A Small World and a Good Week

While having a beer at a bar here in Queenstown, my friend Heath introduced me to a few people that happened to live in DC as well. Thinking that it was a small world with the fact that they lived in the DC Metropolitan area, I was even more amazed that one of the girls we met had actually went to the same high school and middle school as I did and had some of the same teachers I did as well. Now that my friends makes this world a small one indeed.

I have money finally (accessible money). I was able to get a Western Union wire transfer from mother with the intention to wire the money she lent me back into her account upon receiving my new debit card. It's amazing how much fun I had this week despite how fucked up it's been on the side. Credit and debit cards getting cancelled with no way of uncanceling them, drastic travel plan cancellations and changes because of weather delays in Antarctica, USAA bank fucking up left and right, having to borrow money, having to call banks, mother, etc at 3 AM because of the time zone difference, you name it. As if it couldn't get any worse, none of my friends were expecting me to ride with them in the rental car with them back to Christchurch so because of an additional passenger I'm not able to ride with them. Today I waited too late to catch a bus back to Christchurch so I ended up buying a plane ticket to Christchurch from Queenstown Airport. I really can't think of anything else that can possibly go wrong now. But like I said, I had fun and I can't complain about that.

Vacation

It's been nearly a week since I left Antarctica. Slowly I'm learning how to reintroduce myself into society. Nighttime is like a new experience for me. No longer am I dealing with the same 1200 faces. I'm seeing thousands of new faces every day. In clubs and bars it's an interesting experience interacting (or at least trying) with people I don't know. With everything going on in my personal life (deaths, daughter on the way, bank issues), I've been doing as much as I can to take my mind off of the depression that's sorta set in. I can't thank my friends enough. They've done a lot to keep my mind off of things. Monday, we left the confines of Christchurch and headed south for Queenstown. I was really looking forward to this trip considering I'd get to see New Zealand outside of Auckland Airport and the City of Christchurch. One thing I noticed is that New Zealand is green. Very very very green. I don't know. It could be that I hadn't seen "green" in nearly 5 or 6 months but it definitely left me in awe. Our trip to Queenstown slowly took us west closer to the mountains. When we hit the mountains I instantly fell in love with the place. The southern Alps are truly remarkable. We didn't see much because of low lying storm clouds but we could only imagine what lie within the clods that covered the Alps like a hat. Our first stop along the way was Lake Tekapo where we decided to freeze our asses off and go swimming. We stopped later on a different towns to eat and get gas. The one thing I was sorta disappointed in was that asides from the metric system and different road signs, New Zealand towns look a lot like American towns except with more round-abouts. We got into Queenstown after dark. The town itself has a Colorado ski-resort feel to it. When we woke up, we were amazed by how such an awesome view could be masked by the dark. The lake, Lake Wakatipu, is the longest lake in New Zealand and boasts some of the most spectacular views in the country with 6,000 to 8,000 ft mountains beginning at it's shores. It's in Queenstown where bungy jump was created. The place we've been staying at is a 3 level, 5 bedroom, townhouse type deal where we've set up base. Most of the nights have been spent out at the bars. With such an extensive backpackers system, New Zealand (especially Queenstown) is full of people from all over the world. So far I've met people from at least 23 different countries....and a lot of gorgeous women. Queenstown has definitely been a blast.

I leave here to head back to Christchurch on Friday and then for the states on Monday. This has probably been the first vacation I've been on since early high school. Vacation being somewhere I go just to relax and not necessarily do anything. I also call it a vacation because for once, I needed to go some where and do something to take my mind of things. Next week I hop back into a somewhat normal existence: firehouse, climbing, hiking, maybe working here or there. I'm planning on going on unemployment when I get back into town. Depending on my money situation maybe even food stamps just to save up for the gas I'll need to drive out west. I'm praying the rest of this trip goes well. I'm praying my ATM card shows up tomorrow, and I'm praying that all goes well when I get back home. Stay safe.

New Zealand and Anxiety

Finally, I made it off the ice. We showed up in Christchurch right in the middle of dusk. It was amazing to experience twilight, humidity, color, and smells for the first time in over 5 months. After a couple of hours in customs and the Clothing Distribution Center, we went into the city to our respective places of lodging. I'm staying at a place called Base Backpackers which is sorta like a hostel geared toward backpackers. A lot of transients in and out from all over the world. I spent the night at a few bars with a bunch of other people from Antarctica and by time it was all said and done, it was 4 AM, I was drunk, and I was still out.

I spent the following day taking it easy. The depression of knowing a good friend died really set it then. I love working in Antarctica but dealing with being away from home at times like these really sucks. I've spent a lot of my time trying to find things to keep my mind off of Ricky's death but it pops its head up every once in a while. One of the things that sorta works is just spending time with other people. I'm glad that, for once, I'm not travelling a lone. Between Ricky's death which has made me think about my uncle dying while I wasn't here, flight delays and plans getting screwed up, and losing my wallet, I've really stressed the fuck out. Thank God for my friends though, they've kept me from going crazy. I've calmed down a lot since yesterday and this morning. Tomorrow, I may go to the beach for the first time in years and after that who know's what. I was hoping to have been back in the states by now but I couldn't find a flight that would get back in time for Ricky's funeral. Oh well. I'll see you all next week.

Last Day (Day 2) and another Death

Today is my 3rd last day down here on the ice. I was suppose to leave Tuesday. It is now 0845 Thursday morning and I'm praying to God that my flight won't experience another weather delay. The Air National Guard hasn't become desperate enough where they'll delay a plane a few hours versus a whole 24 so every time we get delayed, we get delayed a full day. I've been nothing but restless. My gear is already turned in back at the firehouse. My baggage is probably sitting on a pallet at the cargo center. I have one change of smelly clothes, my backpack, and my ECW gear. I've been offered another job offer with the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park but no word from Zion. Considering if what their manager said was true, I should be hearing sometime soon....supposedly today.

This morning, I received an email that broke the news to me that a friend, maybe not a close friend but definitely someone that has changed my life, was killed today in a work accident. The thing that's been pissing me off is that I can't feel any emotion in this place. I can't be at the firehouse to help place the black bunting on the building to signify the lost of one more brother. I can't be their to help lower the flag. I can't be there at his funeral. I feel no pain. No sadness. Just a blank canvas with neither emotion nor sorrow painted on it. I really need to get out of this place. A journey that's 3 days overdue...

Rest In Peace, Richard "Ricky" Muth. I love you brother and I'll miss you.

Goodbyes and Contemplations

It's all too real now. I said good-bye to my other two roommates yesterday. Good-byes are being said left and right. The mercury hasn't topped 10 degrees this week. As of writing this, I have 4 days left down here. I've been going through a bought of depression the past couple of days just thinking about my dad and a few other things. I've been thinking about cutting my trip shorter than it already is just to get home and spend it with my mother and family before I head out west. I don't know. Maybe it's the depression talking. All I know is that I'm ready to get out of here. I've been pretty restless the past couple of days and borderline emotional. I feel bad for Betty or any of my other friends. They don't deserve to be brought down by my emotions. Anyways, I'm still waiting to sign my contract for next season. I've been told our contracts are waiting on HR to approve our applications which is also depending on our employee evaluations. Since we're just getting our evaluations now, it will probably be a week or so before I get my contract. Thank God the end of the week is over. Sometime between the 18th and the 22nd, I hear about working with Zion. It's ironic that a place with the name of Zion is calling me "home". I don't know why. But something is telling me that my life will take a turn for the better going there. I don't know. Just a feeling right now.

Small World, Leaving, Emperor Penguin

Tomorrow I have one week left on the ice. My roommate Kenny left today and my kiwi roommates Cody and Dave are leaving this coming weekend. I'm really stoked to hear whether or not I'll be getting hired by Zion. Whether I do or not is God's will. At this point the suspense of waiting is killing me. As fate would have it, a crew member from the Arctic Tern, the container vessel that has sailed from California to here to offload and pick up cargo containers, stopped by the firehouse here to take a tour of the place. Low and behold, Paul is a member of Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department and was a member when I was living there. It's definitely a small world considering we both recognized each other. Anyways, one thing I really need to do is I need to start packing and start cleaning my room...the place is a disaster. On a more positive note, I saw my first Emperor Penguin up close today at Pegasus Airfield.

Last Days in Antarctica and Spring/Summer

I have 10 days left in Antarctica. This place has been a mad house the past few days. The ice breaker plowed the way for the fuel tanker to come in and off load up to 10 million gallons of gasoline, diesel, and JP8 fuel. The tanker left and shortly thereafter the cargo vessel showed up with a couple hundred containers to off load. Because the container off load is such a logistical ordeal, the US Navy and New Zealand Army has sent down battalions of people to have. With the coming of the NavCHAPS (Navy Cargo Handling something or other) comes fears that have been confirmed time and time again over the past years. The NavCHAPS are notorious for causing drunken brawls and desperate acts of thievery including dropping in from the ceilings. With that being said, our little town is in a furry to lock doors that have been unlocked since the beginning of the season, change schedules for anything that had a schedule, and meetings, meetings, meetings to prepare the town for an onslaught from about 400 military people. Apparently, it's been so bad in the past that the bars and the store stop selling alcohol until the ship offload is done and the navy and kiwi army heads home. With 24 hour cargo offload/onload operations going, we're in day 4 and all of the containers are already off. Hopefully in a couple of days, ship on load will be done and life can go back to normal at least for a few days before we all head home.

We're all counting down the days till we leave. A lot of people are leaving right now. The fire department is leaving on the 19th, 21st, and 23rd with yours truly leaving on the 19th. The weather is turning to shit fast. Today it's 7 degrees with a wind chill in the -20s. Williams Skiway is closing on the 17th which has truly hit home to a lot of us that the season is over.

Home is looking pretty good right now. I have to sign up for COBRA benefits and unemployment once I leave here. I'll be traveling for a little lest than 2 weeks. I've received 2 scholarships for my class through the Wilderness Medical Institute....one of them being a full scholarship. Hopefully, I can use the other one to help with paying gas needed to drive across the country. Two other people here on base are planning on taking this course as well....thankfully both of them I know pretty well. One is a good friend here in the fire department, another is a mutual friend of another firefighter that lives near me. It will be cool to have a person or two I know in the class. As of right now, I one confirmed job, one "tentative" job, and one turn down. I've filled out my tax and direct deposit forms for Las Vegas BLM Helitack. I've been offered a job with the Grand Canyon National Park on the South Rim, and I've been turned down by Denali National Park. I find out about Zion National Park sometime the week I leave. All in all, things are falling into place for the summer...

Bday and summer...

My birthday wasn't too bad. Normally I don't give a shit about it but enough people did to the point that it would be rude if I just blew them off. One of my Captains is going to try to get me my offer letter and contract for next year's season which would be nice so I can confirm a job for next season. A friend of mine down here put in a good word for me for the fire crew she works on. Today I got an email stating that I have been hired onto Las Vegas Bureau of Land Management's Helitack crew. Granted it's not my first pick but a) it's a job, b) it's a job on a helicopter, and c) it's still a pretty cool crew to work on...that and I'll be working with a friend. Things are starting to pan out for the summer...