When you see mountains and wildlife, you know we’re not at the South Pole anymore. But we are still in Antarctica, and these first few images are from IceCube winterover Raffaela’s R&R trip to McMurdo. Above we see hikers making their way to Castle Rock, and in the break between the clouds you can even see Mt. Erebus erupting in the distance. Raffaela was fortunate to capture some nice photos of wildlife in her new surroundings—she saw a group of Adelie penguins wandering on the sea ice, a rare sighting for this time of year, and also seals and skuas, with close-ups below.
Upon her return to the Pole, IceCube winterover Johannes then took leave for his turn at R&R, along with some other winterovers, leaving a smaller crew on station. They took the opportunity to engage in fitness activities, organized by the firefighting group. They held a game of dodgeball in full firefighting gear as well as a challenge to see who could get into gear the fastest. Raffaela can attest that it’s not so easy. That’s her in the challenge photos below, with a more recognizable photo of her at bottom.
