Snowmobile Class

We finished our snowmobile and Pisten-Bully (our tracked vehicle used to travel on the sea ice) course this afternoon. We passed in flying colors. 

The photos below are of Jessica and Cass during the snowmobile class out on the sea ice. That’s not ground that they are standing on, but frozen ocean!

 

Jessica, The Masked Avenger, Toby (snowmobile tech) and Randy (head of MEC)

Oh, wait! That’s Cass!

We will probably have a small celebration when Kozue and Brendan have recovered from Snow Survival School, otherwise known as Happy Camper. So far, it is looking good for them.The wind has died and it is sunny and clear. So, they probably have about the best weather possible unless there is a wind over on the other side by Happy Camper school.

Most of our equipment arrived.  However, they are searching in the system for the batteries for Cass's near infrared recorder, and for all the drugs. Of course, they pulled those out of the big tri-walls in Port Hueneme. They assured Cass, despite her protestation, that they would not lose them and that they would ship them on time. They were considered hazardous.

Aside from that, all is going well. We will be going out tomorrow to look for a site.

All the employees are strained by the budget cuts, and the weather delays. They don't have enough people, or enough supplies, and now everyone is pouring into McMurdo because the weather has turned good. By tomorrow, they say we will be up to 1000 people.

The food has been very good at the galley. I hope the chef stays the same throughout the season.

Photos From Mac Town

Paul took a few photos the other night just around town.

This is a shot of the area with the dorms. The Science Dorm, where most of the grantees live, is in the center. It’s not very luxurious, but it’s home.

This is a photo across Derelict Junction. The hill in the background is Observation Hill, where the Scott Memorial is placed. The small building in the center is Southern Exposure, one of the few places in town where you can smoke. When McMurdo was a Navy base, I recall that this was the rowdy bar for the enlisted men. It’s still a bar and still a bit rowdier than other places. (It’s a tradition….)                                                                            

You can see a bit more of Derelict Junction in the shot below. The dorms are behind you when looking at this shot. I’ve always thought that McMurdo Station looks like Truckee.

This is the Chapel of the Snows, where the Erebus Chalice is kept each summer. The chalice first came into the Ross Sea in 1841 aboard The Erebus, which was Ross’ ship. His other ship was  The Terror and they did the first exploration of Victoria Land and the Ross Sea.  The two  peaks of Ross Island are named after these ships. Mt. Erebus is an active volcano.

The Erebus Chalice

The low brown building in the foreground is an exercise room that is affectionately known as the Gerbil Gym because of the treadmills and exercise equipment inside. The large, beige building is the Crary Lab, where the grantees (i.e., scientists) have laboratory and office space.

The Crary Lab is on the right, the beige structure on the left is a temperature controlled facility to store things such as ice cores. You also have another view of Observation Hill. The shoulder of the hill used to be the site of the nuclear power plant in McMurdo. When the plant was decommissioned, they took everything out, including many feet of topsoil.

This is the science support center which houses FSTOP, and also the MEC-the place where we get the snowmobiles, the Pisten-Bully (our tracked vehicles), generators, chain saws, drills, snow blower, etc.

More later.

Classes

We had the first part of our snowmobile class - the indoor session and also got our helmets - now mandatory; they look like they may work well.  They now have an outside session where you have to drive the snowmobile under their guidance.

Due to the shortage of personnel, we are still waiting for the outside session of the snowmobile class and the Pisten-Bully/truck class. Otherwise, we are ready to go. Kozue and Brendan start happy camper tomorrow and will be busy for a few days.

From Here to There

The group left Christchurch at springtime.

The Avon River flows through the heart of Christchurch

Indian Mynah

Hedge sparrow

And finally, landed here! No trees and no flowers.

This is Brendan and Kozue in front of the C17.

Finally…!

They made it!

 

Some Interesting New Websites

There is a new live webcam at McMurdo Station

AND

Cass and Jessica will also be featured on

Women Working in Antarctica

this season by Mary Lynn Price, who is down here working with Norbert Wu.

Stuck In Lodi Again….

(from Paul)

Cancelled again...! We have been here in Christchurch for an entire week now. The storms in McMurdo STILL have not cleared. Of course, this last flight cancellation means that there will be no Sunday Night Lecture in McMurdo since the speaker (me!) is still in New Zealand.

Today, the group has some some work to do while we are stranded in Christchurch. Cass needs to prepare the list of equipment that she will use in her assays for the McMurdo lab I will have Brendan read the diving physiology review articles, which I have on my computer. Kozue, Jessica, and I can begin to review the accelerometer data that Kozue has from Cape Washington. Jessica can also work on her papers. There’s still lots of work to do even if we haven’t reach McMurdo.

Last night, we saw Christian, and Norbert Wu, who also came in. He is making another underwater documentary.

There is a city wide art exhibit on, with sculptures in parks, etc. In the park opposite the Windsor is a giant industrial crane, which suspends a sailboat in the air (when there is no wind).

(Jessica's photo)

And, in Cathedral Square, I thought they had a giant purple squid, but the sculpture is actually a giant purple sperm, which is supposed to promote the fertilization of ideas. The sculpture contains a small information booth, and, of course, the kids love to climb all over the artwork.

Still Waiting

You know that we are scraping the barrel when doing our laundry becomes part of the daily update!

(from Paul)

I am about to go to dinner. We did the gondola ride this afternoon, and then I did my wash. We are still on schedule for a morning departure tomorrow, but we will see.

A sheep and lamb on the hillside.

Here are some other photos of today, including:

Winnie on guard at the Windsor (asleep in the sun on the porch)

Some gondola photos

(Jessica's photo)

Views of Lyttleton

This is a large harbor with an island in middle and is where Scott kept his ponies. He departed from here en route to Antarctica

Christchurch (with coastline).

In A Holding Pattern

(from Paul)

We are still here!!

Yes, we were cancelled again. At least they called and notified us early so we did not have to go in. We are rescheduled for a flight tomorrow, although there is still talk that the weather in McMurdo won’t clear until Tuesday. They are going to continue to try every day until they get us in. There are about 400 people here stacked up in Christchurch for the Antarctic program, and more are coming in today on flights. So, they are quite busy.

We are leaving to pick up our luggage today at the CDC (Clothing & Distribution Center) and get some fresh clothing. Then, we will probably do some laundry today. Otherwise, there is not too much exciting to report. After the chores are done, we are off to the Market and maybe a gondola ride!

(from Cass)

Here are some photos I took in the last few days while we were in Christchurch.

The group in front of the Scott statue

Kozue and Brendan at the Art Gallery

The group in front of the passenger terminal for McMurdo

A black shag on the Avon

Another 24-hour Delay

(from Paul)

We are organizing to go on a tour of Akaroa harbor and see little blue penguins and Hector's dolphins (bus and boat).

The large harbor is Akaroa Harbor. The whole basin was part of a volcano, long since extinct; one side blew out to make access for the harbor.

Some sort of duck??

Some (black) shags??

A New Zealand fur seal

A couple of photos of red-billed gulls

A sheerwater

Later that day

We just returned from our day trip to Akaroa; everyone had a great time. I saw little blue penguins and Hector's dolphins. The one penguin was too fast to photograph, but I got great photos of dolphins and we took a team picture.

Still later that day

We had a fairly simple dinner at a pub type bar that apparently was visited by Scott in his day. It is back in the corner (Bailey's) of Cathedral Square next to an old hotel. The trip was good; everyone had fun and they all saw the little blue penguin (there was just one) and the dolphins. It was a nice sunny day.

I saw Jack, the head of the helo pilots, and he said that apparently there is a small window tomorrow of "good weather" and that after that another storm is moving in over the weekend. So I hope we get in.

If we are cancelled, there is to be the lecture portion of the sea ice refresher course for a bunch of us tomorrow. So, we will get that done if we are still in Christchurch. I heard from Pam Hill at FSTOP that the storm in McMurdo may last another 24-48 hrs (as of midnight last night), so perhaps we can leave tomorrow.

Boomeranged!

After a 24 hour delay, the group boarded the military flight to McMurdo Station.

Jessica and Cass on the plane

Interior of the plane.

(from Paul)

I’m not sure why they flew. Rumor has it that the sea ice was bad all day and that it was Condition 2 in McMurdo. We were 3 hrs into the flight when they turned around, so we landed at about 3:45, and got back to the Windsor around 5 pm.

To top things off, they put Brendan's boomerang bag on the wrong pallet, and would not take it off the plane. Fortunately, I had an extra set of pants, and Jessica had some flip-flops that he could wear. So, we went to the Dux since it was closest as well as good.

Everyone is tired now, and will probably be falling asleep soon. That is all our news.