22 January 2023 My Last Days in Antarctica

Journal

Some luxuries again!

I made it back to McMurdo Station and the first thing I did was shower and do laundry! The water had been under maintenance at the South Pole before I left so I was happy to be clean again.

Then I went to the coffee house and had a LATTE. Oh my goodness I didn't know how much I had missed espresso and real milk! (We only drink dehydrated milk at the South Pole.)

Coffee in a coffee house — THE BEST COFFEE EVER. Though I may be biased. Photo by Elaine Krebs.

Mountains?!

I kept myself busy hiking around the station. I forgot what hills were after staring at the white expanse for a while. Thanks to living at altitude for 3 weeks I feel like I am in the best shape ever and basically sprinted up Ob Hill. (Okay it was fast walk but still.)

View looking up at Ob Hill — Some people were running up it! I wasn't THAT crazy! Photo by Elaine Krebs.

View from ObHill looking down at McMurdo Station and the Ross Sea — The view from up here is amazing! Photo by Elaine Krebs.

Tour of the PolarStern

The icebreaker was still docked for one more day so I was able to tour it! It was so cool to see. It reminded me a lot of the South Pole with everything you need in one place. They even turned the old helicopter hanger into a gymnasium/movie night area.

The PolarStern Icebreaker in McMurdo Station — The PolarStern! I remember seeing it WAY on the horizon before I left. It was so cool to see up close! Photo by Elaine Krebs.

Elaine holding the steering wheel of the icebreaker — They let me in the captain's seat! Just kidding it's not a seat! Captains stand for their whole shift! Photo by Elaine Krebs.

View out the bridge of the icebreaker at the stern — Standing in the bridge - looking towards the stern of the icebreaker. It's so impressive! Photo by Elaine Krebs.

Power Plant and Water Plant

Shoutout to Aram the Amazing (the paramedic who RAT tested us) for telling literally all of McMurdo about what I was doing. When I got back, his friends Ivan and Tom showed me around the Power Plant and Water Desalination Plant. It was SO cool to see!

Picture of one generator in the powerplant — This is just ONE generator of ONE power plant. There are two plants with four generators plus three windmills! Photo by Elaine Krebs.

Water plant with pipes coming up from the ocean — All the water is pumped in from the ocean and desalinated! Photo by Elaine Krebs.

I found Bill!

It was also fun to reconnect to all the people I met in New Zealand who were still in McMurdo Station - like Bill and his team! We hung out for a while and I finally got to see the inside of all these buildings, since I wasn't allowed previously while in isolation.