The Sun in Out!

It has been a very overcast Winfly until now - the sun came out a few days ago & now we can see gorgeous sunrises & sunsets. The full moon down here was spectacular - it seemed close enough to touch, and was so bright you had to squint as it bathed the town with a surreal orange-y blue light.

The purpose of Winfly is to construct the Ice Runway for the C-17 flights (which will be almost every other day throughout the summer (Oct-Dec)). Some of these photos are of the snowblasts & tractors which remove the snow off of the ice, so there will be a smooth surface for the runway, which is just outside of town. We can walk, jog and ski out to the Ice Runway, and they have their own galley. By December, the sea ice will become too unstable (slushy) for the big planes to land on, so almost overnight the buildings & accopanying detritus which support the runway will disappear, and Pegasus (the permanent runway used forWinfly & redployment (Feb) flights) will again be used.

I am learning my job easily, and right now don't mind so much being chained to a desk, but as soon as it warms up I'm sure I'll miss the rugged outdoor work I did last year. I am going to ask for an outdoor job during ship offload (Feb) so I can get a megadose of hard outdoor work. I've been going to the gym almost everyday for cardio on the treadmill as it's so easy to gain weight here will all the unlimited food being served...oh well, there's always skua* for larger pants!!

*skua: 1) depository of cast off items from people leaving the Ice (think of Wal-Mart after a tornado hits it), always great stuff - anything you could want (clothes, books, toiletries, and some rather dodgy items as well). 2) indigenous Antarctic bird, kind of like a seagull-like pidgeon, that hangs outside the galley looking for food.

It is now Saturday morning, and I'm looking forward to sleeping in and enjoying Sunday brunch. Will has been out at Black Island fixing generators & a broken Nodwell (T-Rex), so I look forward to his return as well ;-).