happy new year!

working on the berms- my 'blue boot' inside sundog
almost down...
the things you find in the meteorology lab...
late night antics... yelling into the bull horn to the great white beyond...

it was only -15... definitely short sleeve weather!
greetings from 2010 at the south pole!

we have less than a month remaining in this summer season, it has really flown by!

we still have much to accomplish before we get to fly away in february, but i think we'll finish just in time! the last pieces of the dome came down last night, it's official. the BBC is here for the 2nd time this season, they've been traveling between here, mc murdo, and the field camps/stations working on a new documentary about life at the poles! i got to meet sir david attenborough yesterday, he's definitely one of my heroes!! we have had a serious shortage of flights since thanksgiving, and since that is how we get all of our fuel(and everything else)- but fuel is always the main concern, especially for the winter-overs, the last day for flights is feb. 15th, after then it is simply too cold for the hercs to fly. we've had a few days of snow, which is quite rare, as we are in a very high desert, but the weather has been really strange all year, loads of fog and really bad storms in mc murdo. my supervisor, paddy, and i made an amazing indian meal for the chef's dinner last weekend. we made their meal last year as well, but this year we actually had 'freshies' (fresh vegi's) which made it so much easier!! i made a rice pudding that was a real hit and we also made onion pakoras, vegi samosas, yogurt marinated chicken skewers, lamb curry, palak paneer (spinach with cheese), dahl (red lentils) and tofu, aloo gobi (cauliflower and potatoes) and chai tea. we are all making our travel plans, the excitement is building! we have been given a free layover in australia and hawaii this season, so we will definitely be stimulating those economies in the next few months!!

i am planning to spend a few days on the s. island of n.z. again, heading up to marlborough to do some wine tasting and hiking. then to sydney where i'll catch a flight to tasmania and wander around there for a bit then catch the ferry back up to melbourn and get a train pass that allows for 14 days of travels in the states of queensland, victoria, and new south wales (essentially the e. coast) and then hop over to hawaii to visit with some friends. we all have to fly through l.a., i'll stop off there for a visit, then head up to s.f. to visit and help melissa with her wedding plans!! finally i will be through orlando to play with friends and family and the journey will end on beautiful martha's vineyard! once again, the satellite is wavering out of range, so i leave you all with best wishes for a wonderful 2010! take care, karen grace

holiday cheer

waiting for the air drop 3 miles from the stationfood falling from the sky!

me on top of a bundle of food
the disappearing dome
the russian tourist plane with the 2 telescopes in the background
my loader 'sundog' out in the berms
greetings from christmas day at the south pole!

there's been much holiday fun to be had... we performed carols over the hf radio to mactown and the field camps last evening then we roamed all over the base and sang to the crews who were working! we just finished up our float for the 'race around the world' tomorrow morning. we found an old hot air balloon basket (flown in by the russians years ago) and attached it to a snow mobile sled and decorated it with flags and such- in the theme of around the world in 80 days. the meteorologists are donating a weather balloon- helium filled- to complete the look! we're going to dress up in super silly costumes and we added some flare to our helmets... it will be a great time! we've been having band practice for a performance on new years eve, we do mostly bluegrass and folky stuff, we have a banjo, mandolins, guitars, and... an accordion! i am waiting for my giant chunk of snow to be placed in front of the station for our snow carving contest, i'm still contemplating what form the block will take. we are also having a wearable art show on new years eve, i am going to fashion various types of bubble wrap and old mail bags into a recycled outfit. we had our cargo x-mas party and i made a bouquet of flowers out of old sheet metal and electrical scraps for the white elephant exchange... it was a hit! we had an air drop of food 2 weeks ago, the air national guard uses our base for practice and to try out new materials. they did the drop out of a c-17 and because i work in cargo i got to go out to the drop zone to collect the parachutes and watch the drop up close- it was amazing! i know it's difficult to believe i get any work done with all the fun to be had, but we have had a very productive season thus far and i am getting heaps of loader time, it's really quite fun to drive a loader, and an awesome skill to have, along with being a certified postal employee... i'm becoming more employable each day! the satellite is about to wobble out of range and i'm off to sing carols in the hallway as people enjoy appetizers before our x-mas feast! i hope you all have a wunderfull holiday with your friends and family!! take care, karengrace

material girls

the "material girls"

just moments after finishing inventorying 100 tons of food in the dome!!!

insulated bib overall covered in snow.... inside a building!parkas covered in snow.. the door was left open all winter... great.

the 'cheese palace' or palace de queso ( as i like to call it) where all of our extra ECW (extreme cold weather) gear lives

All the current women of the south pole celebrating a great milestone!

i drew the sign and leslie and stephana painted it in!
greetings from a post thanksgiving week!

i hope you all enjoyed the holiday with the ones you love, here it is a chosen family of sorts!

i washed dishes and helped to serve wine, the meal was amazing, especially because myself and my colleges -the 'material girls' (leslie, elissa and myself) litterally touched each package of food as we collected and delivered it! we have this name because we are simply materials people, in charge of all materials here at the station with the exception of FEMC, which is construction. from food to toilet paper and everything in between we control, inventory and deliver! i am in charge of all ECW on the station and am regularly filling requests for lost/broken clothing items essential for survival, as shown in the photos of the 'cheese palace'. someone left the door open over the winter and i spent the 1st day just shoveling my way into the building, both from the inside and out... thankfully the temps never rise above O so i don't have to worry about snow melting on all the gear!!

there were record snow drifts this winter, over 12 feet around the station, there's a whole crew that works 24 hrs a day just to remove the snow and place it down wind so that we can operate. the majority of the drift happens in the winter. we are lucky to enjoy cold, but mild weather during our short season, with the occasional clouds and ice crystals in the air. it's been getting steadily warmer, about a degree a day, today is -20, but it's been so clear and beautiful, it's amazing how quickly the body acclimates to it's surroundings, thank goodness! i've been working in the post office on sundays, we're getting quite busy as everyone is feeling the holiday rush... i know this sunday will be really crazy, the advantage for me is that i don't have to wait in line!! sorry it's taken so long to get this post up, the satellite times are all during my work hours, with the occasional surprise showing after dinner, which is how i am writing this now!!

~oops! as i was finishing this entry the satellite went down and it's now sunday and i'm on my way to work in the post office and enjoy a lovely brunch! my next post will hopefully be within the next week and i'll include photos of the dome. until then, be well and have a beautiful day!

take care, karengrace

polar happiness

Greetings from the south pole of the world!
we made it in on a herc on monday the 2nd, it was fun to spend halloween in mc murdo! we were given tuesday off because there have been a large number of medivacs due to altitude sickness. it was -86 the other day and the altitude was up to 11,000 ft- quite difficult to acclimate to after being at sea-level in mc murdo for a month! my computer also had a difficult time acclimating and the hard drive died the other day- i mailed myself an external hard drive here and i hope that the IT folks can retrieve my info and back it up so that one day i can have a working machine again! there have been many hard drive failures this season so far... it's a harsh continent! i will be unable to post photos until i can get my machine up and running, but you can certainly reference the photos of last years blogs! our satellite uplink is only active from 7:30 am to 2:30 pm, which makes things difficult more me because that's when i'm working! so, i will endeavor to write here every sunday! i am so happy to be back, there's an 80% return rate due to the crappy economy, it's like summer camp all over again!! i love my new position, i am driving loaders and moving materials all over the station, lots of food so far, but this will change as the season progresses. one of the major missions this season is to empty and dismantle the dome, which is the symbol of the south pole, but it's been up for over 50 years and it's becoming dangerous, it will be sad to see it go, but it's progress i suppose. today is my 1st shift at the post office, i am beyond excited about it, i am going to take all the stamps from the philatelic (stamp collectors) mail and make a collage for the post office, a perfect summer project to keep me out of trouble! well, i'm off to eat brunch and enjoy this 1 day off! hope you are all enjoying a lovely autumn day wherever you may be! take care, karengrace*

southbound?

mac town storm
hut contents
greetings from the lovely mc murdo library!

i am still here, but do to fly in the morning, they got a 'herc' - LC 130 in today and i'm still due to fly in on a Bassler, at this point i'm willing to give up the Bassler dream, as long as we get out of here soon! i took all of my belongings with the exception of 1 bag to be 'palletized' (packed for transport at a later date) last week and have only my ECW and the clothes i'm wearing now, not so bad really, others have been without their things for almost a month!

there are simply too many people here, over 1000 now, i think the female pop is 28%. i definitely don't think i'd enjoy a summer season here, although there's lots to do like awesome hikes, skiing, parties with live bands, sports, ect, it's just too much.

i have quite enjoyed the opportunity i've had to be a 'hut guide'- i am able to acquire the keys to the explorers huts and take folks in, essentially to insure they do not touch anything. it's an amazing experience, it truly feels like the huts were abandoned in such haste, kettles on, clothes hanging, all still beautifully intact over 100 years later! if you are interested there's a great website to enjoy: www.antarctic-heritage.org

the BBC is here now working on their new series. they have amazing footage and they are scheduled to come down to pole at some point in the season, keep your eyes open for the series, it looks spectacular!

we all keep passing the crud back and forth here, it's been a sickly sort of month, i'm getting over having it for the 2nd time, there's no escaping it, the quarters are too close. all the anti-bacterial foam and hand washing is no deterrent for this strain of yuck!!!

i got bumped to an earlier flight so that i can open the post office at pole, the woman who was slated to do it has to open the science carp shop and i am going in to get all the winter-over's mail out, last year there was 3 tons of mail from these 13 month inhabitants!! i am looking forward to the challenge!! i am an official APO mail clerk, it's quite dreamy, i even have a laminated card, big time. last weekend there was a rockin' party in the carp (carpenter) shop- 4 bands, free beer and a mini golf course!! sadly, i had to go to a crane rigging training at 7:30am sunday morning, probably for the best. i've enjoyed all the training opportunities here, it's kept me busy. i wonder (if we make it to pole) what sort of halloween shenanigans we will get into, thankfully it's saturday night, as we usually have sundays off! all in all i have enjoyed my mac-time, but have tingly fingers and toes at the idea of going to pole... oh wait, that's the Diamox (high altitude medication i started today) ha ha ha... i hope the next time i write is from the bottom of the world!! wishing you all a happy halloween wherever you may be haunting!

take care, karengrace*

10/29

we're not going anywhere tonight... the wind is so very intense today... crossing our fingers for tomorrow!!

Mactown

me on top of the tire pile
the 'pickle' moving crates out of a can or convex van
view from my room
sunset over the sea ice
greetings from mc murdo base on ross island in antarctica!

i got in last weds. 10/7 from christchurch and have been here doing loads of training. i just finished a 3 day course on heavy equipment training and have countless safety and logistical trainings to attend daily. in our non training moments we have been receiving food and supplies for the pole, essentially we track down the items and open crates and make sure that the contents are correct. it's quite important to do that here, because it takes lots of fuel to get things down to pole and it's silly to ship something we don't need! i've been battling the crud for the last few days, it's almost a right of passage here, i am feeling better all the time! i am due to fly out in a Bassler on the 30th. a Bassler is a small 16 pax (passenger) plane that is not pressurized, so we get oxygen masks for the flight i'm quite excited about it!! it has been difficult for me to update this because there are so many people here trying to use a tiny bandwidth, it should be easier at pole, but we just lost one of our satellites and that means that we will have even less time available to make phone calls and get online, perhaps only 4 or so hours a day... i hope it works out to be hours i am not at work or sleeping!!!

i hope you all are well and enjoying a beautifull autumn! take care, karengrace*

landed

autumn in denver
springtime blossoms and me
cathedral square
the peacock fountain at the gardens
the spring fern at the botanical gardens
greetings from christchurch, nz!

we just got in an hour ago, it has been quite a long journey, but i have no complaints! we left from denver at 5pm on friday and it is now sunday at 3pm. the most exciting part of the trip was the amazing flight from la to sydney... we flew over on an almost brand new A-380!!!!!!! such a dream come true, for those of you who don't know, it is currently the largest passenger plane in the world, with a double-decker capacity of 450!!! it was a real treat, i have always enjoyed all sorts of air travel, and this was such a lovely surprise, as i've been following the saga of this particular aircraft. along the way one of the passengers got quite ill and thankfully there was a doctor on board who aided the woman, but, upon arrival into australia we had to remain on the plane until the 'quarantine police' boarded and deemed it safe for us to deplane, meanwhile we had a very short transfer time for our christchurch flight. it's raining here, which makes me want to relax in my room, but i think i should probably go out into the world so i can get on the correct schedule here! i am reporting at 9 am to receive all my cold weather gear for the ice, and then will have the remainder of the day to play! we are due to depart for mcmurdo tuesday morning, but may not make it then because all the ice flights are several days backed up due to weather and mechanical difficulties- so we are all secretly hoping for at least 1 extra day here in cheech!! i will be in mcmurdo until the 28th of oct. at the earliest and the 4th of nov at the latest... i will be there receiving training on the forks and other equipment, and it's too cold to fly to pole untill the end of the month anyway!!! i am very excited about this, for many reasons... i've never really spent any time at that station and i also have lots of friends working there this season that i would probably be unable to visit with otherwise!! the only problem is that i don't know where i'll be spending halloween.... and i don't know where to ask dad to send my costumes!!! this is currently my largest dilemma ... poor me!!! well, i'm off to play in the rain and find some yummy sushi for dinnner!!! thank you to everyone who helped me to make this voyage possible, especially my mom, dad and karl!!! hope you all are doing well wherever you are!!! take care, more soon!! karengrace*

***a special big love shout out to sabrina!!! sending you all my love from down under!!********