I guess we can call this last Antarctic chapter, "A New Adventure Begins," because even though this adventure is ending, life is really one adventure after another, isn't it? I hope you all had a wonderful Mid-Winter Break. It's amazing to think that your school year is more than half over already. My goodness, how time flies. I hope you have had as much fun as I have. So here goes the last chapter...
Dear Apollo:
The season is ending the way it began in terms of the flight
schedule. Remember how I was delayed getting down here several times due to
the weather? Well, that's happening again. I was supposed to leave today,
but have been delayed until tomorrow. This time though, I am anxious to get
back to warm weather and starry nights. Things get pretty crazy down here
when the station is getting ready to close. They only have a certain number
of planes scheduled to come down and they have to get everyone who is not
staying the winter out by a certain date. This year the date is Feb. 24.
If you miss that last plane, you are stuck here until August. Of course,
they make sure you won't miss the last plane! During the winter here,
planes can't fly in and out. It's too cold and difficult to clear a runway
for them to land. Of course, if you had a life-threatening emergency, they
can get a plane to McMurdo, but it is a very involved and difficult process.
It's dark 24 hours a day, too, for most of the winter.
Speaking of darkness, yesterday the sun set for the first time since October. It set for about 10 minutes, not enough for it to get dark, but the sky is changing now so that it looks like dusk. It's not bright sunlight 24 hours a day anymore. It's interesting to see the transition.
I want to tell you about the last adventure I had. We got to go for
a cruise on the Polar Sea, the ice breaker I told you about earlier. It
felt wonderful being on the water again. We get so used to it at home in
the Puget Sound. I really miss the water. It was even adventurous getting
on the ship. The crane that lifts the gang plank up and down broke, so we
had to use a regular extension ladder to get on the ship!!
Once we were all aboard, we headed out the channel toward open water.
The ice didn't break up and blow out to sea this season. As you can see from
the photo, there is only a small area of open water near
the ice pier. I was looking forward to seeing the water around town, to
really be able to tell that I've been living on an island for the past few
months. Oh well.
It was incredible to look over the side of the ship and
watch it plow through the ice chunks and bergs, submerging them for a few
seconds. The chunks would resurface like spy-hopping whales, some almost
shooting up out of the water. We saw many seals sleeping lazily on the ice.
Some woke up with a start as our big red tub sailed noisily by.
I also got
to see little adelie penguins running along the ice. I finally got to see
one spring up out of the water onto the ice. It's amazing. It seems as if
they were in a slingshot and someone let go from under the water. As we got
closer to the open water, we began to see pods of orcas. There were mamas
with their calves swimming peacefully. I even saw a minke whale. It's a
type of baleen whale.
In the distance we could see larger ice bergs
floating out at sea. Maybe you've heard about the large ice bergs breaking
off the Ross Ice Shelf. They are breaking off "just around the corner" from
where we are on Ross Island. These ice bergs are the size of the state of
Rhode Island or something like that. Mind boggling to think about!
Well, this has been an incredible experience. One I may decide to do again. You never know. After I get off the ice, my friend Patrick and I will begin our new adventure: traveling around the South Island of New Zealand. We will hike, swim, kayak and soak up the warmth of the Southern Hemisphere's final month of summer. I can't wait. Then we will make a stop to visit friends on the Big Island of Hawaii. I know some of you have been there. It's a beautiful place. We should be home about the end of April. I look forward to seeing you soon after that.
Love, Miss Talso