TravelStream™ news feed for member sullywan13 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/sullywan13 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:52:15 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/4/1258440461/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/4/1258440461/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/4/1258440461/tpod.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:52:15 -0500 Back to the ICE again

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McMurdo Station, Antarctica


Sunday, 15 Nov 2009

Last night was great! Somehow, one of
those magical nights that you couldn't plan if you tried. I had made
plans with Susha and Justin the night before when I met them at the
coffee house to just hang out, catch up and have a couple of drinks.
When at the same time Nic had made plans with his friend Ken to hang
out in their room too. I should say Ken sent an email to Nic telling
him they were gonna hang out and taste a few different types of
Scotch. You gotta understand that Justin and Nic have one of the
coolest rooms around. They hooked it up so that their beds are lofts
they have a homemade coffee table made of copper and stainless
steel.. A couch underneath one of the lofts and a fully stocked bar.
Christmas lights and candles finish off the ambiance making it more
of a home than a dorm room. So a few more people show up, and a
couple more, now were about 8 in the room. We actually have rock
glasses, and are tasting just little sips of La Phroig, Old Pultney,
(my favorite) and Scapara, (I think) as well as about 5 other
brands from the highlands and the low lands. Having discussions about
what we taste, “nothing beats a good peaty bog with a smokey
finish.” or “is that formaldehyde or Iodine I smell.” After
the 6th or 7th taste we're all warm and fuzzy
inside and the room is filled with laughter. We're all high and
giddy, and starting to believe we actually know something about
Scotch. Well some of them actually did, but I can speak for myself
and a couple others that we did not.

The conversations are rolling off the
tongues. I find out Roger is from Farmington Hills, Michigan, close
to my Ma's home in South Lyon, Mi. And Emily is from Sunnyvale,
California, close to where I spend my summers back in Oakland, Ca.
We're all neighbors practically, back in the real world. I felt a
warm kinship, a connection with these folks. It was just a few hours
in total but we all kinda felt like we were celebrating the holidays
at a home back in the continental US. It's weird here how you can
transport yourself to a comfort zone and completely forget that you
are having a Scotch tasting, in a dorm room, in Antarctica. But as
surreality would have it, this too becomes normal, and it's easy to
forget where you are.

The next morning I found out that the
weather actually postponed out trip to Cape Royds. It was still
condition 2 in most parts or the area outside McMurdo. I'm sure they
were just being over protective as the weather had improved immensely
since the day before. But they don't want to be responsible for
anybodies untimely death. This was actually OK with me as I did wake
up with a small headache from the many wonderful Scotchs that we
tasted the night before.

I finally dragged myself outta bed
around 11 am in an effort to get something to eat before brunch got
old and stale. Later in the day I met up with Jen for a small hike
up to Hut Point. Hut point is the peninsula around the corner from
my dorm room, where Discovery hut is. It's another one of the
historical huts that were used by the explorers. Jen is the wife of
my friend Kevin, who is a cargo handler on my team. I found out that
both she and Kevin had very comfortable lives in Greensboro, NC,
before coming to Antarctica. She was a science teacher at a Quaker
school, and he was a director for a youth camp with 4H. They owned a
home, but had no children and thought that they needed to take sort
of an early retirement while they were still young and could take
advantage of their youthful energy. “Life is supposed to be a
roller coaster.” she tells me as were walking down the peninsula.
I found it very admirable that they found the strength to remove
themselves from their comfort zone, as a couple, not fearing a couple
more years of work at the end of their professional lives. So they
made the decision together to come down and work in Antarctica.

As we reached the end of the peninsula
the wind was fiercely blowing. Enough to feels it's force edging you
toward the cliff edge. It was funny how we nonchalantly continued
our conversation as we walked up the ridge, back down to roll cage
Mary, and eventually completing the loop back down to the historical
hut, all the while the wind was blowing at it's break neck speed.

Later that afternoon, I took a sauna in
building 155. The last remaining operational sauna on station, due
to power saving measures, brought down by the powers that be. I was
there with Susha, Whit, and my roommate, Glenn. Someone suggested
for quick cool down session that we run down stairs, go out the back
door and take a bath in the fresh powdery snow that had fallen and
drifted over the last 36 hours. Fresh, soft snow is a hot commodity
here and it's a novelty too. Usually the snow is dry and stiff. You
can walk on top of drifts that have been frozen solid for weeks or
months. But not today. So, being the opportunists we are, we went
for it. In our board shorts, and Susha in a bikini, we came running
and slipping out the back door to the nearest big snow drift, we lay
down, roll around, throwing snow up in the air, throwing it at each
other and in each others hair laughing and screaming. Other people
who were walking by were making exclamations about our sanity, or
lack thereof. It was quite exhilarating, obviously! Our core body
temperatures were so high at this point that we didn't feel too cold,
and the snow just melted off by the time we got back to the sauna.
Back in the sauna we blissfully took our places in the 180 degree dry
heat as our brain chemicals drove us into a slight tunnel vision and
our bodies tingling with joy and delight. Our heads were spinning
and we all felt quite euphoric. It's amazing the feelings you can
induce your body into through completely natural means. Later on,
after we showered off, we all went down for dinner. None of us spoke
very much. We were all still in a blissful state of being,
completely at peace. Even the food tasted different. Better
somehow. Maybe I should do this more often. Whenever the foods not
tasting that good.

The Sunday night science lecture was
quite good tonight as well. It was LDB (Long duration Balloon
launches) Operated by NASA. These are gigantic balloons made of thin
plastic that could fit 200 zeppelins inside. Some up to 400+ feet in
diameter, reaching the upper parts of our atmosphere, where you can
see that thin blue line on the horizon and the curvature of the
Earth. Taking up all sorts of recording instruments. Some of these
balloons have multiple missions, piggybacking science experiments.
One may be taking readings of the chemical make up of our atmosphere
while the others are looking back down on our planet studying cloud
formations or storms, or maybe they are looking out into space and
trying to see other planets, or solar systems, or the surface of the
Sun, but without the vapor of our atmosphere obscuring the view. I
can't say how much I love being a part of it all. The Scientist, or
film crews or whoever is giving the Science lecture, is always very
thankful to all who are here helping in supporting the projects. In
return it helps us deal with the long days and hard work, as we feel
we are part of something bigger. Something that will make a
difference. It's easy to get cynical here, as you see all the waste
every day, all the while spelling diesel fumes in the air, over the
rubble of diesel engines running pretty much 24/7. It's easy to feel
like your being taken advantage of, based on the amount of money we
get paid, and the amount of bureaucracy we must must endure. But in
the end we are all here by our own choice. And knowing we are part
of the Science somehow makes me feel a little bit better about it
all.


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McMurdo Station, Antarctica


Saturday, 14 Nov 2009
The Halloween party was fun here at
McMurdo. It's always a blowout. I think everyone enjoys dressing up
here. A lot of people go all out and put a lot into their costumes.
My whole team was there representing. I as the Bearded Lady. An
easy costume I picked up in Christchurch. I just needed a dress, a
hat, and a small hand fan. The small fan to cover my beard, until I
was close enough to someone, then reveal it at the last minute. That
was my shtick anyway. To a lot of people, I was just another guy
from McMurdo in a dress. It was a hilariously conservative teal
dress. With lace for the upper chest and arms and about 30 tiny
buttons running all the way up the back. With so many little buttons
I needed my friend Laura's help getting into the dress. But after a
few drinks at the party, I found myself home alone at the end of the
night forgetting how difficult it was to get into, and that I would
need help getting out of it also. Not wanting to wake my roommate and
ask him to help unbutton me, I literally had to rip myself out of the
dress. I guess I didn't try hard enough to get the date necessary to
come back to my room with me and help me get out of the dress.


The real winner of the night was Mandy.
My Senior cargo handler on the team. She was dressed as a die-embodied head on a platter, She had a table, a cup, plasticware, and reserved sign all as part of her homemade costume.
Her costume was so good that she actually won the costume contest.
For the grand prize she won a moral trip (aka a boondoggle), for
herself, and 7 of her friends, to Cape Royds. Being the awesome
Senior team leader she is, she automatically included the 4 members
of her team, plus her husband, Tony, as well as Karl, the guy who
loaned her the fake blood for the costume. And one other friend,
whom I haven't met yet.

Cape Royds is especially cool place to
visit for a couple of reasons. One reason is, it takes about 1.5 hours to
reach the place by Hagglund, a small, square, tracked vehicle which I
haven't ridden in yet. Can you say, Antarctican road trip? Also,
there is a historical hut there. One rarely reached by McMurdites.
This one is called Shackletons hut. Used by Sir Ernest Shackleton
during his early exploration of the continent. But coolest of all,
it has an Adelie penguin rookery but a few hundred feet or so away
from the hut. The early explorers studied the penguins, their
habits, and had a never ending source of food practically right
outside there front door. We should be going on the trip tomorrow,
but it could get postponed due to weather.


The weather has been a pretty warm
lately. Almost +30 these days. Really early in the spring for those
temperatures but bringing with it a low pressure system of heavy
winds gusting to 50 knots, and quite a bit of snow. It's beautiful
and awesome, if you ask me. This is the reason most of us come here
to get an experience of extreme weather. The spirits are high at the moment. Most people find a reason to go outside and meet the wind
and snow. Feeling it's intensity on your skin and letting the wind
hold you up as you lean into it with you coat open wide like a flying
squirrel. Of course this doesn't last long as you get cold and wet
pretty fast. The other benefit is of course, what I like to call, a
“snow day”. You know, like when your a kid and they close
schools because the weather is so bad. Well if it's really bad here, there isn't much to do, for those of us who work outside.


We reported to work the next day at 6 am as usual
this morning, but with all the flights canceled and no pallets to
work on building, because we can't get rid of them. They cut us
loose at about 7 am. SNOW DAY!!! We didn't leave right away though. Because we were already there, we decided to
play a couple of games of Werewolf. It's an old parlor game that I
learned on the Green Tortoise this past year. We killed about 3
hours playing and keeping moral high. Then all the cargo handlers
went home for a nap and lunch, and whatever else they could get into
without drinking alcohol. I choose to write this and rent movies.

Lots of people have been sick this
year. Every time a flight comes with new people for the main body
season they are given the stink eye for being suspect for bringing in
a new strain of “The Crud”. The Crud is the generic term given
to any virus or bug that may be going around the station. This year
we have a 2 day crud, a 2 week crud, and a 2 month crud. I've been
battling the 2 week version. Waking up at night, stuffed up,
coughing, head weighing 200 pounds, full of snot in the morning.
It's a drag, because usually you feel well enough to go to work
within an hour of waking up, and there is nothing to do for it but
just plow through, blowing and wiping your nose until it raw to the
touch. Thankfully I'm over the hump. I've gotten it down to a bit of
a runny nose and a cough. But waking up at night and my head
weighing 200 pounds is over. Everything else is tolerable. We are
all persuaded to wash our hands thoroughly before every meal and
after using the bathroom every time, as well as using hand sanitizer
before touching any of the computers. It's a never ending battle
against the crud and once you've had it you don't want to get another
one.

Since I've been feeling better I've
been more active with my off time. Hiking, and Cross country skiing.
Anything I can do to get outside and get some fresh air. I spent my
first night on Ski's on a trail called the Armitage loop, across the
sea ice to Scott base (New Zealands small neighboring science
station) and back, getting the feel for my ski legs again. It's not
hard unless you get caught in the ruts of the people who have skied
the trails before you or when you hit some ice. I think I fell about
13 times that first night. It's hard on the legs but it feels good
when your done. A good full body work out.


Also for exercise I hiked observation
hill. It's such a great hill. Get's you way up above the town for a
birds eye view. Bringing into sight, the Scott base side of the
hill, the rest of the Ross Ice sheet and Mt. Terror, as well as Mt
Erebus and the Royal society range. But what an amazing view. I was
up there all alone with Scotts' Cross. A memorial erected to
commemorate Captain Scott and his men who perished on their way back
from the South pole, in 1912. There was some awesome energy I was
feeling that night, maybe it was endorphins flowing through my veins.
But somehow I was able to envision being here in Antarctica before
there was all “This”. “This” being McMurdo, and Science, and
People. It's an awesome energy, the wind was trying it's damnedest
to blow me off the hill it seemed, the whole time I was climbing it
kept changing directions coming from one side of the hill, then the
other, or from the bottom. When I reached the peak and stood on top
for my glory shot, it changed to strong head on gusts making me
waiver and feel my old fear of heights creeping back in. I stood my
ground and realized there was no real way to be blown off. The wind
still kept blowing, as I took my shots, as if to say, who do you
think you are you little peon of a human. Freezing the feeling right
out of my un-gloved hand and any other exposed skin. I stayed at the
top for just 5 minutes or so and headed back down feeling satisfied
with my achievement. Knowing there would be more hospitable days for
me to sit and enjoy the view longer.

My next focus is this “Freezing Man”
business. I've asked friends from home to make up DJ sets and send
them to me as guest DJ's to the Ice. We're having a meeting soon
calling out all Artist, Performers, Scientist, Nerds, face painters,
spinners, Geeks, and anyone else who has the energy to put anything
into the event. I'm getting very excited. We want it to be very
organic, we want people with ideas who will take charge. We've made
the date of the event January 9th. The week after New
years and the week before the Waste barn party. As if there aren't
enough things to keep us entertained I have to be the one to push for
another event in the short, 4 month season. I just love the idea of
having a regional Burning Man event here on the 7th
continent. I missed the one last year, and it almost didn't happen
again this year. Many of the people who organized the event last
year didn't return this year, and the ones who did have been so
heavily tasked that they couldn't take it on. So I've picked up the
fumble and started running. I don't know which way to run, but at
least I'm making a go for it. Just writing this while listening to
electronic music is getting me excited. I can envision this thing
happening so vividly, that I know it will become reality. It's on
it's way. The 2nd annual “Freezing Man”.


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/4/1257406296/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/4/1257406296/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/4/1257406296/tpod.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:18:35 -0500 Back to the ICE again

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McMurdo Station, Antarctica


Started writing this on 10/18/2009
I've been in-between jobs here for
about a month. My bank account is getting low. I just called Ma
earlier and asked her if she would put $200 in my bank account, so my
check doesn't bounce for my bill payments. Things are tight but as
usual my experiences are making me rich.

I arrived home in September, just about
a week before my Birthday. My visit home was awesome. All the time
spent at home was spent visiting friends and family, drinking beer,
and eating! I'm surprised that I didn't put on any weight. Maybe I
did, but not enough to tell, anyway. Probably from all the running
around. Detroit isn't an easy place to get around. It's very spread
out. Urban sprawl is the term that comes to mind. There is no good
public transit. (Thanks to GM, and there efforts to rip the rail
system out in the mid 20th century.) But it is what it
is, and I love it. Everyone must commute and it becomes a way of
life. Detroit has earned its title of the “Motor city.”

So I drove and drove and drove. I used
station wagons, foreign two seater convertibles and motorcycles, and
any other ride I could get my hands on.

I spent time in Chicago, for my
birthday. My aptly named friend Gypsy and I took a little road trip
to my friend, Radiohiros place, for the Freakeasy. Kinda a Speakeasy
but more of a modern day version of the underground dance scene. He
literally holds the party/show in his own home. A flat in the city,
with a huge roof deck that had two geodesic domes outside on the
roof. The domes housed the stage for a dramatic demonstrations of
fire antics and belly dance performers.

Inside his home he has turned his
recording studio into the dj booth, ripped out the one wall in the
home to make one giant dance space with 12 foot ceilings and kind of
a make shift upper loft for people to chill out and watch the people
dancing while they take a rest from the dance floor themselves.

Wow, so much fun. This was by far one
of the more memorable parties that I have been to, and it was filled
with many, many, many good people Some I knew previously, and some I
didn't. But lot's of which I consider my good friends that I know
through Burning Man.


In the morning, as the sun rose we all
sat out on the roof top watching the amazing scene unfold over the
Chicago skyline. Still sipping drinks, sharing stories, the light
din of laughter resonating through the air. Someone steps out onto
the porch and and yells, “hey, can you all see me???” Everyone
looks at the guy and he whispers “the cops are here.” We all
laugh, because we already now this, and he is just being paranoid.
The cops just roll into the party and come outside onto the porch,
where we are all sitting and enjoying our morning. They just take a
walk around and greet us, Saying good morning. One of them even stays
for some breakfast, and some conversation. Nothing to worry about he
says. Nobodies in trouble. Unsanctioned parties are so much fun.
It's really like a little bit of history unfolding right in front of
my face. I am sure we will be revisiting Radiohiros Freakeasy
parties in the future, as the stories get passed on through the
generations of hear say text books, on throwing underground parties!

Other stand out moments on my trip home
include... Going with Dondo to Hitsville USA. The Motown museum.
Where all the great Motown artist recorded their most famous songs.
In the recording studio the floor still has holes where the
technicians stomped their feet furiously to the beats of Stevie,
Diana, Marvin, and Michael. Later that same day we went spelunking
through an old abandoned building. A music school that has been
closed for just 4 years. The place was totally stripped of all
useful items. All electrical wiring, machines, even one of the
boilers was missing.


Other great times were, my visit with
Ben Brown, a friend from my days in Boot camp in the Marine Corps.
My visits with Stanley who, I've had blowout, drag downs with in the
past. I hadn't really talked to her for months, but made up within
the last month or two. She seems seems like she's doing well, and is
growing, with more growing on the way. But best of all was a visit
with my Uncle Jim.

Uncle Jim is facing his deathbed right
now. Battling Cancer, Diabetes, and Congestive heart failure all at
once. It doesn't look very good for him. I leave home so often and
for so long that I have to see him every time I come back, even
though he lives 3 hours away in South Bend, Indiana. Uncle Jim is
one of only two living relatives on my Fathers side of the family.
Aunt Marlene is the other. But Uncle Jim has been an important male
figure for me in my life since my Father died when I was very young.
He's been the story keeper for our family! Being a writer, he has
researched and written down a huge chunk of my family history. He's
a great storyteller and he finds great pride in keeping our history
alive. He doesn't look that healthy and he is very emotional on
this visit. His voice cracks when he speaks of the kindness of his
neighbors and his family who are there for him when he needs it. I
have a bad feeling that this is the last time I will ever see Uncle
Jim, and I cried on the way home as I thought of this. But we had an
awesome visit, as we always do. I asked him if he had considered
alternative medication to his conventional ones. But he is so old
school and he felt comfortable with what he was trying. He feels his
time is up, and he is satisfied with that. We talked about death a
bit and he didn't seem very scared at all. I wish him the easiest of
passing and hope he finds himself in an amazing utopia when he wakes
up from that transition.


I left for Denver a little bit early to
visit two new friends who invited me out to visit them in the
interest of open hearts and new friends. So I accepted. The
Hostesses are Tracey and Jill. Two beautiful people inside and out.
They live near Boulder and put me up for a couple of nights. Taking
me out dancing and feeding me. We are very open with each other in
an effort to really get to know each other. The first night they put
me up in this Chateau in the hills outside of Boulder that Tracy is
house/cat sitting. The funny thing is there is already someone else
there too. He's a personal friend, and employee of the home owner
(who is out of town.) His name is Josh, a DJ/ web designer. You'd
think this situation would be uncomfortable for me but it isn't in
the least. We bond with music and he invites us to his show at “the
B-side” a small local bar in Boulder, for some drinks and dancing.

In the morning the girls came to get
me for Breakfast and then took me on a nice hike just outside
Boulder. It's a place called Chetauqua . A local retreat in the
foothills. I have been here before, many years ago, for my best
friends, cousins wedding. Boulder has a beautiful system of trails.
Later on, we have a mid day nap, some food and finally dancing. On
the next day we took it easy, and by the end of the night the girls
were dropping me off in Denver so I can report to my Winter job in
the morning. I had some real good down time. Not too hectic, not
too boring. Just right. It's a great success all in all. I am
really glad I took the chance, and took the time to re-meet these
girls in circumstances outside of Burning man.

In the morning I wake bright and early.
In time for a shower and breakfast before reporting to the company
that will take me down to the ice. I'm not looking forward to the
next few days. It's all briefings, safety meetings and marathon
traveling. All in all it's exhausting and I arrive in Christchurch,
New Zealand 4 days later, after days of lectures on how to act when
representing the company, and more than 24 consecutive hours of
flights and layovers. I have never been so jet lagged. Both nights I
was in NZ I couldn't get more than 4 hours of sleep in a row.

Christchurch is a great town. I know it
thinks it's a city but it's really a town. Even though I am tired I
find time to run around and shop for a Halloween costume, safety
boots and booze to bring with me down to the ice. The costume was a
no brain-er. I go to the consignment stores shopping for a dress for
my bearded lady costume. I met a girl who is also working for the
company. She's a friend of a mutual friend of mine, from the last
time I was down on the ice. Susha and I are having a laugh a minute
trying dresses on me, and seeing how ridiculous I look, especially in
the ones that don't fit too well. After all the hoopla we are on our
way to eat at a recommended restaurant called two fat Indians, when I
discover that my wallet is missing. In a flash I bolt back to the
consignment store and barely make it in time for the store clerk had
already closed . She was just minutes away from leaving for the
night. Sure enough the wallet fell out of my pocket there on the
floor when I was squeezing the dresses on and off. Lucky for me it
was just sitting there waiting for me on the small riser ledge. I
think some nice soul may have found it and just set it up there for
me. Nothing was missing, not even one dollar. Whew, what luck!


The hotel that they put me up in is
really cool. It's called the Hotel So. Each floor has a theme, blue
circles, Pink squares, green triangles, and I was on the 2nd
floor, white, crosses. The rooms are kind of futuristic. I walk in
and it makes me feel like I am walking into a scene from the movie
Bladerunner. It's a very small room. The bed stretches from wall to
wall at the end of the room and has a blue light glowing from
underneath. The back wall is a mirror. And the bath room is
essentially in the same room separated only by a riser, and a giant
curved piece of frosted glass with a sliding glass door and mood
lighting. When you step up into the bathroom there is a toilet and
shower also separated by a sliding glass door only this one is a
clear piece of glass. It's so high tech, I can't figure out how to
get the lights to work. It seems straight forward but what I didn't
know is I have to slide the key card into this special slot in the
wall to get all the electronics to work in the room. When I do
finally get the lights on the I find all sorts of amazing little
quirky things to play with. I can play my MP3 player through the Flat
screen TV. When the alarm goes off it starts by slowly turning the
lights up with a dimmer switch and the TV starts playing beautiful
scenes of the southern alps, with clouds flowing in fast motion, and
soothing music filling the room. It's quite a scene. And they have
a virtual touch screen concierge to answer general questions for you.
It's amazing and beautiful and surprisingly inexpensive. Only $69
NZ a night. Of course I'm not paying for it. But I take a mental
note because it still is impressive for the price.


Susha is a girl that my friend, Kristen
Fargher told me to look out for. The one I mentioned earlier.
Kristen being a friend I made last time that I came to the Ice, who
I've stayed in contact with. To Kristen, Susha is an old friend that
she met from her days in the ski patrol back in Keystone, Co. To me
she is a cute, slightly boyish looking woman, with a slight build who
has an energy about her that is magnetic. She speaks with her hands,
has a short haircut and it opinionated. She can bullshit like the
best of us. Speaking on subjects that she is passionate about and
speaking passionately about subjects that she may know nothing about.
We can “debate” Straight up! No hard feelings. Some people
think we are arguing. My mother surely would take it that way if I
said the same things to her. But for Susha ,it's a hot topic and she
will press, push and think her way into an opinion. I think she is
wonderful. Susha is on her way down to the ice with me. On the same
flights from Denver all the way to Antarctica. On the C-17 flight
somewhere over the Southern Ocean we both donned our earbuds and
started to dance in the small aisle standing directly in front of
everyone sitting along the side of the plane. It was the type of
dancing that you do when nobody is watching. Well, at least it is in
the given amount of space that we had. Which wasn't much. But anyway
it was a good time. I think some people were jealous of our
fearlessness.


When we landed on the sea ice runway,
people on the plane cheered . You can tell who the FNGY's (fingees)
are based on their enthusiasm. FNGY is just another McMurdo acronym meaning Fucking New
Guys. I was happy too, but not being a FNGY. I didn't clap and cheer.
I knew what we were actually getting into. As we exited the plane
you could feel the cold air biting on your exposed skin. It was
brilliantly white outside the plane. You must wear sunglasses or you
will be snow blind when you get back inside the buildings. The sun
had stopped setting already, just a day or two before our arrival.
Mt Erebus, the only active volcano on the continent, was in good
form. Completely white, an unobstructed view, silhouetted by the blue
of the sky. She was spitting out just a little puff of smoke. Almost
looks as if someone was on top sending smoke signals. Enough to make
you say, is that a cloud or is that the volcano venting.


As I boarded Ivan the Terra bus, I
thought about how badly I had to piss. It's been over twenty minutes
I've been holding it already since the flight crew made us sit down,
fasten our seat belts and get ready for landing. Ivan the terra bus
doesn't go very fast. Plus, I found out the driver of Ivan was a
FNGY and on her first day of training for this particular vehicle.
Which meant that she was only going to drive slower than normal. Oh,
hurry, please. I gotta piss, like now!!!


Whew, I made it, without incident.
Just a couple more briefings and then I'm off to dinner and bed. I
am trying to beat my jet lag, that has been a bitch to beat. I can't
think of a time in my life that I have had more trouble adjusting to
a clock.

So now it's time to report to work.
Day two. Seems like old times. People are welcoming me with a heart
warming, chide and jab. “Hey sully, whats up?” “Sully, where
you been?” Big hugs. It really meant a lot to me.

The next week is spent getting my sea
legs back, so to speak. Driving loaders, deltas, and 5 tons.
Spending time relating to people. Telling old friends what I had
been doing for the last year. All about the Baja, The Canyons, The
National parks, the people I've met, and the Green Tortoise. Trying
to recap one and a half years in a nutshell is quite a feat.

Oct, 28th is my first day at
the air strip. This is what really gets me off. Working outside, on
the ice, on the Ice runway. It's an amazing feeling to be back.
Surreal. The whole place is slapping me in the face with Pavlovian
memories. Just hearing the backup beepers on the loaders sends me
into a pseudo hallucination. The reaction is to look up and out
across the Ross ice shelf, at the Royal Society mountains about 70
miles away, with my mouth hanging agape. The view really is
astounding. I can't even count all the glaciers I'm seeing in this
one view.


I've been setting goals for myself this
year. I want to get involved. My first idea was to become a radio
DJ again. I had done that in the past and this time I wanted to get
right back into it. But all the good slots are full. Nothing fits my
schedule. Maybe second half of the season. I think I will have a
better choice when I am working nights. Also I want to get involved
in Freezing man. It's the regional Burning man event in Antarctica.
I may even take the lead here, or maybe take a co lead with Galit.
Another burner who is now working in Antarctica. I am so happy and
stoked to be here and I really want to be a part of the community and
contribute on a level that I can relate to. Burning Man is
definitely something I can relate to. My general mood is, TOTALLY
STOKED, and I am ready to work for it.


(side note, Uncle Jim has passed away
since I originally wrote this. Rest in Peace Uncle Jim. I'm gonna
miss your spirit being around!)


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/3/1236020400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/3/1236020400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/3/1236020400/tpod.html Sat, 21 Mar 2009 14:03:37 -0400 Green Tortoise Adventures

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Playa Escondido, Mexico

Supply trip day, as well as Lyles Departure to the US.

As per everything in the Baja, nothing can be predicted, and anything is possible. The day was supposed to start at 7 am with departure of both pick-up trucks. Lyle heading North to The States . While myself and Shaunna head South East to Ciudad Constitucion for re-supply. We were supposed to follow Lyle down the 14 miles of rough dirt road to the paved road where we would split our separate ways. Just in case something went wrong. But Lyle couldn't sleep well and headed out early at 2 am. Shaunna and I departed about 7:30 am with the bed of the truck full of (2) 55 gallon drums for water, one 35 gallon drum for fuel, and cases upon cases of empty beer and wine bottles to return , plus two huge coolers for ice. On top of that it's also the day that you get everything that you can get done in a town , day. Meaning, laundry, internet, maybe a shower, plus the two new cats that they picked up as strays down here need esteralacion (Spay and neutering). A momma and her little runt baby. These two are the latest in Tortoise mascots. The whole family was born in the beach camp and Shaunna and Lyle have managed to find homes for the other kittens and the papa. Just these two left. And they are staying as the camp mousers. Lyle and Shaunna decided to adopt them fully to round out the family they had started, with Miso, Shuannas, Cat of 9 years, a Eve, the Junk Yard dog we've got for protection at the shop in Oakland, and to keep the cows and coyotes out of camp in the Baja. Now add that to the 6 or 8 resident humming birds and you've got a full on Menagerie of Animals to take care of . I love them all. They are great pets all with unique personalities. Even the hummingbirds are starting to show personality. Some of them so territorial, some shy females waiting for the aggressive males to chase each other in corkscrew loops around my head., I stand quietly for 15 minutes or more just two feet away from the feeder , half expecting one of them to lance my eye, with it's bright orange beak, in a mighty Quixotic act of bravery. Alas, to them I must be moving as low as a beached humpback whale. My patience and huevos pays off in the end as I get to watch them until the sun goes down.

But that's jumping ahead. As out journey to Ciudad Constitucion panned out we dropped off the bottles, and took the cats to the Vet. But the Vets only do esteralaciones on certain days, and Monday isn't one of them. We turn in our laundry, and stop in at Carlos and Martas , longtime friends of L&S.I got to the internet, where I found out I didn't get "The Best Job in the world" ha, little do they know I already have it. But in the middle of out internet session we got the call from Lyle. His truck broke down in Santa Rosalia. About 5 hours north or beach camp. Now we had to stop everything, get me back to camp to take care of the animals while Shaunna, heads North to get Lyle. She might even have to hillbilly tow Lyles, truck with her own back down to Loreto, or Ciudad Constitucion. Yee haw, the Baja adventure continues.

Now, because of the uncertainty of Shaunnas return, I may not be able to meet my sister at the corner of the road. Yes, my sister Erin is coming to visit and I had a rendezvous set up to help her find the beach camp as it's not really on any maps. Oh well, I have full confidence in my directions and told her to go for it if for some reason I can't make it to the rendezvous, at the restaurant on the corner . More Baja Adventure. I'm sure she can find it, it's just gonna be nerve racking for me to say the least until I see her safely at Beach Camp.

Deus Mio! That's how we roll in the Baja I guess. Yeee haw, I love my life!

Photos to come later when I get a good internet to use.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/3/1235845620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/3/1235845620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/3/1235845620/tpod.html Sat, 21 Mar 2009 14:00:16 -0400 Green Tortoise Adventures

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Playa Escondido, Mexico

It's actually my 6th day on the beach , but my 9th day away from home. Home being Oakland, Ca, at the time being.

The Bus left San Francisco on February 20th, with 34 passengers including myself and 2 drivers, Matty and Andy. We picked up one in Santa Monica, and 8 in San Diego on the way. The rest of us boarded in SF. Amongst the characters on board, theres Judy and Raven, a couple from Mendocino. We like to call them the Odd couple. Judy's typical A-type personality and Raven type is, shall we say, "out of the box". Both of them great energy, but in very different ways, and both there for the greater good of the group. True Tortoise passengers. We also have Eddie, a seasoned Tortoid, been on many trips already, some of the other drivers have met him and we all agree he's funny and cool. Yet, maybe a little long winded. He's a southerner from Mississippi. Now living in NYC, and working in that wedge shaped building that's always in the movies set in New York. You know the one wedge shaped building on the corner of Broadway and 79th (or something) He's has two ex-girlfriends working in the same department at his work. Ha ha. They don't call him "fast Eddie" for nothing. (wink, nod)

We have a buddy system on board so nobody gets left behind. Every time we re-board the bus we all look for our 2 or 3 buddies to account for everyone. My buddies on the bus are Johanna (I like to call her YO). She's from Middle o'nowhere Pennsylvania. Real Mid-westerner, full of warmth and welcome. Very non judgmental. Also I have Cindy and Lil Lenny (Grandma, and Grandson team). It's always great having kid's on the bus, they always remind us to think like kids every once in a while. the Grandfather Big Lenny, is there too, he's someone else's buddy. Leonard and Cindy are return passengers also.

There were 3 Johns on the bus, Scottish John, Pittsburg John, and California John. CA John was kinda cynical and negative at the beginning, but quickly warmed up and had lots to contribute. Pittsburg and Scottish Johns, were the peanut gallery. Always something funny and smart to say. Well maybe not always funny and smart, but always something to say.

The eligible girls on the trip were Caroline, cute, funny, 27ish, Sabina, Flirty, German and 39ish and Martin also German, 45ish, and new agey, and Gaelle, French, 24ish and quiet, she still struggling a little with her English, but she tries hard. I speak a little bit more slowly when I talk to her so she doesn't have to translate in her head so fast. Theres a few other single girls on the bus but they don't seem to be as eligible for whatever personal reasons.

Most of the other passengers , more than 50% are couples over 50. All of them really cool and laid back, but stereotypical in different funny ways. Some knew stuff about bird, some about, plants, and fish, some rock climbers, legends in there own rights. You name it and they can keep the conversation going. Such a great crew we have, not as young as the typical group, but definitely of the same caliber.

On our way down we hit the boarder crossing in Tijuana without incident. Stopping only for customs, and then moving on to our first Mexico stop, Ensenada. As luck would have it, the Mardi Gras Parade was going on that day. Shucks, I left my camera on the bus. But we hit up a great little bar with an upstairs patio and a great view of the street and parade. What luck, What fun!! The floats all had movie themes. Star wars, of course my favorite. King Kong was there, Titanic, and much more. There was lots of confetti and beads, but not like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. A little bit more reserved, a little bit more pure. The Mexicans are actually quite conservative when it comes to nudity so there weren't any beads for boobs as you might say. It was truly Mexicans doing it for Mexico, not "gringo-ized" .

Later after the parade, we had some fresh fish tacos at the Mercado Pescador. Local fish market, right on the water. A few more beers for the road, since we can legally drink on the bus and we boarded the bus for our second night drive.

The next day we pretty early. It was about sunrise, and the washboard dirt road, coming in to Ojo de Libre made sure we were all awake. We pulled into the parking lot at the whale watching building and started setting up for Breakfast. It was Continental breakfast, with all the trimmings, including fresh fruit salad, lox, bagels, and coffee or tea, whichever your fancy. It's an awesome way to start the day. Which was quickly followed up with a great way to continue the day. Whale Watching!!!

All 36 of us boarded up into small Ponga boats. And headed out into the Pacific, in search of the migrating California Gray whales. Of course that is one of the main goals of this particular trip. The Whale watching trip. Matty was calling it the Baja, Wawa!

The Grays certainly didn't disappoint anyone. We could see them blowing before we even left the dock. But the true experience was just beginning. All three of the boats went there own ways into the Pacific and shut off there motors. So you have this feeling of solitude almost, except for the whales. Soon you hear a loud Ptsshhhhhhh exhale, with a spurt of water vapor into the air. Then a loud huuuuuuup, inhale. There's a fin! There's a fluke! Before you know it there's a mama and calf. There's another, with a great white spot on his side and that one is full of barnacles. They are so close. It's almost scary close. They are so big. Only 15 feet away. Everyone on the boat was barely breathing, dead silent and, staring in awe, in every direction. Smiles broadly painted and watery eyes on every face. It's about a two hour ordeal. You start to recognize some of them. The ponga driver starts up and goes to another place, seemingly indiscriminant. He shuts off the motor again. Some of them start "Spy hopping" checking us out. One of them passes under our boat. All the weight of the passengers shifts to the other side, and the boat tips toward the water. Then it happens. It comes to the surface next to the boat and sticks his nose out of the water. Coming up to say hi, and let us touch it. Granting us the designation of "Lucky Few" I felt honored that it trusted us enough. Like a rock star reaching off stage, to give you a hi-five. I barely got a finger poke of a touch in, but I did touch it, as it managed to tough my soul. Inter species communication of sorts. It's skin was smooth and rubbery as so many marine mammals are, except for the barnacles. It seems to like the interaction, and most people who come to Mexico for whale watching, get to have this experience of touching or petting the whales. Which is illegal in most countries.

Later on as we continues our journey. The bus was filled with a great energy and a quickly growing camaraderie as we have only been together about 36 hours now. Our next stop was San Ignacio. A beautifully quaint village that is one to be the least changed in the 20 something years that the Tortoise has been coming to the Baja. We stopped to cook dinner at a little camp/bar, El Padrino. There was a freezing cold lagoon, with a rope swing, that I have to do at least 3 times. Nothing like a rope swing to make you feel like a teenager again. After dinner we took in a couple of cervezas at El Padrino and boarded up for our 3rd , and my final, night drive. In the Morning we will be at the Green Tortoise Beach camp, on Playa Escondido.

This is my final destination as I am to be the care-taker for the beach camp for the month of March. In 5 days the rest of the group will board up heading our for more adventure and I will stay behind.

Again at the break of dawn. Monday now, Day 3 of the trip. We arrive at "the top of the hill" as it's come to be know. We can't take the bus down the hill because it's too long for some of the dangerous curves. We parked Pluto (Pluto is the name of our bus), pulled out the kitchen for another breakfast, and packed lunch. Then Tengo arrives. That's the smaller bus that lives at the beach camp. He hauls all our gear down to the beach camp and after we take in the grand view, sunrise and breakie, we start out 6 mile hike down to the beach. It's a crazy road. Sheer drop offs and a curve aptly named, hail Mary curve. Which has a little shrine imbedded into the rock of the virgin Mary de Guadalupe, just in case!

Somehow Eddie and I paired off, if not by pace alone, and we tell each other long winded stories all the way down. Before you know it, in about a hour , maybe a little more, we are at the camp. Wow! This is home for the next month. Whew! Sure beats the hell out of the leaky bus, and 45 degree weather, that I've been living in back in Oakland.

One of the first things I see are the Pelicans diving , hunting for fish right in front of our beach..
Being that Eddie and I passed most everyone in our group on our 6 miler hike down, we get close to first dibs on the campsites. I took my second choice. Around the rocky point in the middle of the beach around the corner to the left. It's more secluded there. Andy, the driver, got my first choice. It was a beauty of a spot nestled in up tight against the rocks providing much needed shade in the morning. I don't mind though as Andy is leaving with the rest of the group in 5 days and I will stay. Giving me a choice any spot I want in the whole campsite.

In the next 5 days we will make Gourmet, mostly vegetarian meals and freshly caught sea food. The hunter gatherers being Lyle and Shaunna, my boss and his girlfriend. They've freshly caught lobster, tuna, grouper, and pargo, or snapper, right out of the Sea of Cortez at there back door.. One of the 5 nights we always have a full on sushi spread with all the fixings and fresh herbs grown in Shaunnas, garden. Hard to believe she pulled off a garden in the desert, but she did. Mornings are a little more boring. You know, the regular, fresh cut fruit salad, yogurt, French toast, pancakes, egg sandwiches, cereal, and milk. Really boring breakies! Ha ha.

Our days are full of activities. Including Snorkeling, sea kayaking, fishing, hiking the slot canyon and mule rides to the tidal hot springs. Not to mention some awesome bird watching.

At night we all compare notes from our days adventures, as we sit around out campfire on the beach. Richard and I discuss the finer point of the Costas hummingbird vs. the Xanthus humming bird, which is endemic to the Baja. We've all seen the Cardinals, Frigates, brown pelicans, Orioles, and blue footed boobies.

We also create new stories by the campfires. Like the time Eddie was sitting in his camp chair by the fire, when he felt something on his side. He reached with his hand to brush it off and in his best southern accent he lets out an "Ouch, Daim it!" as he brushed off the scorpion climbing on him it stung him in the side of his torso. "No worse than a bee sting." he says the next morning.

The Slot canyon here is one of my favorite hikes . It start with a serious hike up the arroyo. Maybe 1.5 to 2 miles before the canyon. Full of conglomerate rock, looking like tiles placed in the walls. And with the tiniest trickle of water still left in it, most of the running water is under ground. But there is still enough to create a small water fall and a few pools to wade in. That's the payoff! Cool shade in the canyon and cool water up to you waist in a few small parts. You have to traverse a series of mostly dry waterfalls. Spider-manning your way up 10 feet or so to climb over the next obstacle. It's so much fun, and everyone who completes the hike has a real sense of achievement. Some are scraped and bruised , but all complete the hike. I used a parasol instead of my had to block the suns angry heat in the arroyo. I found it has many uses. It was re-dubbed a sun defender to make it a more manly tool. We found it blocks the suns harmful rays, creates a breeze, or self cooling system, by opening and closing it rapidly next to your face. It scares away large predators like mountain Lions, and cows, by helping you appear bigger, and it also can be used as a pointer to indicate, certain points of interest. Plus it makes it easy to spot the guide, like the Japanese girls who use little flags to guide you around famous sites, in Japan. "We're walking, we're walking, this way please!"

Day 5 on the beach brings a bitter sweet goodbye. The others try to convince me they are kidnapping me, although secretly they are pleased to have more sleeping space on the bus. We, Matty, Andy and I , take Tengo, up the hill with everyones gear and load up Pluto and then drive back down the hill to meet the clan at Rancho San Cosme, for a plate of traditional goat stew, or Birria. Nobody even thinks twice about it, except for the die hard veggies., and the stew is almost gone by the time the drivers get their portion. The drivers are always the last to eat.

One final trudge up the hill with Tengo and all the passengers a few hugs and kisses good by, and Lyle and I return to the beach camp. On the way down, Lyle gives me the low down on how to operate Tengo. Tengo is a 1980's something old yellow school bus, about 27 feet long and with light green racing stripes down the side, and he's one helluva work hose. "Now these here are the air gauges, Tengo has two. This is the tranny temp gauge, don't let it get over 200 degrees" He's saying and pointing , all the while were creeping down the hill, and around Hail Mary Curve. "Keep em in first or Second gear."

The Next Few Days

The next few days are spent tidying up camp, getting instructions on how things work, prepping for a supply trip to town, and prepping Lyle for his return trip home. Or at least return to the American border, in San Diego, where he can conduct his business. His truck isn't working so well. There seems to be an intermittent electrical problem that he just can't pin point. Which is rare for a mechanic of his stature. But he's going for it none the less. In case you haven't figured it out yet, Lyle is my boss, and the owner of the Green Tortoise, and Shaunna is his partner, girlfriend, and right hand. They collectively are the pulse of the Green Tortoise. They have spent the last 4 months down here. The initial idea was that I would come down and watch the camp while they took off for their business and a small break to the real world. Now Shaunna has second guessed her return and she is to stay with me while, maybe make a few side trips to places like La Paz, for a little hotel luxury, while Lyle makes the run North.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1200046080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1200046080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1200046080/tpod.html Sun, 13 Jan 2008 04:56:03 -0500 The start of a new era. Back on the road, so to speak.

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Ross Island, McMurdo Station, Antarctica

So for some reason I find it necessary to write about January 10th. It was a great day! Fresh snow was falling and it was beautiful. I had the previous night off work unexpectedly. It was a great treat and thats when I got to write most of my last blog. I took care of laundry, and some other personal things. So in the morning,. when I usually would be getting off work I went to a morning movie at the Coffee house. The Coffee house is my favorite hang out at McMurdo. It's actually just a quansit hut on the outside. But when you got inside you seem to be magically transported to a warm little retreat, maybe somewhere up in the mountains or something. I guess it's all the log cabin wood work that gives it that feeling. Whatever the reason it's very homey! We can order coffee products or wine there. So it's seen as a wine bar as well. The movie was an independant film that was about a friend of mine. He's a self proclaimed professional hitch-hiker, and it was all about him hitch hiking across the US, and the people he was meeting on the way. The connections he made, and the diversity of our nation. The Movie has been entered in many independant movie festivals. With no luck so far, but hopefully it will be accepted soon. I think it's worthy for distribution.

Directly after that I had my weekly radio show. Yes, you heard me. I have a radio show. It's a morning show, from 8-10 am on Thursdays. Thats after a full days work for me. It's on Ice Radio 104.5, here in Antarctica. Voice work is something I always wanted to do, whether it was radio or as avoice over. I've always been attracted to it, but never gave it a go. Well when I arrived here at McMurdo I found out that you can become a radio DJ for the station. It's heard over at Scott Base also. This is something that I can do as a volunteer for community. A way to participate and be involved, also something that helps morale here because it gets old listening to the old AFN feed that we get from the Armed Forces all the time. As a radio DJ we can add a little local flavor, and the people can call in and make request. My show is so much fun. I have received many complements on it from the people here that do listen. They say I have a good radio voice and that I seem like a natural. Although I make many mistakes. I've had a little bit of dead air a couple of times, and once in a while I press a wrong button after introducing a song, which then results the wrong song getting played of course and makes me look dumb. I just brush it off, sometimes I stop and fix it, sometimes I just let it go. On this last Thursday I actually had my first phone in requests. It was great! I was so excited for the opportunity to make someones day. So I introduced the song and who the request was for, then I pressed CD1, Whoops, wait, wrong button. I stoped the song and turn on the mic, "Ok, sorry about that folks", I say, "I made a mistake. Here goes again, Yellow string band for Glen." CD3. SHIT, thats Love and Rockets. Stop quick. I go back on the mic. "OK, wrong song again", I chuckle. "I'm sure I got it this time." Which I knew I did, because there are only 3 CD players, and it obviously was the last one left. I love my show because I play anything. There is no set genre of music. From day one I was clear about that. I love all music and I'm not gonna limit myself. I play blues, funk classic rock, new wave from the 80's and I take all requests, whatever you want to hear. I may jump from hip hop to country. I've played Ray Charles right after the Violent Femmes. YES, they both rock. I Love it! I even have my friends come in with me and we have little conversations on air, about how cool it is to be on the radio, that it's like having the super power of being invisible. "You can hear us, but you can't see us!" We joke. "We could be naked and standing right behind you." Ha ha. I'm surprised I haven't been kicked off yet. So far so good though. I really enjoy it, and it's something new that I have learned about myself and a new skill too.

Later on that day I had to work again at 6 pm. The day started off typical enough, but by the time lunch rolled around at midnight we were running out of work. At lunch we ran into a couple of cargo folks that were off duty, and they told us that there were a whole bunch of penguins down by the water treatment plant. So, right when we got back to work JonO and I made sure we didn't have anything pressing to do and we took a walk with our cameras down to where they were last sighted. On the way we ran into another friend that told us they had moved on and were now at the Ice pier. Quickly we change directions and head down to the pier. Thats where they are, follow the crowd of people. So when we arrived there were about 25-30 Adelies, I counted 28, but they were all running about so fast it was hard to count them. They were in full penguin mode, practicing all types of fun behaviors. A large part of the group was waddling up the hill right toward all the McMurdites who were standing around in a large group all with cameras clicking away. It was funny to see this as it seemed the penguin group was just as curious about the human group and you didn't quite know who was on parade here. But soon, the penguins became bored with the humans who were just standing there cooing and clicking and they decided to have some fun of their own. They all started to slide back down the hill on their bellies. First 1 or 2, then a couple more, until about 15 of them all weeeeeee, down the hill. At the bottom they got up and started chattering, as if laughing with each other. Two pairs were displaying this weird behavior of standing facing each other and wagging their heads back and forth, while making a ton of noise. Then the lot climbed back up the hill again. They came up super close to me this time, marching right on by, some of them flopping on their stomachs and pushing themselves with their feet. They were so CUTE! AWWwwwwwww, the crowd cooed collectively. Then right back on down the hill. In about an hour they did the whole climb and slide 3 times. It made our night. I felt so lucky to get to see that. Nature having fun! Sledding penguins. Man, so lucky.
The rest of the night back at work was slow. We had to build one pallet in 5 hours. So we hung out in the bay, just talking at first. Playing the new CD my friend from home sent me. Holidaze. An ecclectic mix of sweet music. My friend Cara made it for me. She makes a new one each year and calls it her Holidaze CD. It was so cool that 3 or 4 people instantly wanted copies. We danced a bit in the bay. Making good use of our down time. Why not, huh. While we can, cause in a week or two when that ship comes in, we definitely won't be dancing. I also gave some of my colleagues lessons in fire spinning. We used broom sticks and empty cardboard tubes. Four of us just spinning, and dancing and listening to music.

After work, I felt great. I was high on life again. What a great night.

I took my usual hike on the Hut ridge loop. I heard more seals breathing.
I saw the creshe of penguins again, out on the sea ice, still milling around with urgency, some on their bellies, some marching, but all single file. And I saw the ice breaker, the Oden. Closer than ever she is. She'll be here tonight I'm sure. Hopefully soon I will see some whales when I come here for my hikes.

I think to myself after my moments of peace and solitude, Well, I better get hiking. Still got some Frosty boy on my waistline!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1199886360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1199886360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1199886360/tpod.html Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:07:02 -0500 The start of a new era. Back on the road, so to speak.

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Ross Island, McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Wow, over half done with my contract now. It's amazing how fast time goes. It takes all my concentration to keep in mind whats going on here. I am excited to be coming home soon and seeing all my friends and family. At the same time I have that bittersweet taste in my mouth, telling me I will miss Antarctica while I am away. Most people tell me I will get hired again next year. They say Raytheon prefers to keep it's employees after they have come down once. It makes sence! Once your in the family it's hard to leave. I've always suspected it would be that way. But as usual my brain won't let me hold on to that thought as if it were concrete. I can't count on it. Nothing is for sure in this world, anything can happen in this universe and in my case it probably will. Both good and bad, I just take it as it comes and try to be aware as to how lucky I am, no matter what the outcome. I will be applying again for sure. Hopefully next year I will be at South Pole Station. Thats when you can talk about being cold. Out here on the coast it's downright balmy by Antarctican standards. At the pole they have temperatures that reach -100 below zero on occasion. Whatever job I get and whichever station I will take it and I'll be happy to return.

I really can't believe my life right now. It's exactly what I wanted and more. All that and a bag of chips, Cookies with Frosty boy on top. (that last reference it to a traditional McMurdo desert on Wednesdays, although I have had to cut Frosty boy out of my life as he has added 10 pounds to my waistline) I am so happy, even when it gets bad, I keep the presense of mind that this is what I asked for. It took some time and persistance. So don't get discouraged from going after your dreams. You will get them, you can create your own realities! Stay on track and stay focused. Most of all don't let life get you down. Don't let life tell you that you can't do something. Become UN-STOPABLE! Whenever your brain says you can't, you change your mind and say you CAN. Whoa! Now I can get off the motivational speaking soap box.

Meanwhile back on Ross Island...

Christmas was weird. Not what I expected, but to tell you the truth I didn't have many expectations. It started out on the 23rd with the VMF party (VMF stands for Vehicle Maintenance Facility, aka Heavy machine shop) They converted their garage into a Chrismas ballroom, complete with, get your photo taken with Santa on a snowmobile, and an almost life size abominable snowman from "Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer" , also the waste facility made and donated a giant candy cane stripper pole to the cause. Believe it or not they also had more sentimental things like a slide show of pictures that were collected from the residents of McMurdo, of friends, family and pets from back home. But the raunchiness seemed to prevale as many a McMurdan gave the stripper pole a try. Most of them drunk and trying tricks that only the most seasoned stripper should be trying, and most of them falling on their asses or heads. After a while Santa had too many drinks and eventually he became dubbed "Dirty Santa" for having wandering hands whenever the ladies took a seat on his lap. My friend took the Santa photos and we all had a good laugh as we went through them the next day, and started noticing a pattern of suprised looks on the faces of all the girls, and Santas eyes obviously wandering to the peaks and valleys of their bodies, which later earned him the nickname "motorboat Santa". It wasn't long after that the the HR representative shut Santa down, and asked him to STOP being Santa. I guess there were official forms filled out as well, but as with everything here it's all a rumor until you see it yourself. I had a great time visiting with friends, getting to know some peole better. Talking to a few new folks. Eventually I myself had a few too many and my Chistmas greeting were changing to "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" which solicited a few crazy looks. One poor soul came up to me, and after I greeted him and asked him how he was doing, he told me and the other two people standing next to me, he was fine, "until 20 minutes ago when I received an email from my wife asking for a divorce." The other two in our conversation promptly left me alone with the poor chap. After my initial shock, I quickly rebounded with, "you know what? your better off without her. Fuck that BITCH! If she is that insensitive that she's gonna make you miserable on Christmas, when your so far away, and try to purposely hurt you, you don't need her, and your better off!" I don't know if it was the right thing to say, or even my place to say it, but it was the first thing that came to my mind, so I told the truth as it was to me then. It's a helluva a situation to be put into and I think I just went into survival mode when the guy told me his story. The rest of the night I retired back to the dorm rooms, where the party continued and more alcohol was consumed and also where I had a somewhat romantic enounter with a girl who was wearing a candy necklace. I know what your thinking! I'm too old for candy! Well, I'll leave the rest to your imagination, there are kids reading this, not to mention my Mother!

The next day was Christmas eve. I spent most of it in bed nursing a horrible hang-over, that was made worse by the elements of drinking in a desert environment. By the evening I arose to a decidely quieter environment in the dorms. I hung out with some friends and watched the chick flick, "Love Actually", while nusing myself back to health with OJ. At 11pm myself and the girl that you know as "Candy Necklace" Went to a small Christmas caroling/ pageant/ service/ reading at the Chapel. I affectionately called it a McMurdo Christmas pageant. On the way over to the chapel "Candy" told me she was horribly tone deaf and she hoped I didn't care. I laughed it off, "as if any of us are great singers" I said. We sat through a couple of carols and as we were singing along, I leaned in to tell her "your right, you are horrible". We both got a chuckle and spent the rest of the chapel service trying not to giggle like little kids. It was great fun for the evening.

At Midnight I had Christmas dinner, as I am a night worker now. Thats when we were scheduled for dinner. We had Beef Wellington, with Roast Duck breast, assorted vegetables, and mashed potatoes, and an assortment of deserts that could only be rivaled by a Sullivan holiday back home, where it seems we always have more deserts than entrees. As usual the Cargo team sat together at a huge table like a big happy family. It's nice to belong to a tight crew here. Cargo is like being in a family. That can be good and bad, as most of us know. We also have a fair amount dysfunction to deal with on any given day and we don't all get along all the time. But I do believe we all soon makeup and try to live with one another. Forgive and forget is the discipline that works best for me, I hope others embrace it too. It can get pretty cut throat at times. Again, to be expected as we are all humans with human faults.

Later on around 9 am I opened the gifts I received from my Sister, and Mother. Christmas cookies, phone cards, and face and hand lotion. The good stuff from the body shop. Just what I asked for. My two other sisters gifts arrived about a week later, with a couple other Christmas cards from my friends parents back home and from Kate back in England. A good friend of mine that I met while traveling in New Zealand years ago. Kate was actually there, with me, when I learned all about this Antarctic job, and supportive from the get go.

The next weekend was a great new treat to me. We actually have a music festival here on Antarctica. I don't know if it's the only music festival or not, but I do know it's the only one here on this side of the continent. It's called Icestock and it's happening simultaneously with the traditional Chilli cook off. All the Chilli was great, some more spicey than others. Some a little sweeter. Even the Cargo team was representing, theres that was really good with cubed beef. I couldn't sample them all, there were just too many. They also have a makeshift coffee house called Sawbucks. The whole thing was awesome fun. I think they had close to ten musical acts. Ranging from Bluegrass, to Surfer music, Reggae, New wave, Funk and Punk. Some acts were good, some not so good. I guess it's up to your taste in music and the talent of whomever is playing it. But it was all fun, as we danced our asses off, outdoors in the blowing snow, sampling yummy chilli on a beautiful Antarctican day. I had so much fun gettin' down to live music. I WAS HIGH ON LIFE, and a couple of beers. Not to mention just the idea of being at a music festival in Antarctica. I loved it. Not a care in the world, just loving the music as it came to my ears, hit my brain and was promptly translated it into my bodies physical motion. Unstoppable and unaffraid. No pain, no fear, arms flailing, spinning in circles, taken by the trance that they call dance. It's my favorite thing to do, it's my form of prayer, it's how I spread my vibes through the Earth and share them with others. I hope you all got them. It doesn't happen like that everytime. But when it does it's a special time and I'm thankful for it.

In other news,

The Ice breaker is on it's way in. Every year an Ice breaker comes in and forms a channel to allow the supply ship to come in soon after. This year it's a Swedish ice breaker called the Oden. It's a highly anticipated event all summer long. We all will have to work extra hard during the offload. I mean all of us. The whole station is said to work 12 hour days. They close the bars and forbid the sale of alcohol. For two weeks straight we are said to off load the supplies, and then subsequently up load the ship with all our waste to be transported back to Port Hueneme, Ca. For days I have been going up to hut point to watch the ice breaker, slowly, and I mean slowly, making it's progress from the ice edge to the port. The kicker is they aren't even here yet. We thought they would come in by Monday, but it went back out to cut the channel wider. Right now it's back out at the ice edge, about 12 miles away, after being just about a mile or two away on Monday morning. The pictures I am attaching are not mine. I didn't get to go on the ice breaker but one of my colleagues did. Looks really cool though. Must've been a great experience. I've also been going up to Hut point everyday to do the Ridge trail loop for excercise. It's a great trail that is challenging in the beginning, with a steep uphill climb and usuall fighting a strong wind that threatens to almost blow you off the ridge down to the sea ice below. Sometimes the wind is an asset, as it pushes me up some of the steeper inclines toward the top, but soon after the trail turns to the west and it hits me head on adding immense resistance. Thats not bad either, as my whole point for doing the trail is to work off those extra pounds that Frosty boy has added to my waistline. Another great benefit to going to Hut point everyday is the wild life. This is where you will see most of the wildlife around McMurdo, the ice has gotten really thin here and allows seals and penguins to come out of the water onto the ice. One morning before I started my hike I stood there quietly looking at the Ice breaker when I heard a noise that startled me at first. It was a seal poking its head through a breathing hole. I couldn't really see very well as it just would poke its nose through and let out a loud exhaling whoosh! Much like you would imagine a whale sounds like when it comes up for air. I tried and tried to get to a vantage point where it was visible, but there was no way to see it. I was tempted down the hill to the ice edge and maybe try to go a little way on to the ice. It looks thick enough from here, but looks can be decieving. The hole was tucked away behind a small snow bank about 20 feet out on the ice. I sat quietly waiting and hearing nothing more of the seal, but then I heard another more familiar sound. It was the sea ice cracking. It sounded like the beginning of a thunder clap. That crackling noise. Threatening me as if to say "don't even try it." The next day I found a Skua's nest that a friend told me about. It was said to have a baby skua there, but at first I couldn't see it. Come to find out the parents sit on the chick even after the baby hatches out of the egg. It was obviously under the Mother. You could see her left side was bulging a bit more than the right The father was close by and watching to see if I got too close, he would definately attack. Eventually the mother stood up and I got a quick look at the little puff ball. It was so cute! Like a pale yellow cotton ball. It squaked and waddled akwardly a couple of steps. Then settled again. I moved on to make sure I did not disturb the family. I did get a couple of shots in with my camera though.
This morning when I went for my walk I did see a seal in the same hole. This time it's whole head was coming up and nearby there were 9 Adelie penguins resting on the ice, laying down and looking very lazy. Far off in the distance there were two other Adelies, obviously on a crusade of their own, made clear by the urgency of their waddles. While all along, nearby to the west was even one more, just exploring the ice edge possibly looking for another entrance to the sea water. Waddling a little, looking around, waddling a little more.

I figured I should take that cue and waddle off on my own journey. I could sit and watch these facinating animals all day, but that wasn't gonna get rid of the Frosty boy bulge around my mid-section.. My mornings are now my evenings and if I wanted to get to bed anytime soon I should ass in gear and get a move on!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1198058520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1198058520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1198058520/tpod.html Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:13:26 -0500 The start of a new era. Back on the road, so to speak.

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Ross Island, McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Hello all, before I forget, I wanted to share with you my mailing address. I have had lots of request for it but keep forgetting to post it. So if you want to send a post card or maybe a letter the old fashioned way I would love it. As of now I have had just one piece of mail. I know, it's my own fault for not sharing this information earlier. So here it is. Just remember, this isn't good forever. Just until mid February.

Sean Sullivan, RPSC
McMurdo Station
PSC 469 Box 700
APO AP 96599-1035

So it's been great weather here in Antarctica. Just as I had predicted, the Austral summer here is much easier to take than a winter in Michigan. It's been SUNNY, SUNNY, SUNNY and maintaining around +35F - +40F. The snow is melting off the hillsides and the runoff is incredible. You can see, first hand how glaciation forms the countryside. Melting snow leaves huge deposits of dirt. While the running water is carving out mini canyons in the hilsides. Pretty cool. Water falls near the transition to the Ice shelf. The transition is where the road meets the ice. It's been treaturous lately with all the melting snow and ice. Huge potholes and even some of our biggest vehicles with giant snow tires get stuck sometimes.

The Runway has been moved to Willy field and Pegasus field on the Ice shelf, and glacial ice, respectively. So there is no threat of falling through the Sea ice and into the Ross Sea anymore (not that there was much of a threat before, they keep a close eye on the ice depth). But I have heard some horror stories about something called trap door ice. Apparently back in the early years at Mc Murdo, back in the late 50's and early 60s, someone was driving a vehicle on the ice one moment and then the next moment they were simply gone. The ice gives way and flips over completely, like a trap door might, sealing the hole up again and leaving the landscape much the same as it looked before. The C-17's land on Pegasus field, while Willy field is reserved for the C-130's and smaller aircraft.

My schedule has been switched to nights now. 6pm to 6am. Which really doesn't make a difference to me. Actually I think I will get more sleep now, because there are less distractions (people) around during the night. We were given two days off to make our transition. Staying up all night takes some effort with out the aid of a good party and loud music, so we had to come up with some entertaining ways of doing it.

Saturday night. Started out with the 12th annual Women's Soiree. A fund raiser for charity that's become a McMurdo tradition. This year it was for the Kiwi Family Trust. The show consisted of Musical act's, Poems, and dance troups including one by the girls from Shuttles who recreated the dance number from Napoleon Dynamite and a Belly dance finale.

I evenly divide my evening by going to the White trash party. AKA the Men's Soiree, a testoserone filled retaliation party, to counter act all the estrogen given off earlier in the night. This was a drunk fest in one of the dorms. They had their annual underground tractor pull races. Which entails Two people wearing a harness with a thick rope coming off the back about 20 feet standing side by side in the hallway of the dorm. Behind the pullers are the pullee's (or Weights) a person sitting on a food tray holding on to said rope. Which for me was a cute petite beaker (Scientist) who studies seals down here at McMurdo. She had done this before and was ready to take the title. I was new, and nervous. Didn't want to fail the fans from Cargo that were anxiously watching. So when the flag drops the two tractors pulled their weights down the hallway to a predesignated finish line. I took off and my beaker was hanging on tight behind me. I was surprised as to how quickly I took the lead, almost a whole rope length ahead of my competator. When suddenly my rope went tight and I came to a stop. My beaker had fallen off as she was passing the other runner on her food tray, and got caught up in his feet. Not only did she fall off the tray but she got a good rug burn on her elbow, ripped her toenail back a little and banged her head on a doorjam. "oooh", the crowd gasped. I turned around and couldn't believe my eyes as the beaker jumped back on the tray, ready to win. Which we proudly did without any further incidents, thankfully. Afterwards she laughed and she acted as if it was nothing. "Get me another drink, it won't hurt until morning", she said bravely. I tried consoling her and tending to her wounds. (Mwaaaha haaaa!) But she was a tough girl and wouldn't have any of it. (foiled again) She proudly wore her battle scars. Within minutes she was the tractor pulling a man near 200 pounds on a food tray behind her, racing down the hallway.

Later on the same evening I went on a tour of the pressure ridges over near Scott base (the Kiwi's scientific base nearby) . The pressure ridges are where the Sea ice meets the Ross Ice shelf and it collides, slowly forming ridges and bumps. The Sea Ice eventually looses and breaks into beautiful formations and crevasses. The Pressure ridges are usually off limits to the Americans. The NSF has made them off limits in an effort to preserve our health and safety. Ha ha. Always doing what is best for us. The truth I heard about it was. One time a few years ago someone was cross-country skiing over there, and they poked at a seal with their ski pole, which is against the Antarctic treaty. Damn fools! It takes just one idiot to ruin it for everyone. Anyway, lucky for us, the beaurocracy took a break, and we were offered tours of the pressure ridges through our Recreation dept. Albeit a guided tour and with someone who had special emergency, sea ice training, and an ice pick to lead the way. It was a midnight tour. We were hoping for good lighting for photos, but it was kinda overcast. I still took a bunch through. The ridges are beautiful and mysterious. You just want to climb them and explore the cracks. Some of the melt pools have holes in the bottom of them where the seals can get up and on to the ice for a rest. The whole tour lasted about 2 hours. Our guide was a good one, but lots of people were a little upset with him. They felt like we were being treated like children as he would remind us where we could and couldn't walk. "Thats far enough!" he would say as you were backing up to take a photo. I didn't mind so much, as I know what it can be like to be in charge of the safety of others. Yes, it probably is safe, but it's a privelage to be there in the first place, repect that, and respect the risk.

Later after the tours we tried to stay up even later by watching some Christmas movies at the coffee house, which was officially closed, but we had the key and special permission to be there. We started the night out with National lampoons Christmas Vacation, then on to Merry Christmas Charlie Brown, and finally Sometime around 0530 am A Christmas Story. I was asleep half way through Christmas vacation. So my first night of transitioning to nights didn't go so well.

The next night, Sunday worked out better for me I didn't watch movies, in a dark room. Ha ha. We ended up playing games, and taking a hike up Observation hill. Where I found myself writing out postcards to Aunt Marlene, Uncle Jim, and Aunt Diane. By this time it was 0700 , and I was starting to nod off as I was thinking about what to write. I made it later than the previous night at least. It sucks to have to hike down 700 feet when your ready for bed though. When I finished the hike I tried to do some yoga in the Chapel. The Chapel is always open for use and the Yoga classes are held there because all the chairs can be moved for room on the floor. I almost fell asleep in one of the poses on the floor so I felt it was time for bed at 0930. That's better. Almost transitioned.

Finally on Monday night I got it. I did some computer work until 0130, then started a 7 mile hike at 0200. JonO and I went to Castle rock. It's one of the predominant landmarks on Hut point penninsula. About 3.6 miles one way. It's a good hike, where the distances are deceivingly far. One of those where you can see your destination for a long time but it seems like you've been walking forever and it's not getting any closer. In the beginning of the hike the road was a hard go. Because of all the warm days and cool nights there has been a thawing and freezing cycle that has left the trail ice covered and dangerous. Making the journey slow going. Then once we reached the top of the hill we can see Castle Rock which is still 2 miles away. It looks like and easy stretch as it's a long straight away going down a long slow slope and up another long slow slope. This is the deceiving part. Once you get in the middle there are no hills for cover from the wind, which by this time is blowing hard and cold. It was a little daunting, being I could've been a little better prepared. When we left McMurdo it was warm but now out in the wide open, it's getting colder. Luckily the trail planners have installed warm up shacks, called red apples, along the way. This is a small red ball structure that you can duck into and warm up, or take cover in to get out of weather if needed. Inside we found an outdoor emergency medical book, some sleeping bags, a stove and fuel, as well as a telephone to call for help in case assistance was needed. Man, they think of everything here. Don't worry Ma, I'd have to be a pretty stupid person to die here, as the NSF makes it almost impossible to make any fatal mis-judgements. When we reached Castle Rock we took a few photos and explored the base of the rock, saving the climb for another day with less cold wind and more time. The views were well appreciated. We could see the open water out on the horizon, beyond the ice shelf, better than ever. There was an Ice berg way out there and of course Mt. Erebus, which can be seen from any position on the island, except in town. We could see Cape Evans and the Happy Camper Snow school camp. After about 15 or 20 minutes, it was time to head back home if we wanted to make it in time for our meal. So we pulled out our Blue food tray/sleds and found our sweet spot on the hill side. Zooming back down to the flat part of the trail. I did two runs just for the fun of it.

Snow School, or Happy Camper as it's known around here, is a cold weather survival course that everyone on the station must attend. It's a good ole time. You start in the class room, going over the dangers of cold weather, and cold weather injuries. Learning what hypothermia is and the signs and symptoms, and looking at gross slides of people who have suffered from frostbite.
After that we all pile into the Delta for a trip out to Happy camper, camp site. We have a couple of other classes out there on how to use a whisper lite camp stove , prominant land marks, where the dirctions are, and where the weather usually comes from. Then we eat lunch and pack up our cold weather sleeping bags and then head out into the cold.
When we arrive it's right to work. We now have to construct our shelters and create a campsite. We start by erecting our Scott tent. The largest of our tent structures and our immediate shelter needed to take cover if the weather should turn sour. It's easy enough to put up with so many people. Not to mention the weather was cooperating greatly. Next we built our quinsy, I think that's how it's spelled. It's a snow fort essentially. We start by burying all our bags in snow, and creating a big domed structure, pack it down firmly, then wait two hours for it to re-freeze. In the mean time we set up our small mountain tents. and start building a wind wall out of block of snow that we cut with a hand saw. The tents are placed behind the wall and it creates a nice barrrier as well as prevents your tent from getting burried by drifting snow. Then back to the quinsy. On one side we have two people digging out the entrance, while on the opposite side another two people cut a hole in the side and create a construction entrance to pull out the bags that we buried earlier. Once all the bags are out then we dig down about another foot and a half and take off some of the excess snow on the walls making the structure bigger inside. The final step is to dig a hole on down through the floor to meet up with the people who have been digging the entrance on the outside. So when you actually enter from the outside you will go down under the wall and then back up into the quinsy. This helps keep the wind out and keep it warm in there. The construction entrance is then closed up with more snow bricks. Like the ones previously used on the wind wall.
It was a great piece of snow archetecture. I ended up sleeping in it as well as Andrew, one of the guys who helped me build the quinsy. The other two guys who dug the doorway entrance, Eric, and Matt, slept in a different quinsy that was built by a previous Happy Camper class.
By the end of the day we were all whooped, after so much digging and being out in the elements. I slept for about 9 hours total in there. One of the longest sleeps I've had here. When morning came, the camp leader poked his head in wondering if we were alright. We hadn't even budged. With only a half hour to pack up our stuff and get breakfast we struggled, half asleep to make it in time for our mock "airplane pick up" time.
It was a great experience to spend the night out under the midnight sun here in Antarctica. One I had been looking forward to since I've been here.

Well everyone, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy new year. Make it a great year and make it your best one yet.

XOX S.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1197424620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1197424620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1197424620/tpod.html Wed, 19 Dec 2007 10:32:09 -0500 The start of a new era. Back on the road, so to speak.

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Ross Island, McMurdo Station, Antarctica

So it's been a while again. Damn! the internet is painfully slow today. It's all due to the bandwidth we have at our disposal. Our internet connection is through sattelite communication, and the scientist get most of the bandwidth dedicated to them. Which makes sense, but still becomes frustrating when your trying to check your email and it takes 1.5 hours to open 5 emails. WOW! I think I could write a letter by hand and tie it to the leg of a Skua, in hopes that the bird might possibly fly above the equater and drop it off at my chosen destination by mistake, before I could open my next email and respond to it.

By the way a Skua is an Antarctic and Sub Antarctic gull. It's looks a lot like a Sea gull only larger and brown with white flashes amongst it's marking. They are know as scavengers and nest raiders down here. They have much the same reputation of a sea gull back home, called many dirty names, and have been know to attack some of the residents of McMurdo if you're stupid enough to walk outside in the presense of one with food or a blue food tray. Yes, they even know the color of the trays and plates.

About a month ago, my roomate and I playfully started a rumor that I was attacked by a Skua while crossing the street eating a piece of corn bread. I had a large bandage on the side of my face and covering my ear because of a medical issue. The thruth of the large bandage was a much less exciting story. I had a cyst on my face, a large one that got infected, just below my ear and on the jaw bone (a painful pressure point). It got properly infected and I had to have it lanced. Lancing it was so painful that it took a local anesthetic, two tylenol 3 pills, and finally a shot of demeral which was the deciding factor to getting the job done. After weeks of taking anti-biotics and wearing this bandage on the side of my face, that looked like an A-cup bra, I had been asked about 1000 times, "what happened to you?" So I would tell them a Skua attacked me. In the end of it all, I had people coming up to me in the bathrooms and the galley, anywhere, Saying "I heard about you, your the guy who was attacked by a Skua? Is that true?" Yes, the McMurdo rumor mill is still alive and thriving. It's kinda fun to play with too.

About 2 weeks later my friend Jane came in with a bowl of soup that had torn celphane on top of it and part of the contents spilled out, and a small scratch on her hand. She had in fact been attacked by a skua.

So on Thanksgiving day I started with a round of disc golf with my friends Jesse, and Jeremy. Yes, McMurdo has a disc golf course. It's quite challening too. Probably more challenging than many other courses in the world because it is right here within town. Your climbing 20 foot snow banks, the wind is blowing, your shooting across streets, and some of the holes are hiding behind buildings, a lot of the time you are shooting over and through the cargo yards. Sometimes your disc gets lost between the cargo lines You really have to pay attention to where your shot goes, or you could spend more time looking for your disc that throwing it.

Later on, I did a short, 1 hour volunteer stint in the galley. I made some veggie trays and refilled the dips. The galley staff is totally inundated with work when the holidays start. It's kinda unfair because the DA's (dining assistants) are some of the lowest paid workers on station. So during the holidays lots of the station residents come in and volunteer to do work for them so the DA's can do the less strenuous work or possibly even get an hour or so off.

Dinner was great, we had Turkey with all the fixin's of course. Cranberries, Smashed potatoes. veggies, prime rib. Mmmm, it was all great. In order to feed 1100 or so people they had to schedule 3 times to eat. 3, 5 and 7 pm. I was at the 7pm dinner. Which ended up being the rowdy one. Most people showed up with a bottle of wine (or two) at the dinner table, I arrived with a bucket of ice and some beer. CLASS, real class! I sat with my friends JonO and his brother BenO at a table of "Beakers" (thats slang for scientist down here.) Of course, by the 7 pm dinner lots of folks have had the time to have lots of drinks. The mostly white tableclothe, family style dinner was highlighted with raised glasses and lots of loud "Ehhhhhhh" types of toasts where people didn't really say a toast. They just got louder and louder holding their glasses up higher and higher, and yelling Ehhhhh! until the whole galley was giving spouting off one, loud extended EEEEEeehhhhhhhhhhhhh, eeeeehhhhhh,ehhhhh! followed by lots of laughter. It was a fun night. We all left full, happy and well spirited.

I finished off the night with music, and drinks in one of the dorm rooms, getting to know a few friends a little bit better and being introduced to some new ones as well...

The next day we had a recreational trip planned for Cape Evans. Just cargo people. Earlier in the week I was trained as a historic hut guide just for this purpose. Cape Evans, the location of the most famous and most visited of the historic huts, in the vicinity. Terra Nova Hut, named after the ship, Terra Nova, that R.F. Scott and crew traveled to Antarctica with, in order for Scotts South pole expedition. This particular hut was brought and build by Captain Scott and his men in January of 1911, it was subsequently used by other early explorers, including the infamous Sir Ernest Shackleton. I felt lucky to even get to go to this Historic landmark, let alone become a hut guide, as the hut is limited to just 2000 visitor a year, by the Antarctic Heritage Society. In reality only aproximately 700 - 800 people visit it each year.

The trip out to Cape Evans is about 1.5 hours in a Delta passenger transport. We saw many seals, one close enough to stop and get out for pictures, and another Adelie, penguin encounter. Both extraordinarily funny to watch. The Weddell seal looks like a giant slug, and when it moved it was like watching a big fat breakdancer doing the "worm" and then taking a much needed break after just a few second of effort. The Adelie practically came from nowhere, almost invisible camoflaged against the blank white canvass of the sea ice. Running frantically, directly to us. Why us, it's like a wide open desert and he was heading right to us. When he reached us he promptly ran in circles for a couple of minutes and then went on his merry way. What? Penguins are so damn crazy. When we reached the Terra Nova hut I stepped into the back of the Delta with all the passengers to lay down the ground rules and give a little history. I found a little blurb in my Lonely planet Antarctica that mapped out the whole place telling you where cool things were, who slept where, and even pointed out a little message scrawed on the inside of the bunk from one of the people on the expedition. It was an interesting little scribble that said "RW Richards, August 14th, 1916. Losses to date, Hayward, Mack, Smith" Naming the more unfortunate members of the Ross Sea party that had perished during Shackletons Trans Antarctic expedition. There was also a dark room for the photographer, a couple of different laboratories for experiments, a half stuffed Emperor penguin on the table that Scott himself used for his writtings and studies, a fully stocked kitchen, newspapers, books, and glass wear. All strewn about the hut, and remarkably preserved, as if the explorers just stepped out yesterday and were due back any minute. It was kinda ghostly and eerie, as you had to use flashlights to see in the darker corners of the room, and the only light was natural half light shining in from a few windows in the building.

Attached to the side of the hut was the horse stable which still smelt of dank straw and hay, and there was a stack of harvested seal blubber just outside the stables, that they used for fuel to heat the stove and stay warm. Also I turned around and looked on the floor to discover a box of Emperor penguin eggs that some of the explorers gathered to study during the Terra Nova Expedition. The amazing journey to collect these eggs was so intense that it almost cost the men their lives, all in the name of science. The story is told in a book called "the Worst Journey in the world." by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. I took tons of pictures and stayed inside for over an hour. I finally left because you can only have up to 12 people in the hut at one time and I felt like I wasn't giving anyone else a chance to come in and see it.

Outside was another memorial, cross raised in dedication to the 3 members of Shackletons TransAntarctic Expedition that had perished. The same three that were mentioned earlier with their names scrawled on the bunk. There were food caches, and storage boxes, a small weather station for observations, and bleached white dog bones from a couple of the dogs that perished during their time here. There was also a giant anchor right out in front of the hut. It was from the ship Aurora. Also from Shackletons TAE. One day the crew came out of the hut to find that the ship had been ripped from her moorings and was loose in the Ross Sea. The men were stranded for some time but eventually recovered the ship. The anchor standing stuck in the beach as a testament to the powe of the Ross Sea.
The trip was an amazing success and I was glowing from excitement. I had wanted to go and see this hut since I had arrive at McMurdo and had one failed attempt at doing so already. This is a page from the Heroic era here in Antarctica, some of the last, great explorations, and expeditions on planet Earth. People coming here before they knew what excisted. As a morbid testament to the sacrifices that have been paid to Antarcticas exploration Captain Scott and his men perished on the return from the South Pole, only after finding out the the Norweigan, Roald Amundson and his men had already reached the pole and planted a Norweigan flag just a month or two earlier, beating him to the prize.

For a little heroism of our own, my friends and I did a run up Observation hill to
commemorate the birthdays of JonO and Carl. May not seem too heroic unless you know that we did it in our underwear. Yes, the first annual Underwear ASScent as we called it. There were 6 of us total and we made a great spectacle of ourselves. We took it all off e
xcept for Underwear, boots, hats, goggles and gloves and hiked up Ob hill as fast as we could. It wasn't that cold believe it or not. It was a perfect sunny day, with no wind about 25 degrees I would guess. The only thing that really hurt were my nipples. At the top we celebrated with some hooting and hollaring, looking down the hill to see the McMurdo ambulance waiting patiently for our shenanigans to end, and make sure our darwinistic stunt didn't cause any frostbite in any tender places.


Alls well that ends well! And so it did.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1195544400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1195544400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sullywan13/antarctica2007/1195544400/tpod.html Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:07:32 -0500 The start of a new era. Back on the road, so to speak.

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Ross Island, McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Lately I have been trying to get out more. Earlier in the season I found myself very tired after 12 hour work days. Not too happy with myself for not getting out and seeing this place. On my days off, always taking naps inbetween loads of laundry, and watching movies because I was too tired to go on hikes. I think it was a period of physical adjustment. I eat about 5000 calories a day and this usually leaves my body in a food coma or two throughout the day. One after lunch and one after dinner.

Well you know what I say, inactivity breeds lethargy. If you don't get out and be active, you will be more tired. Making it almost impossible to be motivated. Plus the cold is very daunting, if not the cold, then the wind, if not the wind, then the searing UV rays that burn your skin from the lack of Ozone in the atmosphere over Antarctica.

I finally snapped out of it. Telling myself I was acting like a baby and making up excuses. Before I knew it I was gonna be leaving not having done anything in Antarctica besides catching up on the endless list of movies that I would like to see but never have. Fuck that, I say. I an in Antarctica, I am getting out and seeing this place.

So I slap on some sun screen, grab my parka and cold weather gear and head for the hills. First stop, Observation hill. Which I have climbed 3 times already in the same amount of weeks. It's a great little climb. Close to home. The trail is steep, and the footing loose. Plus the hillside is mottled with ice fields. These will come in handy later on while I decend, as you can slide down in brief stints on your ass stopping yourself with your feet and moving left or right to the next ice field.

When you reach the top of Ob hill you find a plaque and a large wooden cross dedicated to Robert F.Scott and his men who perished in 1912 on a return from the the south pole. They were just miles from their hut and safety. At the peak just up to the left I find some Tibetan or Nepalese prayer flags. Not what I expected, but a welcome and refreshing splash of color in the mostly white and brown lanscape that I've been living in for the last month.

The decent is easy and fun, I feel like I worked off a few of those extra calories that I have been receiving from my nightly intake of hot fudge brownie sundaes.

This is just one of the Hikes I have done around town. I've also done the Armetage loop twice, once on Cross country ski's and once just hiking on foot. That's a five mile loop that goes all the way to Scott base (the Kiwi Sceintific base) and onto the sea ice for the return to McMurdo. Impressive pressure ridges can be seen off the shore near Scott base. But the Americans are forbidden to go there by the NSF. Which is really funny, because the Kiwi's have a flagged route so they can go inspect the ridge at their leisure. Just a little taste of home, the governing powers telling us what is good for us. Whatever, I doubt that I'll be stopped from going there before the year is out. Who will know?, how will I get busted? I'm a big boy now, my Mom told me so! I can go there if I want to.

Last weekend, Lou and I went to Discovery Hut and up Hut ridge a short ways. Another hiking trail right near the station I have disregarded until recently. This is one of R.F.Scotts supply huts that they stored all their goods in and used as a performance theatre for entertainment during some of their many long stays here, about 100 years ago. It was a short walk and we didn't do the whole ridge trail. We walked up to the hut and peeked in the window looking at the artifacts on the walls, the old stores of food, and the dead animals partially mumified from the cold dry conditions. There is also a dead seal outside that is mummified. It's pretty gross looking as blubber doesn't mummify too well. Looking greasy and bubbly. I didn't stare too long because it made my stomach gurgle.

Lou and I continued up to Vinces Cross, another of the many crosses commemorating people who have died in sevice to exploring the continent and finally on to another unique religous landmark Our lady of the snow (affectionately nicknamed Roll cage Mary), which is a shrine of the virgin Mary, dedicated to some of the service men who have lost their lives while running heavy equiptment and loaders on the Ice too late into the summer, breaking through, never to be seen again. At the foot of Roll cage Mary you'll find memorabilia and trinquits left by some of the people who have visited the shrine. As well as a good view of the town we now live in

On the way back we checked out some of the local art and had fun posing in pictures. Occasionally you will find some cool metal sculptures around town made by McMurdoites of the past. Thus concluding our Saturday stroll and satiating my need for activity.

I've also take a recreation trip on a passenger Delta. We went to Cape Evans for a Ski back trip. I originally signed up for the trip because I knew one of the historic huts was there and I thought I would be able to go in and check out a piece of history. I was sorely dissapointed when I found out that it was just a ski back trip and one of the trip leaders riding in the front of the Delta stopped us short of reaching the hut so she could get an earlier start on the return. Damnit, foiled again. Didn't get to go into the hut.

So we exit the Delta and don our ski's for our 11 mile journey back to McMurdo. I thought to myself, that this is a trip for real athletes and I would fall short, being this was just the second time I've tried cross country skiing in my life. "Well, just make the best of it Sully", I told myself. "Look, your out in the wild, miles away from nowhere. Take it all in, look around, take your time." There will be another time for the hut. It was a beautiful day for an outdoor journey. I paused often with my partners taking pictures of icebergs trapped in the sea ice, and a seal hole. I also saw another Adelie penguin, and some Weddell seals. Although the seals were really far away and they didn't show up well on my camera, I still could see them. Then the skiing became a fun challenge. Ealrlier before we left, the driver, who happened to be JonO, told us he would wait at the hut for an hour and then start back. If he caught up to you, you had to get in and ride the rest of the way home, to McMurdo. I started skiing faster, getting the rhythm down, trying to get away from the Delta, I didn't want it to reach me because I wanted to get another picture of Little Razor back, from a different vantage point. So I skiied and skiied, trying harder and harder to reach my position. Finally out of breath I stopped and snapped the shot. The picture was nothing big, but I like to challenge myself and I reached my goal.
JonO eventually caught up to me and I feined a fainting in front of the Delta, as if I had skiied myself to death. We laughed as I got up and he opened the back for me to load my skiis. The rest of the trip was fun as we slowly approached the rest of the skiiers. Carl, Thoa and I rode in the front with JonO and had some laughs getting to know each other and teasing ourselves and each other about our short comings. Good Antactic bonding!
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