Happy New Year!!!!

Ok ok, so I've dropped the ball a little and it's been like 20 days since I've posted a blog. I'd really like to say that it's been because I've been super busy and done all kinds of crazy things. Well, that's not the case. Life at McMurdo has been pretty much the same over the last few weeks. Things are starting to ramp up a little bit though.

I have 30 days left on ice at this point and as much as I've loved every minute of it I'm getting ready to see nighttime again. Just yesterday the Icebreaker boat finally came into town. What the icebreaker is responsible for doing is well, duh, break up the ice. The reason we have them come is so that a giant vessel can come in with supplies for the next year as well as a fuel tanker. All we really need now for that to go according to plan is for a good windstorm to come and take all of the broken ice out to sea.

The fuel tanker is expected to come in around the 24th of January and the Vessel is to come around the 31st. Once the vessel gets here the entire town pretty much shuts down. I myself will be switching to the night shift and get running a forklift for 12 hours a day until we have unloaded the entire boat. From what I understand it's a lot of fun and it ends rather quickly.

Ok, ok, so on to other business. What craziness have I gotten myself into since we last spoke... Lots! First and foremost, I am no longer on crutches!!!! I actually got off of my crutches a week after Christmas. Just in time for New Years! And may I say it was one of the best parties I've ever been to. Aside from it missing some very important people it was amazing.

Every year down here they hold Icestock... If it sounds like Woodstock that's because it is supposed to. It's a huge outdoor (yes outdoor) music festival. I believe there was about 8 or 9 bands that played and there were all kinds of things to do outside. After the concert was over there was a party held in a secret location, we partied in an old retired fuel tank. Don't worry about fumes it's been fuelless for years. I actually go up there regularly to pull supplies out of it. All in all New Years was awesome!

This last weekend was another awesome weekend. On Saturday night myself and some friends took a hike out to Hut Point to see the Ice Breaker coming in. While we were out there we were accompanied by a Weddell seal out in the water. Pretty soon we should be getting all kinds of wild life out near hut point. Everything from seals, to penguins to big ole orca whales! I can't wait for that to start! After we left we hung out for a little while until we went to another secret party down here! This one was in the Laundry Room! It was pretty fun, the parts of the night I do remember.

On Sunday there was another annual event that I attended down here. That was the annual Rugby match between the Kiwi's and the Americans. It was pretty amazing to see the set up. They actually had goal posts erected and seating for us to all enjoy the game. Unfortunately (not a huge surprise) the American team lost again. They've never actually scored, but this year they did have the ball bounce off the crossbar! They lost 8-0 :(

As my season is coming to a close I am very grateful for everything that I have experienced down here. I definitely wouldn't trade this experience for anything. That's not to say I don't miss everyone back home because lord knows I definitely do! My crazy best friend has decided that he is going to stay down here until Oct. 15th. So he'll be back just in time for the wedding. He of course will be missing the bachelor party but I understand. There are a lot of people down here that are getting a little rough around the edges and can't wait to get off of the ice. I just hope that none of them forget about all of the amazing things they have done down here. I know that I definitely wont. The journey is far from over though!

Until next time...

Much Love!
D!