TravelStream™ news feed for member velvetnron on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/velvetnron en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:04:17 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1208482620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1208482620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1208482620/tpod.html Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:04:17 -0400 Our Antarctica Adventure

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Back Home, United States

I'm actually writing this in July, many months after we got out of McMurdo Station. We ended up staying for a special "extended season", that went until April 17. There was a science group down there studying organisms as the sun went down (that's probably an extremely simplified version of what they were studying). So, there were around 100 of us that got hired on to stay. I worked on the Retro team, and our task was to gather supplies to store back in Christchurch--the goal being to reduce the "footprint" at McMurdo. I'm not really convinced that that system will work, but it was an enjoyable way to spend the last couple months working. So, in the end our "short four month contract" turned into 7. As a result of the longer contract we were very anxious to get out when we finally did.
Our time off consisted of lots of visiting friends and family. First though we got in 9 days vacation in New Zealand. We actually didn't travel much further than Christchurch this time around--but did get out to one of the beaches one day, and lots of walks around the city and into the Gardens. We ate alot too--we are now officially experts on a what a good Korean dish Bi Bim Bap should taste like.
Next stop... L.A.--to stop by and see family. A quick stop in Minneapolis to hang with the cousins and then onto Florida to visit some more family that we hadn't seen in ALOT of years. This trip included our first time on wave-runners and my first time at a warm, white sandy beach. I could see going to visit there again for sure.
Stop 4 is back to Minneapolis, just for Ronny and I to hang out on our own. We rented a cheap, retro hotel room across from the Mall of America and went to happy hour at Chilis (or someplace like that). Heading then to Bozeman, Montana to hang with some of our best friends--who we hadn't seen in two years (way too long). It was a fun visit, good to finally catch up with them all again.
Finally back home. It was a whirlwind month--probably with too much crammed in for comfort. We were both really worn out by the end of it. But it's not often that you get a full month off, not having to worry about prior commitments or jobs or houses or pets. So, we took advantage of it and crammed the visits in.
I wanted to write this last Travelpod entry because I don't like it when people leave them unfinished--it always makes me wonder if they made it home okay.
Well, we're doing more than okay--doing great in Northern Minnesota and happy to be living a regular settled life; we even got a kitten!
V
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1197864180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1197864180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1197864180/tpod.html Sun, 16 Dec 2007 23:21:43 -0500 Our Antarctica Adventure

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South Pole Station, Antarctica

This Summer (Austral), Ron lucked out big-time and was the one Materialsperson in the Supply Department to get the Boondoggle (aka usually fun working trip) of the year....to go help out the Supply Department at the South Pole Station. Most of the time (unless you actually work at the Pole), McMurdo-ites only get to go for day trips--as in, get on a plane, fly down--run out and take your picture by the pole marker and get back in the plane immediately. Ron got to go for two whole weeks. There are some differences between working at McMurdo and the Pole, the most important one for me would be the restricted water rule--that's 2, two-minute showers per week...that's right, a total of 4 minutes of shower-time per week!
He thought his emails might make a good entries:
V

Ron's trip to the Pole
November 17, 2007
Hey baby,
I made it! I think that you would really like it here; it has kind of a different feel to it. The work I will be doing is to create a 100 day food stash that will be stored in the new station, on the chance that the dome becomes crushed or otherwise inaccessible during the winter. Surprisingly I have a room in the new station; it is about 4 feet wide and 9 feet long with a little desk and an elevated bed. I just had lunch and the carrots almost made me puke, otherwise it was chicken fried steak. I'm waiting for my checked bag at the moment, so I can get out of the ecw...otherwise I feel fine and dandy so far; heart rate is a little elevated, but no headache yet.
(later) The flight was easy, just 7 of us on it and the landing was smooth; there was one point that the cloud cover lifted and the pics would have been good but both the camera batteries were near dead. They told us to really take it easy; one of the guys here said that he was fine for 3 days and then felt like shit, they put him on oxygen for 24 hours and gave him diamox, he improved after that; he said it took him about 7 days to feel regular again. I'm wondering if we should apply for summer at the pole within the next couple years?
It sure is nice having a little room to myself, it's like less than ¼ the size of the mountain lodge at big sky resort. I'll hit the store here in another couple hours when it opens and see what they have for souvenirs and post cards, I don't want to wait till last minute for that. Have fun tonight, love, Ron
p.s. How about if I send you emails every day if I can and we can use those for the travelpod?

11/19/07
Brunch was pretty good here, I signed up for the first meal shift for Thanksgiving Sunday, looking forward to it. I haven't seen Kimber yet, gonna email her after this and try to meet up for dinner.
So I took a walk outside this morning and tried to get a few shots of the local buildings and a few of the pole/flag area; I'll have to get someone to go take pics with me so we can get shots of me standing next to stuff. It didn't feel too cold out and the wind was slight; I used my work boots, I think I'm gonna try them on Monday and see how it goes. Last night I slept for over 12 hours and felt pretty good this morning, although my nose is runny, hopefully it is due to the altitude and not the crud......there are a lot of people sneezing and coughing here.
Went to the store today and bought some stuff; apparently they are restocking with new stuff sometime mid week, so I will hold off and see if something spectacular comes in. so far I bought a couple patches, stickers, one cotton shirt, a good looking baseball cap
(the last one and really cool), at least ten postcards, a pin, and a bottle of scotch that I will save and share for thanksgiving weekend......I really don't want to risk feeling bad here, one of the guys said he wanted to cut his brain out when he was hung-over.
The batteries on the camera don't really seem to last a long time, maybe it's the cold; I want to take as many as possible while down here, good thing you gave me the recharger. As you can see from the longish emails, I think a large portion of people's days here are filling time, with no television we would have to be creative; at least all the facilities here are new and shiny compared to mcmurdo......did I mention that I was unable to play video games on my computer? I think it's the extreme altitude; some kinda sensor or something that puts the laptop into shutdown mode when it is highly taxed, movies work though. I suppose I would have to try and build a desktop and send it down if I wanted to play games.

11/19/07
I'm at lunch now, so I'll keep it short; we did a food pull this morning, with a line of like 50 people because their hoist was broken. Gonna get into their vessel food receiving this afternoon......more tonight.
(later) My day went pretty well; helped with a standard food pull this morning, then went on to do some vessel receiving, pretty basic. Gonna hunker down in my room after this and watch Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom before going to sleep. So far I have written ten postcards and plan on sending out 17 on Wednesday, pretty crazy for me.
I'm ready for that two day weekend as well, thinking about taking a shower tomorrow, then one on Friday night or Saturday morning before thanksgiving dinner.........I just stared at the screen for a solid 3 minutes so I think I will sign off for now.

11/20/07
It's lunchtime here; today we went through more food boxes; after lunch I think we are going out to their cargo lines to shovel out some of their cylinder cages. Eventually I want to get a tour of the access tunnels that cruise around the area, apparently they go on for quite a ways and every once in a while there are escape hatches to the surface, it would be pretty cool to get some photos in them. Have you been eating your hot sauce? I bring mine to breakfast every morning.
(later) I was pretty much outside all day today in 50 below, didn't feel that cold though. Had dinner with Kimber and chatted it up a bit about ice life. I took that shower I was talking about as well, it feels nice to have presentable hair again. Looking forward to James getting here and I'm setting things up to be able to get around station and take a bunch of pictures......it's kinda tough to have the camera with me at work, so I'm convincing the supply girls that we should take break during one of the days and haul our cameras around and take all the shots that we want to get.

11/22/07
Think I'm gonna go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow we are going into the dome to start our food pull, should be some good photos ops; we have been in there a few times already, just looking around. All the buildings were removed from inside and it is full of food on shelves and in T32s.
After I write this, I am going to my room and read for a bit before falling asleep; I wanna be ready for the pull tomorrow, apparently it is a real work out.
James and I are going to take pictures on Sunday; we'll try to get the standard pole shots and see some of the more interesting parts of the station...back to work.

11/25/07
The Thanksgiving dinner was amazing here; there was shrimp and salmon for appetizers. It turns out that James was on the same meal shift, so we sat together and had a few drinks. After dinner, I watched a couple movies before falling asleep, I'm glad that I missed the after parties. There was a false fire alarm at summer camp at about 1:30 am, so someone was having fun.
Today James and I are going to borrow this woman's light saber and jedi cloak for pictures at the pole, should be pretty fun and the weather looks nice.
(later) Here is a picture of James and I geeking it up at the pole. Just one more week until I get back to you, I am looking forward to it.

11/27/07
I am pretty beat today, we moved gas cylinders all afternoon, after putting food away in the dome all morning. James and I are headed out again tomorrow for more jedi posing with the woman who has the costumes and then on Thursday we are going into the service tunnels underneath the station and walk around down there, maybe take some pictures that people don't normally get. I went out to a science building late this afternoon to gather cylinders and was able to get a walk around; they referred to the place as "arrow" and they are in the clean air sector where they monitor the ozone layer, as well as pollution levels, etc. I was able to get three vials of "the cleanest air on earth", figured they would make cool gifts......gave me the idea to get some of our tap water in a vial like the water boy's glacier water. Do me a favor and send me the picture of the musky I caught, I would like to show a few people down here, before I leave on Friday.

11/29/07
I am sooooooooooo tired today, I could sleep instantly. Bag drag is at 7:30 tonight and I'm supposed to cruise around the tunnels with James, hope I can stay awake. Can't wait to see you tomorrow baby.

11/30/07
Gonna help with the food pull here this morning and see what happens. I think that they are shifting McMurdo runway operations on Saturday; if that is the case, I may not be there until Monday.
(later) That is two flights cancelled so far, damn! Is the weather getting worse or better?

Ron finally arrived back at McMurdo safe and sound on 12/3/07.

Email to Velvet from one of Ron's South Pole co-workers "We have absolutely LOVED having Ron here. They have been working like crazy and he is so burly! The right guy for all of this heavy food and cylinders! We love bad bad Ron!!"

and a side note to back home--Happy Birthday Rachel!!! v&r
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1197343680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1197343680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1197343680/tpod.html Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:53:29 -0500 Our Antarctica Adventure

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McMurdo Station, Antarctica

We're Back!!!
It's been awhile since I've had any entries so I'll try to catch up on everything that's happened since we left the States. Let's see...we arrived back at McMurdo right around October 1st. People kept asking us in surprise "what are you two doing back here???" I guess I'd made it pretty darn clear that we weren't coming back after our third winter in a row. That happens though-everyone here knows, never-say-never. And also to NEVER totally get rid of your stuff stored down here-I had to resend and recollect all sorts of things to make our room more comfortable this time (sheets, comforter, humidifier, hobby stuff, clothes).

Ron is working as a Materialsperson in the Heavy Shop (handling automotive and heavy equipment parts). I'm working on the MET team. MET stands for MAPCON Editing Team, and basically we do tedious data entry all day. I really like my job, it's busy and I'm learning a lot of really cool geeky MAPCON things. MAPCON is a DOS-based program that's used down here to track all the materials on station. It's not the easiest program to use but I seem to have a knack for it, so it's a good job-match for me.

One of the new things that both Ron and I are doing this year is working as Bowling Alley Pinsetters. The bowling alley down here is so old that the pins need to be set up manually and that's what we do. We wear long, brightly-colored striped socks (so that no one accidentally hucks a ball at us) and jump up and down for 2-3 hours setting up pins. It's monotonous and physically tiring, but we make good tips-and it's cool too...now we can put "Pinsetter in Antarctica" on our resumes, haha.

The weather is finally warming up and seems to be around 25 degrees or so most days. There is lots of melting ice and snow, turning into mud. The ice runway has already been torn down. I still haven't gotten out cross-country skiing and I still haven't seen any penguins. Hopefully they'll be trotting into town any day now. I have seen skuas but have managed to not be attacked for my food yet.

We've switched over to austral summers and so far I prefer it. The seasons match up perfectly with summer in the states, there's lots to do and the weather is nice. Although as far as "lots to do" goes, I've become kind of a hermit. I really enjoy just staying home and watching episode-after-episode of LOST. I did do a Travelogue presentation a couple weeks ago and did a talk and showed slides of our Stewart Island Trek that we did last year at this time. I also sold photo cards at the Arts and Crafts show-I made enough to buy a couple of pairs of really cute earrings so I'd call it a success.

Thanksgiving was good-I was on my own because Ron has been at the South Pole (see next entry). I had an early dinner with friends-the galley does an excellent job on the holidays. The one let down is how fast you're shuffled out of the dining hall. You have exactly 1.5 hours to get your food, consume it and get out so that the next shift can come in an get have their turns.

The season is halfway through and flying by-we'd better get started on our travel plans for after-ice!
V
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1188537120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1188537120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1188537120/tpod.html Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:40:54 -0400 Our Antarctica Adventure

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Ely, Minnesota, United States

It's been awhile but turns out we need to reopen the travelogue. Summer in Minnesota has been really good--the weather has been gorgeous, only a few weeks of extreme heat, otherwise pretty comfortable. It's been so awesome to not have to wear a jacket and a hat. Ron and I have managed a few trips into the Boundary Waters, into Wisconsin and even a boat trip to the Apostle Islands. We have ended up working a little more than we both would prefer and are excited for our next adventure.
We've decided to go back to McMurdo Station for the Austral Summer--our first one since way back in 03/04. Hopefully we'll see some good wildlife this year, emperor's, adelies, whales, seals etc. And it's also a very short little contract....4 months only! So it should fly by.
I've been taking alot of photos with my new used camera lately and making really neat photo cards, i'm excited to take my own Antarctica photos.
Here's some pics from Summer in Minnesota-eh!
V & R
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1172101680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1172101680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1172101680/tpod.html Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:21:09 -0500 Our Antarctica Adventure

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Ely, Minnesota, United States

The End of the Road, for now. We've now been living in Ely, Minnesota for almost two months and will move into our new home in two weeks.
Ely, Minnesota is a little town known as "The End of the Road", and also known for being an entry into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). It's small, has about 3000 year-round residents and during the winter it's tough to find a job here.
We've been spending our time looking for jobs, house hunting and cross country skiing. A couple weeks ago, our skiing brought us right across the path of a very fresh looking wolf-killed deer, right on the groomed trail.
Now that we've found our house, our new hobby will be Home-Improvement.
Neither of us have ruled out returning to Antarctica, (especially for that free trip to New Zealand), but for now we'll get settled in, buy some furniture and try to make a new life here in Ely.
V&R



]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1163271720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1163271720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1163271720/tpod.html Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:51:44 -0500 Our Antarctica Adventure

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Oban, Stewart Island, New Zealand

Northwest Circuit Hike, Stewart Island NZ

while still in Takaka, we decided to attempt the 10 Day Northwest Circuit hike on Stewart Island. one of our friends who had done it described it as "10 days of slogging through mud, arriving at each hut dead tired, get up, do it again and again and again...." and she ended up 10 pounds lighter when it was all done. neither of us has really backpacked for maybe 8 years (wow, how the time flies). i was in pretty good shape though from religiously doing workout videos all winter long but i know backpacking is much much different than step-aerobics. we both viewed it as a challenge and it sure was.

i'm not sure that either of us lost ten pounds (actually ron might have--he's looking quite svelte these days). but it was a helluva hard trip. they say you can skip days to make the hike shorter but i don't see how--we were dead tired each day and in the end, it was 12 days before we emerged back into the town of Oban. so, here are some tips that would have helped us out, along with what we ate (because it is hard to estimate how much food you need, not to mention carrying it). one important thing is the town of Oban has no ATM machine--so bring enough cash...although most businesses accept credit cards and we got along just fine without much cash.

after a scary/rough/seasick/horrible ferry ride (one hour=$50 each one way), we arrived at the teeny tiny town of Oban and set out to check ourselves into a backpacker, which was full. so lucky for us we got upgraded to the hotel for the same price ($55 per night). ron had a bad cold so we spent a day so he could rest up. we arranged our hike at the DOC office, rented an emergency beacon ($45), bought our circuit passes ($45 each), bought a new raincoat for me ($140), etc. etc. i should mention that this hike is not cheap...

Helpful Tips:

don't skimp on raingear--get the pants too. make sure your hiking boots have an attached tongue so the mud doesn't get in. take benedryl with you for the sandflies and painpills for your aches and pains. be organized and ready for sudden downpours (strap your raingear to the outside of your pack). make sure you have a packcover. have snacks in your pockets so you don't have to stop so much and take off your packs. do not underestimate the weight of your pack (we ended up dropping things at huts along the way). bring good food--it's the only thing you have to look forward to at night. rinse the mud off your boots/socks/pants every night--it does wonders for the morning attitude (clean wet versus dirty wet). winter hat is mandatory, warm gloves too. NO COTTON NO COTTON NO COTTON. you must have gaitors. you must have good socks and at least 4 pairs. bring a book (small).

Our Food List:

2 small packets of raro orange drink mix, two huge chocolate bars, approximately 8-10 pounds of trail mix (mostly peanuts), 4 "meal on the go bars", 16 small granola bars, 1# cheese, 1# salami, small hunk of fudge, 24 oatmeal packets and granola to sprinkle on top, 11 dehydrated food meals for two (Backcountry brand made in NZ), 3 packs of dehydrated mashed potatos, 6 ramen noodle packets, 1 pack of cooked chicken, 3 bags of tuna. it probably all added up to at least $200. i'm so glad we didn't scrimp on the food...you NEED good food. 1 small propane container for your stove was fine for us--without extra boiling (we brought two large and one small--leaving the two larges at huts along the way). *buy your food in Invercargill--the Oban grocery store is very small.

Backcountry Dehydrated Meals Taste Review:

"babotje"--tangy and hearty, a tasty treat...don't let the name scare you from this yummy dehydrated meal.
"beef curry"--good and spicy, lots of peas, leaves lips tingling.
"roast lamb and veggies"--too solid, i like the soupier ones better. kind of weird--still tasted good.
"nasi goreng"--good--although could have used some more spice.
"mexican chicken"--tasty, messy chip packet though.
"lamb fettucini"--badly needed salt. not alfredo like i had expected.
"cooked breakfast"--a nice change from the oatmeal.
"beef hotpot"--good wholesome taste, good comfort food.
"morroccan lamb"--really good, nice spice, i needed salt, ron didn't.

The Days Broken Down:

saturday, nov 11th--walk to port william hut. ron got a pretty bad blister the first day from the road walking. then we got completely soaked on a beach crossing. we were rushing to get there and ended up very tired, hungry and cranky. nice hut though. started a fire and went to the beach when the rain stopped. saw a seal eating something--playing with it like a dog, rolling around and throwing it into the air and catching it. lesson learned--be ready for the rain, and take lots of breaks--it's not a race.

sunday, nov 12--walk to bungaree hut. met a penguin researcher there who was fun to talk to. hiking that day was muddy, slow and we were sore and a little overwhelmed. questions arose about whether this was actually a good idea or not. had penguin researcher use her cell phone to extend our trip with the DOC, they'll be no skipping huts for us.

monday, nov 13--walk to christmas village hut. another hard days hike (fyi, they're all hard). ron's pack felt really heavy (it was). two hours of mud/hills, then it switches up a bit during the day. lots of sandflies. no rain all day.

tuesday, nov 14--ron's birthday! walk to yankee river hut. nice hut, nice location--right on a river and close to the beach. too bad about the horrible sandflies. huge amounts of mud. rained in the morning, nice in the afternoon. met another penguin researcher. suprised ron with a very small bottle of scotch (very small), that i had hidden in my pack.

wednesday, nov 15--walk to long harry hut. a pretty good days hike. my boots started letting in the mud (damn cheap boots). walked across smokey beach which was absolutely gorgeous. we both saw our first wild kiwi...ran right in front of us and hid under a bush--right where we could see him. washed clothes at hut--sunny all day.

thursday, nov 16--walk to east ruggedy hut. rainy shitty wake-up. turns out we need to time this hike with the tide so we can't get an early start. overall a pretty decent hike--beautiful beach. ron saw one of the big kiwis.

friday, nov 17--walk to hellfire pass hut. long muddy day. another day we had to time with the tides. so much mud you had to laugh--you wonder if you might be on camera sometimes it's so frickin ridiculous. we need to rest and took two nights at hellfire pass.

saturday, nov 18--day of rest at hellfire pass hut. a pretty cool hut. there's a huge sand dune out front. we washed up, rested, trying to heal our extremely overused feet.

sunday, nov 19--walk to mason bay hut. we both saw a big kiwi--flopped out onto the trail right in front of us looking like a big clumsy thanksgiving turkey. another hard hike but before reaching the hut we saw a beached whale carcass. i'm so bummed i didn't take a picture, it looked so weird. like a big rock covered with ropey, sinewy plants. we even went up to it to see what it was and couldn't figure it out until we smelled it. it was about as big as a small car. we didn't see kiwis at mason's bay but we didn't put that much effort into it either--we're worn out. ron did see a possum in the middle of the night though.

monday, nov 20--walked to freshwater landing hut. this is the least muddy day for awhile. still it seemed to take forever. we are both so ready to be done with this hike. got to the hut early (and first). used an empty ash bucket to heat water and soak our aching feet. my hair looks sort of like the whale carcass we saw--stringy and decomposed. mostly i have my winter hat on though--it's usually pretty cold. sick of hiking.

tuesday, nov 21--walk to north arm hut. i had a bad day. my boots started gouging my left ankle with every step. we did see a kiwi though--for about 5 minutes we sat and watched it foraging for food right off the trail. lots of deadfall to cross over but not real muddy. basically feel beat up, dreading the trail in front of us. so close, yet so far. rainy day.

wednesday, nov 22--walk back to oban. my foot throbbing--had to walk out in my crocs (www.crocs.com), thus carrying my water slogged boots in my pack (which ron very nicely took over about an hour in). we couldn't get there fast enough and about noon arrived at the hotel in Oban.

After the Hike:

during the hike we had big plans to party-hardy all night long (yeah right!) we had some food, a few beers, a couple tequila shots and were sound asleep by 8 p.m. we must be getting old, haha. i ended up doing four loads of gross muddy laundry and then donating our boots to the recycle center. they smelled like rotten swamp mud even after washing. another tip...*time this trip with the time you'll be getting new hiking boots and wear your old hiking boots on the trip because whatever ones you wear will never ever be the same.

so we spent a couple days and a few hundred dollars in Oban resting...before getting back on the terrible ferry. my ferry riding tips for the easily motion sick are this: take the earliest ferry, have one half piece of dry toast for breakfast, take a motion sickness pill (sealegs worked for me), put one earplug in whichever ear is opposite your dominate hand and then stand the entire time, holding onto the seat in front of you and try to imagine it's a ride at a nice safe amusement park. i actually felt much better on the ferry back in--not great, but not sick. on the way in i actually had something really weird happen....in addition to being sick, my hands lost all feeling and curled up into a claw-like formation. a little freaky but all went back to normal before the ride was over. ron says i should get an anchor tattoo now for getting through all the ferry rides we did this year.

i'd love to hear from anyone who is doing this crazy adventure...i will always remember it and my pictures are absolutely stunning, but what a butt-kicker of a hike! oh yeah, and Invercargil tip--*find the Botanical Gardens, they're an amazing suprise in a somewhat depressing, cold and windy town.

v
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1163703600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1163703600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1163703600/tpod.html Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:27:54 -0500 Our Antarctica Adventure

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Takaka, New Zealand

we've made it out of antarctica and are lucky enough to have a good friend that has a holiday home on Tata Beach in Takaka. a bunch of us headed up to spend time in the sun and sand. without a car it would have been a little hard getting there but we lucked out and our shuttle driver (very nicely) drove us to the front door. have i mentioned how easy it is to travel in new zealand? we never get a car--neither of us wants to drive or deal with the problems that always come up with a car...so we take buses. the buses are not like in the states (scary). they usually have retired gentlemen drivers that give you a little commentary along the way and point out interesting things. and they're affordable too.
so we spent about a week lounging about on the beach with our friends. nights spent eating elaborate meals that everyone took turns making.
if you're planning a trip to Takaka and need somewhere to stay, check out this website--you can rent the very same house we stayed in! it's absolutely gorgeous there.
www.travelingfarmer.com
v
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1087000320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1087000320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1087000320/tpod.html Thu, 28 Sep 2006 21:15:30 -0400 Our Antarctica Adventure

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Ross Island, McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Out of boredom during my lunch hours, I've decided to start a Travelogue. I'm not really travelling right now, I'm currently working at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. My husband and I managed finally (after years of trying) to get jobs down here this past summer starting October 2003. Then we were both able to get winter contracts through October 2004. It's mid-Winter now and the first flight won't arrive until Mid-August. It's month number 8 and although I am enjoying my time here and feeling very lucky to have been able to "winter", it's getting a little monotonous.

For the most part, it's pretty nice being down here--the summer was sunshine all the time, the winter is dark all the time. Lots of parties, great people and interesting events to partake in. Some of the fun things I've done or attended lately include my first Polar Plunge, Tiki Bar Jello Wrestling, Dorm Hallway Slip-n-Slide and my friend Joni's "girls night out" birthday party at Southern (the fun bar down here).

I'm definitely enjoying the winter more than the summer. There are only 200 people down here compared to over 1000. Everyone gets their own room in the nice, big dorms and you don't have to wait in line for anything. It also helps that I have a better job--working in Supply. For the summer, I worked as a Dining Attendant, which most people (including me) will agree is the worst job on the station. It was worth it to get here though and I was lucky enough to work with very cool people who made it more bearable.

It's Saturday and almost time for our one day off--woohoo!
**Disclaimer--alot of my entries are describing parties. We do actually work most of the time down here. 54 hours per week actually. The parties just tend to be more interesting to write about (and there are usually more cameras around for the pics).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1157165940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1157165940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1157165940/tpod.html Fri, 01 Sep 2006 23:24:29 -0400 Our Antarctica Adventure

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McMurdo Station, Antarctica

They say down here to never say you'll never be back, because you definitely will if you say it. So, I won't say never--but it's definitely time to take a break. We've been dreaming about having a normal life again. By normal that means fully unpacking our belongings, shopping for and cooking our own food, little things like that we've started to miss. Dogs, cats, kids, family. I'm really excited to do normal stuff again. And not flying for awhile will be nice too. I am jealous of my sister's house, with cupboards full of all her neat kitchen stuff and all sorts of space to put stuff...I want stuff again.

It's Winfly (that's short for Winter Fly In) again--the best part about that is getting to help out with the flights coming in. Ron got to drive Ivan the Terrabus again and I was driving an Airporter. We get a break from our regular day to drive out to the ice runway and pick up the new people. It's exciting to see the planes come in and the new excited people to get off the planes. We got our mail and our fresh food. Winfly is also a gorgeous time of year, the nacreous clouds and the sun coming up makes for gorgeous skies. I will miss that part of Antarctica, how beautiful it can be.

We officially have 32 days left. We will have spent 30 of 36 months in Antarctica--only two of those 36 months spent in a warm climate. It's time to spend a summer back in the states. We'll be on vacation in New Zealand for awhile this year and than it's back to the states to do something new for a living. You'd think we'd pick one of the warmer states to settle down in but we didn't.

Minnesota here we come!

velvet
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1154066640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1154066640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/velvetnron/antarctica_2004/1154066640/tpod.html Mon, 07 Aug 2006 21:22:28 -0400 Our Antarctica Adventure

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Scott Base, Antarctica

I finally have a video of myself doing the Polar Plunge at Scott Base. I've done 4 before but have never captured it on tape.
Seems like they get colder each time--this one was brutal. It's always fun after it's finished though and we were all treated to yummy Kiwi-style Pizza (I never thought pumpkin on pizza could be so good) and cold Tui beers at the Scott Base bar afterwards.
28 degree water, -30 degree weather....all in all a pretty nice day to hold the Plunge.
Velvet
Just added--Youtube Link...for quicker viewing of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M08aO3f4cFM
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