How can you resist?

Dishwasher, Explorer, Divetender, Filmstar!

About a month ago I was able to go out on a boondoggle away from work. Basically a boondoggle is a morale trip that gets you out from work doing something fun and interesting. I was assigned to be a divetender for the BBC dive/film crew for their upcoming mini-series, Frozen Planet.

All I had to do was go out to two dive huts and help them put their gear on and help load their cameras into the water. I traveled in a Pisten Bulley with Doug and Steve, both Raytheon divers out to a place 16 miles from town called the Cape Evans Ice Wall. Along the way I saw a seal hanging out on the ice, the Erebus Ice Tongue, Big Razorback Island, Little Razorback Island, Tent Island, Inaccessible Island, Mount Erebus and a C-17 land.

I was joined by Kat, a former DA and current Jano - she's awesome btw. While at this dive hut we helped the BBC team (Kathryn, Hugh and Doug) and got lucky ehough to interact with a seal. After that we went to another dive hut near Arrival Heights to film one of the scientists, Dr. Stacy Kim, and her team loading and using her SCINI project ( http://scini1.mlml.calstate.edu/ ).

I had the best time and was completely blow away by the vistas. Of course it only made me hungry for more exploration!

Dive Office interiors:











Mount Erebus:





A seal!



Several scientists sped out on ski obiles to check out a seal that broke through the ice to give birth



Right near the base of Big Razorback Island is a field camp where seals give birth



Falling Glacier:


Big Razorback Island



Inaccessible Island:



A Pisten Bulley:



Cape Evans Wall:



Cape Evans Dive Hut:














Weddell Seal surfacing in dive hut



Cape Evans Ice Wall:











Ice Crack at the shore





Arrival Heights Dive Hut with BBC Film Crew, Dr. Stacy Kim and the SCINI Project:











Views at Arrival Heights:

Halloween on Ice

Wow Halloween was fun! Cheap beer, killer costumes and fantastic friends!

Look, can you see the ONLY polar bear in the southern hemisphere?


the saddest penguin you'll ever see


i do loves me some jen gebo and nazi zombies


Raq, former DA and former student, she really is that crazy. (She's a baker now)


Naked ladies!


A BUNCH of people!


Amy Winehouse


A goddess, a doped up celebrity and a zombie. What else do you really need on Halloween?


Attack of the hungry Skua! (Yes, these birds really do attack people for food, but only if they see blue. Luckilly us DA's wear blue uniforms! WOOHOO!)


Um, I love Kristin!


Zombie attack!


I don't know what the hell he is, but it works right?

Randomness

Here are some random pics from the last month or so...

This is Becca, our beloved deli cook and mom to one of my DA's. Every morning she comes in an hour early to drink coffee and wake up. On this occasion she decided to have coffee with a pumpkin scarecrow.


This is Chris, a production cook and my former roommate. He loves beer so much he get a little excited when cooks with it.


Sometimes our back dock serves as a fridge/freezer. This is Kristin trying to eat some steaming meat she put out to chill.


I can't tell if Kristin is trying to eat her quesadillas or barf on them...


Sharon, my jewcy DA, likes to growl at me. GRRR!


Okay, some background info here... Tyler, the bearded one is one of my current roomies. He loves the ladies, in particular the blonde he is getting cozy with. Her name is Jen Gebo or The Geebs. She's married and her husband is on the ice with us. EVERYONE knows about Tyler's crush on The Geebs. So much so that...


...I was Tyler for Halloween. Blue hair, glasses, beard and a shirt that states his love for The Geebs (as well as Nazi Zombies). I have to say it was friggin hilarious, but only if you knew Tyler.


I am sick as all get out right now, so I will get back to posting later.