Antarctica?

One of my challenges at this job, since the tour is very much the same every single day, is to learn one new thing or be exposed to one new perspective on the world each day. This usually comes from talking to some of the hundred or so people that come through each day, to the captain or crew I'm working with, or from reading at night when I'm off work.

The other night, I had a crew of friends over to my campsite as a late birthday celebration. I ended up having a really interesting conversation with one of the guys who works on the island where our boat stops every night for dinner. He had just finished working in Antarctica for the winter (their summer) and then traveling around in New Zealand before coming up here. New Zealand! I've always wanted to go there! I had never met anyone who's been to Antarctica before, so I was really interested. If anyone's looking for an adventure for about 6 months, a job down there would be quite a choice of employment. Hey, that sounds like me. Anyways, Kevin was telling me about his time down there and it sounded- well, cold for one thing- sometimes down to 20 below before wind chill, which can be significant- but also amazing. The adventures, experience, people and opportunity to travel sound unreal. It was really neat to spend a whole night talking about a continent I had never even thought twice about before.

I hope all of you are learning or experiencing something new every day too, even if it's something small! I have a day off tomorrow, so I'm going hiking on Fox Island (where the snow is finally juuuust melting on the hilltops and mountains). Can't wait. Days are long but the wildlife has been amazing lately. We've seen at least 3 groups of 4 or so humpbacks cooperatively feeding the last few days, and they've gotten pretty excited about all the food they're finding. They've been tail-slapping, barrel-rolling, doing headstands and waving their pectoral fins at us. Today I saw one breach (jump all the way out of the water) for the first time!