Tracey In Casey - Antarctica: September 2006

just a nice shot of a lovely day at the wharf

She was scratching her flippers - I've never seen a seal do that before.

Such a cutie

How beautiful is she? Pregnant Weddell Seal

On the way back from the wharf

Magnificent Bergs - as far as the eye can see.

The IPS Antenna farm & Casey staiton in the far background.

Budnick hill on the Left

Walking down to the wharf

Thala Valley, near station

Newcomb Bay in front of Casey Station

18 - 24 September

Well, what can I say? This really has been a week in hell for me.
Today isn’t too bad as the sun has actually showed itself all day and the skies have been very blue, though the wind hits you like needles of ice! But it has been a crap week to date.
Recently I had to say goodbye to the man I would spend the rest of my life with. This was my decision and it wasn’t an easy one, but it is the only one I can make. So I have said goodbye and he has let me go and that is over, but it has left me totally gutted. Another place; another time: who knows how different things would have been for us. I don’t think I am destined to ever have the happy ever after ending. As if that wasn’t bad enough I had a fight with my best friend that left me very upset. I cried myself to sleep that night and I am rarely prone to tears. But we are buddies again, so all is good now.

The Blizzards keep rolling in here day after day and quite frankly I am sick to death of the weather here. Someone needs to tell Antarctica that spring is bloody well here!

It is a tough life for a girl down here on their own. Over at the other Antarctic stations there are a number of girls and I think that would make life a lot easier. The blokes here are lovely and I do have a couple of good mates, but it is not the same as being home amongst close friends when you need one. This week my fabulous mate Deb told me a very good saying:…” friends are those you call when in jail, great friends are sitting beside you saying "Man that was fun' :-)))” So TRUE!! Ha ha
My friend Lisa, who is a sparkie (and who would definitely be next to me in jail! ;o]), turned down a winter here at Casey next year. Frankly, I think her decision was the right one. I would not recommend this place to a girl. It is tough down here. I am no shy, retiring wallflower. I am a pretty tough and gutsy chick, but I have to say, even I am being pushed to my limits in this place. It has been a very long year.
I don’t regret coming here, it has been an incredible experience: - but I will never come back again. This place and the people I have met have changed me, beyond recognition, from the person I was when I arrived in Kingston to begin this journey last August. Some of those changes however have been tough in the making. But you get that. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger … and all that crap hey? Not so sure I need to be much stronger though thanks very much Karma Fairies, if you are out there listening to me at all.

I was slushy this week and that was good. Robbie gave me chef lessons on how to de-bone a chicken so I was left with nothing but a pair of floppy chicken shaped pajamas when I was finished. He also showed me how to do a number of different cuts for various occasions and dishes. I also learnt how to make perfect steamed rice and the perfect Béchamel sauce. The Mars bar slice turned out fabulous. The boys devoured those like seagulls on a hot chip! So it was a good two days in the kitchen.

However, right now, I would give a lot to be curled up on my huge snoozy couch back in my lounge room in Newcastle. Sun streaming in the window: Maxy curled on his bean bag asleep having his little doggy dreams beside me on the floor, with his legs twitching as he chases birdies along the beach in his dreams, while I watch a DVD and just relax.

14 weeks to go!!!

Robbie is away at the moment so I did Saturday night dinner. I made a Chinese banquet with deep fried ice-cream for desert. All good - Except for the part where I cut off the end of my left thumb while preparing the chicken! This one is going to take a long time to heal and is very painful. I was almost sick with the pain while changing the bandages today. Add one more injury to the list!

Anyway … This week’s pics were all taken on Wednesday morning during a brief few hour respite from the crap weather. I needed to do some work at the IPS hut so I took my camera and headed out on foot and had a bit of a time out as well as working for a few hours. On the way I found a beautiful Weddell seal. She was pregnant and laying sunning herself on the ice. She was just lovely. So I guess in the end, even the worst week in the world down here is not totally tragic. It is still a magical place and nowhere else in the world could you do and see what I do every day.

Till next week ….
T :o]

My Pen-Pal: Ethan

I look like this most mornings at work lately! ha ha

Found this pic from x-mas day. Blue skies and sunshine. Aah, just a memory at the moment.

I got it wrong last week. THIS is my fav piccie of all of them. This little guy was a legend. Plonked down, fell asleep, not a care in the world.

The Snowblower has to dig out the road to the wharf

Shane took this fabulous blowing snow shot on Wednesday. Very nice.

A couple of Bergs drift by

11 - 17 September

Hi All
Well, another week has passed.
It was a very cold week again this week with less than ordinary weather and another blizzard – just par for the course lately.
A broken wave rider out at the receiver farm saw me toodle off in the Hagg to reset the equipment. While I was there I decided I should do a full antenna farm inspection after the blizzards we have had recently. All was in order, but it takes quite a while to walk around the whole antenna farm. By the time I got back to the hut the wind had come back up and there was blowing snow, which severely reduced visibility.
I headed off in the Hagg towards O’Brien Bay and on to the Transmitter farm to check things out.
The blowing snow became so bad that I got lost – sort of. I knew where I was: which was just about to drive off a cliff and into O’Brien Bay! So I decided I it would be safer to turn on the GPS and navigate my way around to the transmitter farm with the aid of electronics instead of vision. ;o]
I wasn’t in any tearing hurry to get over there and have a look at all. I just wanted to go for a bit of a wander out and about. Andrew and I have been stuck inside for two weeks doing audits and reorders for the re-supply. So I took the opportunity of the broken wave rider to have a little intrepid toodle around. It was actually quite a pleasant few hours out in fact - In spite of the cold and the wind and the blowing snow. It was nice just to get away on my own for a few hours.

On another note – I made a new friend this week. Ethan is the 10 year old son of one of my friends back home and he is doing an Antarctica project at school. His Dad asked if he could write to me and get some info on life down south. I have corresponded with a number of schools this year so of course I said the class could write to me.
I have had quite a few e-mails from Ethan and his mates at school this week. When I received an e-mail asking if I would be Ethan’s pen-pal I was thrilled. How cute is that? So now I have a little pen-pal back home.

On the crafty side of things, my second lead light panel is more than half way there and I hope to have it completed this week. I have also spent time down with Petie in the chippies workshop this week. Petie has been teaching me how to turn wood on the lathe and I am now making a lovely wooden bowl. I have to say, I do seem to have a knack at these arty sorts of things and I really love it all. In fact I am having an absolute ball learning all these new skills. It is great fun. The boys are all lovely for taking the time out to teach me. I am becoming a regular little artisan.

Anyway, that is it from me this week. I am a bit hung over and nursing a wee bit of a sore head so I am going to say bye now. I did promise the boys I would make them Mars bar slice for smoko tomorrow as I am slushy Monday and Tuesday. So I had better go rustle up a recipe

Have a good one.
Trace