The Way Back

I have to apologize for not posting recently. I was going through penguin withdrawal and was very busy... and lazy. I'm writing this from New Jersey with access to far quicker internet which is also very motivating.



Our departure from McMurdo was very undramatic. We went around the turning basin that the ice breaker had formed for us, and maybe a few kilometers off shore we parked for more than a day to refuel the Vladimir Ignatyuk.

This meant we got to sit there, and look longingly ashore.

 

Refueling In Ice

The Turning Basin

We also got a chance to take some pictures with that banner I mentioned way back, which I completed with Kate.

 

 The Awesome Engine Room

When all that was said and done, frankly, we were all tire of ice and the sun. Looking outside at one in the morning to find the sun up high was maddening rather than exciting at that point. Thankfully the weather on our way back north was mostly cloudy and snowy/rainy, so we weren't to see much of anything anyways.

The Fantastic View From My Window

Sunset!?!?

In the meantime we had stopped being tourists and returned to our duties as cadets.

 

D. Simmons!

The banner also lead to some interesting side projects....

 

Our next port was Brisbane, Australia. Then it was up in the air whether or not the Peary was headed for Singapore or South Korea. We had to make a decision at this point where we were going to get off ship. While South Korea would have been awesome..... we wern't allowed to miss the first few days of our semester so Brisbane became our final destination. Since Brisbane is more or less directly above McMurdo, this also meant that our return journey would be quite shorter.

This meant we had to cram in some life-at-sea moments. We succeeded in seeing groups of fly fish (they look like bubbles at first glance) super man across the water infront of the bow and were keen on catching the green flash, but it was too cloudy for that to happen.

 

Learning to navigate with Stars

Summer Camp Day III

Our third day at McMurdo Station started off with a tour of Discovery Hut (after a morning of giving a few tours). This one hundred year old hut contains all of the remnants of an abandoned expedition in pristine condition. Because of Antarctica’s dry climate, food sources that were left behind, such as dead seals, are actually still there. This meant the hut didn’t smell pleasant, but still it’s still pretty cool to see a century old seal carcass. The history of the race to the South Pole is fascinating, as we found out through Drunk History; however I will cite a slightly more legitimate source, Wikipedia.

Century Old Dead Seal Mummy

Discovery Hut

Nom Nom Nom

Vintage Food

Accomodation Deck

Slaughter House

To Never Be Laid To Rest

We then discovered some amazing sights on a neature walk surrounding Discovery Hut.

Post Card Shot

Un-friggen Believable

The Highlight of our day was visiting Pegasus Runway, the major ice runway operating in and out of Ross Island. Some lucky members of our crew had gotten a full tour of the airway earlier (including pictures in the Cockpit, lucky $%&@!$%# superiors), but our friend was working when we arrived so we had to content ourselves with a mostly self-guided tour of some very cool airplanes that have been operating since WWII.  (They don’t look it)

McMurdo is actually within it's last month of operation for the summer season, so alot of people were waiting around to board the cargo plane home.
Understandably, everyone seemed excited to go hug a tree.

The "Airport"

The Cargo Plane, C-14

On our return journey the shuttle driver (our friend who also showed us the Ivan the Terra Bus) stopped so we could take photos Facebook profile pictures with an Emperor Penguin that was molting (changing feathers, they don’t like to move during this apparently painful process)!! <--exclamation marks represent my excitement at seeing the penguin, not the discomfort it's going through.

DAWWWWWWWWWWW

!$%@#*&!^!#*&@^%!!!!!!!

Most things are closed at McMurdo on Mondays so we spent a relaxing evening hanging out in a lounge with a few friends we had made. Apparently getting a job at McMurdo Station (as a support staff) is competitive but not unrealistic (especially if you know someone there).
If you’re thinking about it… CLICK HERE. Don't forget your colouring book!

Summer Camp Day II

While at McMurdo the cadets were responsible for giving tours of the ship during the morning hours. So we headed out to McMurdo again from noon. We started that afternoon by checking out Ivan the Terra Bus (The First Engineer had made friends with the driver).

(Photo Credit Conor)

We ended up attending the McMurdo Film Festival that featured short films made by the “Antarcticans” that varied from zombie movies to comedy in nature. My favorite that I got to see was “Drunk History,” which was actually very informative on the history of Antarctica and the race to the South Pole, and absolutely entertaining.

When some plans fell through, we ended up trekking towards the neighboring New Zealand Base (Scott Base).

(PCC)

(PCC)

The Kiwi Base is considerably smaller than McMurdo station, housing maybe 200 people during the Summer Season. We ended up meeting their engineer who gave us a full tour of the base and explained the power generation on Ross Island (He was in charge of maintaining the wind mills that power McMurdo and Scott Base alike, as well as the generators). The base was mostly empty, everybody was packing up to leave for the winter season, except for the few people who will winter over, or gone skiing. (Yes there is skiing in Antarctica and yes I am disappointed I didn’t have the opportunity to ski).

Everything is "Machine Green"

Pretty Far From Home

An inside look @ Scotts Hut (The original Hut for the Kiwi Base)

(PCC)

The Original Goods

(PCC)

(PCC)

The Rugby Cup for the "Southern Most Rugby Game"

(PCC)

Cool Toys

(PCC)

After we made our way back (this time by shuttle), we enjoyed a relatively quiet evening at McMurdo station. The bar was hosting a special burger night, and we made friends with some cool people while enjoying this awesome creation.

Yes That's a Grilled Cheese Bun Burger

(PCC)

And then there was "sun set", not that the sun sets.

Summer Camp

Ironically, I ended up with less internet access in port than at sea and since the last time I posted McMurdo has come and gone. During our five day stay much has happened so I will be writing in sections.

We found ourselves moving away from our few day rest stop in the ice the very next morning and soon found ourselves in the ice channel the Russians had made for us. However, we spent most of the day parked in the ice channel again simply staring at McMurdo station with longing since the ice breaker was occupying the ice pier.

Going Through The Ice Channel, McMurdo On Our Left

The Landscape

McMurdo Sound doesn’t have a typical dock, and they have relied on the same 20ft thick ice pier for the last seven years to secure the ship. However, the ice pier was in terrible condition this year (only 10ft thick and part slush) and we were told that we may not even be allowed to walk across. Regardless, a station that only receives three ships annually doesn’t have the capability to dock multiple ships at a time.

However, we started moving forward at 20:00 and approached McMurdo that night. We  were allowed to observe the smooth navigation into McMurdo sound from the navigation bridge and found ourselves staring at “Antarcticans” staring back at us with their own binoculars.

Pulling Into McMurdo

The Ice Pier

With the ice pier being unreliable (we will be the last ones to use this ice pier, it will be discarded), the docking arrangement was quite unique and our deck crew had to shoot (using a gun) our lines to shore on both sides to secure us in what ended up looking like a spider web. By the time we had finished docking it was already midnight (…on a Friday….), and we were not allowed ashore until the following morning when the ice pier was reorganized for our passage.

Midnight Arrival (Conor had finished the sign barely 12 hours before)

A look towards "Discovery Hut"

We were finally allowed ashore the following afternoon after a briefing. Ross Island was a desert, and we quickly discovered that the ground was completely loose gravel and extremely dusty. McMurdo station has very odd operating hours, since everyone works for most of the day (except Sunday). McMurdo also understandably has a lot of rules starting from trash separation to check out procedures (you’re not allowed to just wander off).

We soon discovered that the 2000 people here lived in what resembles a summer camp. Most everyone has roommates (up to six people in a room), lives in a dorm, everyone seemed to know everyone else, there is one dining hall with set meal times, and yes people like to sit with certain people (it almost felt like a high school cafeteria). The workers there were all the adventurous type, and their profession varied from dishwashers and heavy equipment operators to military personnel and scientists. This being said, everyone there was there for the experience, and everyone was the adventurous type.

For our checklist of the day we climbed Observation Hill which gave us a great view of everything around us. The hike wasn’t too long, maybe 45 minutes, but the trail was fairly steep and the footing was consistently loose. It was also quite the adjustment from not really used to walking on ship to suddenly hiking up gravel.

Cadets On the Move

You can see Observation Hill in the background

A view of McMurdo from above

Looking out at Scott Base (The Kiwi (aka New Zealand) Base)

After reaching the top, we thought we saw a different trail leading down the opposite side of the mountain. Nope, we soon discovered that it was absolutely not a trail, and ended up essentially sliding down a steep mountain slope of loose shale and gravel.

The "Path"

The Pond at the end of said Path

We were allowed to dine at the McMurdo dining hall and enjoyed a really great meal. The food at McMurdo station is excellent, especially the bakery. (The bread and desserts were absolutely ridiculous.)

McMurdo station has two bars and a wine and cheese café. (The drinking age is 18)

One of the bars was hosting a blue grass event featuring local musicians and we had a fantastic time learning how to jig. We were also surprised that a six pack of Corona cost only $6.50 and mixed drinks were $4 each! We made friends with many Antarcticans and ended up trading ship tours for tours of cool places around McMurdo Station.

Getting back across the Ice Pier was …. Fun.

Some Consequences