Blogs from Antarctica - page 66

Hello everyone, April 2, 2005 We usually work six days a week. However, the first Saturday of the every month in the winter is a non-work day. So I thought I would take some time and upload a few more photo from McMurdo taken during the last month. March is the first month of the austral winter season. The first photo is a shot of town taken on a nice day a couple weeks ago. Since that time the sun has sunk behind a ridge and will not shine on the foreground of the photo again until spring. The next one is the Winter 2005 Station Photo with 200 or so of the 241 people on station in the photo. Some people, like the fire dispatcher, power plant operator, etc cannot leave their work area to ... read more

On Saturday, February 26th the last plane took off from Pegasus runway, heading North to warmer climates, with the last vestiges of the summer season in its belly. The whole station met at the chalet, which is the summer headquarters for station management, to toast the last flight and the coming of the Antarctic winter. We watched the plane, eight miles in the distance across the ice, as it sat idly on the runway making its final preparations for the journey to New Zealand. Finally, there was movement and everyone stood ready, cameras in hand, as the plane left the ice runway and slowly spiraled into the air and headed our way. From our vantage point on the porch of the chalet, the plane appeared to be flying directly toward Ob Hill, but, as it approached, ... read more

The last flight of the summer season departed Mactown yesterday. A small group of well wishes gathered at Building 140 to bid farewell to the final 71 summer people as they departed for Pegasus Airfield. A couple hours later the plane made a pass close to town as most of the winter overs stood on the deck of the Chalet and toasted it with champagne. Their flight north was on a USAF C-17 cargo plane. For those of us standing on the deck, it’s an interesting mix of emotions as the plane flies away. For those of you wanting to take your own photos from the deck of the Chalet as the last flight flies by, remember it will cost you at least six months of your life to get that photo. With the departure of ... read more

Hello from Antarctica! The sun has started its decent in the sky - a sign that winter is approaching. McMurdo Station has quieted down, vessel off-load is complete and the supply vessel and the icebreakers have gone home for the year leaving a large open-water channel in the ice, which has attracted some wildlife. Every day at the water’s edge there have been seals lounging, lethargically on the ice. I have been told that, due to the open water, this is one of the best times of year to see animals, but they will have to hurry as the ice is slowly freezing over again - Still no penguins. Sunday was overcast, but not too cold. I decided to spend my day-off hiking out to Williams Field, which is the main airport for ski equipped airplanes ... read more

The past week has been a very busy one here, because of the supply vessel offload. During offload many peoples’ jobs shift to suit the needs of the station and the structure of the town changes - there are new off limits areas, the traffic and noise have greatly increased and most of the recreational activities have ceased. There are trucks and forklifts running twenty-four hours a day carrying the supplies that will be needed to run the station for the next year - food, maintenance materials, construction supplies and any thing else required for work or for fun, it all comes on the supply boat. The incessant, roaring drone of the trucks and heavy equipment, most of which are relics from the early Navy days, and the constant ‘beep, beep, beep’ of the back-up alarms ... read more