Today is the day. Two helo's took off already and mine will depart in an hour. The sling load flight was really cool...the helo hovered at 50-foot altitude and gently lifted the string of baggage gathered in two nets. Then they flew off across the sea ice toward the mountains across the bay. Before departing they ran through the emergency landing procedures (for Jordan/Bija/Kevin's flight). They included which switched to turn off if the flight crew are incapacitated to turn off the engine, fuel, and batteries. Three switches...lost in panels saturated with lights and switches...no problem. Bija will be our camp master and make sure we eat, stay alive, etc. Kevin is only there for a few hours to survey the area in case crevasses have appeared since last year. Since we are near the edge of the ice shelf relatively speaking, it's possible it can fracture and produce a deep crack called a crevasse and we want to be sure not to fall into any. Soon Joulien and I will fly out with Julia and Nathan who have volunteered to help us dig out the old station for a few days (buried in about 5 feet of snow). We're planning 2 to 2.5 weeks in the field before returning, depending on how things go.
up, up, and away...
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Our flights were cancelled again Friday due to weather. This is getting old fast. We are eager to get going with our work, and the daily routine of packing up and being ready then getting cancelled is taking its toll on us. We agreed to take the weekend off and do things besides work. While McMurdo staff has a 6-day work week, physicists can be rather driven and work 8-day weeks for months at a time (c.f. the last half year).
I imagine Holiday celebrations McMurdo style are atypical. Thanksgiving Saturday started with most sleeping in, a light brunch, and a huge dinner (cafeteria style, but on white linen tables). The food was awesome, and most people dressed up, with a few suits and many dresses. All the women looked gorgeous. Afterwards a band called "Condition Fun", including an IT specialist who's been helping us, played at one of the three bars: Gallagher’s Pub (the other two are: Southern Exposure and the Coffee House). Maybe 50 people squeezed into the space to listen and drink. Also, the basketball gym was converted into a party room for "Freezing Man" with all sorts of things -- hug booth, anonymous interpretive dance screen, black lights, group art board, photos of the Nevada Burning Man event. Here's a blurry shot of me swinging a hula hoop with my neck (completely sober, btw).
Sunday, our team at UCI sent us some new software which fixed a puzzling issue with our system and everyone was very excited. Joulien and I also climbed Ob Hill (Observation Hill, 750ft) -- a 20min-each-way hike up the steep partly-razorback ridge to the closest peak to McMurdo. The view was amazing...it felt much more like being on some alien planet being surrounded by vast white, ground and sky. Very refreshing. Here are some pics.
It's Monday morning now, and the wind is still a little high at our destination so we're on hold. It looks like we may make it 110km over Minna Bluff to our site very soon. On the down side, we hear the Internet link over the mountains to the ice shelf has stopped working. So you may not hear from me for while. While there, we will be checking in daily with McMurdo Operations by satellite phone and we'll have a backup HF radio (reminiscent of WWII technology but without the hand crank). I can't wait to make more ice-blocks :)
I imagine Holiday celebrations McMurdo style are atypical. Thanksgiving Saturday started with most sleeping in, a light brunch, and a huge dinner (cafeteria style, but on white linen tables). The food was awesome, and most people dressed up, with a few suits and many dresses. All the women looked gorgeous. Afterwards a band called "Condition Fun", including an IT specialist who's been helping us, played at one of the three bars: Gallagher’s Pub (the other two are: Southern Exposure and the Coffee House). Maybe 50 people squeezed into the space to listen and drink. Also, the basketball gym was converted into a party room for "Freezing Man" with all sorts of things -- hug booth, anonymous interpretive dance screen, black lights, group art board, photos of the Nevada Burning Man event. Here's a blurry shot of me swinging a hula hoop with my neck (completely sober, btw).
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
Home on the Range
All three of us are packed up and ready to fly to the field now, and we've been in McMurdo Station for 2 weeks (1 week of weather delays). We are settling into just being here, rather than rushing as fast as we can to complete briefings, travel and equipment arrangements, and tests of the system that we are going to install on the ice-shelf. As we do, I'm getting a better sense of what it would be like to live here. Most people come for the warm half of the year and return to some other life the other half. A few brave souls stay through winter. Here are some of my thoughts on the simpler life "on the range" here.
Living here, day-to-day, is quite nice for a number of reasons:
1) Generally you never have to drive. There is a taxi service around the station, and there is a shuttle to the airfield and another to the New Zealand Antarctic Station (which shares Ross Island with us). There's no where to go other than that, on foot, or by air.
2) Generally you never have to think about money. Everything is paid for. The only places that take money that I've found so far are the bars and the stores (e.g. toothbrushes, T shirts, beer, and souvenirs).
3) Generally you never have to use a telephone. True I carry a beeper in case someone needs to reach me as head of our small team. True it's often more convenient to call another building rather than walking over to it. But there's no cell service, and while I'm so far away I'm not using a VOIP phone like Skype or calling card like Net2Phone to reach the states.
4) Generally you don't have to think about or arrange for meals. That is: no food shopping, no cooking, no cleanup. The cafeteria provides several main courses at every meal, and is open after hours with some things pike PBJ, granola and drinks. There are microwaves in the lab and dorm in case you want to make popcorn and such. I don't think there are any kitchens anywhere though.
Now you might argue that these things are quite fun to do and it's a shame to remove them from daily life; especially cooking. But if one is focused on a particular endeavor, in pursuit of a specific vision, then everything else fades into pleasant and unpleasant background activity. For those of you who don't know, I'm coming from a Zen Buddhist monastic background here, where one might spend a week at a silent retreat, with almost every action prescribed...from how to walk, when to drink tea, etc. The freedom that that simplicity provides, allows one to really really focus on the present moment to the point of epiphany.
Thursday here was a normal work day since they celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday for convenience. The normal work week is 6-days long with Sunday off. The New Zealand Station is called Scott Station and all the buildings are lime green. Normally folks are only allowed to visit their store, but Thursday was America night, and folks went over to enjoy their bar and shuttles ran late into the day-lit night. It was windy and snowing and overcast; these photos don't really capture the snow blowing in the wind. Their base is all interconnected so everyone can stay warm inside. It has a little bit of a yacht-club feel to it and I noticed their showers are much nicer too. I lost a game of darts but won a game of pool and we met a cool guy who will be driving fuel to the South Pole station (it takes a month to drive there from here and is much more efficient than flying the fuel in). Someone came in and bought drinks for everyone for the night. Joulien said it was the best night he's had so far.
Living here, day-to-day, is quite nice for a number of reasons:
1) Generally you never have to drive. There is a taxi service around the station, and there is a shuttle to the airfield and another to the New Zealand Antarctic Station (which shares Ross Island with us). There's no where to go other than that, on foot, or by air.
2) Generally you never have to think about money. Everything is paid for. The only places that take money that I've found so far are the bars and the stores (e.g. toothbrushes, T shirts, beer, and souvenirs).
3) Generally you never have to use a telephone. True I carry a beeper in case someone needs to reach me as head of our small team. True it's often more convenient to call another building rather than walking over to it. But there's no cell service, and while I'm so far away I'm not using a VOIP phone like Skype or calling card like Net2Phone to reach the states.
4) Generally you don't have to think about or arrange for meals. That is: no food shopping, no cooking, no cleanup. The cafeteria provides several main courses at every meal, and is open after hours with some things pike PBJ, granola and drinks. There are microwaves in the lab and dorm in case you want to make popcorn and such. I don't think there are any kitchens anywhere though.
Now you might argue that these things are quite fun to do and it's a shame to remove them from daily life; especially cooking. But if one is focused on a particular endeavor, in pursuit of a specific vision, then everything else fades into pleasant and unpleasant background activity. For those of you who don't know, I'm coming from a Zen Buddhist monastic background here, where one might spend a week at a silent retreat, with almost every action prescribed...from how to walk, when to drink tea, etc. The freedom that that simplicity provides, allows one to really really focus on the present moment to the point of epiphany.
Thursday here was a normal work day since they celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday for convenience. The normal work week is 6-days long with Sunday off. The New Zealand Station is called Scott Station and all the buildings are lime green. Normally folks are only allowed to visit their store, but Thursday was America night, and folks went over to enjoy their bar and shuttles ran late into the day-lit night. It was windy and snowing and overcast; these photos don't really capture the snow blowing in the wind. Their base is all interconnected so everyone can stay warm inside. It has a little bit of a yacht-club feel to it and I noticed their showers are much nicer too. I lost a game of darts but won a game of pool and we met a cool guy who will be driving fuel to the South Pole station (it takes a month to drive there from here and is much more efficient than flying the fuel in). Someone came in and bought drinks for everyone for the night. Joulien said it was the best night he's had so far.
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011
snow/sun work/wait
Sunday wrapped up much the same as Monday and Tuesday. It's Wednesday morning now. The weather goes back and forth between cold/windy/snowing lightly and warm/calm/sunny, but the helicopter flights continue being delayed due to weather at the destination ice-shelf camp. So we are continuing to work in the Crary lab, eat in the cafeteria, and try to relax despite the anticipation.
Here's something odd that caught my eye in the cafeteria since Ross Island (location of McMurdo Station) is surrounded by a glacial ice shelf and a frozen bay.
("No Ice available. Sorry for the inconvenience")
Just a refresher: ice shelves are 100's of meters thick and flow like a fast glacier, slowly calving icebergs into the sea. There's an ice shelf to the north of us where we did snowcamp and where the alternate landing field is, and there's a huge ice shelf to the south across the bay and over the mountain range (Ross Ice Shelf) where we will be setting up camp and the detector. The bay is frozen over in the winter and used as the primary landing field but somewhat and partially navigable in Summer.
Last night I walked over to the main common building (#155) to check the helo flight schedule after watching "Star Wars, the Empire Strikes Back" in the dorm common area with the guys (the one where they are fighting on a snow-world, of course). On the way the view across the bay was rather stunning. I need a telephoto to capture the immense grandeur of the abrupt mountains covered in snow and divided by a glacier or two. But maybe you can get an idea for the setting from these two pics. The first is a view to the SW showing the harbor here. All the flat white is the ice on the bay. They hope to free up the harbor in time for the annual supply ship to use it when it arrives in January/February. The runway (not shown, but also on the bay's ice) will be moved to the ice shelf to the north in a couple weeks when they decide that the sea ice has melted enough to be unsafe.
The second pic shows the Chapel of the Snows and on the left you can see a brown hut which is the old Coffee House and the Comms building behind it with one of its transmitter spheres on the roof. With such great beauty here, it's a shame they have to have wires on telephone poles, but I suppose the intense cold of the winter would destroy buried cables.
Here's something odd that caught my eye in the cafeteria since Ross Island (location of McMurdo Station) is surrounded by a glacial ice shelf and a frozen bay.
("No Ice available. Sorry for the inconvenience")Just a refresher: ice shelves are 100's of meters thick and flow like a fast glacier, slowly calving icebergs into the sea. There's an ice shelf to the north of us where we did snowcamp and where the alternate landing field is, and there's a huge ice shelf to the south across the bay and over the mountain range (Ross Ice Shelf) where we will be setting up camp and the detector. The bay is frozen over in the winter and used as the primary landing field but somewhat and partially navigable in Summer.
Last night I walked over to the main common building (#155) to check the helo flight schedule after watching "Star Wars, the Empire Strikes Back" in the dorm common area with the guys (the one where they are fighting on a snow-world, of course). On the way the view across the bay was rather stunning. I need a telephoto to capture the immense grandeur of the abrupt mountains covered in snow and divided by a glacier or two. But maybe you can get an idea for the setting from these two pics. The first is a view to the SW showing the harbor here. All the flat white is the ice on the bay. They hope to free up the harbor in time for the annual supply ship to use it when it arrives in January/February. The runway (not shown, but also on the bay's ice) will be moved to the ice shelf to the north in a couple weeks when they decide that the sea ice has melted enough to be unsafe.
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Saturday, November 19, 2011
Sunday Morning Snow
Sunday morning ashtanga in the basketball gym was great. I lead a full first series for myself and a cool guy who's been here the last 8 seasons or so and spends his austral (southern hemisphere) winters on Magnetic Island, Australia. Everyone has such interesting lives; the place is just overful with amazing people. The snowschool instructor as another example, spends her austral winters (northern hemisphere summers) in Denali National Park, Alaska. So here's the basketball court at 58F indoors.
I was greated with 4" fresh powder on the ground in the morning (see photo of the dorms), and when I left after yoga, my tracks were covered again with 4" fresh powder. The sun is out and some people are grabbing their skiis and walking to the nearby downhill slope for some fun. Jordan and Joulien are going over to the nearby Kiwi Base (New Zealand Station -- a couple km walk or shuttle from McMurdo) to visit their store.
Here is the helo port with one bird in the barn and a few on the deck and Observation Hill in the background. OK I don't know if they really use those terms, but there are so many acronyms and truncations here it would fit (e.g. everyone says helo instead of helicopter). Physicits use tons of cute acryonyms too, so its similar lingo.
PS: Michelle flew here in our group and teaches 8th grade in Austin TX. She made this video of our snowschool camp last Monday/Tuesday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpttYwI9peE&feature=player_embedded.
Here is the helo port with one bird in the barn and a few on the deck and Observation Hill in the background. OK I don't know if they really use those terms, but there are so many acronyms and truncations here it would fit (e.g. everyone says helo instead of helicopter). Physicits use tons of cute acryonyms too, so its similar lingo.
PS: Michelle flew here in our group and teaches 8th grade in Austin TX. She made this video of our snowschool camp last Monday/Tuesday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpttYwI9peE&feature=player_embedded.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Weather Shift
Last week I stopped by the weather desk and asked for the weather at our field camp site for the coming week. He just shook his head. You see the weather in Antarctica shifts so quickly and dramatically that you can't really say more than a day or two in advance. So Saturday morning (yesterday) the snow/ice in the streets was melting and chocolate-milk-colored water was running down the hill. The ground is all volcanic rock here from Mt. Erebus. After lunch, the temperature dropped and a light snow dusting came in with a 10mph wind. All the chocolate milk had frozen. Although the sun came out again around midnight (recall it never sets), all flights were cancelled today. We'll try again Monday.
I spent the day in the lab working on our electronics, but took a couple pics to share. This one shows the inside of the Crary lab central ramp between buildings. Imagine 150mph icy winds blowing outside and the sun gone for the next 4 months....wintering over here must be intense. I've heard persons describe it here as a feeling of being trapped. You see in Winter it is often impossible to go outside, much less go home due to weather. Another shows the typical interior door...a freezer door mounted in a door frame. The outside has a dead-man push-lever...so that if you stumble on it in a snowstorm you only have to push to open the latch. The last pic is of the parking lot in front with a bit of snow starting to fall.
I learned there are no police or MP's here, just one person. There's no theft really and assault is rewarded with removal from the continent and "do not hire" on your permanent file, so I hear. Everyone is very well coordinated and there is no competition apparent. I imagine there must be some competition for the interest of beautiful women, but all seems very civil. I've also barely used money here. All food and services I've seen are available. The only things I've found that require you to open your wallet are drinks at the coffee house and products at the store: tourist items, bath and clothing necessities, (free rental) videos and alcohol.
I'm planning to do a full ashtanga practice tomorrow morning in the basketball gym, and a person or two may join me. It's been 2 weeks so I'm very much looking forward to it. Someone put up a joke flier by the cafeteria advertising "battle of the 47 yoga teachers, only one will be called master". A joke because yoga is about yourself not competition and because this small community has three teachers of different styles...a high ratio (1 style for every 400 persons) for places other than Encinitas/CA where every other block seems to have a different style yoga studio.
I learned there are no police or MP's here, just one person. There's no theft really and assault is rewarded with removal from the continent and "do not hire" on your permanent file, so I hear. Everyone is very well coordinated and there is no competition apparent. I imagine there must be some competition for the interest of beautiful women, but all seems very civil. I've also barely used money here. All food and services I've seen are available. The only things I've found that require you to open your wallet are drinks at the coffee house and products at the store: tourist items, bath and clothing necessities, (free rental) videos and alcohol.
I'm planning to do a full ashtanga practice tomorrow morning in the basketball gym, and a person or two may join me. It's been 2 weeks so I'm very much looking forward to it. Someone put up a joke flier by the cafeteria advertising "battle of the 47 yoga teachers, only one will be called master". A joke because yoga is about yourself not competition and because this small community has three teachers of different styles...a high ratio (1 style for every 400 persons) for places other than Encinitas/CA where every other block seems to have a different style yoga studio.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Preparations
I've settled in to working at McMurdo this week. I think I may have had some jetlag the first couple days, but sleeping with the sun up all the time and maintaining hydration have gotten easier. We've set up a workspace in a room shared with other groups preparing to go into the field. You can see about 6 group's equipment/containers in this pic.
The research building we are in is called the Crary lab, and like all the buildings here is up on stilts for the weather (see pic).
Actually the weather has been very pleasant in the upper 20's F. It's only when the wind blows that you feel the additional chill. I imagine my blood has thickened by this point so the cold will be more manageable when I'm in the field. I visited the lowest level of the lab where the aquatic animals are studied (see pic). There's a 5-legged white starfish that's all curled up and a yellow blob that looks very alien.
McMurdo is on an island which is currently surrounded by ice. The ice is what the three airports use for runways for the C17's C130's and even airbus 320 (for the Australian base -- nearby I suppose). The New Zealand base is within walking distance (in good weather).
I went to the yoga class held in "the chapel of the snows" on Wednesday. About 10 persons move the chairs aside and practice on carpet. Mondays are ashtanga and two other teachers lead classes Wednesday and Friday. The anusara teacher for wed was out so Julie (the Friday teacher) taught a vinyasa class that was very well suited for those attending. I'll go tonight and check out a mat so I can do my own full Mysore practice over the next couple days. I hear there's an aerobic and a weight gym around here somewhere, and happened upon the basketball court while looking for the helo-ops office to help arrange our flight cargo.
I introduced Jordan and Joulien to backgammon on Tuesday at the Coffee House, and we've played quite a bit since. last night we were all exhausted and just sat in the dorm watching the matrix.
Everyone eats in the same cafeteria, so it makes the 1100 person station a small community with familiar faces popping up all over. I've met with maybe two dozen persons in the course of making arrangements here, and everyone has been very friendly,skillful, and patient. I think the researchers who come through like us are the stressed ones, but that's expected given the magnitude of the logistics that have to be juggled.
Jordan is flying out tomorrow and I'll fly out 3 days later. Joulien may join me or fly out a few days later. I hear the internet link to the field camp is working so I will plan to continue blogging.
The research building we are in is called the Crary lab, and like all the buildings here is up on stilts for the weather (see pic).
Actually the weather has been very pleasant in the upper 20's F. It's only when the wind blows that you feel the additional chill. I imagine my blood has thickened by this point so the cold will be more manageable when I'm in the field. I visited the lowest level of the lab where the aquatic animals are studied (see pic). There's a 5-legged white starfish that's all curled up and a yellow blob that looks very alien.
McMurdo is on an island which is currently surrounded by ice. The ice is what the three airports use for runways for the C17's C130's and even airbus 320 (for the Australian base -- nearby I suppose). The New Zealand base is within walking distance (in good weather).
I went to the yoga class held in "the chapel of the snows" on Wednesday. About 10 persons move the chairs aside and practice on carpet. Mondays are ashtanga and two other teachers lead classes Wednesday and Friday. The anusara teacher for wed was out so Julie (the Friday teacher) taught a vinyasa class that was very well suited for those attending. I'll go tonight and check out a mat so I can do my own full Mysore practice over the next couple days. I hear there's an aerobic and a weight gym around here somewhere, and happened upon the basketball court while looking for the helo-ops office to help arrange our flight cargo.
I introduced Jordan and Joulien to backgammon on Tuesday at the Coffee House, and we've played quite a bit since. last night we were all exhausted and just sat in the dorm watching the matrix.
Everyone eats in the same cafeteria, so it makes the 1100 person station a small community with familiar faces popping up all over. I've met with maybe two dozen persons in the course of making arrangements here, and everyone has been very friendly,skillful, and patient. I think the researchers who come through like us are the stressed ones, but that's expected given the magnitude of the logistics that have to be juggled.
Jordan is flying out tomorrow and I'll fly out 3 days later. Joulien may join me or fly out a few days later. I hear the internet link to the field camp is working so I will plan to continue blogging.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Snowcamp
Sunday we spent working in a shared labspace our equipment is occupying, so nothing particularly interesting. The Crary lab is a set of interconnected buildings and contains labs of all sorts: biological, metrological, etc. It's up about 3 feet above the ground to prevent flooding and perhaps freezing. It feels like I am working in Moonbase Alpha, and it is so cool. The community is like the TV show Eureka with everyone doing something interesting and activity going on in all directions at once. It's also a bit like Northern Exposure in that it's a small community in a winter wilderness, though here there are no trees (in fact no apparent life besides us at present).
Monday Joulien and I went to Happy Camper training. They drive you over the hill a few miles away and give you gear and some instruction before leaving you for the night. More instruction the next day. We had a group of 20, some had never camped, and a couple had camped in the snow. I have camped one night in the Blue mountains of WA in the snow, and had many years of skiing experience to rely on. Still, Antarctic camping is the penultimate challenge. They have 3 weather conditions here: #3 all ok, #2 dangerous, #1 so dangerous you are not to leave the building you are presently in. For our training the weather goddesses were kind and provided condition #4: so nice and warm with very little wind.
So for those of you who recal I've been trying to build a snowman for many years...I was successful at building an even better structure: a snow wall. The 100' by 5' by 1' structure resulted from all 20 persons' efforts.
We also had some fun taking pictures, and I got my Antarctic Sirsasana (head-posture) picture in with the volcano (Mt. Erebus) in the background.
Monday Joulien and I went to Happy Camper training. They drive you over the hill a few miles away and give you gear and some instruction before leaving you for the night. More instruction the next day. We had a group of 20, some had never camped, and a couple had camped in the snow. I have camped one night in the Blue mountains of WA in the snow, and had many years of skiing experience to rely on. Still, Antarctic camping is the penultimate challenge. They have 3 weather conditions here: #3 all ok, #2 dangerous, #1 so dangerous you are not to leave the building you are presently in. For our training the weather goddesses were kind and provided condition #4: so nice and warm with very little wind.
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So for those of you who recal I've been trying to build a snowman for many years...I was successful at building an even better structure: a snow wall. The 100' by 5' by 1' structure resulted from all 20 persons' efforts.
We also had some fun taking pictures, and I got my Antarctic Sirsasana (head-posture) picture in with the volcano (Mt. Erebus) in the background.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
McMurdo
Saturday afternoon we landed on the frozen water in the bay just East (?) of McMurdo...maybe one of the longest runways. The flight was extremely smooth as was the takeoff and landing -- not quite as smooth as an MD80 commercial flight. We loaded onto a shuttle that looks like one of the monster trucks from Bakersfield and were driven over and up to McMurdo Station.
We were dressed to the hilt, but the weather was only in the upper 20's (F) with no wind. As "night" fell, the air got cooler (teens F) though the sun remained superbright and a little lower on the south side of the sky. Here's a shot at about 11pm with the sun at about it's lowest point. Before that we were given briefings and met the heads of all the various support departments, given dorm assignments, and discovered that the cargo we'd shipped a month ago still had not arrived in Christchurch. Here's a pic of the innovation you see around here...it's like Eureka -- a very fun, exciting, and cool place. Part of that is the isolation. And part is that any day the weather could turn dangerous, locking us down into whatever building we happen to be in. It makes it feel like we are in a moonbase.
We checked our gear, found our dorm rooms and changed into cooler clothes, had dinner. Then Jordan and I went to the "coffee house" for refreshment. The place was packed and conversation was saturating the air. Coffee and wine were served there.
Slept perfectly for 8 hours to Sunday morning, dreamt of the Ashtanga Yoga flier I saw on the bulletin board earlier...
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Slept perfectly for 8 hours to Sunday morning, dreamt of the Ashtanga Yoga flier I saw on the bulletin board earlier...
Christchurch to McMurdo
OK, first here's a bit from Friday night:
Joulien and I walked around downtown Christchurch which was demolished by 2 large earthquakes over the last year or so. A couple square miles of downtown are still cordoned off -- even after 7 or so months -- and we met a friendly guard at the checkpoint. She's in the reserve army from the north island and of Maori ancestry, and explained the spray paint notes on all the buildings we walked around outside the cordon. They indicate the search team (US, NZ, Taiwan, etc), the date of the search and rescue, and the number of fatalities. They also noted structural problems and warnings like "unstable wall", and bright spray paint on cracks. We stopped for coffee on the walk back to meet Jordon for dinner at a Lebanese sidewalk stand/wine garden area. So here are a couple pics of that walkabout.
Saturday, we went back to the CDC got dressed in ECW gear (extreme cold weather), checked in for the flight, watched a briefing with maybe 40 persons: military (Air Force), scientists, and a few folks like the filming crew (for the telescope at the pole), and an 8th grade schoolteacher. We bussed to the C17 and got settled for the 5hour flight. The flight was noisy so everyone wore earplugs. The view out the one window only showed clouds and either water or ice. The bag lunches they gave us as we boarded were large (two sandwiches, shortbread, muffin, chocolates, apple, water). Here we are next to the cargo.
As I said, we were lucky not to boomerang back to NZ.
Joulien and I walked around downtown Christchurch which was demolished by 2 large earthquakes over the last year or so. A couple square miles of downtown are still cordoned off -- even after 7 or so months -- and we met a friendly guard at the checkpoint. She's in the reserve army from the north island and of Maori ancestry, and explained the spray paint notes on all the buildings we walked around outside the cordon. They indicate the search team (US, NZ, Taiwan, etc), the date of the search and rescue, and the number of fatalities. They also noted structural problems and warnings like "unstable wall", and bright spray paint on cracks. We stopped for coffee on the walk back to meet Jordon for dinner at a Lebanese sidewalk stand/wine garden area. So here are a couple pics of that walkabout.
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Saturday, we went back to the CDC got dressed in ECW gear (extreme cold weather), checked in for the flight, watched a briefing with maybe 40 persons: military (Air Force), scientists, and a few folks like the filming crew (for the telescope at the pole), and an 8th grade schoolteacher. We bussed to the C17 and got settled for the 5hour flight. The flight was noisy so everyone wore earplugs. The view out the one window only showed clouds and either water or ice. The bag lunches they gave us as we boarded were large (two sandwiches, shortbread, muffin, chocolates, apple, water). Here we are next to the cargo.
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As I said, we were lucky not to boomerang back to NZ.
Arrived
Hi there, Saturday's flight was no problem. We've arrived and are settled in McMurdo Station. I've got some cool pictures and many interesting things to share that I'll post when I write more in the morning (it's almost midnight Saturday here now). I just wanted to say I'm here and all's well.
We expect to helicopter 70 miles to the campsite in about a week, after we get things in order as far as training and setting up the experimental equipment.
We expect to helicopter 70 miles to the campsite in about a week, after we get things in order as far as training and setting up the experimental equipment.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Christchurch
On Friday 11/11/11 at 11:11:11 we were shopping at the mall down the road. We picked up an AC adapter to charge our laptops while in NZ (McMurdo uses US format electricity/plugs), and some other supplies like jeans, diary, walkie talkies. The mall was mostly like any other mall in the US, but I thought there was a larger amount of everyday-type stores and persons shopping -- back in CA some folks shop at malls and they do so for particular things that you find there like clothes & jewelry, but here it looked a bit more popular and for more everyday shopping. Across from the mall we found a comic book store and Jordan felt quite at home as we considered what games might be good to bring. I should also say that he'd played rugby and that they are holding the rugby world cup in Christchurch soon -- there are flags everywhere advertising it. (Here's Jordan under the rugby street sign on a typical street corner). BTW, they drive on the left side here.
Before the mall we went to the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) for Antarctic Deployment and tried on all the clothes they are giving us for the trip. Lots of layers and serious rubber boots. We met some of the other researchers heading down with us tomorrow...a cute NZ geologist going to an area between McMurdo and the pole as well an astronomer from Chicago going to film a telescope at the pole. (Here's the CDC outside and inside).
On the walk back from the mall we stopped by a pet store, and I visited with the angelfish and three interesting little tan birds with orange streaks on their cheeks that liked to hop back and forth trading places on their perch.
Joulien is enthusiastic about visiting the corner pub this evening (a couple hours from now), where we may have dinner. Beer here is $7.50 NZ ($5.80 US) for a true pint. generally things seem a little more expensive here (Jeans $100 NZ -> $75 US). We arrive at the deployment center at 6:30am and the flight leaves at 9:00am. We'll be flying on a C17 jet which is considerably faster than the propeller powered C130 they often use (flight time is 5hrs rather than 8hrs). They say the record for number of boomerang flights is 7, so we will be lucky if our first flight gets through.
Joulien is enthusiastic about visiting the corner pub this evening (a couple hours from now), where we may have dinner. Beer here is $7.50 NZ ($5.80 US) for a true pint. generally things seem a little more expensive here (Jeans $100 NZ -> $75 US). We arrive at the deployment center at 6:30am and the flight leaves at 9:00am. We'll be flying on a C17 jet which is considerably faster than the propeller powered C130 they often use (flight time is 5hrs rather than 8hrs). They say the record for number of boomerang flights is 7, so we will be lucky if our first flight gets through.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Arrived Christchurch, New Zealand
Tuesday's all-day packing went smoothly and we ended up with 10 checked equipment bins among the three of us. We arrived at LAX with plenty of time and short lines. They mixed up my check-in ("ineligible for travel") and had to hold the plane for a bit to straighten it out, but after the anxiety of packing I felt only excited assurance.
The 13-hour flight to Auckland, New Zealand went very quickly with movies and meals and sleep. Quantas Air (out of Australia) was very nice I thought. We arrived at 9-something am on Thursday the 10th...I seemed to have slept through the 9th since we left on the night of the 8th (funny date line thing). Customs and the bio-check point to prevent foreign insects/etc from entering went fine, and our connecting flight to Christchurch was brief and uneventful.
(pic of me in Auckland airport with some equipment bins)
My first view of New Zealand was of the grass between runways, and even it struck me as particularly green. The view flying to Christchurch revealed the solid green flatland farming areas around both cities was not the whole story. There seems to be many tropical-appearing beaches and bays, as well as a mountainous region with snow-capped ridge after ridge after ridge, separated by green valleys and small rivers between each one. It must be an awesome place to backpack...straight out of Lord of the Rings.
We met with some of the Raytheon Polar Services people and shuttled to our hotel. The earthquake last year has resulted in large portions of downtown barricaded no access and the loss of many buildings including the traditional physicists' dining establishment. We walked instead to Bealeys Speights Ale House for a rather expensive but extremely delicious dinner. I tried a local fish called Gurnard which was like the best of Swordfish and Orange Roughie. The place seems very similar to California, but a bit colder and older (1970's?) looking. Everyone pays for wifi access around here unlike the free access everywhere in the states these days.
(pic of us before dinner...a bit weary and half-awake)
I'm posting this before going to bed at 9:30pm Thursday night -- remember this time zone is the first one on the planet so it's ahead of everyone...(even my good friend Art in Japan). Don't believe the datestamp in the photos. Tomorrow (Friday) we get our cold weather gear and Saturday morning will be our first attempt to fly to McMurdo, Antarctica. We are hoping the weather will allow the plane to land so we don't have to fly back to NZ (a "boomerang" flight).
(It's been great to see all of your emails, comments, and facebook posts. Feel free to post questions rather than emailing me and I'll post answers back for all.)
The 13-hour flight to Auckland, New Zealand went very quickly with movies and meals and sleep. Quantas Air (out of Australia) was very nice I thought. We arrived at 9-something am on Thursday the 10th...I seemed to have slept through the 9th since we left on the night of the 8th (funny date line thing). Customs and the bio-check point to prevent foreign insects/etc from entering went fine, and our connecting flight to Christchurch was brief and uneventful.
(pic of me in Auckland airport with some equipment bins)
My first view of New Zealand was of the grass between runways, and even it struck me as particularly green. The view flying to Christchurch revealed the solid green flatland farming areas around both cities was not the whole story. There seems to be many tropical-appearing beaches and bays, as well as a mountainous region with snow-capped ridge after ridge after ridge, separated by green valleys and small rivers between each one. It must be an awesome place to backpack...straight out of Lord of the Rings.
We met with some of the Raytheon Polar Services people and shuttled to our hotel. The earthquake last year has resulted in large portions of downtown barricaded no access and the loss of many buildings including the traditional physicists' dining establishment. We walked instead to Bealeys Speights Ale House for a rather expensive but extremely delicious dinner. I tried a local fish called Gurnard which was like the best of Swordfish and Orange Roughie. The place seems very similar to California, but a bit colder and older (1970's?) looking. Everyone pays for wifi access around here unlike the free access everywhere in the states these days.
(pic of us before dinner...a bit weary and half-awake)
I'm posting this before going to bed at 9:30pm Thursday night -- remember this time zone is the first one on the planet so it's ahead of everyone...(even my good friend Art in Japan). Don't believe the datestamp in the photos. Tomorrow (Friday) we get our cold weather gear and Saturday morning will be our first attempt to fly to McMurdo, Antarctica. We are hoping the weather will allow the plane to land so we don't have to fly back to NZ (a "boomerang" flight).
(It's been great to see all of your emails, comments, and facebook posts. Feel free to post questions rather than emailing me and I'll post answers back for all.)
Monday, November 7, 2011
packing
Today we began packing; both lab equipment and personal items. I imagine the three of us will be rolling down airport hallways with about three large 50 pound tubs of lab equipment each and simple backpacks with our personal gear. Lots of our equipment was already shipped down to McMurdo, but much development has ensued over the preceding weeks...days...and hours. Raytheon and the US polar services provides all the warm clothing we need when we get to Christchurch, NZ.
The three of us are: Jordan, Joulien and myself. They are both graduate students here at UCI. Jordon went down last year so he knows what to expect. Joulien showed me how to access a wifi network with my new smartphone and convinced me to take it despite no Sprint coverage. I'm bringing a WAP router so if we have internet on the ice we can have it as wireless (I wonder if Sprint will cover damage due to penguin attack?) :)
We will be flying from LAX tomorrow at 11:30pm nonstop to New Zealand. Plenty to do in the meantime.
The three of us are: Jordan, Joulien and myself. They are both graduate students here at UCI. Jordon went down last year so he knows what to expect. Joulien showed me how to access a wifi network with my new smartphone and convinced me to take it despite no Sprint coverage. I'm bringing a WAP router so if we have internet on the ice we can have it as wireless (I wonder if Sprint will cover damage due to penguin attack?) :)
We will be flying from LAX tomorrow at 11:30pm nonstop to New Zealand. Plenty to do in the meantime.
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