waiting...

tulip spring in christchurch,nz
beautiful poppies in the botanical gardens in christchurch
happy blossoms
tulips with the arts center in the back ground in christchurchthe curling area constructed in mcmurdo this winter- this was the only olympic sport they could get here on the t.v. this winter!

a proper set-up
a cable reel going to pole- we practiced securing it to a pallet during our pallet building class
the final holes for ice cube are being drilled this summer.
more pallet building practice
Scott base- the NZ (Kiwi) base here, just over the hill- they host 'american night' each thursday- we can go to their bar and gift shop and tour their station.... it's quite nice!
the Scott base view over the sea ice
fyi...
the radio station here.... i am tempted to do a season here just to have the opportunity to play with the 10,000 records they have here!!
receiving shinanigans

receiving in the snow...
more receiving fun.
Greetings from McMurdo station on the Ross ice shelf... on the edge of Antarctica.

i've been here for 20 days. initially, we are here to receive training so that all participants in the USAP are working from the same base of knowledge. secondly, we "physically received" cargo from the 'vessel'-(the ice breaker that makes the annual voyage at the end of the summer here in Feb. to bring the mass of cargo to keep the USAP up and running). we receive it here in mactown instead of trying to do it at pole where it is considerably colder and we have many more tasks on our plates! the cargo was mostly food, in 13 milvans and 3 milvans of 'housing' items. all of the cargo is shipped in milvans which is just another name for the metal containers you see on the large container ships in many ports. we use a 'pickle' aka M4K-which is a small green(hence the name) articulated forklift that is specially designed to remove cargo from milvans. once the cargo is out we open each box/crate and take each item out to insure that it matches what was ordered and write a corresponding stock number on each item. once this is done we put everything back into the milvans and close them up as they await the cargo team here in mactown to place them on air force pallets and load them into the C-130's to make the trip to the final destination of the south pole station. we were very fortunate to have heaps of volunteer help both from polies waiting for flights and various mactown folks who lent a hand. we expected for the tasking to take 7 days, but we finished in 5!!!

now, we wait......

last thursday i was due to depart on a Bassler which is a DC-10. it is the aircraft used to do the 'soft openings' at pole because we need to get equipment operators in to groom the runway so that the C-130's (Hercs) can land and communications specialists in to work in the tower for the flights, etc. it looks now like i will be on the 1st Herc, hopefully within the next few days. this season has had difficult weather and aircraft maladies.... pretty typical for Antarctica! i am hoping to make it into pole before halloween, we'll see! all in all things are going well, we are keeping busy with other departments and more trainings. i hope this finds you all well and enjoying a wonderfull autumn day. take care and be well. karengrace

coudy day in christchurch

greetings from cheech!
just had a lovely NZ b-fast at my favorite BnB and i'm off for ECW gear fittings for the afternoon.
It was an uneventful trip down once I actually got my ticket... that part was a little squirrly!! I was able to see Hank in LA on the way as we had a 6 hour layover there... a walk to the marina and chicken wings... what a send off!! There's an amazing exhibit here now, a sculptor- Ron Mueck.... if you hear his name coming to a museum near you... check it out!! We are due to fly in the morning, but certainly wouldn't mind another day here to acclimate to the time change!!I am on a public computer so photo sharing is not possible now, but soon enough I'll have some up!! i hope this finds you all well and enjoying a lovely day!!
also, here's my mailing address again:

Karen Grace Clark, RPSC
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400
APO AP 96598

I can receive mail until mid January... anything you send after Jan. 1 should have WINTEROVER
written on it.

Cheers!!
Karen Grace

Greetings from Winter Over Training in Denver!

In full bunker gear, holding safety hose for the car fire at

Rocky Mountain Fire Academy

I just finished chasing the hose after it developed a crazy split and soaked us all!!!
Running the maze with 180 pounds of water pressure!
entering the burn building... feeling for fire on the door....
look closely at the red sign, this is the burn building...
the car fire... fully involved!!!
our group

Greetings and salutations!!!

I am writing this from my temporary home here at the Red Lion Hotel in Denver. There have been 30 of us here for almost 2 weeks now, split into 2 sections. The first week my group attended fire fighter training and this week we've had medical trauma training. I preferred the fire training and I actually think I would love to get involved with a volunteer fire fighting company when I return!

I found out only a few hours ago that I am officially going to the Pole! I know it seems quite silly and seriously short notice but I just took the Psychological Evaluation portion of my PQ (Physical Qualification) on last Saturday and found out that I am the right amount of crazy!

I have not yet found out what my "ice" date is, but I am due to have my orientation on this Sunday, here in Denver. There is still much that is unclear, I am just playing it by ear!

All in all things are great and I will update this as I know more, sorry for the long delay in my transmissions, there has just been so much that's been up in the air and I wanted to have more information to share!

Take care and enjoy the splendors of this beautifull autumn!

Cheers, Karen Grace

it's hot here... here are more pole pics!

me and a sun dog
dancing... this was my outfir=t for the wearable art show.. altered mail bag, hoop skirt and bubble wrap... the 1st hoop skirt at the south pole!!!
leslie shoveling frozen katsup out of a box... really.
me, leslie and elissa... the best material girls EVER!!
on my way out... at scott's cross in mac towngreetings from Martha's vineyard! it's been quite warm here the last few days and i wanted to put a few more pole pics up...

i have a new fangled ifone... and my computer and the fone don't want to interface at this point in time... since i've returned all my fotos have been taken with my fone.

needless to say, i have no fresh shots of the past 3 months on this machine! but i wanted to give a brief update...

i have been offered a 13 month contract to return to the pole, in materials. i am quite excited about this adventure, but have been bogged down in paperwork, i wanted to send out a message with more of a definite picture of my future... but that's a dream world that i do not exist in!! so soon i will have pics of the amazing summer i've had on the vineyard, but until then, i have this to offer! i hope this all finds you well, and my next post will certainly have fotos of this great summer!!

until then, take care!

karengrace

fun fotos

really.
big marsupial love.
downtown sydney at sunset... 100's of bats flying and swooping all around!
entering the sydney harbor bridge
a whole aisle dedicated to 'proper' food for your pets- they love their animals in australia!
wombat awake
wombat sleeping
amazing.
chillin'
more chillin'
on the go 'roo!
emu aware
awesome emu plumage
emu egg
monitor lizard at our campsite
monitor lizard going home
zenith beach at shoal bay, nsw, australia
underwater in hawaii
view through the 'vog' where i'm staying on the big island-south kona
i love my underwater camera
sea anemone that kaija dove for
my people-

kaija, shannon and skyler

hi there!

just wanted to post some fotos of the past few weeks, in a hurry to get to the beach and will write more soon. flying to la saturday morning. hope this finds you all healthy and happy! kgrace

post ice/leaving nz=sydney bound!

last moments in antarctica-hut point in mc murdo
seafood and fresh beer in akaroa
birthday sushi and real green tea ice cream!
wine tasting with freija at pegasus... yum.
oh, the botanical gardens :)
arthur's pass
high speed scenery
princess- the guinea pig
greetings and salutations from cheech!

it's my last evening here, i've been staying at an awesome women's hostel here in town, i think i'm the only chic from the us, it's quite refreshing. there are 2 guinea pigs, a cat (austin -who is quite the cuddler!) gardens to eat out of and spring water that comes out of a spigot!!!

it's been quite awhile since my last entry. the last month at pole was gruelling, we had to move over 300 / 2 ton boxes inside through a hole at the bottom of a hill onto air force pallets that were on rollers that had frozen... yes, that is probably difficult to conceive or picture, let me just suffice to say it was truly an experience i never want to repeat. alas, we did it!!!

i was due to fly on a straight through to cheech, but our flight from pole was delayed until 2:30am and when we landed in mactown we caught naps and went looking for penguins and then got on the c-17's and arrived here at midnight, they closed pole 2 days early due to weather, so it was a mad scramble to get everything completed, that's why they call it a harsh continent 'eh?

i was lucky to spend my birthday here with friends and much fresh food, which is really the thing we all lament about the most on ice. went driving all over the bank's peninsula and had amazing seafood, loads of sushi, indian and thai food, went wine tasting, and took the tranz alpine train today, round trip from here to greymouth. it is touted as one of the best rail journeys of the world, i agree!! 19 tunnels, 5 viaducts, huge mountain terrain, plains and rain forest- enough said.

i've been hanging close to town waiting for my itinerary, it often turns out that they will book you on a flight the following day, so, i wanted to hang close. i finally got it all sorted tonight.

i am flying to sydney tomorrow to wander in a van with fellow polies and then fly out on friday, not too long in such a huge and amazing place, but that adventure comes with a hefty price tag that this budget traveler just can't muster at the moment! i will then fly to honolulu and on to kona to see dear friends from alaska who have relocated to warmer climates. i will be there for a week, eating freshies and truly relaxing. then to los angeles and up to s.f. and then flying back out of l.a. to orlando on the 20th of march. from there i will continue to my final destination of martha's vineyard for my 5th summer of being a garden angel!!

it's been quite a whilrlwind, and will continue to be so... just the way i like it!!

once i arrive to a reliable internet connection and gather my fotos and i'll post more great shots from the ice... stay tuned.

for now i wish you all a wonderfull day and hope this finds you all enjoying your favorite things!!

take care, karengrace