Saturday, November 6, 2010

The land of the SUN

So a few weeks ago, I got the chance to go to "Happy Camper" which is an overnight survival course. We don't usually get to go on such great adventures but once in a while when a space needs to be filled, we can go. It was soooo much fun! I never actually thought there would be a time in my life that I would build a trench in Antarctica and sleep in it overnight. It was so refreshing to be out of McMurdo for a little while and go CAMPING!


These were the only buildings out there. We had a classroom and a storage shed to hold sleeping bags and tents (if people wanted to sleep in a tent).

We saw a poor little Adele penguin running around too. I think they call them suicide penguins because somehow they got away from the pack. I think this guy looks like a survivor. I hope he made it.

This is my bedroom for the night. It was actually really nice and cozy. The ice there was really easy to cut into blocks. So cool but warm at the same time!





The seals are starting to come up through the cracks to berth their young. I went on a tour of the Pressure Ridges by Scott Base and we caught a glimpse of some new borns.

In this picture, I headed off to Cape Evans where Scott had a hut. It is a historical site so nothing has been changed since 1907.

On the way we stopped at a iceberg stuck in the ice. It had that beautiful blue color throughout. Amazing and massive!

We get to have a little play time too, here at McMurdo. This was one of our Dodgeball tournaments. We threw off our competition by dressing in costumes. It must have helped because out department came in 1st and 2nd place!

4 comments:

  1. Talk about an opportunity of a lifetime! (I'm still envious!)
    I went through a winter survival school (not arctic survival, though), and I did NOT enjoy it! It could have been that my pants were soaked from stepping through some ice.
    When your tour is finished, you’ll have to come out to the blazing heat of Texas to tell us all about your adventure.

    Uncle Mike
    How do you get in and out, by the way? C-17?

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  2. To answer your question Uncle Mike...

    Yes. Mostly C-17s and C-130s.

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  3. Hi CJ,

    Sorry to leave you a random comment, but I couldn't find contact info for you on your blog. I'm a freelance journalist working on a potential story about life at McMurdo Station, and I was hoping to talk to you a bit about your experiences there. When you get a chance, will you send me an email at claire at clairetrageser dot com?

    Thanks!
    -Claire Trageser

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