Our daughter Jocelyn is on her way to Antarctica, attached to a NSF research grant for oceanographic research. Her boss (and primary researcher) is Dr. Brook Nunn, of the University of Washington (Seattle). She picks up the boat, the icebreaker R/V Nathaniel Palmer, in early October, and on the way she's staying in New Zealand until the boat picks them up.

21 Sep 2005:
Hello all! I made it- safe and sound thus far! I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Christchurch, and it's Thursday- I realized with my flights I never experienced Wednesday the 21st- weird!

Had a good flight. The flight down to LA was nice- sunny in the NW and saw great views of Mt. Rainier, flew right over Mt. Saint Helens, some volcanoes in Oregon and even flew over Crater Lake. And LA is disgusting- by that I mean I can't believe the earth can support that many people. Urban sprawl as far as the eye could see! The international flight was long, but luckily I slept most the way so I feel pretty good today. Holy crap was that airplane big, I have no idea how it got into the air. I had an empty seat next to me on every flight, so that was really nice. NZ people are super nice, I almost don't know how to act, haha. So if anyone is curious about the time difference, it's currently 11:30 a.m. Thursday Sept 22nd and for the west coast it's 6:30 pm Wednesday and 9:30 pm Wednesday for NY. Weird! I'm talking to you from the future... bwahahahahhahaha

oh yeah- it's frickin freezing here! Snowed the other day in downtown Christchurch- something that hasnt happened in over 10 years. so we'll see how much hiking I get in, prolly not much. I'm all bundled up walking to the city center from the little hostel I'm staying at. I got a single room for my first experience, so far everyone is nice. Theres an organic grocery store across the street so I'll prolly go there in a little bit after all that airplane food.

It's 11:30 am. I've been up since like 5 am local time, I have no idea what I'm going to do all day. Flying to Dunedin to meet up with Brook early in the morning.

well, I love you guys and I miss you guys :) I'm looking around at phone cards so I'll try and give a call asap.

25 Sep 2005:
Hello all!

so I've arrived in one piece, more or less, to New Zealand! When I first arrived in Christchurch I was rather out of place in my Birkenstocks- it had recently snowed and was freakin cold! I shacked up in a hostel until I continued further south into Dunedin. Christchurch wasn't particularly interesting, but overall the people are really nice, and operate on a system of trust unheard of in the US. For example, I was sitting in an internet cafe, and the guy working there left everyone in the cafe for ten minutes and came back with take out. The guy sitting next to me on the airplane flying down to Dunedin let me have the window seat, and offered a ride from the airport as it wasn't in the downtown area. And the view from the airplane was stunning- snowcapped mountains as far as the eye could see.

Brook (my boss) and her husband have bought a house on an amazing piece of property a ways outside of Dunedin in an area called Brighton. Several acres on top of a hill, overlooking the ocean. Breathtaking. I've been having a great time there just relaxing and taking in the scenery, the nice people, the sheep, and getting used to driving on the other side of the road. I've explored the town of Dunedin which is really cool, and the ocean by Brook's house has thus far been completely empty every time I've gone down to it, minus a surfer or two. Been exploring there as well. I'll attach some photos of her property and views, and the surrounding area.

It's a different lifestyle, that's for sure. Slower- a 6 hour workday is typical with plenty of tea breaks, and no one (not even businesses) have answering machines. Having an electrical heating system is considered high class- I've thus learned to be an expert at chopping wood and building the fire to heat the house (to Brook's credit- they are installing a heater in the family room on Wednesday). Your water comes from collecting off the roof and is stored in tanks, and sheep border every property as far as the eye can see- believe all the sheep jokes you've heard, trust me.

On Wednesday I am going to an organic farm an hour and a half from Dunedin to help work and stay with a family, actually a couple I met at the airport! So I'm looking forward to that. Maybe I'll learn to milk a cow and shave a sheep! Until then I'll be helping Brook get their house set up (they just moved in this past week) and helping her at the University (where I am now). oh yeah- and enjoying the now warmer weather, sunshine and beach. Though I got red in the face this afternoon- not much ozone down here!

anyways, I'll be attaching some pictures of the Otago peninsula (a wildlife reserve for the albatross that Brook and I visited the other day), Brook's property, and some coastline shots from around Brighton.

Miss you all- I have limited internet but please do write me!

1 Oct 2005:
Hey all! I just wrapped up an amazing week down here. I stayed with a family who runs a major organic sheep farm, and it was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had. I met a couple in the airport last week when I flew in, and they offered to have me come stay with them and learn the ways of farming. Naturally, I took them up on it! They run a large operation with about 11,000 sheep and many workers. They have a lot of land, and it is beautiful! Their property is situated up on a hill with lush green valleys leading up to mountains on either side. Right now it is springtime down here, so there’s lots of little lambs running around, they are so cute! Basically I helped them take care of lambs that have either been orphaned (mum died or rejected them) or they were a little sickly. Hand feeding them is great! Also, we went around from paddock to paddock to tag the newborns. It is important to keep track of the genetics by knowing who their mum and dads are. Alot of their sheep are organic, and they're in the process of converting the whole farm to organic, which is great of course! The whole system is computerized: out in the fields we would enter the numbers in a PDA and then synchronize later on the computer. I even got to watch a live birth. A mother was struggling so we got hands on and helped her get the baby out. We saved two lives really. It was amazing.

Not only was the farming experiences great, the family was so wonderful. They took me in like family. I hung out with their kids (5 and 3 years old) and just helped out as much as I could to try and repay them for this amazing experience. I hope to meet up with them again one day, they were really great to me. Kiwi hospitality is incredible.

After I made it back to Dunedin I met up with Brook and Chris (my boss and her husband) and we went to a rugby game! What a great sport! And the kiwi pride is really evident—the fans were nuts! Well, it doesn’t help they sell cheap six packs of the local beer. It was a lot of fun and I really recommend witnessing this sport sometime, they are true athletes. It was impressive. And they didn’t wear any protective gear, it was brutal. I met some people from the States and Canada at the game who are staying in Queenstown/Wanaka, which is where I want to go next, so I might meet up with them to do some tramping (hiking) there. The weather is starting to get better, though it’s still very iffy. The boat to Antarctica has been delayed a few days so I am rethinking my plans. I will surely update after my next set of adventures! I am loving it down here. You must all come one day!

14 Oct 2005:
G’day everyone! I just wrapped up an amazing couple of weeks here, I will do my best to describe it all! Of course, some of the best things were the little things, and so much is indescribable.

I left Dunedin and traveled west into the mountains—I headed to Queenstown, the “adventure capital of the world.” I’ll save you the suspense: no, I did not bungi jump or anything, though I might have if it weren’t for the cost! I walked into the hostel, dropped my stuff off, received a stamp from the front desk and was informed that if I went to a certain bar and showed the stamp, I would get free beer all night! What a welcome! So I met great friends, danced the night away in my hiking boots, and had a fun time. The weather was pretty iffy while I was there, so I spared myself a 7 hour hike that would lead me straight into the clouds. Instead I took the more relaxing route and took a ride to the top of the gondola (it’s a ski town, it reminds me very much of Whistler, for all who have been) to snap some photos.

After hanging out there for a couple days, I headed a little north towards Wanaka, a beautiful mountainous area that is less touristy than Queenstown. There I met a friend I had made at a rugby game a week before that. He and his friends had been living there all winter working at a ski resort, being ski bums, and were living in an awesome house. They were up on top of a hill, on 125+ acres, looking over Lake Hawea and the mountains, and the hot tub had the best view of the house. The first day I was there we hiked up to a glacier in Mt. Aspiring National Park, and it snowed the whole time. It was pretty cool, actually. Of course as we left the park it was sunny, but it was a beautiful hike. I went to a really awesome movie theatre in Wanaka to see the new Wallace and Grommet movie. The seats were all couches, and during an intermission there were freshly baked cookies! I had a great time kicking it with everyone there, despite their crazy antics of jumping in the freezing lake off a tower and various missions into the woods!

I then headed west into Fiordland National Park, stopping in Te Anau. The weather was terrible when I first arrived, but the next day was supposed to be beautiful. I loaded up my pack and the next morning started the Kepler Track—one of the 7 Great Walks in NZ. It was foggy as I hiked straight up the mountain for 9 miles, but as soon as I hit the bushline it was fantastic and sunny. I got to the hut faster than anticipated, and lounged in the sunshine for a bit. The National Parks here in NZ have a system of huts—shelters you can stay in ranging from $30 a night for the more popular tracks to free. Some are actually just huts, but this hut was more like a cabin! 50 bunks with foam mattresses, a common area, fireplace, and in the summer it has gas for cooking, running water and toilets! I explored some caves in the area, then decided to climb the nearby Mt. Luxemore to soak in the views from the beautiful day. It was kind of a long trek being that there was snow on the path, but it was worth it when I got the top: the best 360 panorama I’ve ever had in my life! It was amazing to be up there all by myself, words cannot describe the feeling. The mountains are equally indescribable, pictures cannot do them justice. The night was spent drinking tea with 3 other very interesting people from the UK in the hut, and rising to a cloudy day for the hike out.

After Te Anau, I headed northwest to the infamous Milford Sound. The road there was incredible, one sees the mountains approaching and when you get there, the mountains seem to swallow you up as you drive through the narrow valleys. It’s difficult to see the top they are so steep. The one thing I wish I knew about Milford was that it isn’t exactly a town. There’s a lodge, boat wharfs, and a pub. That’s it. So I was pretty hungry for a couple days while I was there! When I arrived it was beautiful weather, so I hopped on a boat cruise that toured around the whole sound and even went out on the Tasman Sea for a bit. The mountains were very dramatic in the fiord with Mitre Peak boasting the highest sea cliff in the world, jutting out from the ocean over a mile high. The boat stopped off at an underwater observatory where I checked out some cool ocean fauna and learned more about the ecology of the fiords. Being that my dinner options were limited to the pub, that’s where I went! It ended up working out well, I met a guy who is a guide for a local kayak tour operation, and he invited me to go the next morning out on a trip. The weather was rainy and windy, but the kayaking was great! I learned more about the history and ecology of the region, and saw a rare Fiordland Crested Penguin (look up a picture of these guys, they’re crazy!). After the others were dropped off, the guide and I took a dingy out to the infamous Milford Track and hiked for a few hours there up to a beautiful waterfall. We kayaked back to town and needless to say, it was an awesome day! He was so cool and so great to me, I was grateful for his generosity! Milford Sound is an incredible place, it has its own moods and the area is so rugged and untouched.

I’m now back in Dunedin, enjoying the ocean views once again, and even though I shared some of my experiences it’s so hard to describe the beauty of the region, the people I’ve met and the memories I now have. I feel as if I saw so much, but there’s so much I still need to see here! It’s a country designed for people like me: 4 million people, only 1 million in the South Island, 1/3 of the land is National Parks or protected, hostels in every town regardless of size, and miles of trails that lead into rugged, untouched wilderness. One has the sense that if you hiked a few meters off the track you’re probably the first person who ever walked there. I know I’ll be back here again.

So I’m in the lab all week at the University of Otago getting ready to leave for the boat to Antarctica. We leave Friday to meet the boat in Christchurch, and then the departure date as of now is October 25th.

26 Oct. 2005
Heya! Well day one started out a little rough. We sailed off at 11pm last night and I was fine, slept fine, woke up fine. Went down to the galley and put a bite of banana in my mouth and I went running to the bathroom! Then we unfortunately had a little orientation thing this morning and in the middle of it I had to run outta there, then I didn't even make it to the bathroom... really embarrassing :( I slept a lot of the afternoon, then showered and I actually just stomached some dinner. The cook is awesome, and dinner was good so hopefully I can stomach it! I got a motion sickness patch from the EMT so hopefully I will feel better. The sad thing is is that everyone is saying how smooth the ride is! LOL!

So it will be about 4 days till we get to the ice, then we break ice to get to the Ross Sea, and the time it takes to get there depends on the thickness of the ice and other such things. We're going to a polynya to do our sampling. A polynya is basically a hole in the ice that is formed when currents hit the land off Antarctica and bounce up to the ice, and since the ocean temp is slightly warmer than the ice, it melts a hole. That is where most of the activity is as far as phytoplankton and bacteria goes... and also other wildlife! Should be lots of penguins, birds, sealions, orcas, whales, etc. So basically I'm working with 2 different research groups. With Brook we're looking at iron transport mechanisms in phytoplankton, and it's relationship with
supplying dissolved organic carbon to bacteria. I'm also helping out a man named Wade, who looks at DNA damage in bacteria in response to UV radiation. It's an interesting place to study it due to the ozone hole over Antarctica.

Because we have a separate lab than the rest of the boat (we're doing trace metal analysis so it has to be ultraclean and sterile) and because we had to wait until the day before we left before we could get in there (filters had to be replaced) we weren't too busy until yesterday. That
was stressful but it was a lot of fun! The weather was absolutely stunning. Cloudless, warm and the harbor is gorgeous, surrounding by hills off the Banks Peninsula. So Brook, her husband and I went hiking one day and then the next day Brook and I went trail running for an hour or so up in the hills overlooking the harbor. It was so great. Then we decided on our way back down to go to this little cove and jump in the water with our clothes on! It was freezing cold but it was fun. The water color here is beautiful from the sediment, a real gorgeous turquoise/teal color. So later that night a bunch of the crew was going to the pub, so Brook and I went. On the way back we cut through a gate and we got run down by security, it was pretty funny. The next day (yesterday) was rough, little sleep and a loooong day of work and setting up our van. We did have some fun with it: we bought some magazines in town and cut pictures out to hang around the labroom and we have speakers in there to hook up our mp3 players. It's not quite a labroom, it's actually a van on the back deck-- a container turned into a lab. Apparently it survived Hurricane Katrina!

The boat is huge. And it's really, really awesome. 300+ feet long ice breaker, about 70 people, helo pad, 2 big A frames, cranes, massive engines, 500,000 gallons of fuel, 7 full labs with autoclaves, walk in freezers, computer lab, microscopes, various instruments, a sauna, workout room, movie room, conference room/library... pretty impressive. I'm still learning my way around. I missed the IT orientation today cause I was sick but I believe for emails we get 100kb a day always, and then we get 25kb everyday on top of that and that if we don't use it, it gets added up. So every 4 days I could have 200kb + 100kb. I need to double check with that, but I'll be sending pics to you Dad hopefully very soon.

Anyways, I hope all of you are well! The weather is beautiful right now so I might go walk the decks, and thank goodness it's not too cold or rough seas yet! Not much going on until we get to the polynya--just finishing up any last setups and testing the setups. Love you all!

8 Nov 2005
Mmmm yes I'm quite glad the polar ceremony is over, but looking back it is fun. It gives us boring, nerdy scientists something to laugh about at the end of the day and it definitely helped getting to know people. You'd think on a boat for a month and a half you'd know everyone but
there are definitely "cliques" -- not in a bad sense, it's just that some labs kind of hang out together. So it was a good time in the end.


Yesterday all the scientists gave mini-lectures on the science behind their work on the cruise, so that was awesome to learn what everyone is doing. I'm going to teach someone some protein chemistry work and they're going to teach me some genetics/molecular cloning work in return. Woohoo!

Anyways, it did take a long time to get to our sampling site. We made more stops along the way to sample than usual. It will be 2 weeks transit time total in the end, we'll be there tomorrow morning. Going through the ice is slow going, though really cool! I shot a mini-movie on my camera of the boat breaking ice. Pretty friggin awesome. Before I get off the boat I really want to tour the engine room.

So tomorrow starts the busy life! Up at 5 am sampling with one group I'm helping, sampling with Brook in the afternoon, then sampling with the other group again in the evening. Doing that everyday for 4 days, the 5th day is a 24 hour day of sampling then it starts over again 4 more times, doing that once for each sampling "station." Blah. But at least it will go fast, right? And it is pretty easy to get out of bed when the sun is always shining. Actually it's quite messing with my sleep schedule--it takes me a really long time to fall asleep at night, which is unusual for me anymore (especially since I've been sleep deprived for so long the past week for this reason). I think it has to do with the sun never setting. It's really weird to get up at 2 am to pee and it's bright out like noon. I'm going to try an eye mask tonight to see if that helps. Taking antihistamines every other night can't be healthy. No matter how tired I am it's like my brain is awake.

Seen LOTS of penguins! And seals! People have spotted whales but I haven't yet.

Anyways, off to one last final meeting before the science starts tomorrow. Just thought I'd write a little update! And Eric-- no matter how cold or rainy Seattle may seem right now, I assure you-- it's colder here ;) -20F is a bit balmy :D We've had to be a bit ingenius in sampling seawater in order to prevent it from freezing before it gets to our test tubes :D


16 Nov 2005: Ice, Ice and more Ice and some penguins:

Hey all!
Just wrapped up the first round of sampling at our first station! The first few days weren’t too hectic as far as work goes, but the last day is what’s called a “diel” experiment: sampling every 2 hours for 24 hours. That was a day from hell! I was most definitely delirious by the end. It didn’t help that at 4 am I got “incubator duty,” meaning that I got to make sure all the outdoor incubators weren’t freezing up. Right. Well when it’s -8C what do you think is going to happen? And they call us scientists. Pshh. I must say it is much less “science” that I’m used to and a lot more hard labor and mechanical work. Moving mass quantities of water around, lugging 50L carboys, operating a winch, rigging up tubing and pumps, etc. I’ve used more tools than I ever have in my entire life, and only sometimes do I have to recite “righty tighty lefty loosey.” I’ve also acquired more bruises, cuts, exhaustion, dry skin and minor injuries than I have in quite some time in the process. But all in all, I’m having a blast! The sun never sets, the landscape reminds me of the moon, and they are dotted with little black creatures running around as far as the eye can see, with an erupting volcano in the background. I’ve gotten to go cruising around on the Zodiac, make homemade ice cream with liquid Nitrogen, go through the Polar Crossing Ceremony and make great friends.

I awoke yesterday after my 26 hour day from hell to find that we were docked up on the ice and later that evening there was to be an ice party! We bundle up and when we stumble on the ice, we are greeted not only by countless penguins but BEER!! The irony of it all was that it was warm, but it was quite possibly one of the best beers I’ve ever had. By the end, it was slushy, so there ya go. A stereo was brought out and kicked off with YMCA and some disco. There was dancing and running around, the effects of cabin fever letting loose! The penguins were shockingly unafraid, and even more, curious!! They came right up to us and mingled the entire time we were out there. Most pictures from the evening are of people and penguins, even if you weren’t trying to get a penguin in the picture. The experience of that is really indescribable. We got a soccer game going, which was a lot of fun. I’m really sore today, and I’ve been running on the treadmill quite a bit. It was a pretty brutal and competitive game! The ice made for some difficulties running and stopping, and it was pretty amusing to see big drunk orange bodies flying everywhere after the ball. And probably the strangest and coolest thing that ever happened was what we dubbed “penguin timeouts.” The damn penguins were walking in the middle of our soccer game! Via the “Antarctic Treaty” we had to thus call a timeout and halt the game until they decided to move on. To put the least, this happened frequently! You’re not allowed to approach penguins, but they can approach you, and that they did. A lot. It must be that flocking instinct as they are, after all, birds. And they’re huge birds at that! It was probably one of the best times of my life, to put it bluntly. Truly unforgettable.

Today we are still on the ice and awaiting a helicopter drop of some supplies that were not ordered correctly. We then move on to our next station and the work resumes. It is indeed really hard work but I’m having so much fun that it really hasn’t phased me. I can’t imagine a more unbelievable and rare location to be in. These memories will last a lifetime, and we’re only halfway done!

I hope all of you are doing well, and thanks for the emails! I enjoy hearing from you all, and I can’t wait to see you again!
Cheers,
Jocelyn

10 Dec 2005 - Land Ho!!!

We are officially back in port! Got up early this morning to watch the beautiful views of the Banks Peninsula as we pulled into port in Lyttelton, NZ. A little cloudy, but I still wore a tshirt outside! It’s nice to be greeted by summer after being in Antarctica for a month and a half. We were also greeted by dolphins playing at the bow!

The rest of the trip was quite busy, it’s why I didn’t really write too much. I took on a personal side project that kept me busy between my regular sampling duties. It was, all in all, an amazing experience to say the least. It was quite cold, even the regulars said this was probably the coldest cruise they had done. Luckily for me, I got to spend most of it outside! I won’t lie, I was a little miserable at the time, but looking back on it I’m glad I was working outside so much. Zodiac sampling in 6 ft swells with whipping winds and -40 temps at 6 in the morning on no sleep wasn’t always pleasant at the moment, but it brings a smile to my face now! I also got seasick again on the transit home, despite the fact that the seas weren’t too bad, LOL. I don’t think I could do this boat thing all the time, but it has been an absolutely incredible experience that I feel truly blessed to be a part of. These memories will last a lifetime, I can’t think of anything ever coming close to it.

We got off the boat and headed right into downtown Christchurch and it was so strange to be in society again. I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated culture as much as I did then. It was great to just people watch and soak up some sunshine. I have been eating fruit solidly since I’ve been on land, as well as good coffee and of course a glass of wine. The celebrations are to start momentarily in an Irish pub and I only hope that I’m up for a dayhike tomorrow! I’d like to enjoy one last day in NZ before I hop on the plane the day after that, it’s so great to feel warmth and sunshine on my skin and sturdy ground under my feet, and to walk as long as I please in any direction.

I guess with this I close my travel stories, and this email address. I will be back in Seattle the 13th, and I’ll be at my folks in NY on the 16th for Christmas. You can return to emailing me at aker_j@yahoo.com, this address will be terminated shortly. I hope to hear from you all over the holidays and catch up. I’m looking forward to seeing you all!

Happy Holidays,

Jocelyn