Laura On Ice

Well, the time is growing near for my return to the Ice! Looks like I’ll be headed out on Monday. In the meantime, we’ve got a li’l family get-together happening on Saturday…the Amazing Fantastic Nuptuals of Dimbo and Stella!! It’s been great fun preparing for the big day, and it’s hard to believe it’s here.

 I’m more or less packed…it was MUCH easier this time. Having learned my lesson about sweaters (you really don’t need them) I have a lot more room in my bag for awesome things such as socks and cool hats and my Doctor Who sonic screwdriver. I’m also shipping a box to myself which will hopefully arrive sometime before I’m set to go home.

So rumors from the Ice are a bit unnerving so far…apparently the flights are pretty backed up and some people have spent as much as eight extra days in Christchurch waiting for the weather to clear. Now, I wouldn’t mind an extra day or two delay, but I’m ready to get to work, so I think if I were in their shoes right now, I’d be pretty antsy!

 I also heard from my pal Lou (who is already on the Ice) a few days ago, and I guess there have been a ton of injuries so far this year. Unfortunately, that’s what happens when you have a short staff and shortened season, but continue to expect the same amount of support from the folks you have. It’ll be interesting to see how we can pull it all together, or not.

Well, I must get back to packing and cleaning and whatnot. I look forward to seeing those of you who are coming to the wedding! It should be a great party!!

After a long summer of working and goofing off, it’s time to go back to the Ice!

I’m starting to think about packing up my stuff, preparing my boxes to mail, and how I’m going to decorate my room! I’m very excited for this season - I am looking forward to rooming with my friend Anne, and it’ll be great to go down and actually know my way around.

For those of you who haven’t heard, I’ll be working in the store this year. This means odd hours, but also means I’ll probably have a good chance to have some quiet time in the gym, and I’ll get to sleep in. Plus, less time to drink at the bar = smaller belly. So all around, it’s excellent!

Before I go, we’re also getting ready for Jimbo and Kristibo’s wedding! It’s very exciting and I’m so happy my little bro is getting hitched to such a great lady. My bridesmaid’s dress is apparently in at the shop, so I’m gonna try to snag it this week and see how it looks! (It is red, so it must be sexy!) I’ll be leaving directly after the wedding…so it’ll be crazy!

At any rate, stay tuned for more news on Ice preparations, and possibly wedding tidbits!

…and it’s sweeeeeet.

 Check out this article on a “miracle berry” that will make your tongue trip out and everything taste sweet. I’d like to try it out!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dining/28flavor.html?no_interstitial

Looks like my future on the Ice will be in the store! So I get first dibs on all the good stuff. Including chocolate. Stay tuned for more developments!

Hi all! As most you already know, I’m home! I had a great time on the Ice and traveling around NZ! Watch this space for more Laura adventures…off (and maybe later on) Ice!

Lou and I just got back from some fantastic days in New Zealand’s lovely Fiordland region!

 We started out by getting a hotel (our first since Christchurch) in Te Anau, which is a pretty little tourist town on a pretty lake surrounded by mountains. I really wanted to visit Te Anau because I’d heard there were caves there with glowworms in them! After showering and enjoying a big bed that wasn’t the ground, we moved on to a gorgeous campsite on Lake Te Anau. It was right up near the water in a small wood, and the lake water is so clear it is safe to drink (although we only used it for washing up - there is giardia here, and we didn’t want to get that!)

After setting up camp, we went in and explored the town, and set out on our first Fiordland trip. We took a boat across the lake and went to see the glowworm cave. They walk you into the cave, which contains a rushing river, and then put you in a small punt and turn off all the lights. Lo and behold, the ceiling is covered with these little blue lights, which are all glowworms! It was about the coolest thing ever.

The next thing we saw was Doubtful Sound. It was rainy, so though we had a wet day, we got to see this amazing underground power plant they have there, and got to cruise through the Sound, which is a glacier-carved fjord. We saw fur seals and dolphins playing in the water. It was wet but beautiful, and covered with waterfalls.

 Today, we just got back from Milford Sound, which is the most famous fjord. We had a lot better weather, and the cruise was amazing! The sides of the fjord were completely straight up, some incredibly high! It was a gorgeous day and an incredibly beautiful drive.

We’re off to find our new campsite, and tomorrow, we’ll go to Queenstown to hopefully catch up with friends.

 Ta ta for now!

Today we’re camping on Stewart Island - it’s an island south of the South Island and part of a wildlife preserve. We’ve seen a TON of wild parrots here!!!

We saw Mom’s cousins Nancy and Tom, and they let us stay the night, fed us a GREAT meal and let us pet their sheep!

Yesterday we stayed in Bluff and climbed up the mountain here. Lou’s forcing me to get in shape fast! We look forward to eating Bluff oysters when we get back there.

Lisa, you MUST come here. The bird life is truly amazing!! Seeing the parrots was worth the $110 round trip ferry ticket.

Will check in again as soon as we get more internet!!

Yet another check-in…we’re in Invercargill at the moment, but we spent last night at a crazy cool campground out in the middle of nowhere, right on the beach, with high cliffs on either side of the coast. We even saw a sea lion eating a fish out on the beach, right before we went to bed! There were tide pools and other cool things to look at there too. Only problem was that it started to rain like crazy last night so we had a wet camp this morning!

We drove on through to Invercargill, which is the southernmost city in NZ. We’re staying at a nice campground where we could run some laundry and take showers. We’re getting ready to go to the third largest island in NZ, which is Stewart Island. We hope to do some hiking and camping there.

New Zealand is an amazingly beautiful country, and it’s been fantastic to see everything. There really are a lot of sheep! There are also lots of Subways everywhere, and they are always mobbed!!

Hi! Here’s a superquick post from Dunedin before my minutes run out…we saw yellow eyed penguins today and camped last night at a really nice little campsite. Going to visit waterfalls tomorrow. We ate a beautiful lunch today.

 Hope everyone is well - I’m having a great time and Lou is doing a fantastic job as driver!!

So I am off the Ice and safely arrived in Christchurch after five great months! 

After a night of restless sleep (waking every hour paranoid that I’m going to miss our flight) I got up to see that our transport time was at 9:45. Got a last McMurdo breakfast of freaky eggs and greasy sausage, packed up my carryon, put on my sassy windpants and bunny boots, and went on up to where the Deltas and the Terra Bus awaited. As we got on the transports, all our winter-over friends were waiting to say goodbye and give us hugs. It was pretty nice weather in McMurdo, but when we got out to Pegasus Field, it was gale-force winds, and it was hard to believe the plane could even land!

It was a pretty scary beginning to the flight, but once we got in the air, things settled down and the rest was uneventful.

When we got to CHC, it was so warm! We dropped off all our Cold Weather gear, I packed a box of warm clothes to send home (the weather here is fantastic!), and my travel buddy Lou and I went to our hotel, which is super trendy, with a tiny room, but is really fun!

 So today we’re making our plans, and we’ll make some decisions and have our plan by tomorrow.

 I’m here safe and sound, having a great time, and am looking forward to a fantastic time in NZ!! Those hobbits had better watch out! 

So after a few weather delays, it looks like we’ll be getting out of here tomorrow morning. Hooray! I’ve had a great season, but I’m ready to get back to trees, grass and furry animals that aren’t seals.

The one caveat is that while loading the plane today, someone poked the plane with a forklift. Ooops. Hopefully that won’t mean we have to stay another night, but we shall see. They did let the plane fly back to Christchurch, so it bodes fairly well.

Thanks for reading my blog and for everyone’s great support this season! When I get back from my vacation in New Zealand, I’ll hopefully put up some pictures from that trip.