Not much has happened here because I have been traveling since I left South Pole last November.

After a bit of snowboarding in Canada, USA, Germany, Austria, Italy, Lebanon, and Iran I am now on a motorbike trip, roughly headed for Shiraz, Iran.

I have finally managed to put a travelogue for my family and friends together. While you are waiting for new posts here go ahead and kill some time and head over to OnTheRoad.Adventure-Antarctica.de

A sample of the latest posts:

On The Road

Krakow
A while ago I got an invitation to a mate’s wedding in Krakow. I’ve have spent two years with him at the South Pole and haven’t seen him since. I’m not on a particular schedule and wasn’t sure I could make it. It turns out the date did work out and here I am, attending [...]
Budapest to Krakow
I’m in a bit of a rush because I have a wedding to go to tomorrow. So it’s straight up North to Krakow. There are some interesting bits in Slovakia but I seem to have lost all the pictures. So you have to take my word for it. I have a very nice apartment waiting [...]
Sapanta to Budapest
After a good night’s sleep under the watchful eyes of the Good Shepherd I set off for Budapest. The part of Hungary I ride through is all flat and not very exiting. So, nothing to report here. In Budapest I get another service done and adjust the valves. The Yamaha shop belongs to the postal [...]
Ieud to Sapanta
In the morning I have another look at the Wooden Cathedral next door. One can only admire the amazing craftsmanship. I get a chance to have a look inside after I locate and wake up the woman who has the key. I pick a route that will take me to a few more wooden churches [...]
Voronet to Ieud
Before breakfast I walk down the street to the Voronet monastery. It is still closed and I kill some time looking at the cemetery. They let me in a few minutes before the official opening time. Apparently I pass muster. I have the place to myself before the crowd shuffles in. The monastery dates back [...]
Brasov to Voronet
Time to leave wonderful Brasov after a few days. I wish I had more time to explore the area in detail but my trip is coming to an end soon and I must move on. One of the things I wanted to see are the fortified churches built by the Transylvanian Saxons. Germans started to [...]
Around Brasov
Brasov is an interesting town. The historic center looks very German, which is no surprise since it Transylvanian Saxons had a huge influence in the area as far back as the 12th century. Brasov is called Kronstadt in German. Nowadays the German population amounts to less than 1%, most of them left after WWII and [...]
Curtea de Argeş to Brasov
The Transfăgărăşan, or actually DN7C by Romanian road designation, crosses the Carpathian Mountains between the two highest peaks, connecting Wallachia and Transylvania. It’s famous for its many turns and great vistas. Crazy Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu had it build in the early 70s at the cost of 40 lives. Riding through the first tunnel. I [...]
Ruse to Curtea de Argeş
Today I’m off to Romania. This is the one country that well meaning people have warned me most about. According to them I will have all my stuff stolen and will be besieged by begging Sinti and Roma. I generally ignore such warnings. Surly, the country can’t be as bad as its reputation. I do [...]
Belogradchik to Ruse
I leave Belogradchik to work my way along the Danube to the border town of Ruse. There is no traffic at all. At some point the road is just gone and there is no sign of any ongoing work at all. So I get a bit of sand riding in that way Every once in [...]

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The injured Davis Station chef was successfully airlifted to Hobart by a LC-130 aircraft. The crew at the station rushed to build a temporary 3000m sea ice runway. After flying from McMurdo the aircraft remained at Davis overnight before continuing on to Hobart.

Read press release

It is finally happening. We are getting flights! The very first LC-130 of the season just landed. It carried a bunch of firefighters and our ARFF vehicle, both now a requirement for any passenger flights.

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Finally, things are looking up! Obama has won the election and we are getting flights in!

Our satellite connection went down before the polls closed and we had to get the results via phone from McMurdo. They were put on the big displays in the galley during dinner time and people were positively cheerful.

I think most of the people here took this election more serious than most and made an effort to cast their votes. Absentee ballots came in on the first Basler flight and left with the next one, to make it back to the US in time for the election.

I have a feeling that South Pole was very strongly in favor of Obama. This is the place were Ralph Nader won the mock election eight years ago in a land slide.

A very optimistic feeling was permeating the Station last night. On top of the election results we had a good weather forecast and two LC-130, one Basler, and one Twin Otter flights were scheduled. Looks like most of the winter-overs will be leaving.

A few days ago we had the traditional winter-over ceremony. Since only a couple of Basler flights had made it in we were basically congratulating ourselves in one of the lamest ceremonies in Antarctic history.

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Yesterday morning we established our last communication link to MARISAT F-2. Today Intelsat initiated the de-orbit maneuver. The satellite was launched in October of 1976 and performed for 32 years. We have used MARISAT F-2 for number of years from the South Pole and it has been one of our most reliable links to the outside world. The end has come suddenly. Deterioration of the telecommand link caused concerns for the operator INTELSAT and they scheduled de-orbit for the end of November but moved it forward to October 30 with a week’s notice.

The first commercial mobile communications satellite, MARISAT, in 1975, built by Hughes for Comsat and used by both U.S. Navy and merchant marine ships. (Courtesy of Hughes Space and Communications Company)

I work on the BICEP telescope and thus observe a sidereal schedule, which means I shift forward roughly four minutes a day, just like the satellite schedule. For two years MARISAT F-2 has been my steady companion, becoming visible form the South Pole roughly the same time I get up. I’ll miss it! No more reading the daily news while having a cup of coffee in the morning :-(

MARISAT F-2 offered global maritime communications when launched in October of 1976 and was the second member of a three satellite system all launched that year. The satellites were manufactured by Hughes Aircraft Company and became the first global maritime system. It was launched aboard a Delta-2914 from Cape Canaveral by NASA.

After a few days of weather delays we received the first plane load of passengers. Most of them were seasoned veterans who, along with the FNGs, received the typical warm South Pole welcome right on the flight deck.

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The crews of the Kenn Borek Basler and Twin Otter were nice enough to pick up some fresh fruit and vegetables in Chile. It was great to shock the system with some vitamins after eight months. We had grilled pineapple for dinner, with tomato and avocado salad and fresh oranges and apples for desert, washed down by a Gin tonic with fresh lime.

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A few minutes ago a Basler made the first landing of the 2008/2009 season, bringing our winter officially to a close. The flight had been delayed by bad weather at Rothera Station. When the weather cleared up enough around 1am they decided to go for it. It is a beautiful day down here and the temperature was just above the cutoff of -54°C. They touched down shortly after 8am and took off for McMurdo after a very brief fuel stop. We expect to see them again with 16 passengers tomorrow.

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Yesterday afternoon an FAA Challenger jet came over from McMurdo for a skiway inspection. They buzzed us a few times and didn’t actually land. This was the first aircraft we have seen since February and it created enough excitement to draw some of the Station dweller out in the open to watch it.

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