NOTE: I have been a bad blogger! I have let my blog get out of date, but the next few blogs should bring everyone up to date and bring an end to my journey through New Zealand and back to America. I last left you in Hamner Springs on my way to Westport. Westport was not originally one of my planned destinations, but, short of backtracking to Christchurch, which I didn't want to do, Westport was the only city remotely close to where I wanted to go that I could get to from Hamner Springs - Small changes in plans (or I suppose the complete lacking of firm plans in the first place) is one of the things that makes traveling so much fun for me. Catching the bus to Westport proved to be an adventure ... read more

Well I am now in New Zealand, my time in Antarctica is over - For now. My last days were spent saying good-by to my new friends and packing my bags. The flight was nearly empty because a South Pole bound flight had to 'boomerang' because it was too cold to land at the pole (anything less that -50 F and the planes will freeze to the ground and start having other problems). We entered the cavernous interior of the C-17 and took our seats in the folding seats lining the side of the plane - The flight down was a cargo flight, so all of the seats that would be in the center of the plane for a passenger flight were removed. There was ample legroom in this plane, which was a big change from ... read more

It was a beautiful day - The sun was shining brightly over the western slopes of Mt Erebus, there was no wind to speak of and the temperature was warm by Antarctic standards. We were cruising at between five and ten miles per hour towards the North. We had been underway for over an hour and we still had another half hour to go before we reached our destination. Our route took us to the west of the Erebus Glacier Ice Tongue, which is a large, narrow glacier flowing down from the frozen slopes of Mt. Erebus that extends off of the coast of Ross Island into Erebus Bay, and past several small islands - Tent Island and Inaccessible Island were to the left of our route and Big & Little Razorback where to the right. ... read more

Greetings from Antarctica! The last several weeks have been a bit quiet, but enjoyable just the same. Most of the talk on station revolves around Winfly and the coming of the sun. The people who are leaving at Winfly are all talking excitedly about their travel plans in the warmer regions of the world. Those of us who are staying are looking forward to the coming of the sun and all of the new energy that the planes will be bringing to McMurdo in the next few weeks. The sky is getting brighter on a daily basis, shedding the shroud of darkness that has hidden the beautiful scenery surrounding McMurdo Sound - The Royal Society Range and Mt. Discovery are bathed in reddish-purple light during the midday hours, Mt. Erebus and Mt. Terror are now easily ... read more

Greetings from Antarctica! Midwinter arrived here last week with the coming of the winter solstice. The sun has now started its long journey back into the Antarctic sky and, although we won’t see the sun again until August 19th, it is comforting to know that we have reached the halfway point of the winter and that the sun is now rising again. It has been a tradition in the Antarctic, since the early explorers started coming to this frozen continent, to celebrate Midwinter Day as a major and festive holiday. Here on Ross Island, we celebrated by holding a very nice dinner with great food and decorations at McMurdo Station on the Saturday evening prior to the solstice and we celebrated again the following weekend by going to Scott Base for Scottish night and the Midwinter ... read more