mount Erebus is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, which includes over 160 active volcanoes.

The snow drifts got rather large the closer we got to the Point of Inaccessibility, beyond which was Scott's hut. This is where we got stuck. So stuck, that we all piled out of the Delta and grabbed shovels and started shovelling the thing out!

It was fun though, getting out of the Delta on the sea ice with Erebus smoking in the distance. We finally got unstuck and drove little further, getting stuck again. At this point it was too far to the hut to hike and we would have had to abort the trip, if Ruben's friend had not come to our rescue with his plow and snow grater! He had followed us out all the way on his night off. So he started to pull us through the snow drifts. And this is when the penguins came! Out of now where they appeared, 8 emperor penguins sliding along the snow and waddling up to us.

Penguins!!!!!

The penguins were curious about the sounds coming from our huge vehicle and once we saw them approaching in the distance the driver stopped the Delta and we all piled out and went and sat in the snow silently.

The penguins, sliding and walking along, all 6 of them, came right up to us! They stopped and looked at us, calling to each other and twisting their long slender necks around. They were very curious and not in the slightest bit afraid. After they had checked us out sufficiently they all turned around and started sliding away on their bellies! It was so incredible. A sliding train of penguins! Off they went into the bright night sun.

Two of them, after a long sliding walk, came back! They stopped and hung their slender necks together and called out to each other communicating something or other about how to proceed. Then they walked up to us, standing about 10 feet away from me. It broke my heart really, these beautiful fish/bird/manlike creatures coming right up to me, trusting, curious and fun loving spirits. They hung out with us for a few minutes posing and strutting their stuff and then turned around and slipping onto their bellies, slid off into the wild Antarctic ice world with Mt. Erebus in the distance.

Mt. Erebus

The next stop on the trip was Scott's hut, left untouched since 1911. We arrived at the hut and walked up to it. It was on the land next to the sea ice. Sleds and ski's were leaned up against it and stepping inside was like walking into a time machine. Inside the hut was full of belongings. It was left exactly as it was found and it appeared as if the occupants had only stepped out for a hike and would be returning in a few hours.

It was full of crates and boxes of food, scientific instruments, a darkroom full of trays and chemicals where Ponting developed the famous photos of their journey.

There were bunk beds with wool blankets, and clothing draped everywhere, old wool sock full of holes and leather shoes, mittens and sweaters. The shelves were stocked with mysterious viles of medicines, old hats, books and personal belongings. There was so much stuff in that building, it was hard to believe they carried it all from England on a ship! There was even piles of seal blubber, still sitting there, one hundred years later, in prime condition, only slightly stinky.

After an hour of wandering through the hut, admiring the ancient relics of our great European explorers and watching Dr. Julian find each treasure with awe and excitement, we slowly wandered back to the Delta. Again, we were pulled through the drifts, making it possible to get back to McMurdo without having to spend the whole night digging through the drifts.

On the way back we stopped at some ice caves and slid down a little hole into a cave full of beautiful ice crystals, hanging down in feathery patterns and glowing blue.

November, 24 2009.

Flying to Antarctica

I flew from New Zealand to Antarctica three days ago. We got up early on Saturday morning, arriving at the airport at 4:30 a.m. and proceeded to change into our cold weather issued gear which includes a Carhartt parka, white bunny boots, Carhartt insulated bibs, and thermal long underwear, along with goggles, hat, neck gator and gloves. This was the gear we that was mandatory to wear when boarding the Air force C-17 carrier plane that took us down to Antarctica.

After checking our luggage we boarded two old white buses that took about 40 scientists, air force men and women, and us workers down to McMurdo. Boarding the plane was like stepping into the 50's for me. The huge aircraft was gutted inside except for about ten rows of seats down the middle and seats strapped into the sides. In the back of the aircraft was a bunch of cargo all strapped down by webbing. The guts of the plane were exposed and piping, electrical and safety boxes lined the walls and ceiling. I sat in the front row. From my seat I could see out both left and right side windows and also up into the cockpit. The plane took off. I could see the green pastures of New Zealand rushing past. And then ocean, and then clouds and the blinding sun.

This was exciting. This was the moment that it really set in. The reality that I was flying, along with a number of others (in red parkas and snow pants!) to a place that only a year or so earlier I had never even imagined traveling to, let alone work and live for a season. The flight took about five hours. I was reading a book called Antarctica by Kim Stanley Robinson. It was uncanny how everything happening to the characters in the book was happening, at that very moment or a few hours earlier, to me! Flying the New Zealand, gear issue, boarding the plane, and.... getting of the plane. Which I was about to do in a matter of minutes.

About four hours into the flight the great ice continent came into sight. I went up into the cockpit, bright sunlight momentarily blinding me until I put on my polarized sunglasses. Before me was the most breathtaking, heart wrenching, jaw dropping landscape I have ever witnessed. Antarctica loomed before me, jagged mountain peaks, white swooning glaciers, big flat ice shelves as far as the eye could see. Pristine wilderness, untouched by humans, raw and ominous, I would even say sublime. My turn in the cock pit ended far sooner than I would have liked. I had to let others go up, so I went back down into the cargo and peeped out the little circular side windows snapping photographs and melting into a puddle of awe and joy. Excitement filled my blood as the captains voice came over loudspeaker telling us to take our seats as we were approaching McMurdo.

I took my seat, put on my parka and tried to peek out the little side windows without any luck for all I could see was the bright blinding whiteness; and so I closed my eyes. Then we landed; easy, smooth and successfully on the ice. Everyone clapped! The plane came to a halt. The officer opened the stairway door into the outside world and I had my first view of the ice. I unsnapped my buckle and picked up my orange issued carry on bag, ukulele and all. I walked to the door, sunglasses on and felt the cold wind on my face. Stepping out, down the stairs and onto the ice was such a trip. "The first time is the best time" the experienced icers say, and I believe them. It was love at first sight really. You would think such a cold and hostile environment would be undesirable but on the contrast it was instantly enduring.

They put us on big red shuttles immediately, leaving the C-17 behind we were driven to McMurdo just moments away to a welcome and shown how to settle into life at McMurdo station.

So it all began, my time on the ice continent.

Ruben, Peter, AnnArctica, Ken and Kirk.

Antarctica Paint Crew, Summer 2009

Tommorrow morning I fly down to McMudro Station, Antarctica. I have been anticipating this trip now for over a year ever since my trail crew leader last fall in Colorado mentioned it. Until then I had never even thought of Antarctica as a place I would like to go let alone go to work as a Painter outdoors! But as I looked into it further and read more about it I found myself drawn to it. A job that pays pretty good, and takes me all around the the world to a place that is full of rare beauty, untouched by civilazaiton, the last true wilderness??? Sign me up! And so I applied last March with Raytheon Polar Sercvices for the Painter Apprentice position. I heard back from Raytheon for the first time in July when I was down visiting Ben and Ruth in Chicago. I couldn't beleive it when I got the phone call interview and it went really well ending basically with "you got the job/if you can pass all of our medical and dental examinations and oh yeah, we will notify you anytime between October and December if the job is going to happen or not!" So I went and got all my lengthy medical and dental exams done, gave blood, pissed in cups, and was deemed physically qualified in September. Then the waiting game began. Most people get flown down in October. I was anticipating the call any day for about two months. Waiting for it really, before I came up with a back up plan. And then, on the 5th of November, while scraping paint up on a ladder at Romi and Bill's house, I got the phone call I had been waiting for. Of course by then I HAD a back up plan! I was planning to move down to Colorado with my sweetheart and get a job in Breckinridge for the winter. I was exited for this too! But when I got that phone call, I slowly backed down the ladder and layed down on the grassy hillside weighing my options and in my heart I knew I had to take this opportunity. So I said YES. Four days later I was packed up and on a plane to Denver for a week and half of training and orientaion. It still doesn't seem possible. But it's really happening and it is happening fast! I flew into New Zealand yesterday after a week and a half of training in Denver. The flights over took more than 24 hours. Denver-L.A.-Sydney-Christchurch. When we finally got checked into our hotels I got refreshed and took a walk to the Botanical Gardens where I layed down in the green summer grass and touched as many green leaves and smelled all the flowers that I could, knowing full well that after tomorrow I will know is white ICE and wind. Today in Christchurch we were issued our cold weather gear. I received a brown Carhartt parka, jacket and bibs. Long underwear, socks, hats, gloves, chops, big white plastic "bunny boots" and some polar fleece tops and bottoms. I am going to find out why they call them polar fleece. We fly down tommorow morning at 8:00, but we have to be at the airport by 5:00 a.m. Hopefully the weather is good and we can make the 6 hour flight on the C-17 aircraft in one go, if the weather turns bad on the Ice however, we will "boomerang" back to New Zealand and do it all over again the next day. The photo above was taken of our painting crew in Bailey's Irish Pub in Christchurch last night. All feeling a little jet lag, we were happy to get the 15% discount that this pub gives "Icers". My crew, by the way, is great. We all get along wonderfully and I know we are going to have a great time working together. Ruben the supervisor has been down before and is a kindred spirit along with the rest of the guys. The pub was full of framed photos and articles of Antarcitca scientists and workers that have been going down there for years. The whole place in fact was full of Antarctica photos from wall to wall. Apparently I have gotten myself involed with a long standing tradition of adventurers, scientists, and others in pursuit of unkown and most extreme places on this planet. I am excited. I am ready. I am AnnArctica. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

home sweet home

2008-05-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

thailand adventures

2008-05-08T12:35:00.001-07:00

Forest Times

2008-03-09T04:39:00.000-07:00

i haven't really been around computers much in the last 3 months so these are
just a few randoms photos dating all the way back to western australia in december, and some from tasmania in february ...

tasmania affected me the most out of all the places i have travelled, well, the most is kinda strong language. i suppose you could say that tasmania has a very special place in my heart. it was there that all of my travels in australia came together creating a real feeling of purpose from my time in OZ. it was also there that i broke my wrist and became part robot. A lot of my friends that i had met from around australia were in tasmania this summer, protecting the old growth forests that are ancient and magic and under fatal danger by the hands of tassy forestry. so i camped out in the forest with the activists for a whlie and learned heaps from these dedicated individuals whom i have so much respect and love for. they installed a bit of anarchy and hardcore loveand inpiration in this sponge of a heart.

anywhoo... now i am in thailand looking for random and new exciting experiences asia style and on the slow journey home! enjoy, love anna

Tassy:

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Western Australia

crusin down the coast of western australia

2007-10-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

Indonesia

2007-09-08T06:09:00.001-07:00

In late July I hitched a ride from Darwin to Indonesia on a sailboat called Kay-Tee with captain Joe and my German friend Anja.

Four days was the quoted amount of time it should take us to get to Indonesia. 11 days later we arrived in Kupang with a broken motor eager to set our sea legs on land! To answer some questions about how those 11 days went I have included a snipit from my journal...

"Day 8- Small amount of wind. Started catching jellyfish in buckets for entertainment. observed glowing organisms in water. Good celestial experience.

Day 9- 200 meters deep. No Wind, No Motor! Went Swimming!! Was good and freaky! Fantasized about eating amazing food. No Wind. Calm and Smooth as my goddess belly. 140 miles to Kupang.

Day 10..... No Wind!!!!!"

This was an awesome experience, never to be forgotten. Indonesia blew my mind. One month seemed like a whole life time and now only one month after returning to australia it seems like a faded dream. one day i will return...

the road to alice springs

2007-07-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

i love driving through the outback, spotting feral camels and sleeping under the stars in a swag, love swags.

love the red earth and the hawks, the ever changing landscpae and spiritual rocks... and moving, always forward, onward, upwards, skyward... all the way to the sea.

melbourne is cool

2007-07-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

Portraits of Brissy

2007-06-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

These are some of the people who have made my life in Brisbane amazing. Including: me! my flatmates, friends from art school and all the other great musicians, activists, artists, rockers and rollers and many other incredible individuals.... there are many faces who escaped my camera and so their image will remain in my memory alone.

Brisbane is....

2007-06-10T21:43:00.001-07:00

11 Bank st
West End
sweet music
the forest
screen printing
sculpture
photography
swimming in the ocean
kitchen jams
my yellow bike
my mates
stencils
close to byron!
ice cream parties in chloes bed
writing letters
west end markets
juice making
solo time....

My Artworks

2007-06-10T21:28:00.001-07:00

Brisbane Street Art

2007-06-10T21:17:00.001-07:00

these boots were made for walking

2007-04-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

Photos from Double Island near Noosa Australia

2007-04-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

These photos are from a weekend camping trip I took with my roomate Chloe and her boyfriend Lauchie who grew up near Noosa. You have to take a ferry to the island and then drive down the beach to get to the peninsula where there are trails leading up to a light house and a beautiful view of the sea and Rainbow Beach. We saw big pods of dolphins, some sea turtles and went body surfing and boogie boarding all weekend.

Photos from Kaikoura New Zealand

2007-04-24T17:46:00.000-07:00

Kaikoura

2007-04-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

Kaikoura is a small little village nestled in between the mountains and the sea on the east coast of the South Island in New Zealand. It is a popular place for tourists to visit and go whale watching or swimming with dolphins and seals. I have a friend from home who has been living there for a year and so I got to meet all the locals and go surfing and camping in the mountains. The surfing was hard and I am not very good at it yet but I had fun simply floating around in the sea and watching dolphins play. Kaikoura is a beautiful and peaceful place.