Sunday 30th
December 2001 - Wednesday 23rd January 2002
From
Tony Travouillon.....
 Sunday
30th December 2001
The departure time has been set back to 3pm. There were 23
of us in the plane to Mc Murdo, of which three were going
to the South Pole. The checking happened similarly to a normal
plane, except that we were checked by the army. They gave
us a badge as a boarding pass and we waited an hour and a
half for the plane to be ready while they showed us a video
about the flight. The flight attendant (called the loadmaster
in this type of plane) was a young army boy and not the usual
blonde and instead of serving us orange juice every hour,
he gave us a lunch bag with a couple of sandwiches, a kit-kat
and a bottle of orange juice and water. I was lucky to be
the first to sit on the left side of the plane (they fill
up the right side first) and got enough space to lie on the
hand luggage packed next to me. Later I found out you can
actually sleep on the pile of boxes and that's what I did
from Mc Murdo to SP.
The
plane seemed to take off at a very low speed and flew just
as slowly. It made the landing the smoothest I have ever experienced.
During the flight, the earplugs were very much welcome. The
sound made by this type of plane is unbearable after a while.
The view of the continent from the dirty windows gave us a
good idea of what to expect down there. It looked flat with
mountains sticking out and showing that there is indeed a
ground under the ice.
When
we landed at Mc Murdo, I was quite disappointed about the
temperature. I was expecting -15 and a frosting wind but got
2 or 3 degrees and barely any wind. The landscape: flat, white
and mountains in the background. We jumped on the bus (slow
like hell) and drove for 40 minutes to the station. It didn't
seem like the bus was making much progress. After 20 minutes,
the surrounding was exactly the same. In fact, it was the
trick of the landscape. The mountains, which I thought were
close and small, where actually very far and therefore large.
I would not try to estimate distances on this continent. We
dropped a couple of kiwis at Scott's station and finished
at Mc Murdo. The place looks like a construction site. All
the buildings are rectangle and look temporary. The station
was said to be crowed, but arriving at midnight (and bright
day light), we didn't see many people around. The plane is
schedule at 7:30 in the morning giving us 5 hour sleep before
getting on a plane again.
Monday
31st December 2001
Guess what, I slept in as usual. I got up at 7:35 and ran
straight to the meeting point. There, another shuttle took
us back to the field and we quickly got on another LC-130,
this one having skies instead of wheels. I got myself comfortable
on the pile of luggage and slept during the whole 5 hours
to the South Pole. This time, no disappointment with the temperature;
there is two temperature measured: the still temperature and
the wind temperature. There were respectively -25 and -45.
The sky was as blue as it gets and brightness (due to the
reflection of the ground) was so intense, that I had to squint
behind my sunglasses. We had enough layer of cloths not to
feel the cold but my ears and fingertips started to burn so
from now on, two pairs of gloves and an extra hat under my
hood. The shuttle drove us right to entry of the Dome and
we all (3 people) got in the "galley" (this is how
they call the restaurant). It was pretty busy in there and
I found out that this year is the record high in terms of
population: 220 people (the 40 I was told of, are the people
staying all year long). Out of this 220, most are people building
the new station, which should be ready in parts for next season.
The building people wear a brown body suit while the scientist
and the staff hare in black pants and red Jackets. Today I
was told to take it easy. Apparently, altitude sickness (2850m)
hits most of the people on their first few days. So far I
don't feel anything but when I am outside, my breathing rate
doubles because of the pressure. It feels like your lungs
believe you are running even though you are walking slowly.
Today I will arrange computing, go around the facilities,
and find out where is our equipment. The dorms are used 24
hours a day and far from the hotel I got in Christchurch.
The main thing is that inside, the temperature in warm and
that's the only thing that matters right now.
Wednesday
2nd January 2002
 Ok,
I think there is no point counting the time in days here.
Well, first it's always daylight of course but also because
I can't sleep at regular hours. I sleep 2 hours here, 3 hours
there and so far only 1 hour in my bed. I realized the floor
of the AASTO is much more comfortable as the temperature is
around 22 and the dorms are much to hot. On top of that the
satellite connection is only up during the night hours and
I need it to communicate with my group. I won't talk about
work in this journal.
On
the New Year eve, I was expecting a big party, but because
the 31st was a Monday, they made the big party on the 30th.
So I missed the big New Year party at the Pole. On the 31st
they had a small party with the "winter over" band.
It was pretty good but nothing special. The next day I spent
a lot of time playing around with my camera. It's actually
tricky to make the snow look white (and not grey) without
over-exposing. I borrowed a tripod to get some steady shots.
Then I religiously walked to the geographical Pole. In fact,
there is also a commemorative Pole, which is surrounded by
the flags of all the countries present in Antarctica and symbolized
by a reflective sphere (great for pictures). The actual geographical
pole is marked by a poorly looking stick and is moved every
year at Christmas. It's not that the continent is moving but
the Ice on top of the continent is. In fact they keep mark
of the pole's position every year and you can see that it
moves about 5 meters every year (and in a straight line).
Beside this, there is nothing much to talk about. It's flat
and white in all directions.
The
AASTO is situated about 10 minutes walk from the station,
in the "dark sector". I arranged to visit the construction
of the new base on Sunday. Before that it will be working,
working and trying to find someone to play Ping-Pong. I forgot
to mention that this place works like a small town. There
is a gym, a bar, a video room, a souvenir store (can only
pay in American dollars) and I heard there is a Sauna somewhere
(got to find it quick). John and Duane are now scheduled for
the 10th of January so I'll spend most of the time here by
myself. Food wise, it's not spectacular (it's an American
base after all) but for some reason, I am always hungry. In
fact, I show up at all of the 5 daily meals. It's been only
two days but the chef already knows me very well.
In
terms of human contact, I only get a limited amount of that.
The construction people stay amongst themselves and the scientists
are like me buried in their labs. I met 5 German scientists
but I think that beside them and me the rest are Americans.
In the evening, Warren (the man in charge of the construction
of the new station) gave me a detailed tour of the future
facility. First the new garage, the new fuel storage (2million
liters and enough for 2 years). I learned that the water is
produced by digging a hole inside which 1 hose sends hot water
and another one pumps it back along with the melted ice. This
way they can produce 50l/day/person (10,000 liters a day at
the moment). The next step of the tour was the new generator.
In fact there is three of them. 1 running, the second one
starts if the first one has a problem and the last one usually
in maintenance. This way is produced from the JP8 fuel about
450kW of energy. A smaller engine will soon be used to bring
up the power to 750kw for peak times.
Finally we went to the station itself. In terms of structure,
about a third of it is built but the inside is still a few
months from completion. It is clear that when it will be all
completed, the Pole will be much more comfortable. It will
take 50 winter-overs and 250 people in summer. There will
even be a basketball court. They are also digging tunnels
for the water tanks (100m deep!) and the sewers. When one
of the tank is empty (after 5 years, it will become a sewer
storage and so on till the end of the station (expected to
last 40 years).
Saturday
5th January 2002
 Ok
now the weather is getting somewhere. It's the end of this
Club-Med sunny weather. The wind-chill is now -50 degrees
and you can't see more than 10m in front of you. I had to
get the full helmet and a second pair of gloves. I can finally
claim to have experienced extreme conditions. I can imagine
now what the first explorers felt when they crossed the continent
(while I only crossed the path between the AASTO and the station).
Some people organized a game of soccer but for some reason,
I don't think it will go ahead. An important remark is that
it doesn't really snow here. It's rather ice powder flowing
horizontally. It looks like a sand storm but with ice. After
only one day of this condition, the amount of snow pilling
up in front of the AASTO is quite impressive. I'll have some
shoveling work to do when it stops storming. Yesterday, I
saw "the thing" on video. It's about an alien life
form that takes control of a scientific base in Antarctica
and kills almost everyone. It's the perfect movie for the
occasion. There was also a pool competition at which I performed
very poorly. I hope they'll organize a ping-pong comp soon.
At breakfast today we had some croissant. They came right
on time; I was getting sick of eggs and bacon. Strangely enough,
they haven't got any fois gras here, so don't count on me
to winter over. I was told there is a wreckage of a plane
about a mile from the station. I'll try so go and see it tomorrow
if the weather gets better.
Tuesday
8th January 2002
I
still haven't received my equipment, I am starting to get
really frustrated and useless. I see everybody else busy and
all I am doing is taking photos, reading books and play pool.
John and Duane are also overdue; they should arrive Friday
night if there is no more delay. On Tuesday we had the visit
of a European team from Patriot Hills. The crew made of 3
French cameramen, a Swiss man, a Swedish and the rest being
Russian making up for the total 14. They came in a big biplane
called the Antonov 3. They arrived in the afternoon on a courtesy
visit and were supposed to leave on the same evening. However,
things did not turn out so well for them. Their plane refused
to take off and they are now stuck here with us in a full
station. They are sleeping in the gym and spend most of their
time in the bar. I found out from one of the French guy that
the elder Russian (who replied to me in French the first time
I talked to him) was apparently a big shot politician. He
called the Russian president who organized a military plane
to pick them up tomorrow. I really would have liked to find
out who he was exactly. Their plane will remain here all winter
until they manage to send someone to fix it next year. Beside
this unexpected event everything is rather smooth.
I should probably describe a bit what the social life is around
here. The main buildings of the station are under the Dome.
Before I arrived, I thought that the Dome itself was heated
but it is not. It is just a metal structure protecting the
inside building from the wind and snow accumulation. When
you step into the Dome, you can turn left to the medical building,
right toward the garage and the new station construction or
straight ahead where the most important building is: the restaurant.
It's a two-storey building. The bottom floor is the restaurant
itself with the kitchen behind it. The food standard is not
European but I think they are doing a great job considering
the conditions, the kitchen staff is also very nice and are
the guys I am playing pool with all the time. Above, is the
bar. I don't go there much. First because you have to pay
with American money which I spent all on souvenir, and also
because the atmosphere inside is not quite my style. The second
building is also cut in two sections. The ground is the "comm."
Section. They take care of the radio contact with the outside
world and the flight schedule. The top floor is the library
that is rather used as a Pool room, the video room, the store
(with souvenirs, candies, and personal hygiene stuff) and
the office of the station manager. The following building
is the science and computer room. There are a lot of computers
that anyone can use for email. The meteorology center is also
in this building. The other buildings are mainly dorms for
winter-overs. The dorms for the summer people like me are
located outside the Dome and look like black army tents. The
rooms are as basic as it gets: one bed, one small table and
you access your room through curtains, no doors. Anyone could
steal anything with this sort of security but it never happened,
people here haven't been chosen lightly.
The people are quite nice but some are easier to talk to than
others. For example the construction people stick together
will the science guys are scatters in little groups. I get
along best with the kitchen staff, the architects, and the
science construction team. People use emails a lot to communicate
or to be funny:
"My
Dear Fellow Polies,
Embarrassed
to say, but I've lost my blow up doll. She's about
3 and a half feet tall, looks like Joan Rivers, has a smile
to warm your
heart. Please help me find her. We've developed such a close
relationship over the summer; I can't bear to be parted for
long. I
implore you, look deep in your hearts and the plastic recycling
bins,
return my dearest love.
Ben
"
There is also the telephone everywhere and if you dial "01"
you can tell something to everyone through the speakers. Most
of the time, the speakers are used for messages like: "
Mr X can you call 342"
Two things very annoying here:
1) The static electricity shocks, which happen to me about
20 times a day. It's apparently due to the low humidity. I
noticed it as soon as I got here, the hair of my body straitening
to any cloths or plastic.
2) The second bad effect of the low humidity is the noise
bleed. I get that twice a day and if it continues I am going
to need a blood transfusion.
Ok now back to the pool table…
Wednesday
9th January 2002
Well, the Russians are gone but the series of visitor is not
quite over yet. Now it's the turn of a few Americans from
the NSF (National Science Foundation) and other sorts of white
collars. They are here to see the progresses on the new station.
They'll be given a tour of the major facilities including
the science experiments. Tomorrow we'll have a Time Capsule
ceremony. The idea behind this comes from the completion of
the first South Pole station in the late 50's, when they buried
stuff from that epoch and was meant to be dug out in the year
2000. The problem is that it was so well buried that they
still haven't found it. This time, they are being much more
clever by burying the box next to one of the new station foot.
Unfortunately, I missed out on the explanation of what they
will put in the capsule. The only thing I know of is the poster
that everyone at the station signed. We were all invited come
back at the opening of the capsule in 2050. It's perfect,
I'll be 74, just enough to make to the Pole and back in one
piece.
Thursday
10th January 2002
John and Duane were supposed to arrive today, but the bad
weather has delayed their flight between Mc Murdo and the
South Pole. The temperature is now -19 degrees, the hottest
day since 1985. Strangely enough, outside it's probably the
worst day I have experienced, the wind is now biting very
hard. The Time capsule ceremony was very short for this very
reason. One guy did a 30sec speech; everybody got their photo
taken in front of the box and then, ran back inside.
Friday
11th January 2002
Today again, more delays John and Duane are due tomorrow and
the guests will also have to wait one more day to depart as
no plane can make it here with this weather. I feel really
useless now. No work to do, I wonder if people think I am
a lost tourist. I should be really good at pool when I leave
this place. I even played a bit of ping-pong with the cat
drivers. I finished the day at the bar playing this American
card game with 9 other people and drank this hand made whisky
from Kentucky.
Saturday
12th January 2002
 Another
upset today. John and Duane were scheduled in the one and
only flight today. I walk to the point of arrival to greet
them but to my surprise only 4 people got out of the plane;
no John, no Duane. Apparently, the plane was not sure to be
able to land so people were given the choice to take this
plane and to either get successfully to the Pole or to waste
10 hours in the plane to come back to Mc Murdo. Obviously,
John decided not the chance it and to wait for the Monday
flight. Monday being the day I am supposed to fly back, I
went and ask for an extension of my stay. I might be able
to stay until the 18th of January, but I'll get the confirmation
tomorrow.
Sunday
13th January 2002
It's Sunday. That gave me a chance to sleep in; no one works
here on a Sunday (strange tradition). I think this is my most
productive day so far. I started by changing the tip of the
best three queues with tips made by a company called "Le
professional" and played for 3 hours. The second item
on the list was a game of bingo. Maybe 25 people participated.
They had prices like bottles of fresh milk and chocolate bars
(hard to get at the pole) and more interesting items from
Christchurch like tee shirts and caps. I managed to win one
of those tee shirts by completing an "S" shape on
one of my bingo card (you can see the skills right there).
Finally, the day ended with "12 monkeys" and "Rushmore"
two movies I strongly recommend.
Tuesday 22nd January 2002
 This
is it! Unfortunately, they won't let me stay forever. The
dreaded moment had finally arrived. After saying everybody
goodbye (and tried to hint to John to send me back here next
year before Dome C) I embarked on board of yet another Hercules
which is now a very familiar piece of appliance (along with
fridges and pool tables). I got to ride in the cockpit, but
frankly, the view was disappointing. There is 4 people in
the cockpit: The pilot, the co-pilot, the radio guy and another
man (I don't know what was his job there) who was sitting
in the middle, just behind the 2 pilots and much higher than
everybody else (A bit like captain Kurk in the Enterprise)
Arriving at Mc Murdo by day time this time, I got the impression
of a large transit station, a bit reminiscent of the one in
"Men in Black" with people coming from everywhere
and having nothing to do with one another. We were lead to
an office and we got given a key to our room. Mine was 155/125.
You would thing they would nicely tell you what these numbers
mean and give you a bit of explanation about the place (maybe
even a map). Instead, they give you the key and off you go
on an adventure to find out where you are supposed to sleep
(and the meaning of life if you find your room too quickly).
I got in a sense lucky as I was sharing a room with 3 other
guys who came from the Pole on the same flight. So we all
knew each over and managed not to get too bored in this ugly
town.
Wednesday
23rd January 2002
Luck stroke again the next morning, I was scheduled on the
next available flight going to Christchurch but still had
to wait 24h for it to happen. Again the pool table came handy
(although the table at Mc Murdo is a leftover from the trade
center compared to the one at the Pole). I also went around
outside in order to find some penguins and seals but saw nothing.
This year was particularly bad for the wildlife in Mc Murdo
as a huge 200km long Iceberg (Romantically named B-15) got
stuck in the bay and kept the ice from melting. All together,
Mc Murdo is very forgettable and the food is particularly
bad. I was glad to depart from this base and glad to have
spent a very minimum time there, as apparently it is normal
to spend there almost a week to wait for an available flight.
The flight to Christchurch was packed and as uncomfortable
as it can get, with no room to even move your legs. It was
7 hours of a struggle to find a position comfortable enough
to sleep in. The other 60 guys were on a same struggle and
many gave up and got up all together during a fair bit of
the trip. I know I complain a lot about the flights but I'd
like to point out that it is a very cheap price to pay to
make it to probably the most amazing place on earth and I'd
do it again anytime (how does next year sounds?)
Arriving at Christchurch, I felt nothing beside the strong
desire to drop all my heavy and hot cloths and jump into a
hot bath (my weekly sauna will be well welcomed back too)
That's
it for this first "too-good-for-word" adventure
at the Pole. From now on I don't want to be called anything
less than Tony the explorer, but Antarctic Super Hero Grade-1
will do just fine (I wonder what grade Paolo is)
See
you Next Year….
Tony
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