Being Back with Something Missing

It's been a little over 10 days since I've been back and I haven't once gotten use to sleeping in Eastern time yet. My body still thinks it's in New Zealand. I've spent the past week and a half taking care of errands I've put aside while I've been out of the area. I've also spent a lot of time visiting old and recently new friends. It's been relaxing being back but I still feel a little off. Like I described to a friend, I'm glad to be home but I wish my home were somewhere else. I dunno. I think it was the wanderlust talking when I said that. I didn't realize how disappointed I was over not going to Africa this year until I got home and picked up the books and climbing guides about Morocco and Algeria. It wasn't until I started thinking about traveling again that I got outside and started climbing again. At first, my stuff was still in transit from New Zealand to here so I had to use only what I had shipped back in January which was primarily all of my aid climbing gear, my iron rack, and my hauling gear. This actually turned out to be nice because I didn't have my climbing shoes or harness but I did have a spare harness, belay device, and more carabiners to shake a stick at. So up until Saturday I spent a lot of my time practicing aiding, hammering, and hauling. Tomorrow morning, I head to Maryland Heights with a climber I met on Rockclimbing.com. Thursday probably with a firefighter from the station.

And what can I say about the Ashburn Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department? I've been a member there since December of 2002. Everything I do in life right now I owe to that place. I wouldn't be a firefighter or EMT if it weren't for that place. I wouldn't have met the people I know now if it wasn't for that place. It felt incredible to be back with my family there. My first night back landed me an oven fire in the souther part of Ashburn. The next night brought on a two-alarm townhouse fire. Subsequent nights after that brought us various types of calls ranging from several inside gas leaks to multi-patient auto accidents to brush fires. Usually I was a black cloud for my crews where I could show up to the station and not run a single call in a 12 hour shift. Saturday night alone Truck 6 (on which I was the officer) ran 6 calls asides from the 3 or 4 more the medic and ambulance ran that night. Since I'm planning to come back for a while in August, I decided now to start working for the Virginia Department of Forestry again as an on-call wildland firefighter. I'm hoping with the certifications I have now and whatever other certifications I'm planning on getting this season (PLDO, FFT1, ICT5 [hopefully], FALB) I'll have a better chance of getting called out than I would have just being a lowly Firefighter Type 2 (FFT2). The complexities of my jobs sometimes make them more fun than the jobs themselves...

It's great to be back with my friends, family, and career but something else is missing. I don't know what but then again, most of the fun in my life comes from trying to answer those types of questions. When I do find them...I don't know what I'm going to do.

Back at Home

Sadly, my first night after a full day being back home was spent at the firehouse. To be honest, the night after as well was spent at the firehouse. The second night landed us a fire in Sterling, VA. What was dispatched as a townhouse fire soon turned out to be one with fire through the roof as reported by the first-in engine company. In the haze of trying to get dressed in the back as we sped down the road, I failed to hear what lead to a second alarm being sound. Sometime throughout our response, the fire was knocked down, the second alarm canceled, and our job being left to one of sitting and waiting. To explain further, in the Northern Virginia area, all of the fire departments follow the same response procedures throughout the different jurisdictions for certain types of fires. For the 4 engines responding to a townhouse fire, the first one begins their attack on the seat of the fire, the second backs up as necessary, the third heads to the backside of the house, gives a report, and fights fire as necessary or dictated by incident command, and the fourth acts as the Rapid Intervention Team or RIT. With us as the 4th in engine, we stood by in case a firefighter went down inside and needed assistance. We were soon released on account of the quick knockdown from Sterling. Considering the night before brought us an oven fire in our own first due, I felt confident in saying I'm no longer a black cloud (as in not getting any calls) for the time being while I'm back.

Tonight was spent with two of my best friends from as far back as elementary school. We spent a few hours at a bar in Reston Town Center reminiscing the days of high school and middle school. We talked about our current jobs, love affairs, and life in general. It felt real good to be talking to them again. I'm constantly meeting new people and bonding new friendships but it's the old friendships from days of innocence and youth that make you feel at home and, sometimes, at ease. Tomorrow I begin tackling the errands I need to take care of in order to get ready for the fire season (pre-employment tasks, unemployment for the time being, school issues, etc). I'm deciding to work for Virginia Department of Forestry again as a firefighter. It'd only be for a month now but when I get back in the fall, I'll at least be able to deploy somewhere throughout the semester(s) I'm back. Now that I'm done vacationing, it's time to get busy again...

Home

I was pretty disappointed when the US Customs agent didn't tell me "Welcome Back" after he finished with my passport. I dunno. Maybe it was due to the fact it made such an impression on me last year when I went through. Something about those 2 words reassures me that our country still cares and values its citizens. It made me proud when I walked through customs after hearing that last year. Anyways, after a 4 1/2 hour layover in LA, saying good-bye to Kelly, and a 4-5 hour flight, I made it to Dulles around 2345 Thursday night. The one thing I love about Dulles Airport is the fact that the place runs so much smoother at night. I managed to board the transport to the main terminal, pick up my bags, find a taxi, drive to an ATM on account of the taxi driver not accepting cards, and arrive at my house all before 0020. I walked in, hugged my mother, and began unpacking boxes of stuff I had sent home from Antarctica and New Zealand. After a while I just sat down and stared out the window at the oak trees in my back yard. I was home, I thought, and I had to breath that in for a little bit.

Auckland....Again

I landed back in Auckland around 0530 in the morning only to realize a major problem with my itinerary: the travel agent I bought my tickets through sorta neglected the time zone difference between Rarotonga and Auckland (-10 GMT and +12 GMT...a big difference). What does that mean, you ask? To make a long story short, my flight to L.A. from Auckland left Auckland International 5 hours before I left Rarotonga. Dealing with rescheduling the flight was as simple as calling Raytheon, explaining what happened, and waiting for them to find another flight for me (a process that took 30 minute). Unfortunately, because of a winter storm on the Atlantic Coast, I wouldn't be able to get a flight until the following day which meant I had to find a hotel and something to do for 30 hours. So I gathered my bags, found a hotel near the airport and decided to catch up on all of the sleep I had missed out on over the past week or so. I'm not going to lie when I say I say the night was very uneventful. I ordered a pizza, listened to music, and took care of some things job wise for the summer. I went to sleep at midnight and woke up at 1000. I decided to go to the airport considerably early...4 hours before my flight early. With a new book (A House In Fez by Suzanna Clarke - A story about an Australian Ex-Pat couple who by a house in the ancient Medina of the city of Fez, Morocco and go through the arduous task(s) of repairing it to it's original state), plenty of magazines, and my normal monk-like patience, I figured it wouldn't hurt to wait at my boarding gate for a few hours. For once, out of most of the things I've done over the past couple weeks, checking in and getting through customs went incredibly smooth. I spent less than 10 minutes checking my bags and getting my tickets. It took me about 15 minutes to make it through the departure side of customs. I found my gate, and decided to walk around for a bight to eat.

While walking around, I ran into a really good friend of mine, Kelly Jacques, with whom I started to converse about the past week or so. Considering we hadn't seen each other since probably the first Saturday after we got off the ice, we spent a lot of time filling each other in on our adventures. Apparently, she had a worse bout of bad luck than I had. Her rental car had been broken in and she had a lot of stuff stolen from her. It was great to see her smile through it but I still felt bad for her. I can't imagine having all of my stuff stolen out of my car...especially my climbing equipment...I'd probably cry! While talking to her, it did dawn on my how lucky I was to have missed my original flight otherwise I wouldn't be flying with her. At the gate, we noticed about 16 other people from Antarctica scattered about the crowds. We talked with one woman from the fuels department and reminisced of an interesting season. After a couple hours at the gate and one last look across the land past the airport, we boarded our plane, we grabbed our seats, and we said good-bye to New Zealand.

Rarotonga Day 2

The next day after I arrived brought a little bit more excitement to my stay in the Cook Islands. The morning was spent eating breakfast and talking with my new found friends. While talks of 4 hour games of Gin Rummy floated around the table, I decided to take that time to work my way towards the airport to check out the fire department. My friend Helen and I took a bus into "town" to do some shopping for the night to come. While she was taking the last bus of the day back to Vara's, I started walking further down the road, thumbs outstretched with the hopes that I could hitch a ride to the airport. Disappointingly, it was a good while before I was able to get a ride. The road around the island, however, is pretty close to the beach. The walk was beautiful. It took me by the pier, by a lot of pretty good reef breaks, and by some breathtaking views of the mountains within the interior of the island. About 2 km into my walk, A guy who I happend to have been sitting next to on the flight over to Rarotonga pulled over with his sister and her son and offered me a ride. Small world, I know! The funny (and sorta sad) thing about the ride was that I only had another 1/2 kilometer to go.

The fire station was right next to the Air Traffic Control tower. The station at the airport is actually the sole station for the entire island. Amazingly, they had some pretty new and nice apparatus.

From Rarotonga 2009

The station held, one engine, one heavy aircraft crash-truck, one medium aircraft crash-truck, a 26-foot boat, and a few different trailers. The guys there were absolutely great! I introduced myself and we all hit off right away. One of their driver/operators, a Cook Island Maori by the name of Ray, put me to work right away helping him inspect one of the vehicles. We then hopped in and drove across and to the end of the runway.

From Rarotonga 2009

From Rarotonga 2009

From Rarotonga 2009

From Rarotonga 2009

From Rarotonga 2009

From Rarotonga 2009

I got some hero shots in front of their front-line engine at the end of the runway by the sea, a small tour of their small station, and an agreement that I would come back with an Antarctic Fire Department T-Shirt for a Cook Islands Fire Department T-Shirt. Easy peasy. As I started to walk back towards town, Ray and the guys took pity upon me, picked me up in their utility vehicle, and gave me a ride back to Vara's some 20 km away. That's brotherhood right there!

When I came back, I met up with the group again only to hang out and get dinner one last time before I flew to Auckland later on that night. We each bought a couple 6-packs and ushered in the night out by the beach on our porch. I only knew them for 48 hours but I had already began to miss them as time came to pack and eventually depart for the airport at 2330 hrs. I checked in (only to have to be escorted back into the check-in office so I could print my itinerary out that proved that I had a flight leaving New Zealand), swapped my T-Shirt at the firehouse and said goodbye to those guys, then waited for 2 hours in the courtyard for our plane to land. While waiting, I got a little present dropped on my head form a roosting bird well above my head. Little did I know that the bird crap on my head would bring anything but luck over the next couple of days....

Rarotonga!

I touched down in Rarotonga shortly after midnight this morning (-10 GMT [Hawaii] on Sunday mind you). Considering that I didn't do much research on the Cook Islands and this was a very impromptu trip, I figured whatever I was in for was going to be a surprise…pleasant or not. I sometimes feel embarrassed by the fact that I had never seen a palm tree up until August of 2007 when I drove to Fresno, CA at a failed attempt to buy an Airstream trailer. There were definitely no shortages of palm trees in this place however. One of the first things I noticed as we stepped out into the dead of a South Pacific night was the humidity and the trees. Having only been off the ice for going on 10 days, I'm still easily amused and excited by the simple things a lot of people take for granted. I thought New Zealand was green when stepping off our northbound flight from McMurdo. Well, I hadn't been to the Cook Islands then. Even amidst the low amber-hued light I could make out the colors that the trees and flowers blessed this little island with. Anyways, we stepped out into the night onto the tarmac and walked towards the terminal. Now Rarotonga International Airport isn't exactly Dulles. Our terminal was simply a large room probably 15 by 18 meters. As we walked through the doors, some old guy hidden behind a bunch of fake palm trees played us welcoming island songs as we gathered around the baggage carousel. He sounded and looked like an expat of some sort. By the look of his sun aged skin, it seems like he's been leading a healthy relaxing life here in Raro. My Osprey travel backpack was one of the first bags out on the carousel which was a first. My surfboard, however, took almost 30 agonizing minutes to come out to us. Travelling with that thing has been a pain in the ass. I constantly pray that it actually makes its destination…let alone in one piece. I grab my baggage and make my way to the "lobby" which is another large room that is open to the sidewalk outside. As I was told the night before when I made my reservations for Vara's, I searched around for a lady by the name of Lilly who would take me to my room. Lilly was an older Cook Island Maori (note: there are New Zealand Maoris and Cook Island Maoris…the Cook Island variety will make sure you know that if you were to make the mistake to call them Cook Islanders or Rarotongan) who happened to be the only person standing around waiting for someone not knowing exactly who she was waiting for. I asked her if she was Lilly and reply was simply, "Where are you staying?" I knew I was in good hands.

Two other people, a couple, were waiting in the van-looking mini-van used to ferry guests back and forth from Vara's to the airport. As I've found out several times so far, most shuttles are setup for the immediate loading of an 8 foot surfboard. So with a little ingenuity, some enlisted help from the couple I was riding with, and a few apologies here and there, I managed to fanangle the board on the ground next to the seats. After ramming the board into the bench seat in the back like some 17^th century cannoneer, Lilly introduced us to her granddaughter that was sleeping on the bench. Great, now I feel like an ass, I though. Her granddaughter raised her head to smile then rolled over and quickly went back to sleep. We took off for the lodge which was said to be on the other side of the island. For a small, south pacific island, there were a hell of a lot of vehicles on the road at nearly 0100 Sunday morning. Most of them being scooters, every vehicle was almost certainly full. 2 or 3 on a scooter, 3 or 5 in a car, 5 in the beds of pick-ups a lone, it seemed like everyone had a place to go; where to on such a small island, I had no idea. About 10 or 15 minutes in our drive, Lilly pulled over at a 24 hour convenience store. "Does anyone want anything?" she asked. I was dying for a proper meal as I'm sure the couple was too. Out of courtesy the three of us declined. She shut the van down and disappeared into the store for about 20 minutes. Throughout that time, her granddaughter woke up, stretched, stumbled over my surfboard, and climbed up in the front seat of the van to play on her cell phone and send a text message or two. This informality sorta stuck with me. I had only been on the ground for a little over an hour and I'm already deep into the "Island Way of Life" as was described to me by a few veteran Pacific Island travelers I met in the airport the night before. Lilly came back to van with a few groceries and continued driving us to Vara's. Vara's was a series of dorms, rooms, and bungalows situated on the beach as well as on the hillside on the opposite side of the road around the island. Excited to set my feet in warm sand and water for the first time in months, I quickly dropped my bags in my room, changed into board shorts and flip-flops (or "thongs" as the kiwis like to call them) and head to the beach somewhere beyond the rows of palm trees on the backside of the lodge. I walked around the outside of the lodge taking in the smell of the flowers around and the palm trees above. I walked onto the porch which separated me from the sound of waves washing ashore somewhere close when I heard a woman's voice from the shadows say "Hi!" A few people my age sat on a picnic table a few meters away in the dark talking about the day's events. Helen, a British girl introduced me to Edwin from Holland, and Ragan, an "Australian" with a peculiar European accent which I've yet to identify. I sat down told them my ridiculous story about how I was only there for a couple days, as well as why I was travelling and where I had been. Sure enough, on several occasions throughout the night, they continued to tell me I should have been there the night before. Well, fuck…

The next day, the morning wasn't exactly the sunniest but it was still beautiful enough.

From Rarotonga 2009

From Rarotonga 2009

From Rarotonga 2009

Vara's was situated on a lagoon about ½ or ¾ a kilometer across. An uninhabited island sat off the coast about a kilometer or so away. Beyond both sat the reef circumventing the island that created the waves certain parts of the island was known for. I thought the place would be packed. Surprisingly, even on the couple of resorts I could see further down the beach, there weren't that many people on the beaches. There were people, yes, but it wasn't crowed like, say, Tahiti or Fiji would be. Shortly after I got up, Helen and Edwin came out. We sat around and talked and they took me over to see Matt. Matt, was an Australian expat who had been living and working on the island for the past couple of years. His entire job was to staff the "shack" from which you could book trips around the island as well as rent or hire snorkels, fins, etc.

The "shack" that he worked out of was a 6 meter cargo container someone (maybe even him) built a tin roof hanging over a deck around the entire thing. He/they then cut holes out of the side of the container to fit a window in, nailed some shelves on the inside and, voila! You have a beach side tourism agent. His job was pretty easy: play music and hang out 5 meters from the sea's edge until someone came up to book a snorkeling trip or something. I hung with Matt a lot throughout my trip. For one we had a lot to talk about between the two of us: island life, travelling, Australia, the States, etc. Another reason was we had nearly the exact same taste in music. I mean the man knew regional bands (like Dispatch for example) or sometimes even underground bands from the states that I've grown up on. Anyways, our morning was spent playing cards and enjoying each other's company and the sound of the sea. For some reason, card games in the tropics almost always involve throwing something small at something bigger. We played over 5 different card games that involved the loser trying to toss a small rock at a coconut some 10 meters away. Hours later we went for lunch and came back to figure out what to do with the rest of the afternoon.

As I learned in Christchurch, I have some time to spend on my board to figure out its performance.

From Rarotonga 2009

When I first took it out, I looked like a drunkard trying to ride a unicycle for the first time. It was this reason that I decided to wait for a future return to Rarotonga before hitting the waves over razor sharp reefs. However, I felt now was a perfect time to get in a small cardio workout by paddling across the lagoon to see the waves up close and personal. I grabbed my rash guard, put a little more wax on my board and hit the water. The water was warm; very warm as a matter of fact and it felt pretty good. On top of that, the water was a light opaque green and very clear. The lagoon itself, at least the part I paddled around in, wasn't any deeper than 4 or 5 feet at it's deepest point. As a matter of fact, halfway across I noticed a few people walking back and forth across to where I was headed. I stopped to take a break a few hundred meters across and to also let a few friendly windsurfers cross my path. I continued on only to get out and walk when my strokes would bottom out into the sand. It felt like I was in some Robinson Crusoe story when I made it across as I was the only person on this part of the island at the time. I walked through the bushes and the stands of palm trees to come out to another white sandy beach littered with pieces of coral spit up from the ocean. I ditched my board into the bushes behind me, sat down on the beach, and just absorbed the sound of the waves crashing and the sight of the Pacific Ocean. I've had many tranquil moments over the past couple months but nothing like this moment. It was refreshing. It was peaceful and just what I needed. As I sat there, I started to notice the wildlife around me. The snails clinging to the rocks as the tide went out. The hermit crabs dragging their homes through the sand. The fish in the shallows safely out of the reach of larger predators they share the waters with. Hopefully, the next time I come back, I'll have the forsight to bring a dry bag or a waterproof camera so I can share photos of that part of the island. After an hour of just sitting and thinking I walked and paddled back to a point further up the beach from Vara's so I could walk back and see what the other hotels and resorts are like. A lot of them were pretty luxurious: a complete turn-off to me. I hurried back to my low-end singles friendly lodge.

The rest of the evening was relaxing. More cards, more hanging out, more getting to know each other. We had dinner together, we drank beers, and we enjoyed ourselves well into the morning. Life is good in Rarotonga…

Everything Going Wrong in One Day

I woke up early this morning thinking that everything would work today and fall into place. That was probably my first mistake of many that lead to today's events. I took a shower, packed, and got ready to check out. I was planning on surfing in the morning before returning my rental car in and then getting the hell out of town to the airport. The parking garage where I parked my car over night was still closed. It was suppose to be open at 0800 on Saturdays. Me standing in front of entrance at 0845 for 15 minutes really didn't change much at all. As I was starting to get trully annoyed the doors finally opened and the ticket booth finally got staffed. I paid my ticket, loaded the car, and headed to New Brighton to squeeze in a surf session.

The waves were shitty. For those of you that don't know anything about surfing, the best kind of waves are those met with an offshore wind. They create the perfect geometry in the Kodak Moment Picturesque waves in the Surfer Magazine photos most people think about when they think surfing. Because of storms around the South Island of New Zealand, the swells were huge. Good and not good at the same time. Good in the fact that if you can catch the waves, you're in for a hell of a ride. Bad in the fact that I just bought this surfboard and I have to get use to the balance of the board and it's overall performance. Anyways, after getting thrashed around for a couple hours, I drove to Hotel So to stage my baggage in a safe and monitored place while I returned my car a few blocks away. I dropped off my car and explained how my tire got popped only to find out that they were charging me $90 to replace the tire. Dammit. $90 poorer, I walked back to the So. It didn't dawn on me until I started to call for shuttles that I might want to check to see if any of the shuttles had the ability to carry an 8 foot surfboard. To make a long story short, 30 to 45 minutes later I ended up hiring a taxi van to take just little old me and my surfboard to the airport.

Because of the whole surfboard debacle, I was thinking that I was running late for my flight. I made it into the airport only to get stuck behind an entire field hockey team checking in for the same flight I was on. If there ever was a punishment for thinking that everything would go as planned today, this was it. After 25 minutes of listening to 30 some 30 or 40 year old women banter back and forth, I made it to the counter to check in for my flight. I then made it to the security gate only to find out that my flight was delayed by 2 hours. Great! Plenty of time to get lunch and just relax. 2 hours go by and our plane is delayed for another 2 hours. Knowing that my flight to Rarotonga wasn't a connecting flight, this worried me...a lot. I almost missed my flight flying from Auckland to Christchurch because I had to take my baggage from one terminal to another, check in there, and take my skis over to the over sized check-in counter. There were about 30 of us that were flying to Rarotonga and I was the only asshole that couldn't get a connecting flight (a good reason for that to. I was flying from Christchurch to Rarotonga but I was flying back only to Auckland so I could catch my flight home...it was cheaper to buy the round trip ticket from Auckland to Raro and by the one way from Christchurch to Auckland). Our flight left at 1800 with our Rarotonga flight leaving Auckland at 1915. Despite how many times we asked no one could give us a straight answer as to what the hell was going to happen once we got into Auckland. When we sat down in Auckland (at 1915 mind you) we were told that our plane to Raro hadn't even landed yet. Sweet! Plenty of time to make it over to the International Terminal and check in (The Domestic and International terminals at Auckland International Airport are separated by a 10-15 minute walk). With the way things were going today, it didn't surprise me to see that my flight was already making it's final boarding call as I was walking into the terminal. The best part was the check-in counter was closed. And of course, following along the suit of today's events, the second I even found the counter they were done boarding the plane. Fuck. Luckily, the Pacific Blue customer service desk wasn't too far away. Unluckily, they had closed....for several hours. Being very use to shit going horribly wrong for me, I called Pacific Blue and explained to them everything that has happened. Luckily, they put me on a flight on Sunday. The only down fall would be that my flight lands in Raro on 0010 Monday morning and it takes off at 0155 Tuesday Morning. It sucks....but it's better than nothing. So now, here I sit in a hotel in Auckland (after a $70 NZD taxi fare) writing in my blog when I could be looking forward to setting down somewhere in the South Pacific. What did I learn from all of this you say?

1) If you have over sized luggage, make sure your shuttle or taxi can transport it. Do this early on!

2) Scope out the lines at the check in counters before you commit. If there's an entire field hockey team in front of you figure out if they've got their tickets and whether or not if they're in the line to check in their baggage only or if they're trying to check-in for their tickets as well. This will save you a lot of time (25 minutes in my case).

3) Print out your itinerary...or leave a PDF copy on your phone or PDA. If you print it out and that field hockey team is in the full check-in line, you'd be amazed how big your smile can be as you walk past 40 people straight up to the counter to check your baggage.

4) When booking flights, if you're going to do something funky like fly from one airport to your destination only to return to one of your layovers, call the airlines and let them know this so that your entire journey is one connecting flight. This will allow your baggage to go from flight to flight without having to run damn near a mile in between terminals.

I'm sure this is common sense for a lot of you out there but for a beginning traveler, there's no better way to learn things than the hard way...

Last Nights in Christchurch

My last couple of nights in Christchurch was spent hanging out with a local I met who's soon moving to London. She works in Christchurch as a substitute teacher and is eager to get the hell out. She help me make one of the most impulsive purchases I've ever made when I bought a surfboard from a local surf and skate shop. To be honest, I wouldn't call it too impulsive because I love surfing, I love that board, and I plan on using it...a lot! Yeah, you all may laugh at me when I'm in Ocean City or Virginia Beach surfing in the fall, winter, and spring. Anyways, I hung out with another friend who goes to the university in Christchurch Saturday night and went to bed early. Another "last night" come and gone...

Friends and Travelling

Last night was spent hanging out with the last of the firefighters that were around Christchurch. We had dinner together and drank a few beers. We laughed, bitched about the things that had plagued us over the summer, and looked forward to getting home. After they all went to their hotels, I decided to have a drink at the bar next to my hotel. I met a couple Brits and Irishmen/women that were on a tour of the south island. I always tell people when I'm in the states that you can never get a good look at our country until you're in another one or you talk to people that don't live in the US. Talking with these travelers was refreshing. It's amazing how much of an impact our country has on the world. It was pretty cool listening to grown men talk about how they almost cried when Obama was elected. After talking politics and other small talk, they dragged me to another bar a few blocks away where we played pool and talked some more. After the bar closed around 3 AM we all went home. I'll probably never see them again but I do wish them well.

Today will be spent hanging out with a few friends (locals) and getting ready for the Cook Islands tomorrow and flying home on Tuesday. I've spent most of the mornign taking care of some school work and issues, as well as figuring out somethings about work and the fire season this summer. I've been catching up on emails and talking to family and friends. The one thing I'm really hoping for today is the time to just sit down and figure out what the hell I'm going to do in Rarotonga. I bought the ticket, I'm incredibly excited to go....yet I have no plans when I set foot outside of the airport. I guess that's half the adventure....

What am I going to do you say?

Today I figure(d) out what the hell I'm going to do with the rest of my time out of the states. My trip to Sydney got sacked because of issues my friend is having with life at the moment. What I've done today is booked a flight from Auckland to the Cook Islands for a couple days. I leave Saturday night and come back Tuesday morning. Tuesday, I fly back home sometime in the evening (an understatement considering I'll probably end up spending 24 hours in transit only to lose 17 hours due to the time zone change). Right now, I'm heading south to Dunedin

Surfing in New Brighton then Climbing in Lttyelton

Today was spent being active. A bunch of us drove out to New Brighton to get some surfing in before the afternoon rush to catch the larger waves courtesy of the incoming tide. After $20 kiwi to hire a wetsuit and board we hit the surf for a few hours. The surfing was great! 3 foot swells and a decent day as far as the weather was concerned. For me being from the mid-Atlantic...this is pretty impressive. Considering that we all just got back from Antarctica, we weren't in the best swimming shape. By the time we were done, our eye, ears, stomach, and lungs were full of seawater. We could barely walk or carry our boards but we were all smiles. I dropped two of my friends, Jack and Justin, off so they could get ready for a trip in the South Island backcountry. This was good-bye for us after nearly 5 months of living and working together. I dropped my friend Kelly off at her hotel and preceded with my friend Adam to Lyttelton.

Lyttelton was a big surprise to us as neither of us had been there or heard about it before. Lyttelton is a harbor town where a lot of container ships come and get loaded up for their various global journeys and destinations.

From New Zealand 2009

While in Lyttelton, Adam and I realized our proximity to some pretty decent and easy cliffs so we decided to head to the hills above Lyttelton and try to get some climbing in before the sun set. Our drive took us on a windy two lane road littered with bikers hell bent for the bottom of the mountain. One bike came so close to us I ended up in a ditch as I swerved not to hit him. Unfortunately this left me with one flat tire and ideas as to what I'm going to tell the rental company how I lost a hub cap down a 400 foot cliff. As we fixed our tire, Adam and I took this time to take in the view and the serenity of the country side.

From New Zealand 2009

It was nice not to be stuck in the metropolis that is Christchurch...even if our time is spent changing a spare. 15 minutes later we were back on the road with a little bit more diligence towards the kamikaze bikers careening down from where ever they come from. We made it to a place called Castle Rock (yes, there's one in New Zealand as well) and started hiking to the base of it. We climbed a small chimney and rappelled down in order to beat the sunset. Throughout the entire climb we would stop and absorb the view of the Christchurch metro area below us.

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

We got back into Lyttelton later that night to enjoy pizza and a few beers. After completely destroying our bodies throughout the day, we slept well...and probably for the first time before 11 PM...

Driving in New Zealand

Today I rented a car. I feel this urge to get out of the city. Eventually I want to drive into the mountains for some climbing so I figured renting a car was the only way to go. I managed to pick up a Subaru Legacy for 5 days for a little over $300 Kiwi which comes out to like $160 or so. Not a bad deal at all. Instead of driving to the mountains, I drove 20 minutes east to the beaches of New Brightong and hung out for a few hours. In the past 5 months, the only "beach" I got to stand on was that on the shores of the Ross Sea. It was nice to sea the sea without any ice in it as well as feel the sand underneath my toes.

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

It makes you almost want to move there!

Being my first introduction back into driving in society, renting a car in New Zealand probably wasn't the most brilliant idea I've ever had. For one, if it's designed for a car to fit through it in New Zealand, it's small. It's going to be small. It's never going to be big. Period. This I learned very fast as I pulled out of the service garage at the rental shop. I tried not to look at the agent that rented the car to me out of fear of whatever face he was making as I thugged my way out of the garage. Then came driving on the left side of the road. I've never done this...not even by accident back in the states. For about 30 minutes striaght, I said the word "left" over and over and over again praying to God I don't make the mistake of defaulting to sub-conscious American driving. At one point while driving from Christchurch to New Brighton, I saw something that triggered some inquisitive though as I was making a right hand turn and before I knew it, I was heading for the right hand lane with several on coming cars. Luckily I had plenty of room to steer back into my intended lane of travel and I escaped injury, damage, and angry gleems of disapprovals from the other drives. I got the hang of driving on the left side of the road right away. The one thing that took me days to get use to was walking to the right side of the car to get in the drivers seat. (As of writing on 26 Feb I still have the habit of walking to the left side). It feels good to drive again and not rely on public transportation. Maybe I can do a road trip while down here...

Christchurch Night Life

Today was spent sleeping....a lot! Back in McMurdo, even on my days off when it was possible to sleep in, something always managed to wake me up: my pager with some non-important asinine message, a forked loader emptying a dumpster, a fuel truck fueling a boiler tank, my roommate getting dressed, etc. It was nice being in a pitch black room, in a comfortable bed sleeping for 10 hours straight. I woke up, took an absurdly long shower (no water restrictions in New Zealand, no sir!), then took a walk around the city. Considering today is Friday, I took a shuttle to the Clothing Distribution Center near the airport to send some things back home and pick up my climbing gear I sent from the ice via Scott Base (thanks Shaz!). I met up with a lot of other people from the ice and we attempted to make plans for the night.

Not having a cell phone and not knowing where people were staying, that proved pretty difficult if not outright futile to stick to plans we made. I ended up running into a few firefighters that were calling it a night. Being only 11 PM I continued to push on since I had slept in till about noon today. Friday nights in Christchurch, surprisingly, are dead. The bars weren't as packed as they could be. I left one bar after the last of the firefighters I had been hanging out left to walk to another one that became a favorite of mine from last season.

While walking the semi-empty streets (it's now about 3 AM) I witnessed this one guy step (more like a alchol-induced stumble) into the street only to nearly get hit by a taxi cab. Luckily he missed because I grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him on to the sidewalk. In a heavy thickly-slurred Kiwi accent he exclaimed, "Mate, you saved me life!" Being modest and half-drunk myself I tried to debunk these outrageous claims so I could continue on my way. He grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me in the eye and said, "No, you seriously saved me life! I'm in your debt!" Before I could explain how I just kept him from getting hit by a cab driving 20 mph, he explained to me how he was a leader in a notorious New Zealand gang known as the Nomads, how people had tried to kill him in the past, blah, blah, blah, but how no one had ever tried to save his life before. After a story like that, I guess it wouldn't be too egotistical or selfish to agree with how much what I had did meant to him. At this point, two words that get hammered into firefighters minds on a regular basis started to float around in my head: Situation Awareness or SA. The man had a lot of tattoos...I meana lot...of the urban/gang persuasion as well. He also was ripped. The type of guy that could slap a person into unconsciousness. At that point, I also realized that as drunk and as muscular as he was I highly he doubt he'd notice or even remember if he were to get hit by a car. These thoughts, however, flew out the door when my SA came back as he pulled out his camera phone, took a picture of me, and started writing a dictionary long text message to someone. "I'm sending your picture to all me mates. You'll have safe passage no matter where you travel". Great, I'm now affiliated with a nationally (and maybe internationally) known gang. I prayed that he was too drunk to successfully send my picture to anyone. Anyways, he, too, was heading to the Stock Exchange (the bar I was heading to where the drink prices fluctuate much like...a stock exchange) and he insisted to by me a drink. Thinking it would be easier to get away from him if I just let him by me a drink or two, I obliged and walked with him. Once in the bar with a drink in front of me, he saw two lady friends of his and went to talk to them...after which I never saw him again. I hope he turns his life around somehow. He seemed like a good guy...when he wasn't doing...whatever gangs do in New Zealand. I finished my drink, talked to a local girl about Rugby and Cricket, then left to enjoy the sunrise over Christchurch before heading to sleep. It's amazing what happens when you stay up past 3 AM....

Off the ice!

Our flight was amazing! I didn't take pictures because I, for some reason, packed my camera in my checked luggage. We flew north on a modified Airbus 319 courtesy of the Australian Antarctic division. The lucky few of us that managed to get on board first got to sit in Business/1st class for free! Considering that was my first time in such a seat of luxuy (no pun intended) I was pretty stoked. We set down in Christchurch early in the evening, picked up our luggage, turned in our Extreme Cold-Weather Gear, recieved our hotel reservations, and headed to our respective hotels. Like probably 60% of the redeploying USAP participants had done, I requested the Hotel So which is right in the middle of the City Center of Christchurch. I was one of the luckily few that actually got it and for good reason: The rooms are very high tech and efficient. They're also extremely small: 10 ft by 10 ft to be exact:

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

The rooms are cheap here and the internet is free....not to mention they have a bar in the lobby and a huge lounge. A lot of us from the fire department as well as a good friend of mine that works in Environmental, Health, and Safety for RPSC, hung out well into the early morning until we staggered back to our hotels. Regardless of how drunk or rowdy we were, we couldn't help but take everything thrown at us in: the humidity, the smells, the sights and sounds, the night sky...it felt realy good to be back.

Last Night in McMurdo

Our last night was one of bonding. As cliche as that sounds, we spent the night drinking (surprisingly), playing a highly agressive and vulgar game of chess (actually several games), and just hanging out. The morning (for myself at least) was spent working whilst a C-17 was on the ground on-loading departing summer-overs like myself. I was given the afternoon to take care of my room inspection and other personal matters which would prepare me for the outside world to come. There was much tension in the fire department because of feelings between certain officers and firefighters. It felt good knowing that I wouldn't be around that for much longer. Tomorrow will bring our introduction back into civilization, vacations, and the preparations for our lives' next journeys to come. Tonight, I probably won't be able to sleep because of the excitement....

The daughter is crawling!!!

I just got word from my daughter's mother (well an email that I got a couple days ago but didn't realize till now) that my daughter just crawled for the first time! Words can't express how proud I am of her! I'm trying to figure out how to transfer the video to my blog so hopefully that will come soon!

Antarctic Sunset

The beauty of this place (I'm talking Antarctica...not necessarily McMurdo) never ceases to amaze me. And just when I think I've seen everything this side of the continent has to offer me, I get pleasantly surprised by the majesty of God's creation.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

I took these around 0200 this morning. The official sunset (the first sunset of the season that is) for this season is on the 23rd. For now, we're blessed with a show of alpen glow mountains and awe-inspiring light shows from the midnight sun. Considering I have less than 5 days left here, it makes me miss the place already...

7 days left...

A week from now, I'll be leaving McMurdo. The only difference this year being that I know I won't be coming back next season (at least for the next year or two). I'm sorta bummed about that. The Antarctic Fire Department hired on a new chief this year after our last one quit. He seems like a great guy and an amazing leader and I really want to be a part of the department next year to see where he takes it. Alas, school (for the first time in a few years) comes first. Anyways, the South Pole is due to close in a couple days for the winter which means Williams Field will be closing soon as well. Usually, at this time of year, every department is scrambling to get ready for the winter before their staff is whittled to nothing. The fire department is no different. We have an entire station's worth of stuff to bring in from Williams Field once it closes. We have several vehicles that need to be driven into town, winterized, and parked (somewhere) outside of station 1. We have our own personal matters to deal with as well. Having our baggage palletized for transport as cargo by the military (also known down here as "Bag Drag"). We have room inspections, town "debts" to take care of (library books, DVDs, gear rentals, etc). With a week to do it in, everyone is busy. Another thing that this time of year is notorious for is the partying that happens. Usually there are a couple dumb-asses out of the population that end up doing something so grotesquely stupid in the name of end-of-season partying that they end up getting reprimanded (or even fired) and the rest of us have to listen to our supervisors or station management belittle us on how we should be more "morally responsible". It's already happened and I'm sure that's not the last time.

The closer and closer we get to our redeployment dates, the more I think about my daughter, my family, and my friends. I'm ready for the spring and summer. I'm ready to see the people I've been missing for 5 months. I'm ready to move on for the time being...r

Relaxing by the Ross Sea

Immediately after shift change this morning, I went to my room to pack the rest of the stuff I needed to ship northwards (to Christchurch). The last day for packaged mail from McMurdo to head north was Jan 31st. Luckily, with the help of my good Kiwi friend, Shaz, I was able to take advantage of Scott Base's 16 Feb deadline to "Guard Mail" a couple boxes north. Now that everything I needed shipped out of here has in fact been shipped, I can breath a lot easier.

After lunch, I decided to join a bunch of people from my shift on a walk out to Hut Point to look for seals that have been seen playing in the area. While hanging out on the point it self, we realized that the annual ice had melted enough to the point where there was an actual "beach" making up a shoreline on the Ross Sea! We decided to walk down to the shore and wait for our flippered friend to show his face. Soon after we made it down to the shore, we completely forgot about the seal and just took in the scenery.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

A lot of thoughts and feelings started going through my head while standing there on the shore. For one, a feeling of calmness flowed over me. I forgot about all of the trivial things in my life and at work and just stared at the mountains across the sea. Nothing that screamed "Raytheon" or "USAP", just nature at it's finest. After a little bit, it really soaked into me that I was in Antarctica and I was actually standing at the edge of the Ross Sea! Weird, I know, considering this is 4 months into my second season at McMurdo and something like this had to tell me I'm actually in Antarctica. Another thing that really made me smile was the salty smell of the sea once I got closer to the shore. For months, I've been devoid of smells outside when I'm trying to take in the environment. It was really refreshing to smell that smell as the wind blew it towards us. On top of all that, we did, in fact, get to see the one seal we kept coming to visit. I wish I had photos of him but I was with people who did. He would hang out by one of the ice drifts for a little bit then dive back under the water for 20 minutes or so and play. We also saw sea spiders, starfish, sea urchins, and small jelly-fish (keep in mind in near freezing water) all in the water and tidal pools by the shore. It's hard for me to explain unless you all were there next to me seeing and experiencing what I was at the time. Just simply being there killed days if not weeks of stress out of my body. Today was probably one of my favorite days of the season, if not the year...

End of Season Rant

It's Sunday 08 Feb and I have 11 days left in Antarctica. I'm ready to get back to civilization for a little while. A lot of the things we take for granted I'm ready to experience again: colors, smells, humidity, grass, plants, mammals with legs, stars, night! It's been too long without them. I've also been ready to get away from the clutches in which Raytheon as me (as well as everyone else) ensnared. For 5 months I've stared at mountains across the Ross Sea (as well as on Ross Island itself), I've read climbing, skiing, and snorkeling magazines, I've talked to friends that are enjoying their lives throughout the world doing the things that they (and I) love, and I've surfed the internet into the far reaches of third-world countries websites just to get a taste of adventure somewhere else. My friend, Heather is traveling around SE asia doing nothing but climbing, yoga on the beach, and living the good life. I, at one point, was seriously thinking about rendezvousing somewhere to climb for a week or so with her but now with my financial situation I won't be able to. My friend Sitka whom I'm visiting in Australia in a few weeks is dying for me to take her out climbing. My friend Dan is already climbing in Zion which has me aching to hit up some of the big walls there. While flying over the Transantarctic Mountains, I was looking at every ridge, peak, and glacier for anything that resembled a line that could be climbed or skied. My mind is crazy right now with things I'd like to do but there only so much time I can do it in this year and I'm still under two weeks away from getting out of this place.

The season is definitely winding down. It's getting colder and colder every day. The sun is dancing towards the horizon practicing for it's winter retreat. Today, I think the sun actually made it behind the Royal Society range. The first sunset of the year is only a couple weeks away. I'm ready for a break from traveling. I'm ready to start (and finish) school. At the same time, I can't wait to be able to come back down here again. Antarctica is definitely on the business end of a love/hate relationship. I was excited at the beginning of the season and (no surprise) I'm now ready to get the hell out of here. Oh well, 11 days to go...