Special things

Working on the ice can be monotonous.  Especially in the winter with seemingly endless night.  Kinda like the movie Groundhog Day.  It takes some creativity to get out of the rut and thankfully, we have some brilliantly talented people here this season.

When I first arrived in February, there was an icebreaker ship called the Nathaniel B Palmer that came to town a couple of times.  We had an ice pier, so access to the ship was fairly straight forward when they were anchored.  However, the pier is released (cut free to float out into the ocean) every year or so and another built to maintain structural integrity, etc.  This year, the ice pier was scheduled to be released in March.  We had a medevac of one of the grantees on the ship so prepared to retrieve her.  However, the pier was released the day before the NBP came in.  So we had to get creative and ended up getting the patient off via a basket and a crane.  It was fun to witness and participate in this "rescue" and as soon as she was on solid land, the ship left and was gone within 30 minutes.  Most people on station didn't even know it had happened.

Basket rescue from the ship the day after our ice pier was released

One of the things I've enjoyed here is that we all look out for one another.  There are different WhatsApp groups if you want notices for aurora sightings or to plan or just be informed about activities on station.  My interest was definitely auroras but also wildlife sightings.  I wasn't in the groups so relied on friends who thankfully came through.  I wish I had spent more time with the penguins before they left town though I'm grateful I got to see the ones that I did.  And the auroras were incredible every time I got a glimpse.

Me looking at the penguins (they're far out there)

Auroras are the best!

Hikes were a bit of a disappointment for me this season.  I expected to be able to go out and explore whenever I wanted.  We had some capability early on.  But our SAR (Search and Rescue) lead left the ice mid-season, leaving us without enough staff to safely allow hiking on the majority of our trails.  Therefore, I had to stick with the limited trails that were open.  One particularly clear weekend, a group of us planned the ridge hike.  We lucked out with a gloriously clear sky and not an ounce of wind, unusual!  The stars were everywhere and we witnessed some provocative colors along the horizon despite the sun being months from setting.  It was good camaraderie, good to get outside and overall an uplifting time.

The sky could not be beat

Frost, even on my eyelashes

Leaving town at the beginning of the Hut Ridge hike

The holidays over winter in Antarctica are Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day.  They were acknowledged by having an extra day off (only work FIVE 9 hour days rather than SIX in a week) and small ceremonies, even a little 5 minute parade on 4th of July.  We also celebrated Mid-Winter which is at the end of June.  All the stations on the continent send each other mid-winter greetings and hold dinners to cheers to the darkest day of the year.  Since we're near New Zealand's Scott Base, their members are invited to our dinner and vice versa.  It was a wonderful time of gathering together as a station, good food and some silliness mixed in.

Live music at our Mid-Winter dinner

The Stitch & Bitch crew (minus Ruth)

Some of the ladies at the Scott Base Mid-Winter dinner

Since there were only 133 of us over winter, the number of patients seen in clinic were small.  To fill my time, I had to find hobbies or join others in their work places.  I toured the NASA dome as well as the water and power plants.  I spent 1/2 a day with a fuely filling tanks and even got to drive the Delta truck.  I released a weather balloon which is done twice a day to help us better know and predict weather patterns.  I volunteered in the commercial laundry making up linen bags for future newcomers to the station.  I also joined the conehead team, putting lights and cones out on the runway for the night vision flights that came when it was dark.  I learned to hula hoop (first time for everything) and even volunteered as a pizza maker after one of the chefs was medevac'd.  Good times trying to stay busy during my workday.

Releasing a weather balloon

Pizza chef every Saturday for dinner

My conehead crew, loading up the sled out by the airfield

Hula hooping in one of our gyms

In the evenings, I did not fill all my nights though there was always something to do.  I particularly enjoyed trivia and took an 8-week improv course (very out of my comfort zone).  I'll include a link to our final Improv show if you're so inclined: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FC5PKyqudfi47Ctt7.  I also hosted Stitch & Bitch every week which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially getting to know our regulars and enjoying time working with my hands.  It was a pleasure to be a part of this community where everyone was a visitor so we all worked together to make it an enjoyable environment.  

My trivia team after a victory

Ruth's birthday bash over at Scott Base

One fun event that I participated in was a 48-hour film festival.  Every station in Antarctica is invited to participate.  You are given a list of 5 elements that must be incorporated into a 5 minute long film and you only have 48 hours to create it.  Then we all watch eachother's films and vote on our favorites.  Though our film did not win, we had a fun time doing it and I still think we did great.  Here's a link to our 5-minute film (https://photos.app.goo.gl/ayiVzwjdc3Frbgyi9) and if you want to watch others, they are on www.wiffa.aq.  Can you guess the 5 required elements?

Shooting the birthing scene in our film "The McMurdo Baby"