The flight I was supposed fly to the South Pole was cancelled because the weather was, well, too cold. I'm pointing to this flight manifest, because if the weather had been good on this day, I would have been the only person flying to the South Pole. When people around McMurdo saw I was the only passenger on the C-130, they knew that meant I'd get to ride in the cockpit all the way to the South Pole. The flight that actually flew me to the pole had 10 passengers, therefore, no way to ride up front. (Also, here's one of the few moments in Antarctica where I'm not wearing a hat. The reason: It's so damn cold).

The C-130 is a four propellered plane. This was my view as we took off from McMurdo.

As I said, it was impossible to ride in the cockpit all the way to the South Pole. This photo is from the cockpit where I stood behind a Colonel as he flew me and nine others to the South Pole. As a good well gesture from Boeing, each crew member of my flight received a C-17 baseball cap (the lieutenant pulled the bed down so there would be room for me up front (note: the hat he is wearing). In return, I got a First Class trip to the South Pole.

I don't know what the others saw from the cramped side view, tiny windows on the ride to the South Pole. But here's what I saw. This is part of the Trans-Antarctic Mountain Range.

Hey Man. I'm at the South Pole.

"Seals are slugs and Skuas are seagulls." This is what Rick said to me when I first arrived in McMurdo. "But, if you hear there is a penguin in town, quit your job and go see it, because penguins never come into McMurdo."

Rick had just spent a summer and winter here. It was the fifth time he did it and this was the only time I ever spoke with him before he left to meet his fiance in Spain.

It's taken a few months, but now I know what he means. The first time I saw a seal it was breath taking and the flash on my camera was like a strobe light at an all night disco. Yesterday I saw a seal and even though I had my camera around my wrist I didn't take a picture.

Skuas are birds much larger than, but look just like, a seagull and they first started appearing in McMurdo about a week ago. Because the Antarctic Treaty makes it illegal to hurt, hunt or interfere with wildlife, these birds are not afraid of humans. They will fly down and take sandwiches from your hand. Skuas are so unafraid of humans it's almost like they helped write the Antarctic treaty. They are like ants, gnats or pidgeons. Do you ever take photos of those?

But Penguins. There was a time many, many, many months ago when penguins made it to McMurdo every year. But, according to oral history 36 months ago a wicked iceberg bigger than Rhode Island, but smaller than Connecticut, broke free from the continent known as Ant-Arc-Tica. Once free from Ant-Arc-Tica this iceberg drifted to, as a dishwasher with limited use of geographical names calls, the mouth of McMurdo, and sealed up the sound.

Why, back in the days, in the year of our lord nineteen hundred and ninety nine, penguins would swim to McMurdo. Now, they'd have to walk 15 miles across the pack ice to arrive here. Ever seen a penguin walk? Me neither. But, I've heard it's slow.

Yesterday, a call came out through the galley "PENGUIN. PENGUIN PENGUIN." (In reality, Penny walked up to me and said, "Hey Phil wanna see a Penguin." Since Penny vacationed in Antarctica back in the glory years of nineteen hundred and ninety nine, she's seen more penguins than Batman.)

"Quit your job?" the voice of Rick echoed in my head. Instead, I walked up to the head chef Delma and echoing the words of my best friend I said, "Wanna see a penguin, boss?" He gave us each 15 minutes off.

We took a small break from work (being certain to stay after shift so as not to waste any time, money or resources from the entire Antarctic Project). And saw a Penguin.

So, what do you do when you see a rare bird in these parts. Well... I tried to stick my tongue to it...

{This is a story Penny wrote about an adventure we had. It was an email she sent to some friends)

hello ladies,

finally im getting my e-mail account to work. ive been
trying to e-mail you for a week now and have failed
miserably.

life here in the antartic is sooooo much fun. i cant
believe how poorly this program is run and yet each
day is better than the last. mostly my day off is
where the real fun begins. fishing might be my new
passion. dont worrie it scares the hell out of me to.
the begining point is impossible so i will focus on
one aspect of this adventure.

last saturday phil and i went fishing with "the
fishing group". they are studying the antifreeze that
most of the fish down here produce to stay warm in
freezing cold water. this time we went to a near by
hut where the line were set about 12 hours before.
there are various hut around the pack ice some as
close as a few meters and others as far as 30 miles.
these huts are used by the scientist for diving,
fishing, and seal studies. tipically phil and i go
with the divers to help them pull up there gear when
its time to exit the hole. occassionally we get lucky
and go on a fishing trip. this time the head of the
project art de vrise came with us. hes been studying
fish in antartica for 40 years.

so as i said before the lines were set and our target
were the mossineye. many people call them the
antartic cod even though they arnt even in the same
family. the mossineye usually weigh in at about 85
pounds and are about 98 centimeters long. the line is
dropped about 200 meters with 20 or so hooks spaced a
foot apart. most fo the fish are tagged, weighed,
measured, and, probed then thrown back in with hopes
to catch again. if the fish is small enough then its a
keeper and is fated to spend the rest of its life in a
small tank being blead once in a while unil the
scientist grow weiry of the fish and enjoy it for a
delishious (def:food that make your taste buds dance
the dance of the trumpeter(def: a good looking swan)
swans during mating season) dinner.

sometimes we get to take the snowmobiles out this time
we took the good old piston bully. i would try to
discribe one to you but i cant so just imagin
something red, slow and boxie. phil (good looking guy
with black glasses and a small spring in his step),
bill (the dentist) and i in the back. paul (a young,
strapping undergrad who took a class from art and some
how ended up in antarctica) and art in the front.
pulling up in the rear on a ski doo was matt (some
guy) and luke (california dude with a hart of gold).
in no time we all arrive at the old hut six for an
evening of fishing.

phil and i had fished for mossineye before so we were
old pro's. no really old pros. i pulled the scales
and phil lined up the empty hooks. everyone else just
watched in amazement at our outstanding ablities.
well...ok maybe luke and paul did most of the work
while phil and i did our token jobs to make us feel
important, and it worked. everyone else took turns
throwing in the fish. after a minorly successful go
at it, i think we caught 5, art poured the wine.

paul chose that night to give his kite her madin
voyage in the antarctic. the rest of us gathered
around to watch. after a struggle with the her
tangled strings she was ready for departure. luke did
the honors of holding her steady until paul gave the
word. the word was "ok luke let go" with that she was
soaring. what a beautiful sight a rainbow kite
against such dramitic shades of grey. a moment of aw
passed and the shinanagins began.

luke thought it a good idea to put paul on skies and
push him around to make it look like the kite was
doing all the work. then luke takled paul, paul threw
snowballs, matt helped, and then luke went running off
with the kite. ahhh...boys. im not sure whos idea it
was all i know is at one point we made a pryamid so
that paul could be on top with his kite, you know that
much higher. funny let out more string didnt seem to
occur to any of us. the pryamid collapsed and was
rebuilt many times. my favorite moment was when we
put my camara on video and sent it up with the kite.
the camara came shooting down the line only to be
captured by phil. the footage, fast and furious.

during the sillyness i stopped for a moment to try to
make sense of the situation. the beauty the
surrounded me not in landscape but in the personalitys
that were wrestling on the pack ice was alomst to much
to take in at once. how lucky i am to be here with
not only my spectacular friend phil but these people
who are as rich as the 225 people running the country,
nay the world. what a life.

the evening ended with a final sip of wine and a
snowball to the head. smiles were pasted on during the
quiet ride home in the oh so slow piston bully.

i love you both.

penny

ps. the arm koozie is such a hit. you could make
millions down here. i am very proud to wear it
everytime i go out.

Since the Internet is running quicker right now, I thought I'd show you some more photos of the seal pup.

One of the reasons we are not allowed to travel outside of the "safety" zones in Antarctica is ice cracks can open up and swallow a man (or woman) down to the depths of an icy death. The ice cracks are hidden under a small amount of snow. And often invisible until it's too late.

On that note. Here is a photo of Penny standing over a very small ice crack which we found off the beaten path.

On November 2, 1902 Robert Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson set off for the South Pole. They didn't make it. So, on December 30, 1902 they returned but attained what no man had up until that date in making it to what is known as The Furthest South.

Today, November 2, 2002 we are celebrating the 100 year anniversary of their departure from Hut Point, the view from my window.

To the date. To the 100 hundred year minute. I found out there are dirty dishes in the South Pole which need to be cleaned and I've been asked to leave in three days to wash those dishes.

I'm nervous. I'm excited. I'm on my way to the bottom of the world.
Phil

Rewind aired the interview with me. I still haven't been able to listen to the show because I can't get streaming audio in Antarctica, but you can listen by following this link:

http://rewind.kuow.org/Archive_Get_from_db_test.asp?Date=10/25/02

I understand the interview happens at the end of the show around the 27-28 minute mark.

That's it for now.
Phil