Now I’m back to New Zealand to work on my masters in physics at Canterbury University. I’ll be working with the IceCube Collaboration. This is the group of people who use the neutrino detector at the South Pole. Check out my page posting about this awesome project.

I hope all is well with my dedicated bloggers. Feel free to post more questions!

GCAS final BBQ

Not sure how it ended so suddenly as the last 2 months went by a break neck speed. I have no good excuse for not writing other than that I was up to my eye balls in neutrino simulations for my final project. It was so full on but totally worth it. I went back in to my physics mind set and worked hard to do the research and write a paper about a telescope called IceCube located at the South Pole. Its used to detect Neutrinos coming in from the atmosphere. Neutrinos are a really really really small particle.  Watch out there are 50 Trillion of them going through you ever second! Don’t worry, they have no electrical charge and no known mass so they very rarely interact and go unnoticed. For my final project I did some simulations and energy reconstructions for different parts of the telescope. Except its not your usual telescope. When its finished in 2011 it will be a 1 km by 1 km by 1 km of 80 stings each with 60 detectors on them. They are drilled into the ice and it is there that the neutrino interactions can be detected in the medium of the ice.  Here I’ve gone again rambling on about IceCube as it is the COOLEST science experiment I know of, no pun intended.  

So that is how I finished up my GCAS project. I was sader than I could have imagined to say goodbye to everyone.  After stiving so hard to get in to this wonderful program, working hard at school and making it to Antarctica, I felt lost as what to do next. That just means I can get started on my next great adventure…….

                                                  Now how can I get back to the Ice??

Some very serious explorers I would go to the end of the world for anytime

Thanks for reading my blog and listen to me rant about my crazy adventures. I’m working hard on getting up as many stories as I can but there was only a short holiday beak for me and its back to school. Not only that but I have heaps of reports to write up on top of a few more lectures to get through.  So bare with me and keep checking in for the next installment. All the good juicy details are in the Pages which you can click on in the right hand column….just in case you are new to the site.

I hope you all had a good holiday and Happy New Years. If you have any really cool resolutions be sure and let me know. I love getting your posts. Feel free to write me with any questions you have.

Bye for now,

Sarah

It was particularly interesting to me as I read through it with the adventure correlating to my time on the Ice. As Cherry spoke of Castle Rock  I would stare up from my seat and note the massive landmark. We did our seal census next to Hutton cliffs where he battled with this sledge. Seeing Scott’s discovery hutt has so much more value as I knew even more of the inner workings and stories of them who built the structure. I pretended to know what the conditions were like for him but couldn’t conceive the hardships. In our perfect conditions everything was such an effort it seem unreal he was working in -70 degrees and pitch blackness.

My favorite quote comes about Erebus of which I read during the first couple days at Scott Base:

“I have seen Fiji, the most dainty and graceful of all mountains; and also Kinchinjunga: only Michael Angelo among men could have conceived such grandeur. But give me Erebus for a friend. Whoever made Erebus knew all the charm of the horizontal lines, and the lines of Erebus are for the most part nearer the horizontal than the vertical. And so he is the most restful mountain in the world, and I was glad when I knew that our hut would lie at his feet.  And always there floated from his crater the lazy banner of his cloud of steam. “

If you can put yourself in my ECW boots and imagine what it was like to read this knowing that I too would soon be lying at the feet of Erebus than you will know why this quote is all but etched in my brain. I found Cherry was correct in describing Erebus as a masterpiece and I became quite attached to him.  Our camp was also placed in Windless Bight, directly where Cherry, Bowers and Wilson crossed through to get to Cape Crozier.

If you get a chance to read this book its great up to the 643 page. In fact, the last two paragraphs were the greatest of the whole novel for me. BUT DON’T CHEAT! you can not skip to the end, they won’t have the same meaning for you. The real life events of this book are more surreal than the latest Harry Potter novel.

Over excited in the Antarctic Center waiting to board

I thought I was ready. I had read the books, seen the pictures, watched movies and asked questions. I knew what to expect. Or at least I thought I did. I had read the accounts of heroic explorers and had painted pictures in my mind. Even though they often used the words “impossible to describe”, in particular when describing the bonds of comradery, I quickly brushed them away as the steady flow of imagery made those statements seem false.

    On the plane ride down I was bursting out of my seat like a rocket to slam my face in to the window so that I might be millimeters closer to my first iceberg looming thousands of miles below.  I then found out what all the accounts I have read meant. I could see the all the great ships breaking their way through the sea ice which imitated cells flowing in blood.  On deck, crates were piled high between the dogs tethered to their posts. The men shuffled about with the wind at their backs, fresh food in their bellies, memories still vivid of their wives as they embarked on a grand adventure. It was all coming alive for me.

pancake ice

     However it was not what you think. I did not have that epiphany to suddenly realize what hardships Scott had endured, or Cherry-Garrard, Shackleton or any of my favorite explorers.  In fact my feelings were the opposite. The indescribable was not described.  I now know that I nor no one else will ever know what Antarctica was like in her youth no matter how well it was depicted.

     So point of the story is just as I will never know what the  Worst Journey In The World was like, you will never know what my 15 days on the ice were like.   There are no words in the English language that can confine Antarctica.  Unless you want to go dig up old Noah Webster and tell him to beef up his dictionary, you’ll have to have a 5 year old self portrait for the Mona Lisa.   

 If you were reading this blog to know what Antarctica is like, I’m sorry, but don’t waste your time any longer reading about it and get down there. If you want to know what kind of shenanigans I’ve been up to, see how life exists in Antarctica today or maybe learn a thing or two, then keep reading. 

 It has been a crazy two weeks filled with successful science experiments, great people and wonderful adventures. Everyone’s experience with the ice will have different descriptions or highlights depending on their interests.  Be patient with me as its been a whirlwind of stimulations and capturing it is a herculean task.

yes thats me at Scott Base

well thats me not saying anything about the 24 hour delay due to bad weather. Got a lovely little text message at 5:49  saying : Bad Weather, 24 hour delay, report at 0700 Tuesday morning.  So there I stood, fully dressed in my ECW gear, the birds chirping up a storm as the sun was well on its way up. I was semi conscious but awake enough to know that I was upset. It was yet another day to add on to my countdown.

Since then, I’ve had a really nice sleep in, made homemade carrot, kumara, and potato soup with my flatmates and been a huge bum. Yes, I’m still in my Pj’s and its 3p.m.  Also doing more blogging and reading The Worst Journey in the World by Cherry-Garrard. Now to get back to this very demanding agenda I have planned for myself. There is much eating and pampering to be attend to.

Does toothpaste freeze?

Would tears freeze?

How much faster will my hair grow?

Will my skin be very dry?

How is Santa going to find me? Does Rudolph fly in whiteout conditions as well as he does in the dark? Can Santa maneuver chimneys in Igloos? Does he still want Milk and Cookies are is a popsicle OK?

How will I survive with no stars for two weeks!?!? (well besides the sun)

Will I be able to see the moon? Will its orbit be different?

How crazy will my compass be? Will it still point North?

These are all questions I’ve been pondering as I head to the Ice. Anyone have any ideas or more questions….I’ll report back with as many answers as I can

Rarrrhhhh This is how I feel stomping around with the heavy boots

The whole of Antarctica is on the same techtonic plate

There are 2 active volcanoes, Mt. Erebus being one is located on Ross Island (where Ill be staying) and has several mini eruptions a day

Antarctica has less than 2% exposed rock

35 Million years ago the Trans Antarctic Mountains formed

15 Million years ago Ice became a permenant features