the galley building at the ice runway

Photos of our Christmas dinner

This is Buddy dancing just before Christmas in the hope that his performance would stream out to the world on the live video feed from here at McMurdo. Not very successful at either outcome, being on worldwide video feed or dancing.

This amazing event took place one afternoon in late January in the sky over the ice runway. It is a small section of a sun dog that looks like a rainbow hole in the sky with a light ray streaming out of it. Amazing

Hello everyone. I apologize for the long delay inbetween posts. Ihave been very busy working six days a week ofwitch 3 days are 12 hour days. I have been tired and my days off seemed to be consumed by laundry, postcards, and rest. I promise that I will have another post in the next few days. Love and thanks to all for all your e-mails and cards and letters. It has been really great to hear from everyone around the world. Hard to believe that I have been here 5 months and that I will be leaving in three weeks for a long vacation in the south pacific with Jill.

Inside a snow cave. These are formed along the edges of the glaciers or the shore in the prement ice by wave action during the short re freezing period.

Emperor penguins. These unattached males singely or in groups are all over on the ice molting. They stand in one area for days on end while their feathers re-generate.

Seal pup that crawled through the ice runway area

Wedell seals One sunning and another using a breathing hole

An antartic skua, similar to a seagull but adapted tu survival in the extreme cold. Most notable the sharply hooked beak for foraging in the ice and the small claws on their toes

The rec board for an average week. Movies, excersise classes trips etc.

The population varies but is usually 25 to 30% female

The kitchen where I work

the diningroom We serve anywhere from 950 to 1200 people each meal

My room. this room is shared by four people

This next series of photos are of Scotts hut here at McMurdo. this was brougth here from Australia and re assembled. It was last used in 1910 or 1912

Inside the hut

scenes from inside the hut

Hard to imagine that sixtten men lived in this space for months

The heavy equipment operators and the maintainence dept built an underwater viewing room. Its placed in a hole in the ice about 80 to 100 feet off shore. there is a warming house and a tube sticking out of the ice