The End of the Season...
Trip Start
Aug 16, 2007
1
27
61
Trip End
Apr 07, 2008
McMurdo,
Antarctica
Sunday, February 17, 2008
The fuel vessel, Lawrence H Gianella, arrived and provided us with all of the fuel that we will need for the next year. It was a quick process as the vessel was in and out in 3 days. After their departure the Oden cleared the path one more time for the arrival of the resupply vessel, American Tern. The Tern arrived on February 6th and the around-the-clock work began. They offloaded 600 mill-vans of supplies and in turn took 530 mill-vans of our recycling and waste. They set a record this year by completing that process in 7 days. Without any time to waste the Oden escorted the Tern back out to sea for their voyage back to the States.
As soon as the resupply vessel left the redeployment flights began. Every other day, since February 11th, we have had flights of 100 people or more leaving the ICE with a few of those flights bringing in the remaining Winter-Overs. Our population, as of today, is at 523 and over the next week will dwindle down to only 130 for the winter season.
In the midst of all of the activity and preparation for our own departure Michelle had the opportunity to do a little demolition! Some of her blasting buddies had been promising her a chance to push the button all season and she finally got that chance! They had been working on a project of blasting several years' worth of ice from underneath the Crary Science lab before it completely contorted the building. With a big smile she pushed the button from which came a loud BOOM! (To her dismay the 'button' was actually just a small remote control button instead of a large plunger like on Bugs Bunny!) The blast loosened a large area of ice that would need to be dug out and blasted several more times before it could be completely removed and the building deemed 'safe.'
On February 7th we had the amazing opportunity to witness a Solar Eclipse (when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun)! Since looking at the sun, especially during a Solar Eclipse, is dangerous for your eyes we were able to view, and take pictures, of it by looking through very thick welding shields. It was so amazing! We are so thrilled that we were able to see both a Lunar & Solar Eclipse while we have been down here.
It is evident that the 'summer' is over and we are now heading into the winter months. The temperatures have drastically changed over the past few weeks and we have seen an increase in the amount of snow storms that we have been receiving. It has been nice to see Antarctica in its natural 'white' beauty again. Thankfully we have not gotten any snow in the past week to delay any of the redeployment flights. (Keep your fingers crossed until we leave on Tuesday!) The weather has been sunny, but rather chilly at -13F during the day and -22F at night. Speaking of night...it will no longer just be a term for hours of the day! With the winter around the corner the sun has slowly begun to dip more and more each day. We will be expecting our first official sunset on February 20th, but have seen some beautiful 'almost sunsets' over the past week.
It is hard to believe that the season is coming to an end already! The past 6 months have been absolutely amazing! There have been so many things that we have seen and done that we never could have imagined being a part of! We have met a lot of great friends that we will continue to keep in touch with as we all travel on. So far we are still scheduled to leave on Tuesday, February 19th, which makes tomorrow our last day of work - YEAH!
We are excited to begin our 1 month road trip adventure in New Zealand and continue our vacation visiting friends and family in Hawaii and California. During this time we will have limited access to email and will not have the use of our cell phones until our arrival in Hawaii on March 23rd. We also will not be updating the blog as we travel, but will send it out shortly after our return to the states. We hope you are all doing well and we can't wait to see you!
Comments
Happy Travels
Thank you so much for all the detailed and descriptive emails throughout your tenure in Antarticia. We wish you happy and safe travels to New Zealand, Hawaii, California and back home.
Love A Carol & U Joe
really...
I've got to say that I am proud to know the two of you.
Safe and Happy travels.
Joe