By contract, we work a minimum 54-hour week. Fire department schedule is 24 on, 24 off. For example, my schedule over two weeks would look like:Mon-Wed-Fri-Sun (which comes out to 96 hours) Tu-Th-Sat (for a total of 72) We are lucky enough this year to be near-fully staffed, and so we get a Kelly Day... Continue Reading →
Letters: One week in
Backdated post with excerpts from a letter to a friend back home. Con 2 page Antarctica is good. It's a lot of people, some of who have a huge amount of experience, coming from all different places. There's a handful of medics, so it's not just me (which is nice); our captain that runs our... Continue Reading →
Letters: Hands
A side effect of my hands chapping from the dryness is that I've lost my fingerprints. First my index fingers, then this morning my first two fingers. I am looking at my hands now and it appears my fingertips are abraded or almost pilled, and sure enough, the fingerprints have worn off. It's not a... Continue Reading →
Duck of the Day: Oct. 10, 2018
I'm not sure what kind of bird this was. We met it at the ropes course "Adrenalin Forest" outside of the city. Friendly little guys. Bit more at home than we were.
Duck of the Day: Oct. 9, 2018
Christchurch was struck by an earthquake on February 22, 2011. 185 people were killed, and significant damage was done to the city and surroundings. This was also right around the changeover from Summer to Winter on the Ice, so there are returners to the Ice that remember when this happened - being displaced due to... Continue Reading →
Duck of the Day: Oct. 8, 2018
Wild Christchurch Seagull. Rockin', rockin' and rollin'...
Duck of the Day: Oct. 7, 2018
Rubber Ducks only $1.99ea From a bookshop in a Christchurch mall.
Duck of the Day: Penguin Special #1
Penguin Special #1, Canterbury Museum, Christchurch.October 6, 2018
Duck of the Day: Oct. 6, 2018 (Double Duck)
The New Zealand Dabchick / Weweia"The Dabchick is now found only in the North Island living mainly on deep lakes in the Rotorua and Taupo districts. It is scattered throughout the area north and south of Auckland and through the eastern and western North Island where it occurs on shallow farm ponds and sand dune... Continue Reading →
Duck of the Day: Oct. 4, 2018
If it's a penguin eating chicken-flavored chips, is that cannibalism? From a Christchurch grocery store. A Kiwi friend told me this was normal, and it hadn't really occurred to him until then how strange it might be. Kiwis seem to be much more aware of Antarctica's presence in general, and there's little ways it pops... Continue Reading →
Book and Ladder 