CHAPTER 18
Ahh, got’cha! No, we are not going back to Antarctica any time soon, at least not in body. We are however going to return there on a trip through our memories and photos that we have not previously published. It has been a little over a year since we left that icy continent, a year and one week to be precise, and since then we have done quite a few crazy things, some of which we have written about on this website such as our odyssey home from Antarctica via New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii, and other adventures, that were just as exciting, but we have yet to present to the world. Unfortunately, there seems to be a drastic disparity between my penchant for travel and adventure, and my ability to write about these adventures and edit the photos in a timely manner. But that is what “down time” in the real world is for I suppose. The trick is catching back up before we head off again…
So, for now, we are going to return to where we left off with our time at the South Pole and finish the story properly. Our last post from the Southern Continent concerned a tour of one of the amazing science experiments taking place on station, the MAPO observatory. Continuing in chronological order, the next notable event to happen at the Pole was the annual party put on by the carpenter’s- i.e. the continent famous Carp Party.
The Carp Party is legendary for its dancing, drinking, food and fire. Everything is relative though, so to put things in context, on a spectrum of party maturity ranging from “kindergarten pre-school birthday party” to “formal ball celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee”, I would rank the Carp Party just above “cool sophomores in college party where one person’s older brother bought all the booze”- which is pretty good considering most of the other parties thrown on station were probably closer to “cool sophomores in high school party where one person’s older brother had to use a fake ID to buy all the booze”. Having just attended a few of the high school versions, we were really excited to go to the Carp Party.
Through sheer force of will, the carpenters somehow transform their humdrum wood-working shop jamesway into a bumping, pulsating nightclub, complete with disco ball, smoke effects, and a DJ with virtual turn table. Upon arrival we were treated to a freezing vodka shot through an amazing sculpture turned ice-luge- the sculpture was of Roald Amundsen and it was an exact replica of one presented a few weeks previous to the Prime Minister of Norway on the anniversary of Roald’s achievement of the South Pole- what would the Prime think of him now?! Next we were whisked away to the one and only photo booth in Antarctica- which we dutifully tried to cram with as many people as possible. And following some excessive rug-cutting inside the party, we retired outside to the back deck for a warm up around a crackling wood fire- something unheard of on the frozen wastes of Antarctica. Cap it off with a brisk walk home at 3am in full day light and we had the makings of a great and memorable party.
Prev ChapterNext Chapter
