New Years in Antarctica & Other Misc Things

Started off the day before New Year’s Eve with an outdoor concert and chili cook-off called Ice Stock. There are so many artistic people here, music being only one of the art forms, that we had bands and individuals playing all afternoon. It was a typical Antarctic summer day, 10-15 knot winds, snow blowing sideways, but not too chilly as long as you were either dancing or wearing big red!

Actual New Year’s Eve started out pretty low key. People were a little tired from Ice Stock so we started in the coffee house playing wholesome games. I'll leave out the details, suffice to say the whole evening deteriorated but was saved by ringing in the New Year at Hut Point during a snow/wind storm. There was a big group of us out there and it was just amazing to be in Antarctica ushering a new year. I think we were the first time zone in the world too!

That is Laura Schue’s friend, Thai, just back from the South Pole and a stop at AGAP where he was able to pass on hugs to Ben from me and back to me from Ben! Also of note in this picture is Discovery hut in the background on the right. It is one of Scott’s huts and is an historical site.

This is part of our shuttles crew. We have a great group and are really bonding.

I’ve talked with Ben a few times via Iridium satellite phone. He sounded in good spirits and is dealing fairly well with the altitude despite some labored breathing that wakes him up throughout the night. He is scheduled to come home this Friday, a week earlier than planned due to flights being backed up getting into the pole. He is looking forward to the comforts of McMurdo.

Here are some pictures of the Adelie penguin I saw yesterday!

The Swedish ice breaker, Oden, is in the area and will be docking soon. It took 45 days to sail from Chile. Hopefully we will see more wildlife now that there are channels in the sea ice. The container ship will be here soon and then our town will be very busy with 24/7 operations working hard to offload all the cargo for the next 2 seasons and load things that need to go out, like trash. We may have some cruise boats in the area in the next couple of weeks and I have signed up to be a guide for those folks coming ashore.

We played ultimate outside this past Sunday! Was so much fun. Mt. Discovery and a Delta are in the background. I definitely thought about Fur Grande. Two of the guys who are down here with the robot that will go to Mars played with us. Goes to show you scientist types have lots of skills other than science!

Our season is rapidly ending. Our re-deployment date is February 19th and I know that will come very quickly. There are a lot of end of season gatherings and talk about travel plans. We will see if we come back next year…

Cheers & love to you all,

Gretchen