This is the first full day on the Ice. Breakfast is the second exposure to the food service. Every time in to the galley you must wash your hands and/or sanitize them. There's a lot of concern about what they call the McMurdo Crud, a cold that is said to sweep swiftly around town. A nurse in Chch said that the Winfly folks (the first wave of summer people that come in during August) brought a cold down that hit the winter-overs very hard. Sounds like the Virgin Field phenomenon that native population of the Americas suffered following Columbus, only much less devastating and over a very short time period. I went to the shuttles office and meet the other folks. Seems like a good bunch. There are 3 of us newbies to be trained in the next week or so.
This first day we get trained on the Ford Econoline vans and Airporters, all of them four wheel drives. The vans are used specially for taxi duty within town but we could go as far as Scott Base (the nearby New Zealand station) and the landing fields. Ditto for the Airporters. Both vehicles are pretty straightforward, except for a device known as the micro brake, a thing that replaces a parking brake but which has the same function. That's something completely new to me, but easy.
My new best friend is my Canada Goose parka, AKA Big Red. It's immense and very heavy; I think you could bench press it for exercise. Lots of pockets inside and out. A snow skirt inside to keep blowing snow from infiltrating upward from the bottom. A big hood with coyote fur trim and a wire that allows you to form the hood to your needs and the weather. In really bad weather you can make it almost like a tube or snorkel. Rumor has it that a surplus store in Christchurch has them for sale from time to time. But it is bulky and makes it difficult to buckle up the seat belts; I'm always fumbling around trying to find the ends and figure out how to get one to the other. It came in handy on this first morning getting over to the office. Although the office is only maybe 200 yards from my dorm, the wind was up and it was bitterly cold, but clear.
The views across the Sound are spectacular, with the Royal Society Range turning pink in the morning light. The views change somewhat as the day goes on, but the light is always a cold, blue hue. Like people here always seem to say, "It's a harsh continent."
This first day we get trained on the Ford Econoline vans and Airporters, all of them four wheel drives. The vans are used specially for taxi duty within town but we could go as far as Scott Base (the nearby New Zealand station) and the landing fields. Ditto for the Airporters. Both vehicles are pretty straightforward, except for a device known as the micro brake, a thing that replaces a parking brake but which has the same function. That's something completely new to me, but easy.
My new best friend is my Canada Goose parka, AKA Big Red. It's immense and very heavy; I think you could bench press it for exercise. Lots of pockets inside and out. A snow skirt inside to keep blowing snow from infiltrating upward from the bottom. A big hood with coyote fur trim and a wire that allows you to form the hood to your needs and the weather. In really bad weather you can make it almost like a tube or snorkel. Rumor has it that a surplus store in Christchurch has them for sale from time to time. But it is bulky and makes it difficult to buckle up the seat belts; I'm always fumbling around trying to find the ends and figure out how to get one to the other. It came in handy on this first morning getting over to the office. Although the office is only maybe 200 yards from my dorm, the wind was up and it was bitterly cold, but clear.
The views across the Sound are spectacular, with the Royal Society Range turning pink in the morning light. The views change somewhat as the day goes on, but the light is always a cold, blue hue. Like people here always seem to say, "It's a harsh continent."
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