9 days left on station for me, or about 794,250 seconds, but Im not counting. The fuel ship has arrived and left, the cargo ship just finnished un loading supplies and uploading all the garbage, and the icebreaker is getting ready to lead the way back out to sea. Civilian ships never showed up because the pack ice was too thick.

Temps are cold, single digits at the highest with windchill its been around -20F.

South Pole station closes the 15th. We have a 'soft close' on the 23rd. The last 100 or so people will leave on one flight in April. 165 will stay the winter in McMurdo. 65 at Pole.

As for me? I suppose the name of the blog is going to be 'Northbound with the Hammer Down' from now on. I arrive in Christchurch, New Zealand on the 21st. I have a sea kyaking trip with my roomate Andrew and a co-worker from my department lined up. 5 or 6 days of paddling and camping on the beach. Super. 7 days on a motorcycle after that, blasting around the south island. Heading to the north island. A couple 3-4 day long hikes interspursed with some days of surfing. Also looking into Zorbing. You roll down a hill strapped into a hampster ball type contraption. Off to Australia for some more surfing and who knows what else. I'm stopping hawaii for a few days, maybe do some snorkling, or rent an airplane. Then back to Denver and cool weather for a month before riding the Al-Can highway on a motorcycle. From the antarctic circle to the arctic circle. Working in Alaska this summer and then back to Antarctica in the fall.

So after next week the blog is going to be more sporadic as my computer time becomes drasticly reduced. Less time indoors, more time out having fun.