Antarctica: A Year on Ice Page #2

because you never have

to contend with the weather.

At home there's various

degrees of weather.

Here it's either good

or it's not.

Whereas home, it might be okay

or just okay

or I think I can make it.

But there's none of that here.

So, what would be

your favorite place to fly to?

Christchurch.

No, I like the Dry Valleys.

I like the Upper Wright

and the Beacon Valley as well.

It's spectacular scenery,

it really is.

Like Rob, I'm one

of the lucky ones.

The work I do in Antarctica

allows me to get out

and experience

some of the grandeur

and vast emptiness

of this amazing continent.

Wherever there is research

happening in the field

they need their

communications support.

So I spend a lot of time

setting up radio equipment

in remote locations.

When I first came down

here in 1998,

I was struck by how

pure and untouched it was.

There's still places here

where no human

has ever set foot.

I just love

that there's still places

in the world you can go

to experience absolute silence.

When you're out here

and there's no wind

your ears are just

straining to hear something...

anything.

You just don't realize

how much noise

pollution there is

in your daily life

back in the real world.

One very important

thing when you're...

working in the deep field is...

to make sure never

to confuse your pee bottle

with your water bottle.

Well...

the summit of Erebus

and an ice fumarole

that's growing

from steam coming out

of one of the cracks here.

Most days

I can't believe I get

to work in this place.

But there are days when I think

they just can't pay me enough.

God, this is an awful place.

In theory there should be

a flag right about there.

Ah yeah, there we go.

Gotta love GPSs.

It's the middle of summer

and if we check the time

it's ah...

just after 12 o'clock.

That's 12 o'clock

midnight though.

Merry Christmas!

Ah, Christmas dinner...

making food

for lots and lots of people.

It's a big day.

We're spreading holiday cheer.

I think for a lot

of younger folks that come down

it's a real good

experience for them.

It's probably not a career

for most people,

but for some...

it is.

I think I found it

and kind of fell in love

with it.

I have been coming to Antarctica

for about 13 years now.

And when I came down

the first time

I thought, "Ah yeah

this will be great to do once."

You know, just come

to Antarctica.

And then I can say,

"Wow, I went to Antarctica."

And then I signed on

for a contract

the following year

and then...

I don't know what happened.

I'm still here.

There's a saying among

the women of Antarctica

"The odds are good.

But the goods, are odd."

Christine and I met down here

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