Antarctica: A Year on Ice Page #3

and I proposed to her

in the winter of 2003.

6 weeks later

we had an impromptu wedding

down here on the ice.

The flowers were all hand made

with folded paper.

Christine's friend Lori

made up a dress

from donated fabric.

And the plumbers cut

us some rings

made of brass.

I borrowed the only

dinner jacket on base

from Eric, the station manager

who then acted as our celebrant.

On this night here

on Ross Island,

Christine Marie Gamble

and Anthony Brendan Powell

are celebrating their love

and commitment to each other.

And tonight they will join

as husband and wife

in heart, body and soul.

Hi, Dad!

Just fine. Go ahead.

I'm here.

Thank you.

I've wintered over here

nine times now

and Christine has

wintered eight times

Living on the ice

is just something

that's become so ingrained

in both of us.

The TV version of penguins

doesn't prepare you

for the reality

of seeing an actual

penguin colony.

There are thousands

of frozen penguin corpses

that litter the ground.

And in summer the sewer stench

from 100.000 penguins

can be pretty unbearable.

Ten... nine... eight...

Seven... Six...

Five... Four...

Three... Two... One...

Happy New Year, McMurdo!

I like this place

for a lot of reasons

Part of me feels

like living at McMurdo

is like living

in Never-never Land.

There's a lot of people

they have gone in a very

different path in their lives.

And sometimes one of the things

I like the best

is being able to live a life

with people who are

willing to take

a slightly different path

different path in life.

And so for the first time

in my life

I'm part of a majority because

a lot of us feel that way.

And I've never been part

of the majority before.

We're in this...

we're in a box.

And there's no escape

from each other.

You can't get away.

You're forced to interact

day in and day out.

And you get to know people

very, very quickly.

Whether those

relationships be good or bad

they're going to be very,

very intense.

That was awesome!

Okay, stand by

for contact again.

McMurdo Sound is as far south

as it is possible to bring

a ship in the world.

And the arrival

of the supply ship

marks the last gasp

of summer here.

Once the ship has been offloaded

it's immediately reloaded

with all the rubbish,

recycling, human waste,

and science-related cargo

from the last year.

Nothing is left behind.

At the end of February,

the sun starts to briefly

dip back below the horizon.

And those of us

who will be wintering over

begin to seek each other out.

But most people are

thinking about heading home.

Have you ever been tempted

to hang around for the winter?

No.

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