February 8,1993
From: PRS - Melt Lake inspector and rad haircut wearer
Subject: 20 questions...or close to it
To: CHIPPER

G'day Chip,
  Sorry this has taken me half a day longer to get back to than
planned, on account of somebody having a birthday, actually a
Mexican scientist who is down here taking UV measurements.  
I've flipped back through past mail and there are still a lot of
questions I haven't got to yet.   The one about the poles I am no
expert on so I'm not sure I can really comment on that and as for
the water purity etc, I have no idea except to say the water is
pretty clean.  After all there isn't a lot down here to pollute it,
but then you don't see a lot of water cause it's locked up as snow,
it really is a desert here.
  In case you're interested, the station doctor was showing some
interest in talking to some people overseas, although I don't think
I quite got across what he might be letting himself in for.  If
there are some questions you think may be suitable to send his way
then maybe I can arrange it.
Ok here we go...

>>Questions:
>>1. Are you staying in an underground station?  If so, do you like
it?
   
   All Casey's buildings are above ground and I think that goes for
most of the stations down here.  The station is built on top of
exposed bedrock so it would probably be impossible to actually
build anything underground here
(I'm told they had enough problems just getting the building
foundations in). Now only about 5% of Antarctica's area has exposed
rock, the rest of course is covered in snow and ice so it is
possible to dig down into that.  The abandoned place I visited,
called S2, is an "undersnow" station, but the problem with that is
the ice moves and the snow piles up on top so eventually everything
starts to cave in and distort.  When climbing around 30 meters
below the surface in S2, it was quite an eerie feeling to see how
the walls were bending in and the passages were twisting.

>>2. Do you cut holes in the ice to go fishing?

   If you are allowed to fish (a permit is needed) then in summer
sea ice is not really a problem.  A couple of people here just go
to the end of the penninsula and cast off from there into the
water.  In winter when the bays freeze over I think you could still
find a place to drop a line, if not it's probably a bit too cold to
enjoy much fishing anyway.

>>3. Can you go on the icebergs?

   There's nothing to stop you if you can get to one.  There aren't
many boats here that could do that though.  Probably not
recommended unless with someone who knows exactly what they're
doing, since icebergs have a tendency to roll over occasionally. 
Seals and penguins seem to enjoy floating around on them.

>>4. What is your degree in?

   I did a Bachelor of Science degree with honours (4 years)
majoring in physics and computer science.  Now I'm doing a PhD in
electronic engineering and physics (strictly speaking just elec eng
but it combines a lot of physics in it too).  I've done a bit less
than 1 year of that so there'll be about another 3 years to go I
expect.

>>5. What is your job in antarctica?

   I'm helping set up an instrument called an ionosonde that can be
used to study the lower ionosphere (region from around 90km to
500km high).  For more details check out one of my earlier posts. 
That goes into it a bit more.

>>6. What is it like being so far from home?

   Most of the time I don't think about what I'm missing, I just
try to enjoy what's happening around me.  The people here are a lot
of fun to work with and everyone seems to get along well so that
makes it easier.  There is a sense of isolation, probably more so
when the last ship leaves and winter comes (but I won't be here for
that) but also a good feeling of self-reliance.
Most of the comforts of home are here, the food's really good and
there's a library, video rooms, music instruments and lots of
places to go sightseeing. Being single simplifies things too, I
know there are quite a few people who are keen to get back to their
families after being away for almost 4 months.
The other important aspect is communications are good back to
Australia, it's possible to call back when you like.  Which I
better do soon cause I haven't even phoned my parents since I've
been here!

>>7. What do you do for fun there?

   Apart from the jollies, which are a story in themselves, and the
activities mentioned in Q6 there are often events like barbeques
and parties organized for birthdays or public holidays back in Oz. 
There is usually old 16mm films screened on Sunday and Wednesday
nights which are quite popular here.  It's also up to people to
keep themselves occupied, you get as much out of the experience as
you want to put in.  Some people are going climbing and abseiling
near here soon and recently the biologists were after people to
help them with counting penguins at the colonies.  There's always
something going on.


>>8. Do you have pets there?

  Nobody is allowed to introduce foreign animals into Antarctica
now, because of the damage they will probably cause.  The huskies
or sled dogs are being taken back to Australia and then sent to the
US or Canada this year I think. This is not a popular decision at
some of the stations because they really are treated as pets there
and are also seen as part of the history of exploring Antarctica. 
However there is a new set of guidelines being introduced called
the Madrid Protocol that requires all non-native animals to 
be taken away.  Probably the best thing to do in the long run.

>>9. Can you hold the penguins?

  The penguins are a curious bunch so they'll often come running up
but won't willingly come closer than about 3 meters and if you try
to approach any closer they'll start running away.  It wouldn't be
hard to catch a penguin, they're quite slow and awkward on land,
but it's not a very nice thing to do and probably pretty
frightening for the penguin. The biologists do it sometimes when
they want to tag them or read tags but that's probably the only
time when people have a good reason for catching penguins.

>>10. Why did you want to work in Anaractica?

   Opportunity of a lifetime!!!  After all this is one place that
is not easy to get to and I love travelling and seeing new places. 
It's not been like anything else I've done in my life, that's for
sure.

>>11. What do you eat and where do you get your food?

   I reckon I'm eating better food down here than when I was
cooking for myself last year while I was living away from home. 
They have everything down here and if it's not tinned or frozen it
stays in good condition for a very long time because the
environment is so good for preserving things. To sum it up we have
all kinds of meat, vegetables and fruit, cereal etc.
Bread is baked fresh and milk is made up from powder (but it tastes
quite good).  The carrots and potatos look a bit weird after a few
months, they hardly need cooking they're so soft but the cooks are
quite good at using what they've got.  All the food is kept in a
big storehouse we call the Green Store and major supplies are
delivered during summer resupply which have to last all winter.  I
helped with the unloading and the amount of food is staggering but
then I thought of how long the people here are cut off for and it
seems like they shouldn't have any worries about running out.

>>One more from me.
>>12. How long is your stay and how often do you get visitors?

   My stay is for part of the summer, from December 27th '92 until
February 27th '93.  Other summer people arrived before me in late
November but all the summerers will leave at the end of Feb.  There
are 19 winterers for this year.  Apart from scheduled resupply
trips, I wasn't expecting any other contact with outside people so
it was a bit of a surprise when the aircraft appeared and we had
the Japanese and Canadians here.  Then in the same week the Russian
icebreaker turned up with Australian and American tourists on it
so I was beginning to wonder if this hadn't become a big tourist
destination. Since then it's been quiet in that regard and the
earlier visits were just an unusual coincidence.

Ok, well I hope you found the answers interesting.  It's been a
good excuse to hide from work for a while but now I better get back
to it.
Cheers,
       Paul