I'm A Happy Camper

The last few days have been packed full of fun. Tuesday and Wednesday were Happy Camper school. An yes, "I'm a happy camper." This class is intended for anyone who travels off the station. Since my job will drag me to very cool and remote places, this class was mandatory. After learning some basic survival information, 20 of us loaded up onto a Delta (huge bus) and headed to a spot on the ice shelf just south of Scott Base (the NZ base just around the corner from McM). I wouldn't say we roughed it but, it did make us use some of our knowledge.

In the course we learned how to set up a base camp, set up a Scott Tent, Mountain Tent, Snow quinsy, survival trench, and make a wind break. We cut a ton of snow blocks from our quarry (as seen in the picture) and built a huge wall around "snow mound city." I didn't want to sleep in a tent, so I dug a deep hole in the snow and slept in that. I stayed warm and slept well that night, but the design of my hole made it very difficult to get in and out. Things that kept me warm at night included my "P" bottle (for just what it sounds like), a bottle of hot water, candy to fuel my internal fire, sleeping pad, big red (the jacket) for a pillow, and a nice warm sleeping bag. Some people enjoyed the night out while others froze.

In the morning, we got up and broke down camp. The instructors came at 0800 to help us haul our gear to the I-hut on the ice shelf. In the warmth of the hut we learned how to use an HF radio which is like nothing I have ever seen before. The picture above is us setting up the antenna. I was told HF radios work in the same way HAM radios do. After we set it up, we called MacOps to get the weather forecast for the night before. We found out it was about -20F. These radios are what I will be using in the remote field camps to talk to people in town. Anyone in the field must report in daily at a predetermined time with MacOps to ensure safety.

We also did a drill where someone "went to the outhouse in condition 1 (bad storm) and is now missing." We needed to go find this person. To simulate this, we all wore buckets on our heads to limit our visibility. Using ropes and wands, we located our victim and hauled him back to camp but not before taking a good picture (I'm the guy without big red on).

After I got back to McM, I took a sauna, shower, and changed into my clean cloths that just arrived from Christchurch (yeah). I then went bowling with a bunch of friends. The bowling alley here is the last manually set one in the world, or so I've been told. So each lane has a person sitting above the pins. After you bowl, they hop down, pick up the "dead" wood, and roll the ball back. If you get a strike or spare, they hit a chime in the back that instantly brings a smile to your face. I don't know what my score was, but I cleaned up with 4 strikes and 2 spares.

After bowling we had a little get together for my friend Megan who left for Black Island. She will be stationed at the Com Center on the other side of McM sound at a camp filled with her and the camp manager. She will be in charge of cooking and cleaning but I joked with her telling her that she should be called "assistant manager" since she is the only other person there. She left this morning via helicopter but will return every few weeks to do laundry. She will get mail once a week, so we plan on sending all kinds of fun stuff out to her. At her going away party, we did Tim Tam Slams where we sucked hot coca through a Tim Tam cookie like a straw. After the hot coca hit your mouth, you quickly chuck the whole cookie in. The cookie then dissolves in your mouth in a rich chocolaty burst. I recommend it if you can find any Tim Tams.

Today I did my first real work. A storage building at Willey Air Field needed to be moved but the inside was filled with snow (since it doesn't have a floor snow drifted in). Matt and I headed out to the site with Rhoda and started shoveling. It took most of the day but we got it done. I got to drive on the ice road a bunch and even use the radio a little to communicate what was going on. Once again, I don't think life could get any better! Shoveling snow may not be fun, but shoveling snow in Antarctica looking at helicopters fly by an active volcano is a blast. Well, I'm off to open mic, I hope everyone here can handle my "music." Cheers