Bill's 2022 Antarctic Adventure

  10-31-2022 Happy Halloween everyone! It was a busy day, so I’ll be brief today. I worked an evening shift alone for the first time since I’ve been here and had the most traffic I ever had before. Happily, it all worked out and the shift went by really fast. Today was also the first day we opened the Control Tower for the season. There were many glitches, but we worked through them and we’re going to give it another try tomorrow. Before I went to work though I went to the Gerbil Gym and got an hour in on a brand-new treadmill that was just installed yesterday. I followed that up with an hour on the yoga mat. It feels really good to start getting into a routine.  The weather was clear and chilly today with a really gusty wind blowing. Each day is a little warmer now to the point that snow on the walking paths actually started melting. It’s still odd to see bright daylight in the middle of the night. Thank god for blackout curtains in our rooms.

  10-30-22 The wind sang today! I’ve heard the wind blow hard in many places in the world, but I’ve never heard it sing. I was in church this morning and the Chaplin had just made a comment about the wind, not knowing where its coming from or going to… just a few minutes later a huge gust hit the front of the church and there was actually a musical tone to it. It’s hard to describe but beautiful to listen to.  On a related topic, I’ve noted this before on my stays at McMurdo, but it still interests me. I estimate the population is now around one thousand people, give or take, and for both Sundays I've been here, attendance at church has been about ten people. I know most of the people here have a science background and it is Sunday, the only day most of us have off, but it’s still interesting so few people attend church. The man playing guitar and leading the singing is the Flight Surgeon at the clinic. He is very charismatic and a great addition to the service. On a completely unr

  10-29-2022 Tomorrows supposed to be very cold and windy (50 mph) so I went for a walk down to Hut Point after work today. The hut was built in 1902 but on the outside, it looks like it did the day it was built. I’m just stunned by its pristine appearance. Outside the front door is a seal that was left there when Scott abandoned the hut over 100 years ago. The seal has remained frozen in place since that day The Hut was open to the public when I was last here but because people were removing artifacts, they now keep it locked. Tours are available on given days and a volunteer docent answers questions and ensures artifacts remain intact for future generations. As you enter the building, you’re forced to duck your head in order to enter through the very short door. When you enter you feel as though you have literally stepped back in time.  Socks and t-shirts are draped over the bunk beds. Blankets and sheets lie rumpled as though the men had just rolled out of bed. A penguin, the object

  10-28-2022 Where has the time gone? October is almost gone, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I’m almost done with training, and we got our first duty schedule today that extends through November. The sun has been up 24 hours a day since the 24 th  of October and the funny thing is it seems normal. I have some midnight shifts coming up in November in the Tower so it will be interesting to see how my body responds to sunlight in the middle of the night. I’m really looking forward to being on a regular schedule because it frees me up to start exercising and walking along the shoreline that borders the base. I haven’t seen any wildlife yet although I’ve talked to people who have seen both penguins and seals. It will be a month before the Killer whales and Minke whales show up. I spent a little time in the library last night. It has grown in size significantly since the last time I was here and surprisingly the library was full of people reading books the old-fashioned way. It

  10-27-2022 Early in my last journey to The Ice in 2007 we set up a runway on the ice just outside of the town. Logistically it was a fabulous idea because you could literally get off of an airplane and walk to the center of McMurdo in a mere 10 minutes.  The trip now takes an hour in a massive people carrying snow machine from an airfield 10 miles from town. The problem with the runway, other than seals boring holes and then sunning themselves on it, was that it was only usable until early December. Then everything had to be removed from the ice and moved back into town where it took up space until it could be redeployed the following year.  The airport used a seismograph every time a large aircraft landed to determine if the ice was still thick enough to support the runways continued use. Imagine how thick that ice must have been! We no longer use the ice runway. In fact, today, as I looked out of the window of my work area, I could see several areas of open water. The climate is ch

 10-26-2022 Welcome back! No wait, that’s me that should be hearing that. It has been a very busy 2 weeks. Getting my feet on the ground, training every day of one kind or another, difficulties connecting with the outside world and many other challenges. I’m happy to report I am back online and have even set up a time to call Deni every morning before I head off to work. It’s always good to hear her voice. The weather has been very Antarctic like the past two weeks. We’ve had gusty winds, cloudy skies and even some snow. Today however, was spectacular, the wind was calm, the skies were clear, and visibility was unlimited. The temperature was even pleasant for a late October day. I enjoyed a class on survival in extreme cold climates yesterday afternoon. It was very informative, and we had opportunities for hands on assembly of white gas camp stoves, pitching tents, building ice walls/igloos and classroom time studying the many medical problems you can face if you get caught away from t

  10-23-22 Well, I’m back but still having trouble with my internet connection. I made it to The Ice October 20th, and it was a beautiful day. The temperature was 18 (above zero), sunny with no wind.  That is way better than any other first day I’ve ever experienced. The airport is 10 miles away from McMurdo. The vehicle we were traveling into town has a top speed of 10 mph. Yes, it took an hour to travel 10 miles to the base.  Upon arrival we were ushered into the library for a welcome aboard briefing. After the briefing I headed over to my dorm room then over to the dining facility for dinner. I share my room with a weather observer named Mark. He’s a little younger than me (most everybody is) but very nice. Our room is about half the size of a hotel room with a twin bed in each back corner. The beds are separated by a wardrobe with hanging space and 3 drawers for cloths. Just inside the door is a common area with a small TV, small refrigerator and a microwave oven. We also have an o

 Bill flew to the Ice yesterday. He is having trouble getting his laptop on the internet. As soon as he can, the blog will be back up with his news. In the meantime, he did get a work email so we can write to him. Here is his email William.Elwood.contractor@usap.gov Hope he gets his internet access fixed soon. 

  0-19-22 Another day another hotel. The backlog of people in Christchurch continues to grow with more and more people flying in and no one flying out. Hotels in town are jammed packed and finding rooms for us is becoming increasingly difficult. After much waiting this morning, and literally standing on the curb outside last night’s hotel with our bags, we finally received marching orders to our hotel for tonight’s stay. Our lodging for tonight is at the BreakFree Hotel in downtown Christchurch. This is exciting for me because I have never been in Christchurch long enough to visit the downtown area. I spent several hours exploring downtown Christchurch and found it to be quite beautiful. My room for the night is by far the smallest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in. If I stretch my arms out, I can almost reach from one side to the other in both directions. Basically, I have a full-size bed a bathroom area and just enough floor space to turn around in. I’m scheduled to fly again tomorrow m

  10-18-22 Another day in the holding pattern is how I’d sum up the day. Because we hadn’t been screened in a couple of days, we had to Covid screen again. You’ll be glad to know I screened negative! Then more waiting was in order because all the nearby hotels were sold out, so the Antarctic folks were scrambling to find beds for all of us for the night. In the end it meant a hotel change for me which was a shuttle ride from the airport. It’s a pretty little boutique hotel and the folks here are very nice and accommodating. Just after we checked in the rain started coming down in buckets. Room service tonight is in order. We are scheduled to fly with the New Zealand Air Force again tomorrow on their B-757. If all goes well and there are no weather problems I could be on The Ice by early tomorrow afternoon. By the way, I forgot to tell you that the New Zealand Air Force provides snack and beverage service on the plane just like a full-service airline. My how things have changed from my

  10-17-22 What a day!! The adventure began at 4:30 am with a little yoga. The plan today is to fly to The Ice courtesy of a New Zealand military B-757. Baggage check, passenger screening, aircraft preflight checks all went good, smooth as silk, no issues. What could possibly go wrong? Well, the plane took off on time. Everyone on board had boomeranged at least once. We were all optimistic that this would be the day and so far, it was. That is until we had just passed the point of safe return (PSR). Today it was the fickle weather at McMurdo that was to send us on another boomerang. Shortly after passing PSR the pilot came on the intercom and announced the airfield had just become shrouded in a heavy fog and we were turning back for Christchurch. As the old saying goes “you could have heard a pin drop”. At first, we thought the pilot was having a little fun at our expense. We all chuckled and waited for the jolly joker to rescind his misspoken words and assure us we were, in fact, cont

  10-16-22 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….. It was a spectacularly beautiful day in Christchurch today. There was not a single cloud in the sky, no wind and so warm I was able to take the puffy coat off! It’s spring here so everything is in bloom and the air has a sweet freshness about it. I spent a lot of time walking today, 2-1/2 miles to church each way and a walk down to McDonalds for breakfast. I know, what kind of diet is that? I hope to get a note under my door this evening telling me to report in the morning for my flight to The Ice. Keep your fingers crossed.

  10-15-22 Here’s a new word for some of you: Boomerang. To most of us it conjures up an image of a flat curved piece of wood which, when thrown correctly, returns gracefully to the hand of the thrower. In Antarctic aviation parlance it means your airplane started to go to The Ice but turned around at some point for any of a hundred reasons and returned to its starting point in Christchurch. In our case today the aircraft informed the pilots during the boarding process that it had no intention of even leaving the ramp area!  The good news is that I get to spend at least one more day in Christchurch enjoying the wonderful, and I mean that sincerely, hospitality of New Zealanders. I’m confident I’ll get to the Ice one day because these folks are truly a persistent lot. In the meantime, I’ll wait expectantly for a piece of paper to come sliding under my door announcing the next expected departure date and time. Stay tuned. The picture shows what it will be like inside the plane.  We are t

  10-14-22 Exciting news today! I tested negative for COVID. This was the last hurdle I had to jump before I could be cleared to fly to Antarctica. All things being equal, which they rarely are here, I’ll be on a plane headed south tomorrow. It was another chilly, windy overcast day today. Everyone here is so professional and helpful especially considering they’ve had a back-up of people for several reasons.  Here's an interesting bit of information. When I said we’ll be heading south, the aircraft instruments will indicate we are going north. Long before aircraft flew in Antarctica they flew over the north pole. To make navigation easier for airplanes they created a “grid” that they used to navigate. In the interest of “making things easy” a decision was made to use the same grid in Antarctica. So, we, as controllers, need to remember when a fixed wing aircraft reports north of the field he’s really south of the airport.  I’m starting to get excited to get going. It’s been a long

  10-13-22 I’m still in a holding pattern today. I walked to the Antarctic Center from my hotel and back just to get out of the hotel. The weather here remains cloudy and cool but nothing like what’s to come. The people here in New Zealand are incredibly nice and helpful. I spent several hours today going over training materials so I can hit the ground running when I get to The Ice.

  10-11-2022 I’m in Christchurch, NZ and I had the delightful experience of sleeping in an actual bed for the first time in about 40 hours. I only had time for about 4 hours of sleep before I had to go to  work ,  but it was restful and much needed. It’s the small pleasures in life you don’t appreciate until you don’t enjoy them for  a period of time . Besides a bed to sleep in, being able to take a hot shower and brushing my teeth are two of those pleasures I was able to engage in both this morning! All I can say is AHHHHHHHHHHHH! I have a busy morning ahead with the following activities scheduled: Zoom training class Medical briefing                                                                        Extreme cold weather clothing issue This afternoon I plan a little “walk about” . It’s spring here and it’s cloudy and dreary with the temperature lingering in the low 50’s. (still way warmer than what I’ll face in the coming days.  

  Well the adventure has begun! I left the Atlanta Airport an hour late headed for Los Angeles. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have any butterflies! Heather drove me to the airport (she’s not crazy with me going) but she gave me her love and blessing for this “late life adventure”. There’s an old Navy saying, “Red sky at night, sailors delight…” and I certainly had that as we flew westbound. We chased the sunset most of the way to LA. Occasionally Mother Earth sent up a towering cumulus cloud that silhouetted against the beautiful orange of the setting sun. The wait in LA was uneventful. When we departed it was dark and we were engulfed in inky black darkness for the next 12 hours. It was eerie not seeing a single star or the moon. It was a little like traveling in a time machine to parts unknown. I left Georgia on Sunday October 9th  at 6:00 pm and 14 hours later arrived in Sydney, Australia at 7:30 am October 11th! I fly to Christchurch at 7:30 this evening arriving at 12:30 am. I’l

  I did it again!! I am going to the Ice!! I left yesterday from Atlanta.  I was able to stay here long enough to celebrate Heather and Halle's birthdays. I am flying from Atlanta to Los Angeles.  Then Los Angeles to Sydney Austrailia, then after a 12 hour layover in Sydney, I get to ChristChurch, New Zealand just after midnight on Wednesday morning.   Total Trip is about 39 hours. I'm very excited and can't wait to share my adventures with you. Be looking for an update in a day or so.