Australia in photos



Sydney trains rush past



The Blue Mountains



The Three Sisters



Simon, Hanz, and Alicia



Hell yeah!



Lunch with Hanz and Simon, Alicia took the shot

An introduction to Australia

The flight out of New Zealnd provided magnificent views of the mountains on the west coast. Glaciers hug the sides and create secret lakes high in the passes. When we arrived at Sydney the city was hidden under the clouds.Sydney revealed herself slowly as a mistress dancing to the John Butler Trios' "Daniela" as we descended through the mists. Sydney is green, lush, snaking rivers and crashing coasts, opulent, busy and beautiful from this vantage. The brown of the rivers and dark green of the trees clashes with the hard red roofs and deep blue pools. The Opera huddles by the harbour like a hedgehog by a puddle on this overcast day.

I found myself to the central trainstation with a significantly lighter wallet after purchasing rail passes for the week and storage for the luggage headed to Vancouver. I had to run, flip flops slapping the brick floor, to catch the Bundaberg express train. We road past the throngs of stylish youth smoking cigarettes and laughing loudly on their way home from Sydneys beaches. Our train smoothly worked its way out of what I am learning is a very large city. The nieghborhoods on this side of town vary from crowded blue collar townhouses to more rural homes in disrepair with sad metal roofs. The pasenger behind me acts as a guide and comments that some of these nieghborhoods house families that have been on the doll for eleven generations. I wonder how exaggerated that statement is. After an hour and a half the houses are slowly replaced by forest and the path of the train increasingly threads through narrow passes cut through red and yellow rock.

I arrive in a cold Katoomba very aware of my relative nakedness and replace the jandals with shoes and shorts with pants. I didn't bring a sweater. I have never felt so alone or so far from anywhere at this trainstation. This is the first time that no one is waiting for me at the end of a journey. I cautiously head into a hustling bustling and colorful Katoomba with young travelors weaving in and out of bars, clubs, and restaurants. I pass a very plain looking hostel and half a block later find a quirky Victorian style building of many bright colors that is chock full of kiwis, Europeans, and ozzies. They offer me bread and pizza after showing me my bed. I joined a group out by a small campfire in the back yard and fall asleep. I wake up with a cat curled up on my chest in thee wee hours of the morning. The group around the fire still telling tales and sharing laughs. I make my way to bed.

The morning came early and I made my way past the Europeans in line waiting for the showers in various states of undress, some quite agreeable, and make my plan for the day over a rum and coffee.

ChristChurch Photos

Habitat for Humanity- Mark, Bob, Me helping this wonderful woman from ChristChurch. 



ChristChurch Botanical Garden

Fountain at Gardens

New Brighton Beaches

My toes on the beach

Hamner Springs... beautiful... bikinis :)

A little bit more about habitat

Paul and Helen Galbraith, the couple who organize and run this operation, invited the three of us who were not fasting to dinner. I have heard allot about the earthquakes from locals. They remember exactly where they were. Some lost friends and family. Many homes were damaged or destroyed. As the earth moved undeground streams and rivers mixed with soil that used to be swamp before the city was established. Then this slurry pushed up through the gaping wounds on the surface. Some roofs collapsed, some piers failed, many homes were left off kilter.

Every building here was inspected. The land was underneath was inspected too. In the end houses ended up in two zones. Red, permanatly condemned, and green - ok to repair. The land under Red houses was bought by the government, and for those with insurance their homes were paid foe with insurance. Greenhomes on the other hand could be repaired by insurance if you had it. It could be a long wait while the trades, materials, and money organized and finally got to your home.

The uninsured on green land were left with broken homes. For those over sixty five, suffering from some medical disability, or with dependent children - Habitat for humanity and the Red Cross has partnered with the local construction industry and other doners to provide the materials for the repairs. Volunteers from all over New Zealand, and the world, do the work that they can.

What I learned tonight is that many of these people had given up. TThier lives where shattered. They had little hope. Many were seperated from their families for one reason or another and the earthquakes were the last straw. But when the volunteers showed up and started ripping down drywall, cutting holes in floors, leveling houses, many of these owners started to chip in. The hope came back in their eyes, they regained their fight, they got back to living their lives.

I am lucky enough to catch the tail end of this project and meet the people involves. Three of the volunteers have come before with this project. Paul, a very successful builder in the first place, and his wife and daughter have done a great deal of good here in the last few years. To see the light in their eyes when they speak of the changes they have seen in the people they have helped has made this leg of my journey worth it.

Habitat for Humanity

I am working with Habitat for Humanity in ChristChurch. Last weekend I went to Hammer Hot springs and soaked in the sulfer mineral water to ease away the Antarctic stresses. Yesterday I played at Sumner Beach and had the most delicious Red India Pale Ale that I have ever had. Best damn beer I have had in a year. I cannot post any pictures right now and am posting from the Kindle. So I am a little limited in my ability to express my trip. Today we ripped out the vinyl flooring of a house damaged in the earthquake. Some of the subfloor was replaced and in other areas we planed the floor down level in other spots. By the end of the day started placing masonite down on top of the floor in preparation for new vinyl. Earlier this year they leveled the house and put piers under it. Many homes here have been red zoned and their owners will never be able to return. These owners we are helping have permission to repair but no insurance to cover the costs of the labor... only the materials.

Three pilots dead

Bob Heath Mike Denton Tony Szekely http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/mobileweb/2013/01/26/kenn-borek-crash-antarctica-plane-crash-bob-heath-canadian-crew_n_2559312.html

Missing aircraft in Antarctica

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8216948/South-Pole-flight-lost
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/23/three-canadians-aboard-plane-missing-in-antarctica/


Sad news today. A flight in Antarctica to the South Pole has gone missing. For me this is sad news. It is unlikely I knew the men on the flight but still... after having flown over those treacherous skies it darkens my heart. My prayers go out to the men who, if landed, are suffering truly horrible weather. They have the training and supplies to survive if they landed ok.

I have rejoined the world!

It has been a weird week. The parties over the weekend were over the top. And Sunday I was unprepared for leaving. I stayed up all night Sunday, packing, cleaning, fretting and procrastinating. Passed my room inspection with "flying colors" Monday morning. Worked through the afternoon. Spent the evening printing itineraries and booking information for this part of my trip. Went home to sleep and found I could not. So I spent the night, the whole night, in the galley chatting with new and old friends. That conversation went places that I have never conversed before. Strange things are done in the mid night sun. After over 48 hours awake we transported and I crashed on the two hour trek to the Pegasus run way. I barely remember the transfer to the plane.

Our C-130 was packed to the gills. I found myself squished next to some hydraulic contraption and slept heavily till 30 minutes to landing.

And here were are! Back with the rest of the bustling planet. Green trees. Moisture in the air (you wouldn't believe how different that feels on your arms). I am wearing a t-shirt, outside, and totally comfortable. Unbelievable.

It is my birthday tonight. We are meeting in the "Brother's Arms" just down the street for some fish and chips and a couple beers. I start with Habitat for Humanity tomorrow... or maybe the day after (I am exhausted and have discussed staying another night here with the hotel).

Love to everyone. Can't wait to see the Grandparents on both sides, my sister, her man, and all my old friends.

My time here in Antarctica has come to a close

Just relaxing in the sun

It has been a good season. The weather would change on a dime. Sunny afternoons and blustering cold mornings. Today there are five foot snow drifts all around town. Not too long ago I went on a nine mile hike in a t-shirt at midnight.

We worked hard. And worked fun. I learned a great deal and made some great friends. At six in the morning tomorrow I will head up to building 140 for transport to the airport. If all goes well I will celebrate my 28th birthday in New Zealand.

Thanks to my family for helping to get me here. For supporting me while I was here. For taking care of Oso. For welcoming me on my imminent return.

And thanks to the people here for being welcoming. For being willing to teach a Texan how things are done on the bottom of the planet.

Bad news

So last night there was a hell of a storm. And I went out to cover it and slipped. And when I slipped I ended up on my poor camera and it was destroyed. So... I am headed, late as it is cause' of this wonderful storm, to Australia and New Zealand with my old camera that I was sure would never make it through this season. But the old camera is still holding up and all new photos will come from it. And I really hope that when I get home we will somehow recover both the photos, and videos, of penguins and adventure, from the short lived new camera.

T

Observation Hill Hike

The path up Ob-Hill

I couldn't sleep one night a couple weeks ago so I finally hiked up Observation Hill, or Ob-hill as we call it here. Ob hill is on the other side of McMurdo Station from Arrival Heights, the first little hike I did shortly after arriving here. It is between Scott Base and McMurdo Station. There is a cross on the top in memorial to the men who died on the way back from the South Pole in Scott's doomed mission.



Sign reads "Danger - Keep Away - Microwave Radiation

 On the first plateau is the location of the old nuclear plant that used to power the base in the days before the Antarctic Treaty. This sign has more to do with the box behind (some kind of communications thing) than the radiation on that site. There are a few foundations left from support buildings to the reactor. The location of the reactor has been excavated and all highly contaminated dirt (12,000 cubic yards) removed from the continent.* Over the course of its operation there had been a handful of leaks and adhoc repairs were found during its decommission. There were also planned discharges of effluent water that were found to react with the minerals in the soil that began to create areas of radiation above planned levels**

A picture of the Nuclear plant (est 1962 - ran through 1972)  before it was decommissioned*

 

From there the ascent gets rather steep and the path is a scrabble of loose rocks.

 

At the top is the cross in memorial to Scott's fatal expedition. Scott is thought to have died on March 29th 1912. Only three men made it on the return journey to their final resting place on the Ross Ice Shelf. It is estimated that their bodies are now 75 feet beneath the snow on a slow path to the ocean with the rest of the glacier*** 

Looking at McMurdo from the top



At the top I looked around and took some pictures. It was late now and I scrambled down and had a snack at the mid-rat's Lunch ( mid rats are the poor souls on night shift here.)



Looking to Scott base from the top



*Peter Rejcek. Powerful Reminder. June 2010. http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contentHandler.cfm?id=2176

**Owen Wilkes and Robert Mann, The Story of Nukey Poo, The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, October 1978. www.books.google.com

***http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott#Last_march, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observation_Hill_(McMurdo_Station)

Penguins!



Phil the penguin



The family



On the move



Just chilling out















I was really worried that I wasn't going to see any penguins before heading home... and.... ta dah!

Post New Years Hike

Mt. Erebus and Castle Rock- we are half way through a 7 mile hike.

At the bottom of Castle Rock - For my sister cause she kicks butt and designed this shirt, for my padres cause I know they were involved, and for Oso - cause I miss him. <sorry Lucy :( >

You may have noticed the horror in my face in the above picture, because this is what I saw when was looking at the camera.... the fog is rolling in behind us, we are miles from base, alone, and the fog is rolling in.

Ten minutes later the farthest I can see is 150 ft but after half an hour of hiking we get below cloud cover and spend the next few hours negotiating the slushy sea ice on the way back home. We make it back just in time for dinner... with a raging appetite.

New Years!



Post Apocalyptic McMurdo New Years Eve Party!



And it gets going!



The smiler... my neighbor- Shane



Pink Torpedo - the closing act!