Everything Antarctica

In this first full-length episode, you'll get to know about the hosts of the Everything Antarctica Podcast. Matty Jordan is a project manager with extensive experience in the design, management, and delivery of highly complex and logistically challenging projects in Antarctica. He visited Antarctica for the first time over a decade ago and has now had 8 trips to the frozen continent. Since 2017, he has worked full-time for New Zealand’s Antarctic program. A veteran of eight Antarctic expeditions and over 400 days on ice, he has been dubbed by the media as “Antarctica’s biggest influencer.” His TikTok, Instagram and YouTube videos have been watched over half a billion times. He is a Board Director for the US based Antarctican Society, a past Co-Chair of the Canterbury Branch of the New Zealand Antarctic Society, and is actively involved with the local and international Antarctic Community. Originally from Perth, Western Australia, he now lives in Christchurch, New Zealand. Jonny Harrison first made it to the ice for the 2016/17 season as summer electrician at Scott Base. Building on his passion for photography, Jonny continued to sharpen his skills through his time on the ice. He was appointed to the Winter Leader role for both the 2018 and 2019 seasons which saw him leading a small team in one of the most challenging environments on the planet. From taking photos in the depths of winter at temperatures as low as -70c, through to the warmth of summer, Jonny has braved the elements to see so much of what there is to see on the ice. Having spent over 800 days in Antarctica, Jonny knows exactly what it takes to live and work down south. The tech expert of the duo, Jonny spearheads the audio and video recording and editing for the podcast. While Jonny is not directly involved with an Antarctic program these days, his images and videos are still regularly used in traditional media and other articles to showcase the beauty of Antarctica. Now living in Twizel, New Zealand, Jonny regularly commutes to Christchurch for the recording of the podcast.

In this weeks episode of the Everything Antarctica Podcast, Matty and Jonny talk about some of the indoor recreational opportunities that exist for people living and working in Antarctica. Most people have recreational activities that they enjoy doing, but sometimes the weather means that these activities are restricted to inside. Fitness is covered with items like a gym and a climbing wall, and our brains are covered with things like reading and board games with friends. People often think that there isn’t much to do inside, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Given that people spend extended time away from family and friends, it’s important to have activities for them to do to keep them in a good mindset. We also talk about some of the events that are organised by the community like mini golf and other make shift fun times like escape rooms. Activities vary between summer and winter, but there is no shortage of fun.

This is the second episode we’ve done on recreation, with this one focussing on outdoor recreation as opposed to last week’s episode on indoor recreation. Outdoor recreation is tied very closely to the weather conditions on the day, and as a result is more difficult to plan than an indoor activity. Some of the key activities include hiking, walking, biking, cross country and downhill skiing, spotting wildlife, trips to historic huts, hagglund adventures to interesting sights, visits to nearby research stations, photography and much more. Listen in this week to discover how we keep ourselves entertained. We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this week’s episode we do a basic introduction to the different types of ice in Antarctica. Do you know the difference between sea ice, glacial ice, ice shelves, ice caps, and ice sheets? Do you know what a polynya is? Have you heard about the shrek the sheep who got shorn on an iceberg? We explain all of these in the hope that it helps with future episodes when we talk about these topics. While we are not ice experts or glaciologists, we have put this one together to provide a foundation for some of the discussions we will have in future episodes. Don't worry if you don't fully understand these concepts immediately; we will revisit them often.