Icestock

Icestock is McMurdo's version of Woodstock.  It is our very own music festival with several bands performing throughout the day.  It goes from 4pm-1am on New Year's Eve, with a short break at midnight for the countdown, and then the big red Santa drops, and everyone celebrates New Years with champagne.  It is a great time to dress up, dance and enjoy the music.  The chili cook-off happens at the same time, so there is good chili to eat while listening to music.  The carpentry shop also provides hot chocolate or coffee, with Baileys if requested.  This year was quite cold, so other than a few warm-up breaks indoors, it was a great time with lots of great music.  What a great way to ring in the new year.

The IceStock stage

At midnight, Santa drops.

Cargo people doing the chili cook-off

Firefighters chili cook-off booth

Carpenters mixing hot cocoa.  There is a fork where the
drill bit would be.

Penguins!

I can't talk about Antarctica without mentioning penguins.  They are the cutest little guys I have ever seen.  I can watch them for hours because they waddle around and slide on the ice.  They are pretty vocal making their squawks and cute little noises.  These are adelie penguins, which are really playful.  The emperors are the only other penguins here by the Ross Sea, but I haven't seen them yet this season.

Penguin footprints

Christmas weekend

As you can imagine, Christmas is a busy time around McMurdo.  It starts off with the Christmas program at the waste barn.  It is set up with rows of discarded couches and chairs.  You have to get there fairly early to get a seat as it is a popular event.  There are hosts and hostesses that come around and serve beer and cookies.  The evening starts off with some Christmas songs done by the local bands or individuals.  Some classic songs, many are renditions of popular songs that have been tailored to living in Antarctica.  They are very clever and well done.  There was Oh Holy Night (about falling on your knees because of the ice), I'm getting fired for Christmas, The twelve days in Christchurch, and many more.  This is one event I really enjoy.  The party was held on the 17th so the theme was apocalyptic so there were elves riding on asteriods.

One Christmas Eve, we had our big Christmas dinner.  There was tons of food, and it was a nice relaxing evening.  The next morning we had our White Elephant gift exchange at Hut 10.  Hut 10 used to be officers quarters, but now you can request it and hold parties there.  We decorate it for Christmas and show every Christmas movie ever produced while we play games and have fun.

On Christmas day, there is the McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery (MAAG).  MAAG is a lot of fun and the creative people of the community can showcase their work.  Here are some of the MAAG entries:





Playing giant Jenga

Giant Teeter Totter

The carpentry shop where MAAG is held

MAAG Mascot

Hamster wheel for people

Christmas is coming

Christmas is right around the corner.  Everyone is planning events and getting ready for the holiday weekend.  We will be off from work on Christmas eve and Christmas day.  Two days off in a row is a rarity around here.  Last night was the Acoustic Christmas Show, which I loved and will post about later.  We have the Christmas party, the Art Gallery, big Christmas dinner, and our departments own party with gift exchange.  The decorations are up around town.  Should be a fun weekend.  If the Mayan calendar is incorrect, I will post more later. 


My homemade Christmas tree in my room with my
presents underneath.



They hang Christmas decorations on the
phone poles around town.

Christchurch, NZ

On our way to Antarctica we are fortunate to get to travel to Christchurch, New Zealand, and leave from there.  It is my favorite city and I love the entire country of New Zealand.  Christchurch is the largest city on the south island, but has a small town feel to it.  The residents, or Kiwis, are very friendly and neighborly people.  The Kiwi society has very little crime, especially compared to the US, and this makes them very trusting people.  There are some really great businesses that "Ice people" patronize on their way to "The Ice" and the Kiwis look forward to seeing us and catching up. 
Unfortunately, Christchurch was hit by a series of major earthquakes during the past couple of years. They devastated the whole city.  Downtown Christchurch where I could wander around and look in the little shops was completely destroyed.  All of the tall buildings are gone and the other buildings are condemned. There are also flowers on the street corners where loved ones were lost. There is a fence around the entire area and all the businesses are gone.  Many of the businesses are relocating.  Some will never be back.  Many of the buildings were very old and cannot be replaced. 
They are very resilient and are rebuilding the city but are saying it will take over 20 years.  The use of shipping containers for businesses is a great idea.  They are very sturdy and many shop owners actually said they really liked them. Christchurch will never be the same.

The arts center where they used to have the Saturday
morning arts show

Most of Christchurch looks this way, some buildings tore
down and others in various stages of demolition.

The cathedral, which is over 100 yrs old is probably going
be demolished

Not many tall buildings and many tall cranes are
the sights now



One of our favorite restaurants to visit on the way down.
It is hopefully being repaired.



The huge botanical garden is still beautiful.

One of my favorite bookstores relocated to
"container city"

Some buildings are even two stories

Shops in container city

Container city even has greenery and a food court

I had to add a picture of this silly cat.  I went to the
Coffeehouse and had a wonderful dinner.  The owner had just opened it the week before, after repairing the building and I enjoyed talking with them.  This cat was so cute and loveable and wanted to share my food, but would turn around every time I went to take his picture. 

Antarctic Seasons

There are three seasons while I am here.  Snow season, mud season and dust season.  We are currently at the end of mud season and mostly into dust season.  When I first got here in October, there was quite a bit of snow on the ground and it was pretty cold.  It is not slippery because the snow is dry and powdery and gets pretty firm because it is around 10 below.  Once the snow begins melting and the temperatures rise, we enter mud season.  This is my least favorite season because it tracks everywhere and can be very slippery.  Also, at night when the temperatures drop, it freezes into a huge sheet of ice and becomes quite treacherous.  As the temps get up into the 20's and 30's and the sun is high up in the sky 24 hours per day, the snow melts away.  There is lots of snow to melt so it creates streams flowing down the hills.  They dig trenches so the water channels out of town.  The dust season is easiest to walk, except for the large rocks in the roads.  The dust gets everywhere and makes the town look rather drab.  All I have to do is go for a hike or simply look out over the sea ice and see the pristine white snow capped mountains, they are always beautiful.

Snow season



When the water melts and freezes into a treacherous
ice sheet




Mud season



The snow melts makes neat structures when it refreezes

Melting snow makes streams

Dust season.  Very dry volcanic rock



Beautiful mountains



The town at the beginning of the season





The town now.