Kens trip south
This is the time of year to see Antarctica, it is summer in the worlds southernmost continent.
I departed Bellingham, Washington on the 2nd of November 2009. Checked in at 12:00pm where I would go to Seattle and board a plane to Los Angeles. Departed LA at 10:10pm, wheels up at 10:56pm. Crossed the international date line at 5:00am on the 3rd (now the 4th) Crossing over the island of Noumea I took the following shot out the window.
We arrived in Sydney at 7:55am and immediately boarded a flight to Christchurch. Wheels up for Christchurch at 8:40am. Landed at 1:47pm Kiwi time.
Passed through customs and went to baggage claim and found that one of my bags decided to spend the night in Sydney. Lucky dog!! Won't bore you with the details, suffice it to say it was an ordeal to get it back. I did get some cute little jammies c ourtesy of Quantas Airlines.
Checked into my hotel and immediately took a shower and went to bed.
Woke up in Christchurch, NZ on a glorious day.
11-05-2009
This is the day we got fitted for our cold weather gear. We get to try on every conceivable piece of cold weather clothing imaginable. We have to make sure it fits.
Once fitted we pack it all in two orange bags and go back to our hotel. We will leave tomorrow...
Or will we?
11-06-2009
Get dressed in cold weather gear and board the bus to meet the plane.
We all pack into a vans and we drive to the plane.
You can't see it here but this plane has a fuel leak and there is fuel on the tarmac. Guess what we get the next two days in Christchurch. Drat :}
Rugby is big here in NZ, this weekend was the New Zealand Cup Finals. Canterbury (the home town team) won. My hotel is packed with wheel chair rugby player. They play in their wheel chairs in a gymnasium. They were here for their World Cup playoff games.
Spent Saturday (11-7-2009) working, it is still Friday in the US.
Sunday was spent going up the gondola outside of Christchurch and walking the trail back to town.
Monday morning it was time to try the trip south one more time. We did manage to get going this morning, at the clothing center by 7:00am and packed in the plane by 9:15am and wheels up 10:00am. We were on board a C-17 and it was much roomier than my past flights when I took a C-130.
Landed in McMurdo at 3:40pm and made our way to town.
Mt. Erebus is always the dominant feature at the air field. It is an active volcano and is always steaming.
Board the bus above and head to town for our briefing. Great shot of the baggage system at McMurdo airport.
After the briefing we were assigned our rooms and I made my way to room 122. As I stood outside the door I sensed that the scene inside would be ugly because I could actually smell the odors from the hallway. I opened the door to see this:
My first thought was the the guy had died and was still in the pile somewhere.
Don't get the impression that this is the norm, most people are great roommates. This is the exception, not the rule. Look closely, you may see it move.
11-11-2009
Took some pictures from around town and checked into my office. Here are some shots of the town and random shots of my work.
This is Observation hill just outside of McMurdo Station. This is the place where the crew from the Scott expedition went to watch for his return. The return never happened, Scott died in his tent within eye shot from this mountain.
11-12-2009
Today was an unusual day in McMurdo. Today the entire community was involved in a mass casualty drill. This exercise is designed to keep the emergency response teams, fire department and of course the waste spill response team ready for disasters.
11-13-2009
This day took a turn for the worst. It seems that a low pressure system found its way to the Ross Sea and McMurdo sound. This is the result:
11-14-2009
Day two of the storm. We are working on our soil treatment plant today.
I love toys like these!
BRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
When the storm subsided we were able to set out for the South Pole. This is the airfield outside of McMurdo and these are the LC-130 airplanes that transport people and supplies to the Pole.
After a quick safety brief we are strapped in and ready to take off.
The kids got to go to the cockpit and visit the pilot, copilot and navigator. They went a little nuts.
One of them got to fly the plane!
View out of the front window.
The waste guys leave the plane to a crowd of well wishers. James, the one in the middle is the solid waste supervisor for South Pole and McMurdo. Patrick is the supervisor for all waste both solid and hazardous on the South Pole and Shelby is the waste technician for Pole. They do love James at Pole. James, however does not like Pole.
Today's conditions
This is what is left of the Dome. The Dome has been the identifying feature of the South Pole for 25 years. All buildings for the operations down here were inside this structure.
This is a Jamesway tent. It is overflow housing for residents and visitors when the new station is full. There are many of these in a place called summer camp. The tent is an old Korean war tent (like in the television series Mash).
Storage is limited inside so everything is stored outside. This is waste waiting to brought back to the US.
Spoolhenge: Obviously scientists have visited this place. This is where old wire, cable, hose and tubing spools go when the they are empty.
The kids couldn't help themselves, it was like a jungle gym.
We had to send someone up to get them.
Here is the plastic receptacle with the Dome in the background.
We are about to enter the dome for the last time.
The crew here is clearing out the dome, where they have been storing food items. The first panel will taken out on the 1st of December.
The network under the new station which leads to the old Dome.
From inside the new South Pole station you can see the geographic south pole.
This is the kitchen in the galley.
Great story here. This is Eli and he lives one block from me at the corner of Silver Beach Avenue and Peters street. We have never met. One of our neighbors mentioned to me that he was down a the Pole. I approached him in the galley and told him exactly where he lived. He looked at me like I was a mad stalker. A stalker that would go to the literal ends of the earth to find him. It's a small world!
Gymnasium in the new building.
Deep in the bowels, literally! This is the piping that takes in good water and takes away the bad stuff :}. Miners were flown in to dig this tunnel underneath the new station. One line goes to a well where hot water is pumped down into the ice to melt the snow and bring up fresh water for the station. The other takes the used up water (diplomacy) and pumps it down a well to a large hole created by a previous fresh water well.
Every year the Geographic South Pole gets a new marker. This is the 2009 model. It is placed exactly on the Geographic South Pole. The entire South Pole region is 9300 feet in elevation and it is one large moving glacier. The geographic south pole is stationary but the glacier moves. It works like this: If you were to put a tablecloth on a table and put a candle in the middle of the tablecloth, then slowly pull the tablecloth from one end, the tablecloth would move but the center of the table would not move. So you put another candle in the center to mark that spot. Each year a new marker (candle) is placed at the pole.
The kids and me at the Pole
This marker is the ceremonial pole marker. This is where dignitaries go to get their glory shot. It is near the station and makes for a better photo opportunity.
The plane arrives to take us back to McMurdo
Just a couple of shots to show you the mountains on our way back to McMurdo.
Returning to McMurdo where the temperature was 30 degrees. Melting snow from the previous snow, made the street a bit sloppy.
A Skua bird waiting for someone to come out of the galley so it could get a free meal.
