some super signs

Driving around two new countries meant reading and interpreting some new road signs. I found some interesting roadside markers.

First, the speed limit signs are not difficult to miss. In fact, they reminded me of a target; aim for this speed. In fact, I probably hit the actual speed as often as I'd get a bulls eye. Getting used to the kilometer per hour was a bit confusing at first; especially without cruise control.

The second sign was a simple exclamation point. This sign indicated that special notice and caution needed to be taken around corners, over dips or bumps in the road, or in this case, the upcoming road construction.

In Australia, I came across many wildlife signs that were a bit different than the deer crossing signs of the Midwest United States. Dead, or alive, I saw each of the three animals on this sign; plenty of kangaroo, a dead wombat, and a beautiful brown male lyre bird.

The last caution indicates the road might be slippery "when frosty." This seemed like a whimsical way of labeling a road condition, but how Ice is addressed in Australia and New Zealand. I think I like it frosty.

rivers and rain

Of course, it would rain my last night out. And not just rain, but torrential downpour! But, first things first: I had a lovely morning waking up to sun over the beach. I drove out of the park to kangaroos hopping along the road.

I found my little Lamont cafe for some a.m. coffee in Bermagui. The Italian owners whipped up a tasty mocha and unbelievable banana bread! I spent awhile there reading on a velvet couch.

Continuing north, I shortly arrived at Camel Rock. I finally donned my swimsuit and grabbed my book and sunscreen for an hour in the sand. I found myself much more entertained to climb on and walk though the rocks on this beach, though!

Having sufficiently sunned myself on this section of the sea, I found myself skipping over more rocks and collecting a few shells at Tuross Head. This part of the Australian coastline is filled with rivers and lakes that meet the Tasman Sea. It makes for a beautiful landscape of green hills, blue lakes, yellow beaches, and aqua sea.

After this stop, and a quick bite to eat, watching a storm blow in over the water, it began to rain, and rain, and rain. I took a break at Batemans Bay to catch up on plans and revise them a bit. I took a wasted trip to Pebbly Beach were, apparently, kangaroos make their home. Arriving at the park in a downpour with high winds didn't seem to be the best way to spend my day. Learning my lesson there I decided to skip my excursion out to the Murramarang Aboriginal Area for a hike and I also drove right past Dolphins Point.

By this time I was looking forward to finding sleep anywhere I could. In Kiama, I found little to lodge at, but I did inspect the Blow Hole there. With high winds, pelting rain, and a receding tide, I should have stayed int eh car for the unimpressive show the Blow Hole gave me. The picture, though blurry, represents about what I saw of the hole in the miserable weather in Kiama.

Arriving at Wollongong, I hoped to move into one of two backpackers for the night. I only came away with a shower at a very clean, impressive YHA Backpackers. So, I left the town in search of an overlook which was socked in with fog, and somehow returned to Wollongong only to realize I'd done a 40 kilometer loop in the rainstorm. Now I really wanted to find a place to sleep. Reaching the Stanwell Park exit, I parked and slept in the car.

around australia

My first day with a car (Tuesday), turned out to be a bit longer than intended! My initial thought was to leave Sydney and leisurely travel through the Blue Mountains, head towards Canberra, and then back up the east coast of New South Wales. However, after looking over the map and realizing I won’t have the opportunity to do this again for awhile, I decided to expedite my pace and enlarge my loop. I picked up a Sydney to Melbourne route map, mentally made my own adjustments and started driving.

I did not exclude my trip to the Blue Mountains. This area is unique. Not only do the mountains appear blue (due to an oily haze in the air from the eucalyptus trees), but they are viewed from the top down rather than looking up to them. The most nearly look like canyons rather than heightened peaks. I took in the view from Katoomba at Echo Point. From this place there is a nice view of the Three Sisters; rock formations jutting out of the cliff-side.

From this place, I also took a hike down the Giant Stairway which is a track leading hikers straight down the rock face via stairs. I hiked nearly ¾ of the way down before returning to the surface before my parking meter expired.

After snagging some pictures, I spent some time at the supermarket picking up some odds and ends for lunches. It was good to buy my own food for wonce and not worry about what other people would want and need.

On the road again, I kept heading west on the Great Western Highway and then a bit southward to begin heading to Canberra. I drove through kilometer after kilometer of eucalyptus and gum tree forest, farmland, and rolling hills that ended at the mountains. The blues and vibrant greens were quite soothing.

And, I saw my first kangaroo! He even posed for a picture for me! I have to say, it was a strange experience watching him watch me and then bound off when I revved my engine to get going. I think that may have been the highlight of the day.

I reached Goulburn and hoped to find camping before Canberra. I pulled off at a rest area where another couple had pulled off for the night as well. I set up my tent at the end of the road under some gum trees. These made a wonderful foreground for the early sunrise!

march 3

Today, our fifth day of traveling together, Genevieve, J, and I set out early (at 6:30am) for Milford Sound. As we drove through the hills and approached the mountains and fjords, we saw fog and clouds rolling in and out of the valleys and over peaks and saddles in the mountain ranges. The morning was beautiful as the sun came up through the mist on our drive. We noted plenty of nice camp spots on our way, as well.

Arriving in Milford Sound, we instantly recognized a sandfly problem. The picture is a model sandfly. In actuality, the pests are quite small. These pesky critters are like mosquitoes in their mannerisms, and surpass the mosquito numbers in Fjordlands National Park. As long as we kept moving, we seemed to be ok. The dock for our Milford Sound breakfast cruise was a brief walk from the parking lot. On the way, there were a few signs explaining how Maori gods created the fjords and how the sandfly was created by the goddess of the underworld to remind people not to linger too long in the beautiful pristine area.

The three of us boarded our big boat and sat down for a delicious light breakfast of croissant and muesli. It did not take long to start seeing the beauty of the Sound. A magnificent waterfall fell on the starboard side of the boat. The ride was comfortable downstairs, but the real views came above on the deck. The green on the cliffs popped out of the shadows with remarkable color. With such brilliant life around us in every direction, it's amazing that this part of New Zealand is struggling through an 80 year drought. Typically waterfalls line the fjord, but today, only four falls had water dropping down them. I supposed this could be attributed to that beast called "global warming." The area usually sees rain every one in three days, but they haven't seen more than 1/2 day in the last 30-some days.

Our tour continued through the fjord along cliffs that dropped straight into the Sound. Trees, mosses, and bushes grow off the vertical rock faces.

The Real Journeys boat we were on also took an unprecedented round-about into the Tasman Sea. Usually these tours cannot venture into the Sea, so we got a fantastic little Taste of Tasman. On the return trip, we skirted the opposite side of the waterway. Fur seals were spotted on a single outcropping of rocks along the way. Genevieve, J, and I found it humorous that everyone ran to that side of the boat while we mosied on over figuring we had seen plenty of the sea creatures already. We did get to see these smaller seals pose adorably on the boulders for us!

A little further on, the tour guide on board found two crested penguins on the shore. These birds were out of place and season, so it was particularly exciting to see this rare variety of bird on our cruise!

We passes by another waterfall (where it is said if a woman passes under the mist of the falls, she will feel 10 years younger the next morning. The boat scoots in real close to these falls so we can all scurry to the front and feel the spray.

The three of us were glad to have indulged int he cruise. It was a wonderful way to experience parts of Milford Sound we wouldn't have seen otherwise! After the cruise, we walked back to the cafe and visitor's centre, sat with a cup of coffee and mulled over plans for the day. I really appreciate the casual attitude the three of us have. We have lost the rush of the east coast travel and eased our way up and around the west.

Our first stop on the way out of Milford Sound was The Chasm. A short walk brought us to a place where the water carved out softer stone to leave the harder rock behind. Holes, bridges, and tunnels dot this fascinating place. None of the pictures and postcards I have seen quite demonstrate the depth perception and quirkiness of the place. When we returned to the car, five tour buses had rolled up. We were fortunate to avoid most of that crowd.

Another feature of this Milford expedition was the Homer Tunnel. This single-lane hole through the mountain was not lit when we drove in before 8am. Driving through a dark cave is a strange feeling, but we made it safely. On our return trip, not only was the tunnel lit, but it also had stoplights on either end directing the single-lane traffic.

Our highlight of the day was stopping at The Divide and hiking part of the Routeburn Track. The three of us set out through a green forest, across a few trickling streams, and a lake. Genevieve and I wanted to head up to Key Summit, so we left J to hike up to McKenzie Hut while we turned back to take a cutoff up a hill. The view we took in astounded us. In 360 degrees we took in four mountain ranges. We stood on a marshy plateau with three valleys cutting beneath us. From here, rainfall streams down into each of those valleys in different directions. It made our climb worthwhile to see so much unimaginable creation! God certainly took his time developing this part of the earth!

I have been so impressed with how well-maintained the tracks in New Zealand are! They came complete with campsites, or cabins on many of the longer routes! The cabins are quite nice and homely with a kitchen, bunk room, and bathroom facilities. The trails are easy to find and well-maintained with bridges and culverts.

We also saw many birds while in the Milford area. One small songbird sang beautifully until it ended the tune with a squawk; every time! We also saw another kea (the alpine parrot).

By the time J arrived back at the car, we were sufficiently tired by our 12-15km of hiking, so we looked for a campsite right away. The sandflies were so horrendous that we decided to stay in the van. J and I hopped out to quick whip up some rice for dinner and pay our $5nz each for the site. Other than that, we rearranged our seats and gear to sleep.

*favorite photos: waterfall and fern shadow.

march 2

Day 4 began for me with a magnificent sunrise over the Pacific and a leisurely breakfast. The waves rolling into the bluffs, the birds singing, and the cows mooing made an unimaginably beautiful morning completely brilliant.

We started out on our way and turned off shortly after, just south of Papatowai at Cathedral Caves. We had to attack this short hike before 9:30am, or we would be denied access by the rising tide. We nearly ran down the trail and found the caves before the waves were too close. Walking inside was eerie and damp. At one point we couldn't see the ground (sand or seaweed) beneath our feet. So many of New Zealand's sights have been carved by water or ice in such a variety of ways; including these towering doorways into the rock.

Feeling pretty good about beating the tide, we trudged back up the trail and drove out of the park before the gates closed at 10:30am. The drive to Invercargill was uneventful. We have been amazed at the amount of sheep in New Zealand; particularly because no mammals are native to this island country.

Once we reached Invercargill, it took a bit for Marty, our navigator, to get his map in the right direction and put us near the city centre. We did find a wonderful little museum with WWII propaganda posters, photography, Maori artifacts, a display on The World's Fastest Indian, and eggs of the world. Our stop at the museum would not have been complete if I didn't mention Henry. Henry is a Tuatara. The peculiar thing about Henry is that he is nearly 130 years old (estimated birth in 1880). Not only that, but after many years of celibacy and removal of a tumor, Henry is now father to a new litter of these lizard-like animals. His mate was a 20 year old named Juliet.

This centre also had a tremendously helpful visitors' information with Internet. After spending a solid hour, or more, at this fine traveler-friendly establishment, Genevieve and I enjoyed Turkish wraps and coffee for lunch. Post-late lunch, we met up at the Speights Bar, pulled out a map and an actual planning session ensued! We determined our stop for the night should be Te Anua. From there, Kevin and Marty would hike out four days on the Kepler Track and hitchhike to meet Genevieve, J, and myself in Queenstown. I would have loved to do the track, but I haven't been able to shake the cold. This planning session was the first time we pulled out a South Island, detailed map to look ahead a few days and determine what we would do.

We broke up the meeting and set out fro Te Anua. Arriving there, we soon understood that we were in a tourist town. Internet was expensive, we found many tourist and outdoors shops, and "no vacancy" signs outnumbered the "vacancy." We hoped to camp, but at $15nz per person, we had no intention in indulging after our free or minimal cost sites of previous nights. We did however concede to get a $25nz bunk room for the five of us at a backpackers so we could sort ourselves out, clean up with a shower, and do our laundry. Marty and Kevin purchased some hiking supplies and we checked into our accommodation to prepare for our early morning exit.

*favorite photos: sunrise over the Tasman Sea, the silouette at Cathedral Caves, and J with the tuatara (one of a series of three).

march 1

Day 3 began with an amazing sunrise over the ocean. We pulled up camp after a leisurely breakfast and headed back out on our beautiful Coastal Road for a nice morning drive watching the countryside light up.

Our first drive, not too far down the coast was to the Moeraki Boulders. As soon as we got out of the car, Genevieve and I saw a dolphin pop up over the surf. We were laughing at the peculiarity of seeing them! The boulders on the beach here were strange and tortoise life. They were massive round stones all over the sand. We played around them in our bare feet and visited the gift shop.

We boarded the caboose again and made a bit of headway down the West Coast until we saw a sign for the Evansdale Cheese Factory. We caught the owner just before he closed for the day and he stuffed us full of about 4-5 different cheeses. My favorite was a Dutch flavor, Komene Kaas, made with cumin seed. I bought a small wedge. We have quite a large amount of cheese in our vehicle with no chilly bin (the Kiwi lingo for cooler) to put it in.

A traveling goal for the group this day was Dunedin. We rolled down the hills into the heart of the city where we stopped, nibbled on some lunch and then I split from the group. They went on the Speights Brewery Tour while I took a walk to the train station (one of the most well photographed buildings in this part of the world). The architecture was magnificent, and if I remember correctly, this building was completed in 1906. My stroll was brief through the courtyard before my eye caught the Cadbury Factory.

I toured the chocolate factory and received the lovely chocolate samples from Wama, my friendly tour guide. The chocolate at this factory goes to the South Pacific, Canada, the Middle East, Australia (and, Antarctica). They have one whole silo devoted to tourists where they release one ton of liquid chocolate through the silo in front of our eyes! The inside of the silo is covered in chocolate splashes and we were able to walk down the chocolate coated stairs with chocolate coated railings. If nothing else in the tour made a person smiles, all that flowing chocolate certainly would! I exited the factory smelling of cocoa (from Malaysia), whole milk (from Otago area cows in NZ), and sugarcane (from Australia)!

In Dunedin, I also took a picture of what has been named the steepest street in the world; although, I may have looked at the wrong one. I'm also not completely convinced that this claim is true. It seems to me that there is probably some mud and dirt road in Siberia that could legitimately claim the same thing!

I made my way back to the car and we exchanged tour information. I passed out some chocolates (a well-received gesture).

On the road again, we took a peninsular scenic road that cuts off from Dunedin for a 28km trek to see seals, penguins, and albatross. Unfortunately, we didn't see the penguins, but we did get real close to the fur seals and watched a few albatross float above u! It was pretty amazing to see such diverse wildlife in one place!

The scenic drive was a close cut road between many hills and bluffs and the clear shallow bay below. J fantasized our green machine into the drink and offered ways of escaping with our backpacks. Genevieve just hoped to see the yellow-eyed penguin. I just sat back and enjoyed the beautiful ocean, islands, bluffs, grasses, flowers, and trees on Otago peninsula!

After Dunedin, we looked for a place to camp. Our tastes are somewhat particular as a group. Eventually, we decided to find a beach to camp on and so the search commences for an appropriate place to put down our camping gear. On our search, we came across a short trail to the Papakaunui Falls. The hike was only about 10 minutes each way and I ran the trail back ot the car, but, we found later, these falls are what postcards are made of around this area.

Soon after, driving around the town of Papatowai, and even inquiring about a backpackers cottage with no vacancy, we set out to make camp at a pullout on the road. This bluff was on an amazing spot overlooking cattle and sheep fields with the surf and coastline far below. We set up camp in the dark and made our way to bed quite quickly. I still have a cold and want to get optimal sleep.

*favorite photos: the Papakaunui Falls and orange flowers on the southwest New Zealand coast.

february 28

Waking up to a cloudy sky was not what we hoped for, but we packed up camp and headed towards the Bealey Valley Track we drove by the day before (tracks are the Kiwi way of saying "trail"). The track meanders via boardwalk through a forest and marshland before breaking into a valley that almost appeared to be a canyon. The misty morning proved to add an extra element of mystery to our hike. There is a certain beauty to fog laying thick on green trees and mosses. I can't quite describe how green it is in New Zealand! As we crawled over boulders and a streams, we were privy to a view higher and higher up the valley until we saw a waterfall into the stream, and a bit further up we saw a snow cave straddling the valley. At this point we turned around so J could make his doctor appointment in Christchurch. We made out way to the car and I appreciated the flex and strain on my muscles the whole way. We also saw a Kea, the only alpine parrot, along our trek. This bird likes to peck at shoelaces and shoes in general, so we kept our distance from the big bird. It seems funny that we compare nearly every bird we see to the Antarctic Skua.

This hike was an excellent start to Day 2 of our adventure. We headed back to Christchurch and took care of all the business we had to do in town. We said a few more goodbyes, and then the five of us boarded the caboose and made our way south on Highway 1 through sheep territory.

Our first stop, nearly three or four hours laster was a quick skip down the beach at St. Andrews. The stones on this beach were all round or oval and pretty flat. It reminded me of massage stones. If only we had time tot heat them up and lay them under our feet and on our backs! Genevieve also spotted a shark skeleton on the beach which we found particularly engaging. You'll note in the picture that Genevieve found a special sort of appreciation for him. We considered putting him on the grill of our van, but ended up allowing him to rest on the stones.

We continued our trek south in search of camping. Our search brought us along the path of some friendly supermarket clerks, a man with long dreds, three children, and a traveling couple who all gave us directions to Campbell Bay (which Genevieve had earlier interpreted as "camel bay" from the man with dreds). The ocean side drive was gorgeous as the sun set over the Pacific's rolling waves! Our campsite was amazing: $5nz for our vehicle put us on a cliff overlooking the beach and ocean and bluffs, right outside of Kakanui.

wrangling wrong whales

Japanese Whaler in NZ Hospital
Japanese Whaling Ship on Fire off Antarctica

Funny that I found this news story by visiting google news. There’s a rumor (based on an abundant amount of solid information), that we medivaced a sailor off of this ship last week. Actually, the Kiwi’s rescued him and sent him home on a US Airforce C-17. At least, that’s the rumor.

ellusive emperor

My crowning wildlife moment came today when I was doing our Pegasus weather observer shift change. The trip out to the Pegasus White Ice Runway is about 40 minutes at a reasonable (25mph) speed. We drop one person off, and pick up one person to return to McMurdo. I spotted what I thought was a penguin in the distance as we neared the airfield, but we had to stop to see it moving. As first glance, it was so small in the distance, it appeared to be another Adelie. But, Estefan, the weather observer brought some binoculars out and confirmed that the bird was the elusive emperor.

I began driving Debra back to McMurdo and she asked if I wanted to stop and take some pictures. So, we took a short walk to where the penguin was; careful not to "disturb" it's normal habits per the Antarctic Treaty. I did get some good shots of this awkward, but still elegant big bird!

This sighting was the marciano cherry on the top of a banana split at Jersey Junction (where I worked for a summer)!

*favorite photo: the emperor.

languorous life

I took a run/walk yesterday up the Hut Ridge Trail. This trail was the only one I had not done yet. My run took me along a steep trail where I had a run-in with a Skua mother who was trying to protect her fluffy white chick. The poor little chick was right in the middle of the trail; thankfully, in this place, there is an alternate route to continue on!

At the top of this trail, I saw an iceberg that moved in towards town. There are certain sites that define "Antarctica" and icebergs are certainly one of them. I hope this one moves even closer to us!

On the way back down the trail, I ran into a woman who said she stood out on Hut Point and could see seals and penguins swimming under the water. I ran up to the edge and looked down for no more than a minute before I heard and saw a seal pop up out of the water. I soon saw three of them bobbing in and out of the sea. I also spotted a sea star under the waves which seemed out of the ordinary. I have seen the sea creatures in tanks in our Crary Lab Aquarium here, but seeing a sea star "for real" in Antarctica's water seems a bit extrodinary (I embelished the color on this photo a bit so you could have a better glimpse of what I saw under the sea)!

Of all this, I think I most enjoyed seeing some green lichen and odd organic spheres lacing the edge and bottoms of pooling water on the trail. This may look like the most disgusting green glob of sludge to you, but I was taken aback by the discovery of something so full of life on this otherwise quite desolate continent. I looked up algae and lichen in Antarctica and there are plenty of types of the stuff all over the continent. I was mesmorized by this slimy stuff for quite awhile!

To counter this gunk, there was air-filled ice covering a half of the pool! This bubbly frozen water seemed so purely captured!

Today, after over a month of temperatures over freezing, we had a cold, cold day. The windchill when I woke up was -8. Yikes! I was not ready for that and one of the women in my suite had to tell me that I'd probably want to wear Big Red to work; with the hood up! Brrr...

*favorite photo: ice bubbles.

cruising and crushing ice

Today the "higher-ups" in McMurdo and the Captain of the US Coast Guard ship, Polar Sea, hosted 400+ of us on a 3 hour morale cruise. The sea ice has blown out enough for us to see wildlife and fantastic view within a few miles of town. They call this a "morale trip" because it is a grand incentive for us to be here that we typically cannot dream to participate in. There are 950 people on station right now. Roughly 750 signed up to be a part of this tour and only 400-450 spots were available!

Our tour took us through the channel that the icebreakers have been cutting for the past three weeks. The Coast Guard took us through the water, pointed out various forms of wildlife (penguins, seals, and even whales), and demonstrated how the ship cuts into the ice. I was on the bridge at that point listening to the captain giving orders to those running the boat: "Let's back it up and go at the same place again with a little more force. It seems to be going over pretty well."

The first thing impressed upon me, was the beautiful blue clarity of the water and the ice. The boat churned up aqua colors in its' wake, while deep, deep blue indicated the depth and stillness of the water below. Chlorophyll abounds in the Ross Sea and give off a blue-green color. The chunks of ice we barged through added a unique definition to the scenery. The Ross Sea is one of the least adulterated bodies of water on earth. Scientific research concludes that life cycles and all organic populations in these waters are intact (ie. not over fished, exploited, or polluted).

The second impressive thought was that we got this little cruise for free. We did not even have to tip the captain! Passing a Russian research & tourist vessel on our way out the channel, we found it amusing that some of those people paid thousands of dollars to do what we are paid to be a part of. When you cash out the opportunity we have when consenting to work in Antarctica, the amount we actually get paid is insignificant. Especially with this tour, we engage in far more adventurous opportunities than money can buy!

Perhaps the special moment of the day came with capturing this photo of a whale. I have now seen the big four of Antarctica that I could hope to see here: Penguins, skua, seals, and whales. These creatures, when you catch a glimpse of them, are elegant in the water as they crest in the wake of the boat!

Although a bit cloudy, the day was spectacular. We were able to get off station for a few hours and be hosted by someone else (their cookies and Tully's coffee hit the spot, too).

not so new news

I gave myself a name in volleyball in McMurdo. I was "on" the team to win the league this year. I quote the word "on" because, I played a grand total of 4 games, or so, since I worked the night shift at the beginning of the season and had a hard time making a lot of games. Laura was also on this team, but since departing for the South Pole, she hasn't been able to participate much.

The weather has been real warm lately. We experienced 40 degree days and about 10 days now of temperatures above freezing. This make strolling outside somewhat pleasant, but you can imagine what it does to our snow roads. No one on station is allowed to take light vehicles onto the sea ice now. This means that our shuttles in the Deltas and the Terra Bus take on more passengers and we have to run our big vehicles 24 hours a day. I am a pro at driving Ivan the Terra Bus now. Even though I would rather drive a van, there is something powerful about driving one of the biggest buses in the world and largest vehicle on the continent! I tell people that I've finally got Ivan under control.

If the weather continues to stay warm (which likely will not happen) and we run short on vehicles, our shuttles supervisor, Kris, is taking a bit of initiative and training us with piston bullies. I had this training yesterday and I had a great time! I did not expect to be a tracked vehicle driver. These are the limousines of McMurdo. They are clean, and look technologically advanced in the drivers' seat (especially next to the Deltas we drive). Because the Piston Bullies are used in the field, they come complete with a satellite phone, as well!

The next picture is of the Scott Base Road as I was heading back into McMurdo from Scott Base. In front of me to the left is Ob Hill. The road winds around the side of Ross Island with a significant drop off to the left of the road before stretching through the saddle to the right of Ob Hill and into town. This is one road that I do not care to fall asleep on. If two big vehicles are crossing in certain places, one will have to pull over and wait for the other to avoid crowding each other out.

The last photo is of some pools that are forming as a result of the pressure ridges rising and falling. If you open the picture up, you'll notice a bunch of black spots on the edge of these pools. These dots are seals and are also a good indication that the pools are, indeed, open water (not just puddles on the surface of the ice) where the seals manage to pull through to the surface.