Back to Blogging

Hopefully that will be the case. I don't really have any excuses for why I haven't blogged all this time. It really is a simple thing to blog. It takes like no time to get on line and then all blogging is is writing about life and posting some pretty cool pictures. At first I was going to try and explain why I did not blog for so long and all the reasons I came up with were pretty stupid. That said, I won't get into detail of why it has been four plus months since the last blog. I may keep this one short and sweet and just move on to being a blogger again.

Four months, quite a long time. The last post I was being reflective and was all ready to conquer the world a couple times over. I will say that I have had good moments and some bad moments these last four months. At times I have been able to recapture the feeling of my last post and be super motivated. Other times I have been bored, complacent, and not as driven as I'd like to be. I have been in this cycle for a while. I feel I'm once again motivated and hope it lasts this time.

I thought that the best way to approach this new post was to start with some pictures of the last four months and add some info on top of that. To start, the end of the Ecuador trip.....

Marsha, Erica, Charlie and me up on the top of the Mountain overlooking Quito. Erica I knew from New Zealand when I traveled there last Spring. Charlie and Marsha were in Erica's Spanish school/homestay and while I was in and out of Quito I'd meet up with them for some adventures around Quito. The best of the moments were laidies nght at Bungalow Six in the Mariscal and dancing till my knees hurt. I do miss those nights.




Me in the Cuyambe River in the Amazon Basin in Ecuador. There weren't too many photos of me from the 4 day trip to the Amazon so it is not the best of the best of the pictures. The beauty of the Amazon is hard to capture in a picture. It was a great trip living in bungalows, relaxing to the sounds of the forest at night, and touring with some new friends on the trip.

Overall the trip to Ecuador was fantastic. The people I met were the best part of the trip. I wish I had spoken Spanish well enough to communicate with the locals more because I defnitely missed out on learning more about the people and culture of this country. As it is, the travelers I met and hung out with and traveling with my friend Angie made the trip so much fun. I want to go back to South America at some point. However, I imagine it could be a long time before I get back there as I have so many other countries ahead of any in South America. Maybe this will give me time to learn some Spanish before getting back that way.

After Ecuador I headed home and had a month back in the states. In that month my Sis had her first baby. Abigail Grace Boissy was born September 22, 2008. She is absolutely adorable and I can't wait till I've got more time at home to see her and the family again to hang out. During the time home,I visited all the famly once again and had good times with all. During the month, I was in a bit of a rut or funk as I did have very little to keep me busy. I was just waiting for October to come and my flight south to Antarctica.

Back in Antarctica. I got back October 15 and it has been the fastest two months I can remember. The above photo is from the top of Observation hill looking out to Mount Discovery on the last sunset of the year. It was about two weeks into the season. As it was last year, the ice has been a very good thing for me. On the plane ride down it felt like I was coming home. In some ways the ice really is my home right now. It is the place I have spent the most time at in the past year. Being able to see your good friends every day just adds to this feeling.

Audrey and I on the top of Ob hill at the last Sunset.

Another picture up at the top of Ob Hill with my friend Kris. This is her firfth season and this was her first trip Ob Hill. I was privledged to be part of her hike up the hill.



A view of my space in my room of 155. The room is shared with three other guys. My friends Kris and Lisa decorated the space and surprised me with the new layout. It is an absolutely awesome design. Just to clarify (because I feel it absolutley necessary), the fabric on the wall is not purple, it is actually blue but for some reason it looks purple in this picture. My friends decorating the room was one of the nicest gestures I've been given as this is my home for four months. To be able to go home and be comfortable and not have to look at ugly walls and ceiling tiles is huge.

A Shuttles Thanksgiving. A look at Thanksgiving dinner with a majority of the Shuttle Drivers. A great Crew and a great dinner. Hanging out with this group fills the void of not having any family around. Last year it was very special to have Deb and Matt down here, especially during the holidays. Now that it is just me the friends I've got made Thanksgiving a great experience.

Shuttles picture for the 08-09 Season. With 12 of 18 drivers returning from the year before, life in shuttles has not changed all that much. It is a great group of people to work with. From Joe and Bill in the over 70 group and friends like Taryn, Kris, and Audrey to work with it is the best job on station.



The ice caves off of the Mount Erebus glacial tongue. The formation has not happened in eight years and I got lucky enough to to see and go down in the cave. The caves are by no means huge, just one good sized room. There are all sorts of great ice formations and with the sunlight coming in through the ice to light the cave it is one of the best sights I have seen. It is truly breathtaking.


A view of the roof to the ice caves. That blue coloring is for real and just amazing.



The parties of McMurdo. Absolutely the best. A lot of fun people being goofy and dressing up. Two more months to go and more parties to come. This photo is of the prom party a couple weeks before Thanksgiving. Yes, that is me with my shirt open in the background. Luckily the pants aren't shown in this picture as they were crazier than the shirt.
Halloween at McMurdo. This is the biggest party of the year on station. That is me in a bathrobe in what is supposed to be a shower. I attempted to do the Karate Kid shower and it worked out pretty good. Thanks Chris U. for doing this a few years back and giving me some ideas on how to construct one down here. Friends Kris, Sharon, Kashka, and Patty in the picture.

Some nice kiwi girls decided to check out the shower. And stupid me kicked them out when the shower started to fall. I should have just let the thing fall and get trampled.

Overall the season on ice has been good. It has been a little different from the first year and I sort of expected that it would be. I keep extremely busy and feel that I'm busier this year than last. After working 12 hour days there isn't a whole lot of time left in the days. I play volleyball and soccer so that takes two nights of the week. In the free time I do have I hang out with friends, watch movies, have learned how to knit, go out to the parties on Saturday night, hike a little bit. I haven't had a whole lot of time to be on the computer or to read this year. I'm going to make a better effort to set aside time to get in touch with my friends off ice and to get lost in a good book. For work, I've been lucky enough that I've had the same schedule the entire season. I work the 7 to 7 day shift and there is a very good chance I'll be able to continue working this shift until the end of the season. Which means I won't have to be on nights this year. While there are benefits to be on nights I am really happy I won't have to go. A lot of my friends will be on days and it would be tough to be away from people I have grown even closer to this year. It is the midpoint of the season here with Christmas coming up soon. Last year the last two months was far better than the first two months. I'm not sure if that will happen again this year as the first two months of this season has been pretty good. If it continues like this it will be a great beginning to 2009.

Relection Time

I am killing a little bit of time before going on an overnight bus. I have got a lot of travel updates and stories to tell but will hold off for a little while on those as it might take a little longer to tell and I don´t have the ability to load pictures at the moment. It has been a really busy few weeks and a lot has happened. Today was a rainy day on the coast of Ecuador and while wasting away at the beach and at a restaurant to stay dry I got a bit reflective on the life I have chosen. It has been little over a year ago I quit my job and a pretty promising to see the world. I have no regrets at all. As I continue to travel and meet new people and hear each of their stories it reafirms my decisions to leave. There is so much to learn and and every day I feel like I am growing as a person. It may not be a huge change from day to day but I really believe each day I have had experiences that have shaped a part of me, that I am becoming more knowledgeable in areas of traveling, friendship, other cultures, and learning about other travelers and what motivates them and through that have learned a lot about what peoples passions are. I really enjoy meeting new people every day or every few days and haering a new story, a new perspective, and a new reason why they happen to be there at that moment. I am fortunate to be in a place where I can continue to travel and continue to take this path of enlightenment I am currently on.
At some point though the traveling will be at an end. The money will run out or I may just be tired and look to settle back down. For a little while I was thinking I never wanted to return to a real life. To me a real life meant going back to a 9 to 5 job or worse and living the same day and the same week over and over again. I have done only a little bit of thinking about what I will do at the end of my travels. At times I have thought of going into teaching, or applying for a job as a tour guide somewhere in the states, or even going to Antarctica for the next decade. I am not sure I ever have to really return to the 9 to 5 job but I will have to have a real goal and a destination in mind. Some of the people I have met recently on the trip have been extermely impressive people. They work as volunteers and travel and while not completely decided on the next steps in life they definitely have a strong and solid direction. I am still undecided on what the next phase of life will be for me. Traveling for the next two or three years and living in Antarctica just won´t be enough. I realize that I do want to have a home base for most of the year, will want the right woman to spend my time with, do want to have a family, will spend as much time with my friends as possible even if I have to sacrifice my own personal time (which is something that has been hard for me to do in the past), want to do something where I can work with others and make some type of difference on this world. As I continue to travel I feel I´ll be more and more thinking about a true goal and true purpose. Much more than I have this past year. I am excited about the possibilities out there. So much so that I am looking forward to every moment and every experience in the days, months, and years to come.

Ecuador and the Galapagos

Traveling again!! It´s such a nce feeling to be out in the world again. The time I spent at home was great but seeing new places and experiencing some amazing moments is what inspired me in the first place to leave home. So far Ecuador and a trip to the Galapagos has been fantasic!



One of the differenes from my travels in New Zealand ealier in the year that made the first two weeks a great expereince was that it wasn´t done alone. The first two weeks I had my friend Angie from back in St. Louis traveling with me. At the end of the trip in New Zealand I was getting tired of traveling and constantly meeting new people and having the same conversation over and over again. With Angie traveling with me the first two weeks it was great to have someone I already new well. While we did get on each otehrs nerves at times we are both pretty easy going travelers and never really disagreed on the days travel plans.



Here are a few pictures from the first two weeks of traveling.




This photo is of Quito from the Basilica in the center of the city. Quito is an amazing place of old and new architecture that just doesn´t ever seem to end. The city is in a valley with mountains all around and when you think the city ends over one good size mountain it doesn´t and another valley covered in buildings appers. I´ve spent most of my time in Quito and it is a very busy city with some amazing parts with beautiful cathedrals. There are lots of people and bus rides that pack you in like sardines. Good fun really. The city of Banos, 3 to 4 hours south of Quito, is a major tourist destination. It´s a small town with hiking, mountain biking, white water rafting, and thermal baths to keep the tourists busy. While there got to take a dip in the thermal baths and took a day trip to the Jungle town of Puyo. Before the Galapagos this was the higlight of the trip as we got to take a tour of a small rain forest and learn about some of the indegenous Amazon tribes in the area and the plants of the forest. Really cool stuff. Just wish I remembered most of what was said.
The Giant Tortoises of the Galapagos. Amazing animals that can live up to 160 years. Wish I could bring one home.
The Blue Footed Boobie of the Galapogos. I just like the name so that is why this picture made the blog.

Sea Lion with Angie at Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos.

The best part of the trip in these two weeks has been the trip to the Galapagos. Just a stunning place with all the animal life, the geology of the place, and the historical significance. If I had to do it all over again I´d spend more time there. One of the days Angie and I went on a half day harbor tour of Puerto Ayora and we were beginning to think the trip was going to be a disaster when the guide for just the two of us didn´t speak English. Turns out our guide Felix was the best. While communicating in real basic spanish and given the context of the trip we were able to have an great experience and see quite a lot of the local animals and some very beautiful spots of the island. For me, snorkling was the best part of this trip. At first it was just a variety of tropical fish but it soon came to be a spot with thousands of fish swimming all together in a school. Then as it was getting close to the end of snorkling Felix led me over to an area where other snorklers had found sea lions in the water. So for a good 10 minutes we swam around with three sea lions and got close enough to touch them. Just a fantastic experience.

Since the Galapagos I´ve been in Quito again and am staying at a hostel. Angie headed back to the states and I´m for the most part on my own again. I say partly because I´ve met up with my friend Erica who I shared a hostel with in Wellington, NZ. She basically is forcing me to give a shout out to her in my blog so here it is!! Really though, It´s been awesome to meet up with her. While traveling and meeting new people I wasn´t sure if I´d ever see any of them again. So it´s nice to sit down and be able to catch up on travel stories and not have to go through all the same old information you repeat at every new hostel or at every new meeting of a traveler. I´ll be in Quito a little longer hanging out with Erica and her language classmates and plan on doing a bit of mountain biking and exploring. Should be great fun. More updates to come soon.

Off for another adventure

Ok, so, I did make it home. I know my last post way two months ago and I never actually stated I made it home safely. Well, I did make it back and home was everything that I was needing. I can't really give a great reason why I haven't written in the last two months. I've definitely had the time to write. I think part of it is that being home just isn't as exciting as being in New Zealand or living in Antarctica. I didn't have a whole lot to write about at any given time. Now that it has been two months a lot has happened that is noteworthy, just not really travel related. So here is a bit of a summary.

I got home at the end of May right in time for the Blossom festival in Chagrin Falls, which is really the town next to my home town. The family has been going to the festival since before I can really remember anything. There is a carnival, parade, and a 5.25 mile race during memorial day weekend. It's always a good time and having this as the first few days back was perfect. Lori and the Fed 5 came up for the weekend and we did the typical feeding the ducks at the park, getting ice cream, race running, and parade we have done for the last six years. I've run in the race the last six years and was really looking forward to this one since I felt like I was in pretty good shape to run it. After all the hiking in New Zealand I was faster and stronger than in past years and wanted to set a personal record of less than 40 minutes in the race. It was tough course with the hills and it was not an easy run but I made it and finished in 38.40. So each year I've run in it I've improved so the next time I run I'll have to do better once again. Although next year I may not be back in time for the Blossom run so I'm not sure when I will run it again. It may be never if the parents move sometime before I get back.

Speaking of my parents, being home also allowed me to spend time with them and I have to say how fortunate I am to have mom and dad. In a way I know what I've been these last two months. I've pretty much been a free loading bum. A homeless, no car, no job, freeloader. Maybe I'm not that bad but they have never let me feel like I've burdened them these last weeks and like they have done all my life, they treat me very well.

For the first two and a half weeks I split time between home in Cleveland and my sisters place down in Columbus. Life at my sisters is pretty much ruled by what the Federer kids are up to for that particular day. In my time there I got a lot of pool time in (which was fantastic), some T-ball (which really are brutal to watch), field day at kids school (where I got questioned by moms thinking I was kidnapping my niece), and lots and lots of the Disney Channel. For the most part, it was a fun time hanging out with the kids. It keeps things simple and they can be pretty darn cute.

In the middle of June I borrowed mom's car and did a little traveling in the states. In three weeks I hit Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, back to St. Louis, and Indianapolis to visit various friends. I spent two weeks of that time in St. Louis at my old condo. It was just like old times being back. I met friends at the same restaurants, got some golfing in, and got a game night in with the gang. I also got to play soccer during the three Sundays I was in town. Besides the people in St. Louis, soccer was probably the next biggest thing I missed about home. By the third Sunday I was injured and starting to get my groove back on the field. It felt great. While in town I also got to spend some time with a former co-worker that I just started to get to know before leaving St. Louis the fall before. Getting to know her more while I was in town was the highlight of the trip. In some ways it was a lot harder to leave St. Louis after the short trip there than it was when I left last year. I think it is because leaving the first time it was all about the new adventure I was going on and I had little time to really realize what I'd be leaving. Now that I know I will be away from a lot of really good friends and I had missed them all and will miss them again it was harder to leave.

On the way back from visiting friends there was a near week long stop over at Pokagon State Park in Indiana for the Ott Family Campout. The family campout has been going on for 34 years now and I look forward to it each and every year. This year was one of the best in the history of the campout as it was the first time it was going to be longer than just a weekend. Because of the campground rules changing a number of years back the only way the family could get the group camp in June, July, or August is to rent out the camp for the entire week. This year the family decided to do just that and bring it back to a summer event instead of a September event that a lot of people can't make. It turned out to be a good move. I got to the grounds on Tuesday of the week long camp and there were about 10 others as I arrived. So for the good part of two days it was a small group hanging out and catching up. More and more people arrived Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and the turnout was one of the best in years. Lots of kids running around and lots of time to fit all the activities in. Usually the campout runs at a frantic pace and it seems like I would arrive on Friday and in a flash it would be Sunday morning cleanup and pack up. The extra days allowed for some great volleyball, multiple trivial pursuit games (one a ultimate showdown resulting in a 3 am tie), the annual 16" softball game, lots of wiffleball with the kids, a round of golf with the godfather, and a lot of time to chat up all the aunts, uncles,cousins, second cousins, and on and on. Because of the success of the campout this last year the family is once again planning on renting an entire week. If things work out as planned I should be back just in time for it next year.

After the campout it has been three weeks of time in Columbus and in Cleveland. Not much really to write about. It was good spending more time with the family. At the same time though I've been really itching to go travel again. It was the right amount of time for me to stay home and recharge before traveling again. I leave for Ecuador tomorrow and am extremely excited to get going again. Since there is a lot of stuff still to get done today I'm signing off but I will start writing again more frequently as the adventure continues.......

Left New Zealand - Home Tomorrow

In Hawaii right now and will be flying on the red eye to arrive back home. It will be fantastic to be home again for a little while and just relax and reflect on the last 8 months. The last two weeks in New Zealand were a lot of fun and went by pretty quickly. I had a great time down in Dunedin visiting the college and a kiwi friend of mine from the ice. New Zealand students really know how to party and so it was fun to let loose and go out for three nights in a row. After Dunedin it was a quick week and a half of Christchurch(recovering from a cold), Wellington, and Motueka before leaving for Hawaii again out of Christchurch. Wellington is the second biggest city on the north island and it is a beautiful port city with a lot of cafes, restaurants, bars, and theaters. The feel of the city was like being back in normal civilization. There was a lot of hustle and bustle to the city so it was nice to be around after spending a good part of the trip in New Zealand in small towns or out in the bush. Right before flying out of New Zealand I was able to store little ivan for the next year. And by doing that it will have saved me from taking a significant loss on the van. I hope to sell it when the market is better as soon as I get off the ice next year. So I definitely learned from the experience of buying Ivan. If I do choose to travel New Zealand again for a long time and I'm alone I am hitchhiking or taking buses everywhere. So much cheaper that way.

It wasn't all that hard to leave New Zealand. I think it was just time for me to move on. I had an absolute blast in New Zealand and there are still a number of different things I want to see and do there. However, since it was getting cold, expensive to get around with Ivan, and thoughts of home became greater, it was a pretty easy goodbye to New Zealand. I know I'll be back and can hit those other places then.

Hawaii has been a good time. Great to warm up a little bit and get back to the states. It's odd how small things like using American money again, temperatures Fahrenheit, and being able to catch the NBA playoffs have been missed. It's great to be back to familiar things. I expect the next few weeks will be great as I will be able to cherish the little things that I've been without so long. Especially catching up with all the family and friends I've missed!!

In New Zealand for two more weeks

I know it's been a while since my last post. Really though nothing too crazy and exciting has happened in the last few weeks. I went on two more tracks in the week and a half after my last post. I tramped both the Kepler and the Milford tracks and both of them were a ton of fun. On the Kepler I met some extremely nice french canadians traveling around the world and also a canadian from Ontario area. Even though both are canadians and under the same goverment they definitely believe they are from different countries. We got along well and hiked and played cards most of the time. This was not the first time I did the Kepler track. While I could have done a track I hadn't been on yet I wanted to do the Kepler for sentimental reasons. In 2005, when I visited my sister after her first experience to Antarctica and future bro-in-law Matt, we all did the Kepler together. During that three days the weather was miserable, I got some of the worst blisters on my feet I've ever had, and was still recovering from bronchitis I had the winter before. However, it was one of the best three days I spent doing anything. At the hut the first night I remember meeting a people from all over the world. There was a swiss family, an american couple, a german, some australians, four israelis, and two very nice women from the UK. Over the next three days I had a great time getting to know this group of people and make it through some pretty rough conditions. Ultimately the entire trip to New Zealand in 2005 gave me the idea to try and make a trip around the world. Those three days probably influenced that idea more than any of the other experiences during the trip. So when I knew I was going to be back traveling New Zealand I definitely had to do the Kepler again. This time the weather was better, not perfect, but definitely nicer. I got to see some of the views I missed the first time and while I didn't meet as many people on the track this time I was able to remember the past and recall the great memories of completing the track the first time.
From the Kepler I went on to the Milford track about a day and a half later. I ran into a bit of bad luck though on the last day of the Kepler. Either a sand fly bit me near my eye or a eye lash decided to grow inward. The result was a sty on my eye that started to hurt and only got worse. I got some eye drops at the pharmacy in the town before starting the Milford but they didn't help. By the time I finished the Milford my eye was in pretty bad shape and sore as can be. The Milford track though was fabulous. Normally it rains almost every day on this track and it can be a lot of rain to the point where you just can't get dry. I lucked out on the days I chose because there was no rain for the entire four day hike and hardly clouds in the sky. The Milford track is New Zealand's most popular track and it is because of the beautiful mountain pass and because of the amazing waterfalls that can occur from high rain fall. I missed out on the waterfalls they spoke of in the guide but I was sure happy to stay dry the entire time. Plus I did get to see the 4th largest waterfall in the world on the track and it was coming down pretty good despite the dry weather. The Southerland Falls had to be the highlight of this trip. On the track I also met some really cool travelers and hung out with two Israeli's guys, a dutch women, two german women, and some more french canadians. It was nice because the Israeli guys and the dutch women were all by themselves as well and so we created a group and hiked together for the entire four days. In those four days we had perfect views of the mountains around us, watched the sun set atop the murchison pass, swam in the river, dunked our heads into two waterfalls, and had perfect views of the stars at night. For the big falls we were able to scramble on the moss ridden rocks behind it and around it. It was a fantastic walk and if it wasn't for the Kepler a favorite because it was my first, the Milford track definitely would have been the best of them all. Just spectacular views and a lot of fun with the people who happened to be on the track at the same time.
After the Milford track I had to go see a doctor and after a small price to pay (Healthcare is so cheap here and so much easier to deal with) I was able to get some anti-biotics. I had been planning on meeting some friends, Gretchen and Ben, who were on the ice with me and so I made the long trip back to Christchurch. They were headed on to Nepal and had a few days in Christchurch to organize before they left. It was really good to see familiar faces, especially people who know more than just the basics of where your from and why your traveling. We spent a few really low key days just eating and catching up. I also used the time to get my eye to heal up a bit. After they left I had planned on getting some things of my own done and little Ivan needed to get inspected in order to be allowed to drive the roads for another six months. Originally I had only planned to stay in Christchurch for about a week but those plans changed quickly when the car failed the inspection and a lot of work was needed to be done on it. Getting the van in a few days after arriving in Christchurch, having to take it to two separate shops and having to deal with another New Zealand holiday cost me some time and I stayed closer to two weeks in total by the time I met Ben and Gretchen and when I left just yesterday. Christchurch is a great city and I love the older style feel of it. However, there really isn't a whole lot to do in Christchurch. After a few small museums and the Botanical Gardens the only thing left going on in Christchurch is the night life. And while it would have been fun to go out every night it would have cost me a fortune to do so. Plus little Ivan has turned out to be a big expense!! I played it pretty low key for the whole time I was there. I met up with the Dutch women from the Milford track for a few days and also met a very sweet Japanese girl at the hostel and spent days hanging out with them. In a way it was nice to have some time to just relax and not do much because in some ways I was starting to get tired of the life of a single traveler. The single traveler is one who doesn't have a friend or a significant other to travel with and in order to make the experience great is forced to make friends of other travelers along the way. I have met a lot of wonderful people throughout New Zealand and I am very thankful for that. However, I definitely began to tire of having the same conversations over and over again. Most of the travelers I've met will spend on average three days at the same hostel or track and then we move on our separate ways. It has been hard to just keep talking about the same things and I realize how much I miss my really good friends from back home and the friends from the ice. Friends that you can go out with and you really don't have to talk, you just know each other.
Now I've got just about two weeks more to go in New Zealand and after being recharged a bit from the long rest I'm ready to finish off the trip. I hope to do one more long track, do some more day hikes, and see some different towns. So little Ivan and I are once again cruising this beautiful island.

Some rain and colder weather

So this entry is going to be far shorter than the last few. Really not a whole lot to write about. I went on my 5 day and four night hike and it was nice. I only say nice because I finally ran into bad luck with the weather. The Routeburn hike is generally described as one of the most beautiful walks in New Zealand. It is a relatively easy hike so anyone can do it and it goes into the alpine areas of the mountains. I can imagine it was a beautiful place if one could actually see it. I ran into three straight days of rain, one day which was absolutely gorgeous, and then rain again on my last day. In some spots the clouds and the fog were so bad that you couldn't see much more than 50 feet off the ridge I was hiking on. Every once in a while the clouds would clear a bit and I would get a good view of what the area looked like. It would have been much better perfectly clear but it was still quite a spectacular view. I met some really nice people on the hike and we hung out and chatted each other up in the evenings. There were a couple Australian people, an Italian, and an Israeli. They were all good people and fun to be around.

They decided to do only the Routeburn and so we left each other on the third day of the hike while I continued on to the Greenstone hike to make a loop and head back to Queenstown. The day I did have good weather it was about the best day I have had since I've been in New Zealand. The temperature was perfect and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The two huts on the Greenstone were not crowded and I met and talked with a couple from the North Island and got a lot of reading done in the book I brought along. People thought I was a bit crazy carrying around in my backpack to book I did. I've been trying to finish War and Peace and the behemoth of a novel is 1301 pages long. Carrying around this book is a bit foolish because of the weight and shear size but I've been drawn into the book so that I had to make room for it in my pack. So I am now within 100 pages of the finish and will likely finish tonight. I'm hoping for a good ending on this one because it has been a long road reading this book as shown by the receipt I'm using as a bookmark. The receipt shows that I bought the book in July 2000!! It's almost been eight years. I've always wanted to read this book but not until I started reading it in the last few weeks of being on the ice could I give it the focus it needed. There were three occasions in which I've read the first 100 or so pages of the book over the last year and half but could never fully get into it because of the numbers of characters and the confusing events in those first chapters. I became hooked this most recent attempt and I'm almost there. It has been one of the best reads. Sometimes novels that are fiction are just pleasure reads and there are really no benefits to reading it. This book has quite a lot of character development and tries to explain why the characters think the way they do. In some of those descriptions I have certainly taken away some ideas to ponder about life in general and how to approach living it. I usually think I'm good at not worrying about small, frivolous things but after reading this book I believe to be even better at it. I'm already planning on reading some more Tolstoy right after finishing this one.

I got done with my hikes and I sort of got pulled into the life of a city again. So these last few days I've been back in Queenstown and have been enjoying going out at night and eating some good food. However, most of my days aren't spent productively. I spend most of my time recovering from the night before, relaxing, and getting some errands done around town. Because I'm not being productive and feel that there really is nothing more for me to see around Queenstown, I'm leaving today for a new place. I'm going to head down to Te Anau for a little while to do another hike or two and to also wait for the Milford trek starting April 11, which is the most popular of all the treks to do in New Zealand. So I'm pretty excited about getting out and seeing something different. That's all I've got this time.

A Peak, Broken Glass, and Two Big Jumps

It's been a pretty eventful week and a half. I finally got the courage to leave the comfort of the city and hit the road for the country by myself. It was definitely a strange feeling. Both good and hard at the same time. Great to be seeing what New Zealand is best known for - it's beautiful mountains and scenery. Hard because it really isn't easy traveling alone, although it does begin to get more comfortable as time passes. So after leaving Christchurch I decided on taking a drive up to Arthur's Pass which is one of a few ways to get back and forth from East Coast to West Coast of the Island. It's a great drive through the country and once in the Pass it is all National Park land and has spectacular mountain views. I arrived around dinner time and the only plan I had was to spend the night in Ivan. I had to drive around a bit to find a place I could park the van but in decent time I had a place to set up camp. In the early evening hours of night is sand fly time and it was a bit brutal outside with them eating me alive. So shortly after parking I found myself in the van with the sun going down fast. It turned out to be a really early night but I was rewarded with a great night of sleep in the van. It is very comfortable and the drapes on the windows shut out the light perfectly. It did feel a little weird though since I was going to sleep so early and there wasn't anyone else around.
Next morning I decided to go up to the top of Avalanche Peak which would be about a six hour hike. The peak towers over the town of Arthur's pass over 1,000 meters high. The track starts straight up and never stops going up till the peak is reached. It was a pretty hard climb and there was a lot of stopping on the trail to catch my breath. The trail itself also calls for quite a bit of scrambling at times as there is quite a bit of boulders to climb up. I got lucky with the weather once again and it could not have been a better day to do the climb. It was warm, almost hot, with no wind, and not hardly a cloud in the sky. Throughout the climb the view just kept getting better and better. Here are a couple pictures of the climb and the view at the top:

It was such a beautiful day I spent almost an hour at the top just enjoying the view. It was definitely an accomplishment considering my fear of the heights. At certain times during the hike I kept thinking how crazy I am and how easily I could fall. I made it an while it was a hard day it was definitely worth it.
After another early night in the van and a little bit of loneliness setting in I decided to get out of the pass and was planning on it down to Dunedin, the college town of the south island, and spend a few days there. On the way out of the area I did stop at a place called the Cave Stream and did a quick hour hike through what the name implies. It was good running stream through a gorgeous cave. Thanks to Deb and Matt for recommending it! The trip to Dunedin is a two day affair and I arrived in small town to spend the night while moving on the next morning. I had planned on also meeting up with a kiwi student who I'd met on the ice. However, during this time I realized it was going to be Easter weekend and quickly changed my plans on the fear that nothing was going to be open in Dunedin. Most people got a 5 day weekend for the holiday and there was a good chance my friend wasn't going to be around to visit. Since I knew Queenstown would be operating pretty much as normal I figured it was the place to be for Easter.

I arrived on Friday, spent a couple nice quiet nights at backpacker, met and talked with some nice travelers, and went on a nice run along the lakehere. Chatting with other people was definitely something I was missing after leaving the family and so it was a good feeling to be around people again. I think because of how social the ice can be and how social it was traveling for a few weeks in New Zealand, those first days on my own were extremely hard on me. Looking back it was only two days but it certainly seemed a lot longer when experiencing those two days. I think now I'm craving being on my own again. Weird how that has all worked out. At first I was having the hardest time learning how to rough it and learn the art of the hippie. Now it seems like it would be a nice way to spend at least the next week.

On Easter Sunday I decided I needed to get out of town and do a hike and there was a nice short one about 10 minutes out of town. I got in my van and was ready to go driving along the road west of town when a car passed my slow little van. It's pretty normal for Ivan to get passed on the hills. The car had just passed and everything was fine one second and then boom! All of a sudden the windshield was blasted by a rock and it was instantly shattered. Not just a crack or two. It looked as if frost had instantly appeared on the windshield as there were thousands of cracks at once. Scared out of my mind I got the van pulled over on the side of the rode and could hear the cracks getting worse. Soon the glass started caving into the car and I had no clue what to do. I was absolutely shocked that this was happening to me. I was going back and forth from shaking my head to putting my head in my hands trying to figure out what I was going to do. I started to leave the van to walk back to town but I had most of my stuff in the van and couldn't just leave it. I decided that I would try and flag down a car and get a ride back to town with all my stuff and leave the van. Thank god a nice kiwi man stopped on my first wave down and was going to give me a ride to town. As I was frantically pulling stuff out of the van the guy came over and suggested we knock out the window so I could drive it back to town. After putting a sheet down over the dash and steering wheel, which was already covered in glass from the part of the window already caved in we knocked the rest out and I was good for getting back to town. I still remember the looks I got going through the center of Queenstown with the window knocked out and with glass still everywhere inside the cab. I really couldn't help but smile at the luck of it and the situation. At least it happened close to a town. The timing was a little unfortunate because of the holiday and nothing was going to be open until Tuesday (yesterday here). I got the window fixed but because it wasn't an easy windshield to find it was a cost of 450 kiwi. It hurts to pay it but it sure could have been worse for me.
In the mean time, right before getting the windshield crashed I signed up to do two of the most adventurous things I've ever done in my life. I signed up for skydiving and for the 4th largest bungy jump in the world. Skydiving was set for Easter Monday and the bungy jump for Tuesday. It might have been a good thing the window got messed up shortly after booking it because it definitely distracted me from thinking about what I was going to do. Again, me and heights are not a good match and I've always wanted to conquer my fear of it. I've wanted to do skydiving for a long time but wanted to do it in a place that would be the most enjoyable. Over a corn field in Ohio just didn't have the same draw as the mountains and lakes in New Zealand. This was definitely on my list of things to do here since coming back. I've done a bungy jump before and at the time it was a major step in getting over my fear of heights. It was in Queenstown in 2005 with both Matt and Deb looking on. Unbelievable experience that I wanted to relive again and since the Nevus bungy is the biggest around it had to be done.
Monday was the skydive and it was absolutely one of the best experiences of my life. The staff were all extremely friendly and the people in my group were more nervous than me and so I was set at ease throughout the whole process. It was a quick process to get into the equipment for the tandem jump of 12,ooo feet. Since I was jumping with a professional it definitely helped. The fear level was high though as soon as we boarded the aircraft and started climbing. At 3,000 feet I was already thinking we were high enough. After the short 15 minute flight we got to altitude and were ready to go. Glad that there was a guy I was strapped to who did all the work he pushed us off from the plain and dropped. After a few seconds of spinning and tumbling we stabilized and instead of a feeling of falling it was like a feeling of flying. The mountains in the background were spectacular and the feeling was indescribable. It was fantastic. 45 seconds of free falling and the shoot opened up and allowed for a quick trip to the ground. I survived! And as soon as I got on the ground I wanted another jump. It was such a rush! I was definitely on a high for the rest of the day, and maybe that is why I was able to run 8 miles that evening with little problem. I will definitely be doing skydiving again. It's cheaper in the states so it will probably be there. I am glad I waited though to do it here. Just an amazing experience. I've got the DVD and pictures to remember it all.
As life in Queenstown is all about outdoor adventure, next up on the list was the bungy jump. I new that the bungy would be a harder thing to do since it was all up to me to take the jump. I didn't have the benefit of a skydiver pushing me off the plane and taking care of pulling the ripcord. I didn't sleep extremely well the night before because the dorm mates weren't the quietest and I was definitely feeling the nerves. On the way out of town to the bungy site I met some great people from the UK and our conversation distracted me from the jump to come. As soon as we started climbing the side of the mountain in the bus though thing got a lot more scary. Once at the site and looking out at the small structure suspended on cables over the gorge the fear level jumped again. After another quick briefing and getting the gear on it was on to the cable car and over to the jump site. The maximum level of fear was generated after the guy leading us over mentioned that the jump was 440 feet and 44 stores. That's when it all became serious. 134 meters is what the sign up sheet said and that really didn't register the magnitude of 440 feet in my mind. I really couldn't believe I was attempting this. It was outrageous and being in the structure I didn't want to look at anything but the wall. There was a clear panel on the bottom that allowed for you to view the bottom of the gorge and the other jumpers plummeting downward. I couldn't even walk over the clear platform without fear. After a number of jumpers were taking the dive off the platform it was finally my turn to go. I was able to psych myself up and get out there and do it. I got hooked up to the cord and soon found myself tip toeing to the ledge and was told to put my toes over the ledge. I got that far pretty easily and at that point I wasn't even really thinking about the fear. All that I thought about was following orders and it hadn't been for the women who threw my bungy cord over the edge and yelled go-go-go I might have stood there all day long. I jumped and took the dive and with an almost nice second free fall it was brilliant. At first I was in shock that I was falling. As the ground was approaching fast, and it was real fast, I definitely let out a scream half way through the fall. And then the greatest feeling in the world was the cord catching and being thrown back up into the air. I got pulled back up to the structure and what a change of feeling. From being scared to hell of looking around and down to enjoying everything around me and being able to look down without no fear. I don't know if it cured my fear of heights completely but it definitely did something to diminish it.
Here is a picture from the skydive and two from the bungy:



Ivan came back fixed today and I think it is about time I leave Queenstown. It has been fun and I've met a lot of fun people at the backpackers but it is about time I get on a hike somewhere. I've been itching to go and so if everything works out I may be leaving tomorrow. One of the things I was hoping to accomplish by staying in a backpackers was to meet some people and possible travel with them. While there have been a lot of nice people I've met in Queenstown, there hasn't been anyone who I think I could travel with. Hopefully, I'll meet someone on the great walk.

Loving New Zealand

I've got quite a lot to write about since my last post and little time to do it. I'm back in Christchurch for the time being but am about to leave again to get out of the city and do some van camping. Hopefully I'll get everything that has happened these last few weeks in one shot. If not I have a new strategy on getting my thoughts down quicker as they happen. I may continue to post at week or two long intervals but I plan on having a bit of a journal on the laptop or on paper during my traveling.

I'll try and start where my last post ended. I was in Christchurch waiting for some friends to arrive before heading out on a kayak trip. They got in after a three day delay for them and we hung out for a few more days in Christchurch. I think I ultimately spent six days in the city and that was enough since it is a place where money goes quickly. I got really lucky on the day we decided to leave and got this sweet little van. I hadn't had much luck at all in finding the van I would be using to travel with. Nothing I was finding at the car market or in some of the flyers around town were getting me really excited. I found the van I bought from a search on line. It was going to be tight timing for me though since the earliest I could look at it was the morning I was supposed to leave to go North. I was either going to buy this van or have to rent a car to take my friends up with me. I had a really good feeling about this van from the beginning and when it pulled up that morning with the previous owners it turned out to be perfect. The former owners were a young German couple who had traveled for about six weeks in the North and South Island. They were very helpful with the van and all the required paper work was there for me to look at. The van itself is a cool little red Nissan Vennette. The year is a little old ('84) but the mileage on it was low and the engine ran smooth on the test drive. I was sold on it from the start and bought it for a decent price of $2700 NZ. I probably could have talked the cost down a little more since he agreed to the price pretty quickly but I am certain if I need to resell it all get within $500 of the price and it will be well worth to spend over two months in the van. The van is all set up for a backpacker with a bed in back and curtains for the windows. With a little help from my friends the van is named little ivan or ivan terra van. Ivan the Terra bus is the big 56 passenger bus we drove on the ice.

Since I now had my transportation taken care I headed out of town for a long 7 hour drive up to a town called Motueka and then on to the kayak trip the next day. With me for the trip was Jami and Audrey, also shuttle drivers, and two firefighter friends, Megan and Sean. We made a quick stop at the Antarctic office by the Airport to ship some things home and we were off. But not without a bit of trouble just outside of town. I was driving along for no more than a half hour out from the airport and people in the van are giving me compliments on how well I'm driving on the left side of the road and dealing with the turn abouts. Literally a minute later I look in the rearview mirror and I see flashing lights of a police car. That's right, it took me less than an hour of driving in New Zealand to get my first speeding ticket. Turns out I was still within the city limits of a little town and was going 62 in a 50. That's km/hr which means I was really only going 7 mph over the speed limit. I was hoping for a warning since I kindly explained I only bought the car an hour ago but to no avail.

The rest of the drive was a lot of fun with everyone really excited to be out of the city and into the countryside. We drove about half the length of the South Island to get up close to Abel Tasman National Park and it's amazing how quickly the landscape here changes. One hour your at sea level and the next your up in the mountain passes. It is such a beautiful country. I would definitely live here for the rest of my life if my family and friends weren't all back in the states.

After spending a night in Motueka we got up early and got some supplies for the kayak trip and made our way to the kayak rental place. At first I thought we didn't have a chance of fitting all the food we bought into the kayaks for a four night camping trip. We had tons of crap. Little did I know though is that the sea kayaks are basically like taking your car to a campground. It was car camping along the sea for the next 5 days and four nights. In all there were 10 of us on the trip and because of the flight delays we had to meet up with the rest of our group that had already started kayaking the day before. We went through a morning of training got into the water at about midday. At first it seemed like it was going to be a long day for me and Jami in out two person kayak since we couldn't stop going in circles in the damn thing. Turns out the reason why was because of the black flags on bamboo sticks Jami grabbed from the ice that we were to use as pirate flags on the boat. They were making my rudder get stuck and cause us to keep turning right. Once that was figured out I was ready to get on our way and get to out campsite for the night. Being lunchtime the rest of the group was hungry and there was this little cafe right next to the boat launch. So we are not even in the water for 30 minutes before we get out and have some food and beer. I can only imagine what the instructor thought of our group. She had to be worried about us.

Once we were refreshed we started kayaking. Unfortunately the weather wasn't quite with us and we were kayaking into a really strong wind. A trip to the campsite that usually will take a couple hours of strong kayaking took us a total of four to do. It was extremely exhausting and exceptionally beautiful at the same time. There are cliffs and small islands all around and these great sand beaches intermixed with the cliffs. When we got to the campsite in the early evening we were definitely happy to be on land again. We met up with the rest of our group and got camp set up for a splendid night underneath the starts. This was really the first night a bunch of us realized how amazing the night sky in New Zealand is outside of the cities. Just a spectacular amount of stars to be seen at night.

Over the next few days we camped, kayaked, played a bit of football, hiked, and tossed the frisbee around on the beach. It really was like living in a postcard. Each day of kayaking was hard since the weather was never with us. We were always kayaking into the wind. We also lost a day to a torrential downpour that started early one morning and didn't break until 8 in the evening. It was an awesome trip and the people I was with made it that much better. I didn't know half the group all that well but got to know them fast and I miss each and every one of the people I kayaked with.

Once done with the kayak trip I headed back the same route and made it once again to Christchurch for a night and to meet up with my parents who had just arrived the day before. It was great to see them and my sis and bro in law. We headed out to Wanaka, which is a mountain town with great skiing areas in the winter and a pretty central location in New Zealand. Mom and Dad put up some money to get us all a nice little house to stay at for four days and it was just the perfect little house for all of us. We took a couple trips outside of Wanaka while we there and another day when the weather forecast wasn't great just spent a lazy day around town. One of those day trips was a hike up the Rob Roy Glacier. We had to drive about 70 km out of town to Mt Aspiring National Park and I'm doing the driving and thinking it would be a short little hour or so drive. Not so much. Turns out 30 KM out of town the road turns to a dirt road and little ivan did not like this road much at all. The best we could do was about 20 km/hr or the thing was going to vibrate apart. So after a bit of a drive we got to the hike. The hike climbs a little and it was straight off going to be a challenge for my mom who hasn't done much hiking in the past. We hiked through the forest and up a good deal before arriving at the base of the mountain with the glacier towering overhead. As it is still fall hear the melt from it created a bunch of beautiful waterfalls cascading down the mountain. Again, just another beautiful place to be in New Zealand.

After Wanaka we headed back in the direction of Christchurch to lead up to hiking the Banks Peninsula. The Peninsula is an area that was once an island before being claimed by the mainland some thousands of years ago. The Peninsula is the result of a large volcano that shaped the area with a bunch of beautiful bays, mountains, and cliffs all around graze land. The land is all privately owned and the owners set up the trails and the huts to stay at each night. Only 12 people can hike in one direction at any given time. We had a total of 11 for out trip.5 of which was our group was 5. Randomly there was a couple from the ice who were on the hike, 2 people from Nepal, and a couple in they're 70's from New Zealand. All of them were really nice people. We also really lucked out with the weather for the whole 5 days. Virtually no rain the whole time and a mix of cloudy and sunny days. The first day of the hike isn't much of a day at all. We were picked up in the evening and driven to the start of the hike for a nights stay at one of the huts. At this particular place you have the option in staying in the house or out in these small two person stargazer huts. I chose the stargazer huts. They are super small and you have to crawl in them but they have a clear glass or plastic panel to them that allows you to look up at the stars while your in bed. It was a great experience. I only wish I could have stayed awake longer to stare some more at the starts. The first day of hiking on the banks is the toughest of the actual 4 days of walking. It climbs right from the start and doesn't stop until you reach the 670 m summit. This was going to be even harder for Mom since the trail is pretty steep from the start and doesn't let up. There is nothing gradual about the climb. We took our time and made it up to the peak as a group. Up at the top there is a great view of the surrounding area, the ocean, and the different bays. After a decent back to sea level we made it to the second night hut. Nothing special here but a nice place to stay at. In the morning we did a bit of sea kayaking and got to see a bunch of seals hanging around the bay we were in. We were in double kayaks and I got to kayak mom around a bit. She did much better than I thought she would even though she didn't seem to want to paddle much at all. The day of hiking to the third night was an easy one and Matt and I broke off from the rest of the group in order to try and secure us a good place to stay. The third night is at what they describe as hobbitville and there are a bunch of little cabins that house different numbers of people and we wanted to make sure we got the good ones. We made it to the little campground in good time and it was definitely the best camp spot of all the nights. There is a tree shower, and awesome swing, an outside bathtub heated with a wood fire. We got lucky and got the main cabin because the size of our group. The third day of hiking was the easiest yet and the hut at the end of the day was nice, but nothing like the night before. On the last day Matt and I once again took off from Mom, Dad, and Debbie in order to allow me to get out at a decent time. We ate up the trail and made 11 km steep hike and decent in 2 1/2 hours. Turns out there wasn't much of a hurry for me to get out and once again said goodbye to the parents and made my way out of town.

In general we ate great each night thanks to Deb and Matt's planning of the food and Matt's cooking. At night we would play cards and chat with the other members of our group. It was nice for my dad to have a group of people he could talk with. He was such a social butterfly the entire time. Once you get him talking it is impossible to get him to stop. He made good friends with the older Kiwi couple and I'm glad that both Mom and Dad had a great experience on the trip. It was great to see them and hang out with them for a little while. I think they had a wonderful time in New Zealand and I think now they know why I love this country so much.

So now I'm on my own. It's both exciting and a little bit sad at the same time. It has been a long time without someone I know well around to talk and hang out with. I know I'll get out and meet a bunch of new people and that is the exciting part. I'm scheduled to stay in New Zealand until May 16 now and will do as much hiking around in these next few months as I can fit in. I still can't believe how lucky and fortunate I am to be doing this. Life right now just can't seem to be better than this.

I have to figure out a better way to post photos or have a link to them but here are just a few from the last few weeks.

In Christchurch

After a two day delay we made it to Christchurch. Sweet as! It is awesome to be off the ice and seeing green, the night sky, drinking draft beer (and for that matter beer that isn't over a year old), and eating food that isn't mass produced. I think at one point on the ice there was some kind of pork dish as the main dish for 14 straight days.

The day that we did fly out on was probably the worst of the weather over the last week. Blowing snow and very little visibility. On the original day we were supposed to fly there were some significant winds and some blowing snow so I'm sure it was better that we didn't fly that day. However, the next day was as beautiful as it gets. Not a huge amount of wind and blue skys for about 10 hours during the day that was more than enough time to get the flight in and out. Because it was so nice there was a rumor that the pilot had alcohol poisoning because the flight crew went out and partied the night the original flight was canceled. All rumor though but a normal occurrence in the life at McMurdo. But it really does seem weird how and when they determine when to fly since the weather wasn't good at all the day we got out.

I've been in Christchurch now for three days and am having a wonderful time. We arrived in the evening and were into the hotels by 10 that night and being a Thursday night everything was still open. We of course had to go out drinking. I was starving and because of the food situation at McMurdo one of the first things I saw was the golden arches and I thought how good that would taste. It really hit the spot. Probably won't eat it again while I'm here but it sure was nice to eat. So pretty much the last few days has been walking around the city getting some shopping in and going to the bars at night. It is a total money pit here. Everything is a bit expensive and after not spending any money for 4 months it is amazing how quickly it all goes. The Food is choice and I'm hoping to go back for some Indian food later tonight.

I'd like to get out of the city and start doing some camping and to see the countryside but I'm sort of forced to stay for just a little longer. I'm in the process of buying a van in order to drive around for the two months I'll be here and to save on the cost of a rental and to live out of for most of the time. Unfortunately to get enough cash together I needed to take money out at the ATM and with the limits it took me a few days to do it. I also am waiting for a few other people to get off the ice. After my flight north nothing has come out. They are flying today but it is a three day delay for this group. I will be driving up to the kayak trip with a friend on that flight. It should be an awesome trip.

I'm staying at a pretty decent place in Christchurch but the best place right now to stay is the Hotel So. It is a new place with all modern features. I know some people staying there so I've visited often. They allow free internet access and wireless if you have a laptop so it is absolutely the perfect place for backpackers like me. I don't even stay there and can still use the wireless so I've been able to catch up on a few things today. Normal cost of internet is around $3 an hour. If I make it back through CHC this is definitely the place I'm going to be staying at. They even have the place all wired up so that in the morning when the alarm goes off the light gradually comes on. Pretty cool for a reasonably priced place even if the rooms are small.

So it is bit sad that I'm off the ice. There is so much going on here that it is hard to dwell on it that much but there have been times that I'm already missing McMurdo and especially certain people from the ice. It would be ashamed if I fall out of touch with some of these people and I'm going to do as much as I can to not make that happen. In fact that is one of my major goals in these coming months since I haven't been that great e-mailing with friends that are back in the states. I'm going to do as much as I can to reconnect with everyone. So check your e-mail!

Last day

Tonight is the last day on the ice. Tomorrow it's Christchurch and the beginning of traveling. My time here has been one of the best four months in my life. I'm sitting here trying to put into words what this place, the experiences I've had, and the friendships I've made all means to me. It is extremely hard to describe. It has been so much.



Some updates on things that have happened over the last month.



Shortly after my last post I ran in the half marathon here on base. The race day could not have been a more perfect day to run an Antarctic race. The temperature was just under freezing and there was no wind to start the race. For the flags that mark the road we run on to be completely sagging is a very rate sight. There is almost always a wind in Antarctica. I started off on the run very strong. There were about 30 runners doing the half and 30 runners doing the full marathon. I was in the top 10 of the half runners from the beginning. Around 4 miles in though I started to have a problem. Leading up to it I had felt pretty confident in my training for it. Unfortunately the two to three weeks before it my training I fell off a bit. The weather leading up to the race was horrible and that kept me away from running outside. As a result my body and specifically my knees were not conditioned for the run on snow. It was like running on the beach. Every step I'd sink into the snow and my knee would slightly turn on me. After four miles of it the pain in the left knee was on every stride. I tried a bunch of different things to compensate for it. I changed my running style and constantly moved to different parts of the road to try and get a harder area to run in. Ultimately the pain was a bit too much and there were periods during the race that I needed to walk. I'm a little disapointed about that but I did finish the race. It was my highest time (2 hours 16 minutes) in the 4 half marathon's I've now done. Despite the pain there were some amazing moments in the race. I kept reminding myself to look around and just take in the scenery of this place. Not many people get to come down here and for me to be running a half marathon in this place on an ice shelf over the ocean with these amazing mountains in the background was just astonishing to me. It reminds me of how fortunate I am in life to be doing this and how amazing and wonderful this world is.



During the half marathon weekend I also transitioned back to days. Finally!! So the half marathon actually started in the late evening for me and finished at what would have been about midnight for me. It was really esciting for me to get back on days. I felt like I had just arrived and was starting the new job again. A lot of the other shuttle drivers were really excited that I was coming back to days. Being back on days allowed me to see a lot of people I hadn't seen in a long time. It was fantastic to hang out with the other shuttle drivers. It seems really that this last month has been really about those friends I've made who I work with. We try to hang out at least every other day. We've also got some plans to travel in New Zealand. I've had an extermely great time hanging out with this group. We've gone to the parties together, drank together, had movie nights, and just other quiet nights having a lot of fun. I'm really going to miss this group of people.



So I didn't quite finish this post last night which I thought was going to be my last night here. There was word a storm was coming in and it started blowing in at about 1 in the morning. The plane picking us up never took off from Christchurch and as a result we have got at least one more night here at McMurdo. This storm has the potential to shut down flights for a few days. We may get out tomorrow or may not get out until Monday. I'm really hoping for tomorrow. I had been looking forward to eating and hanging out in Christchurh. While it is not a big deal to have to wait a few days to be there, it has been a disapointment since it is unlikely that those that left on the 15th or the 17th will still be in Christchurch when we get there.

Over the past month there have been great parties down here. At McMurdo, life here is generally about work, friendships, personal projects and growth, and the parties. Of the parties the Waste Barn party and the Shuttles parties have easily been the best of the season. The wastees host they're party at the barn and two cover bands supply the music for the night. As has been the case over the past few months the Shuttles and friends group took over the front row. A lot of us dressed up for the party in some funky outfits. It couldn't have been a better time. Some of the girls found some graphite pants and a great 70's like shirt for me to dress in. Shuttles also had another Hut 10 party this last weekend to celebrate the season one last time. The best thing about the Shuttles party is that it is amongst only the closest friends I have here on the ice. It makes the entire eveing a fun filled adventure. This party got a bit crazy throughout the night and will be one of the most memorable nights because it was with all the people I care about the most here.

So when I do get off the ice I can't wait to travel. If you've read the blog from the beginning you'll know that it has been a long time in planning for me to get out and see the world. And now it is here and it is going to be fantastic. I plan on traveling with some friends from the ice for about a week and a half. I'm really hoping that the weather doesn't affect the plans I've made. For it to all work out we are going to have to leave tomorrow. So I'm crossing my fingers. Six of us are supposed to do a quick trip up to some hot springs and do some camping. After that I'm going with half of the six and am headed up to the Northern part of the South Island to do a 5 day kayaking trip. I'm also excited that my mom and dad will be coming down for a few weeks and we will be hiking and touring around with them. I think they will love New Zealand and it will be awesome to share a little bit of the travels with them. After all that I'll probabably have about a little longer than a month to wonder the South Island by myself. I haven't really planned anything out. I know which general areas I want to be at and that is enough for me. I want to get lost and if I find I like a place I can spend some extra time there. I've got no reason to hurry around the island and feel like I'm rushed. I definitely ready to take the next step of this adventure and really do some traveling.

That's all for now... I may be writing more if I get delayed for a few days.

Countdown begins

First, I have to give props to Matt for his post. That was truly one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. I've decided on keeping it on my blog since it was done so well. It's even funnier since some of the words he used are true to people down here on the ice. There are lifers down here and we do have grits made for us every few days in the galley. When I first logged in to my blog I was so confused and thought it was someone elses. It was classic Levison.


New Years was a really good time. Two days before New Years the shuttles had a Hut 10 Holiday party and did a gift exchange. Hut 10 here is basically a three bedroom house that can be reserved by anyone on base for the night to have a party. Parties range from people cooking food together, having a movie marathon in the living room, to an all out drinking bananza. The shuttles Hut 10 party was pretty low key with the whole group getting together and doing a gift exchange. I wound up with one of the cheaper gifts - an Antarctic Nalgene bottle. But I was happy with it considering I'm almost never without one. After the Hut 10 party there was a dance party at skua central. A skua is an Antarctic bird that is a scavenger and a nuisance. The birds hand around town and if you've got any food on you they will likely swoop down and try and take it. Skua central is a very small building in which items people no longer want, but can still be useful. Anyone can go into skua central and grab things as they're own. The size of the place is no bigger than a normal size kitchen. We fit about 20 people in there and had a lot of fun dancing to some great music. It was especially great since all 20 of those people I've gotten to know pretty well this season.


The next day, December 30, ice stock happened. Ice stock is Antarctica's outside concert with about 10 different bands playing for about 8 hours throughout the day. Unfortunately for me the time chosen was from 10 to 6, which just happens to be the entire night for me. I did wake up and showed up for a couple hours and it was awesome to hear live music. I was a bit delirious and didn't last all that long considering the time of night for me.


New Years eve was pretty low key considering that it was really mid-day for me and because of the medevac the week before I was on call and wasn't able to drink that night in case something similar happened. About 20 of us went out to count down the new year by Hut Point, where Scott's historic hut still stands. The spot overlooks the sea ice. The weather was snowy and the winds were blowing hard. I was there with a bunch of shuttle girls and that was a pretty nice way to start off the New Year. Here is a picture from that night.





Since New Years not much has really happened. Work has been pretty much the same. I am finally switching back to days this weekend and am really excited to switch. The ice breaker made it to town and the ships restocking the base will be in soon. There is one month left and because it is a busy month with offload and redeployment I've been told redeployment comes quickly. Everyone is already making plans for traveling afterward. I'm really looking forward to being in New Zealand in a months time. I think it's going to be hard to leave here so I plan on doing as much as possible in the remaining time I have.

New Year and a New Gal!

My latest post brings wonderful news. After talking to my good friend Matt Levison, I realized that my standards were too high, and I was missing out on the opportunity for love. With that in mind, I broadened my horizons and just this week I meet a wonderful woman namd Gertrude Schmidt.

Gerty and I enjoying the "Ice"

Gerty and I hit it off instantly, as she is a lifer on the "Ice". Gerty is the local dietary technician (Ok lunch lady) but her knowledge of the "Ice" would put Scott, Shackelton, or Amudsen to shame. While she is a little older than me... what's a few decades when you find the right person.

I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I think she could be the one. And as much as I love children, I'd be an instant grandfather as Gerty already had 14 grandchildren. I can't wait for you all to meet her, she makes the meanest grits in town! I'll have more picture soon of the two of us at the latest party down here on the "Ice", this one is known as the Square Dance Fever. Talk to you soon, but I couldn't wait to share the good news!

This post was obviously a joke, but we miss you Jim! The lesson to be learned here is: Don't tell me the password you use to all online sites, that is unless of course you want a big joke to be played on you!