Laura On Ice

Happy Thanksgiving!

 With the holiday season upon us, we’ve had some conversations lately on what would make the ultimate Turducken, made with Antarctic animals. Some of the suggestions:

- Emperor Penguin, Adelie Penguin, Skua

- Weddell Seal, Penguin, Skua

and my favorite:

-Orca, Weddell Seal, Penguin. Maybe with a skua for decoration.

Our holiday meal is on Saturday, but I’ll be thinking about everyone eating good home-cookin’ tomorrow! Especially the sweet potatoes!! I think our dinner will be great - we’re having turkey of course, and prime rib, and all of the usual favorite things.

Also, the mail is finally moving. I think my second package, sent about a month ago, got here today.

As promised, here are some more pictures from the Cape Evans trip:

Here I am standing out on the sea ice. In the “summer” those rocks in the background are islands. They form a great big ring, and are part of the caldera of an extinct volcano. Little black dots in the background = penguins!!

My co-worker Aaron took this picture of the penguins - next time I come down I’m bringing a much better camera, like the one he brought.

Here is the hut, looking from the back side, out to sea. The mountains in the distance are the Royal Society Range, and all the area between the mountains and the hut is frozen ocean.

The day after we went out, a grantee group was taking a tracked truck out to their field site when they radioed in that their truck was on fire. Some folks managed to get some pictures of it, and here they are:

Here’s the truck burning. This picture was (obviously) taken from a helicopter.

By the time anyone could get to the truck, this was what was left:

Surprisingly, it burned fast and thoroughly, so it really didn’t melt far into the ice.

So that’s all from McMurdoland today…hope all are well and I love all the comments!!

PS Sexy Beans rock!!!!!

Ok, so I’ve been down here a month and a little bit, and so far I have been having a great time. However, for me, the special things that make Antarctica so amazing have thus far been pretty limited to good companionship, interesting work, and the sights I can see around the station, such as they are.

Yesterday, my horizons expanded.

My department got the opportunity to take a trip out to Cape Evans in a Delta, which looks like this:

This is Betsy and Jean (who also works in Rec) in front of the Delta. Jean drove!

If you look on the Ross Island map in one of my previous posts, you can see Cape Evans a little bit northwest of McMurdo. It is much closer to Mt Erebus. It took us about an hour and a half to drive there over the sea ice. In the picture above, we are standing in a place that in about a month will be ocean! Scary!

On the way, we noticed some other commuters going in the opposite direction:

You got it - they’re small, they’re cute, they know how to get down. Yes, that’s right, I got my first look at PENGUINS! These little dudes are Adelies, and I seriously don’t think it’s possible for them to be more adorable. They did all sorts of cute things - scooting along on their bellies, cleaning themselves, and flapping their little flippers. It was really amazing! They just ignored us and went on their way. I couldn’t get much closer for a better picture, but they were really fun to watch.

Once we got to Cape Evans, we got to check out Scott’s Hut, which is a historic building where the men of Scott’s ill-fated expedition lived. It’s maintained much in the way it would have been when the men left. It’s almost 100 years old, and there are still cans and cans of food lying around and all sorts of goods on the shelves, and there’s even blubber from that time sitting out and you can smell it rotting. Altogether it is an extremely eerie and amazing place - you can almost feel the presence of the men who once resided there. Here are some pictures of the hut:

The hut from the outside, with Erebus in the background.

A table with scientific equipment on it.

This table had a penguin corpse on it. It was located in the officers’ berth area.

The kitchen area with all the bottles and cans still remaining.

Well, that’s all I can write for now - Burger Bar and Bingo are starting soon and I can’t wait for a slab of ground beef with some mushrooms and extra cheese on it. Next post I’ll put up some more stuff from the Cape Evans trip!

I saw my first wildlife the other day (besides the usual wild McMurdo residents!) It is finally nice enough that the Skuas have come to town. These birds are somewhat like big gulls, and they LOOOOVE all the trash we have. Unfortunately for them, we keep it all covered pretty well, so they can be pretty bold when they see you walking by with a sandwich in hand.

Here’s a skua who was chillin’ outside the galley, in the middle of the road, just waiting for someone to go by with a treat.

Also, I went to the hairdresser and got a new ‘do. Check it out!

Ok, so I’m just kidding on that one. Mom, don’t freak out yet.

Hi! Sorry I’ve been MIA for a while - it’s my first week flying solo in Bevvy Land and it’s been a challenge some days…AND we’ve had some of the wackiest weather they’ve had at Mainbody. Last night we got stuck at Southern Exposure, the smoking bar, in Condition 1 and had to stay there about a half an hour until it lifted a bit. Here I am in Condition FUN!

I am also in Condition Fun in these pictures because I finally had my Ann Curry experience - she bought a round for all at Gallaghers when I was there, and let us take lots of pictures and stuff. She’s proved to be quite a nice guest here from all I’ve heard, and meeting her yesterday has not changed my opinion. So here is Ms Curry, myself, and my friend Dusty. Not the best picture ever, we all look different degrees of scary, but my record of the Today Show visit.

My Polie friends have been stranded here in Mactown for a week (wearing the same clothes every day I might add!), the snow and wind is flying, C-17s are sitting in Christchurch as the people back up. But for those of us already down, and not waiting to go somewhere else, the wild weather has been great entertainment, and reminds us that we are on a harsh continent!

Hi all!

 I have been a little under the weather with the infamous McMurdo Crud - stuffy nose, headache and really tired. But before I got sick, I was able to do a little walk out to Hut Point. It’s the historic hut about a 15-minute walk from the station. Here are some pictures:

This is Vince’s Cross, commemorating a fellow who died of drowning in the bay in 1902. There’s a very good view of the Ice Runway and the station from here.

Scott’s Hut, looking down from Vince’s Cross. The Ice Pier is in the background, and the station is beyond that.

Looking out on the sea ice. Eventually it will all melt and be mostly open water, but right now it is strong enough for C-17s to land on! The buildings to the left are the airport.

Currently we had a Herbie blow in, which is a really bad windy storm they get here. The windchill has been as low as -78 degrees F!! DAMN COLD!!!