WHAT A YEAR FOR ADVENTURE MUMS!

Its coming to the end of what has been an unbelievable year, and one I could not have dreamed of and yet one of the hardest years I have ever lived through. The climate system has become my new best friend, my trusty black travel bag has an ecliptic collection of boarding passes, pens and hotel key rooms in it, and my fashion style has definitely spilled over from the field to the suburbs - no make-up days, no hair tong days, and  no high heel days! Yes hard to imagine, but I have found a little bit of country in me. We are half way through the production of "The Tipping Point Crisis" and next year will be filming more about the changing climate system in Africa. India and the great southern oceans. Incase you did not see this terrific article in The Fairfax media recently it is well worth a read: The Earth is Melting - THE EARTH IS MELTING

This features a picture and a video clip from our forthcoming series on The Permafrost Crisis - possibly one of the really unknown threats to destabilizing our planets climate system.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Festive Season.

Liz C x

45,000 YEAR TIME WARP IN ALASKA

After arriving and finally falling asleep in my tent at Toolik lake we work up to a morning filled with anticipation and excitement. Blades swirling, head sets on, we took off for an adventure of a lifetime across the remote tundra in the far North -East of Alaska to what's known as the time warp, a place where you can step back in time 45,000 years ago. After 1 hour across a desolate landscape, we came across a silver mountain rising out of the tundra - a sheer grey ice-cliff rising some 40 metres out of the tundra. It looked like a movie set out of Star Wars, and totally out of context in the rolling hillsides of far north Alaska.

The cliff face was a Thermocast, or frozen ice cliff  due to climate change and rising temperatures in the Arctic zone which are accelerating at 3-4 times the global average. We set down our helicopters on the adjacent pebble river bed and checked for bears before getting a thumbs up from the pilot that it was good to GO! Out and wow what a site - I was looking at frozen ice from the last inter-glacier period and from the bottom to the top I was looking at 45,000 years of history. To get to the ice face of the cliff we had to hike around the tundra and then navigate our way across the melting Permaforst which was oozing mud like substance equivalent to quick-sand. I stepped in the wrong place and that was it - my gumboots started to sink and I totally freaked as there was no way to get out - but luckily I was in gumboots so I was pulled across the had to leave my gum boots to sink. The mud acts like a suction cap and pulls everything down with it - lucky to have just changed my shoes from lace-ups to boots for the walk in!!

Finally we arrived at the face of the ice cliff which is called stinky bluffs as it smells like rotting garbage, only difference is - its 45,000 years old.  I touched the ice cliff at its bass and looking up at around 30,000 years we saw a set of old animal horns sticking out of the ice-cliff- large, suspended in time, I really felt like I had gone back in a time machine and to top it off we were all alone, not a single sound, except the melting and carving of ice from the face of the cliff, intensifying as the sun progressed across the day. I decided to do a Jurassic Park style sequence and jumped in the helicopter with our lead camera man and took off for the top of the cliff face, we slowly flew out over the top and then did a vertical drop down the side of the cliff face - it was amazing.

So- things are really changing out here in the tundra - the climate system is getting hotter and causing the permafrost to thaw. It in turn is thawing and releasing CO2 and Methane back into the atmosphere accelerating the warming process even more - this is called a feedback process

We ate some 10,000 year old ice - and all seems fine no one aged!!!, it actually tasted far different to the ice in the freezer at home!

Off to Barrow in 2 days - going FAR north...more soon. LC.

2.30AM FOG BOUND CROSSING

Touched down in Fairbanks after a long 30 hour trip, and was met by a balmy 70 degree temp! So much for the thermals, long pants, boots and wind jackets. But after a good nights sleep in a charming little cottage by the river we packed up crew van,  stopped for coffee, gum boots, and then headed north for Toolik Lake. Where you ask? A remote science station in the far north of Alaska. We drove all day, stopped at the Red Hot Cafe where they shoot Ice Road Truckers and had dinner before starting the last leg - 6 hours and across the Atigan Pass. We needed to refuel and stopped at Deadmans Log, a one town station..totally strange creepy place, all the truckies driving to Prudeo Bay stop here and we managed to hit peak hour 12 midnight. At this stage we found out we still had 3-4 hours to go, and the pass to get across, with fog rolling in, we had 2 options to push ahead or to stay in the portable cabins at Deadmans Log - so you guessed it we pushed on. So up the pass, totally freaked out as we started climbing and the fog started to roll in - it was so heavy we could not see 2 feet ahead and we were at the peak of the pass. We stopped to a crawl and I literally couldn't breathe, but as things go, the fog lifted just as we started to cross the top of the pass and from then on, we were able to see out way down. Next we met the night road truckers who were working on a huge stretch of the gravel road and we waited 30 mins for a "support car" which we had to follow through the road works area. Finally at 2.30am we arrived at Toolik Lake and found instructions to our accommodation - tents, no heating, and no toilets..girls this is not a good look...especially at 2.30am. Unpacked my sleeping bag and fell into bed, the wind then picked up and our door went flying open all through the night/should I mention the sun set at 1.15am and we watched it start to rise at 2.45am, so the tents have a black-out cover which is really fabulous so you really do think its nigh time. All things aside it is an amazing research centre for Permafrost and High Arctic Climate Change research. Though no flushing toilets and 1 shower a week ration is going to be a huge challenge for me - so will let you know how I survive!!! LC x

ANYONE FOR ALASKA?

Okay you could be forgiven for thinking you were in the arctic today - I think it was a good practice season standing in the wind today at soccer thinking this time next week I will be standing in snow (probably knee deep knowing how unpredictable the weather is), wind will be howling, -4 degrees today in Toolik, Alaska, so this made me think, okay not bad today really. Was even better when the portable coffee truck pulled up - never seen so many Mums look so happy!! So next chapter in the adventure is about to unravel if I dont before it! I'm sorry to not have posted that I made it home form the Amazon, was an amazing trip, Shamon man, Amazon herbal tea and all..I think the heat was really what was so overwhelming, like being in a Sauna 24/7, you really had to watch how much water you drank as it just dripped off you and that was  standing in the shade. The last location in the Amazon was really very special - Christalino Lodge in the southern tip of the Amazon, an Eco Lodge in the middle of nowhere. Plane trip to Alto Floresta, then a very bumpy van trip for 2 hours, down direct roads to the edge of the river, then a 1 hour boat trip to the Lodge. While we were there I saw an anaconda - really was suoer amazing, huge. The monkeys were very cheekly and threw fruit and seeds on us - when I say through it was like standing under a rain cloud of berries they just showered all around us really very funny. The bird life and butterflies were beautiful, colourful, and plentiful. At night time we had the Howler monkeys again..they seemed to follow us and they really do howl through the night 0 but like a horror movie/great sound effects!  I had a scary moment one night when I miss timed the generator turn-off ( normally 10pm) and went out to find a patch in the forest where the tree canopy was clear and I could call our travel agent  ont the Sat Phone..yes hard to beleive but we could not access the internet and had no idea if our flights hand changed. In the middle of the call the lights all went out and I was left in the pitch dark with no torch...every shadow was a crouching tiger, howling monkey ot something! Managed to find my way back as there was a full moon, but never again...So this week on Thursday we head off the shoot part of the story on the rapid acceleration of loss of Methane/ and the melting of the Permafrost across the sub arctic regions, namley Siberia and Alaska. We are traveling to several research sites in Alaska to look at the melting Permafrost story and then all the way to Barrow to where the sea ice is rapidly retreating, and Methane Hydtrates are starting to also melt in the shallow arctic oceans. Will try and send a few blogs while I am traveling, but I know we are going to be in remote locations so they will be a bit unpredictable. Getting my sleeping bag out again - Yep seems like I am camping again and this time in -4C. Yes the first time was a novelty, so this time not sure how it will all go, but up for it anyway. Will miss the kids and family, but back end of the month intime for the soccer finals!! Love to all and speak to you from the wild plans of Alaska LC xx

FIRE IN THE JUNGLE SHOOT

After a long day of travel, 3 plane rides and one dusty car and a charter plane, we finally landed at Tangura a private ranch in Malto Grosso to explore the only fire research centre in the Amazon Rainforest. We were all  a little bit nervous as we were going to participate in a fire experiment and film it at the same time. With the help of Prof Paolo Brando we headed off into the dry jungle with fuel tanks to set fire to a small area where they have been monitoring very precise burn-backs to determine the rainforests resilience to fire and to establish markers for modelling the future tipping points driven by fire. Bernice and Prof Cox both took to lighting the fire with the research crew and soon we were engulfed in flames and smoke - it was very hard to direct at this point, sign language at its best was all we had. The heat was extreme from a small area, and the smoke overwhelming.  The burn back was quickly put out and we all raced for cold water, and fresh air. Not to make light of this shoot, the importance of this research is understanding the trees and plants most resilience to fire to help the scientists to understand the future of this amazing rainforest. Hot but all safe. Liz x

AMAZON SHAMAN MAN

Feeling like I have been hit by a semi trailer - fever, and bad gastro in the middle of the jungle, not a good look.  35 C but I spent the day under a rug...a visit by the local Shaman man Lola told me I needed to drink a herbal tea made from the young leaves of a Guava Plant.  He made up a special mixture and I  drank the tea the whole pot and within 30 mins I stared to feel better - amazing, just can't describe how fast I recovered from this. Such a simple solution - young Guava leaves! Next day I was back on my feet, a few kilos lighter ( good thing) and drinking the next mixture he delivered to me - filtered rice water. Feeling so much clearer, I took a walk in the nearby forest at night with the crew - it was pitch dark, lots of moving shadows, and rustling of leaves. I don't remember this being my idea or even a good idea..I called the shoot to an end and hurried back to the camp - looked for a jaguar but to no avails. Heading back to civilisation in the morning, will be visiting a nearby remote village, before our 32 hour boat trip back down the river to Belem. The howler monkeys keep howling all night, starting to get use to them - just a little bit uneasy when going to sleep as there are no doors on our rooms, and I wonder if I am going to wake up to a monkey bouncing on the bunk bed!! Sleeping under a mosquito net, surprisingly only a few bugs...just have to check your bed for scorpions at night and your shoes in the morning! LC

MAYAN TEMPLE IN THE AMAZON

Sorry for the delay - it has been a huge filming week in the Amazon, no hot water ( will never take hot showers for granted again) and no power, only romantic candles and head torches! We geared up and headed into the jungle today to shoot at the Caxiauna Drought experiment which is a 32 hour boat trip away from civilization. After hiking in, watching for anything moving on the trail, namely scorpions and snakes, we came across 2 hectares of jungle that has been roofed in - it looked like a Mayan temple in the middle of the jungle. Amazing to see what they have created to try to simulate what the rainforests resilience is to drought - one of the key tipping elements facing the Amazon jungle this century.  This part of the forest receives 50% less water, and through this experiment that have been able to measure and see that it is the largest trees at risk not the small trees which was contrary to their initial models. The large trees need more water to move the hydrolics/water up to the top of the canopy, and so they suffer the most after a threshold of 3 years. To view the project they have built a 50 metre tower so we climbed up to the top viewing platform - crew and all - no need to go to the gym, best step machine I have walked up yet and in 35 C with 99% humidity! We completed filming around 3pm, and Prof Peter Cox was a great sport and climbed down into the soil pit after we checked for rattlers, yet we missed seeing the scorpion hiding in the corner, so he made a hasty retreat out. End of day we took 2 hours off and I went for a kayak down the river with Prof Peter Cox, we could hear the howler monkeys all around us, but I just couldn't see one. No one there but the forest, the monkeys and us - really such a privilege to be doing this have to pinch myself some days.  The river is so dark nearly black water, so it is hard to tell where the land starts and the water finishes as it is like a giant mirror reflecting the trees in the water. Off to bed, love to all LC x

INTO THE JUNGLE - MAGICAL!

Magical is the only word to describe the Amazon Jungle - it is so pristine, lush, tall canopies reach above you to the sky line, and the hot moist air hits your face. Over 2/3 of all the bio diversity of the planet resides here in the Amazon which is an amazing fact. We headed up the river over night on the Bom Jesus ( appropriatley named) 12 hours in a tiny cabin you could swing a cat in, the local ferry that tooks us to Breves. Over 400 peole crowded on this boat and they spent the night swinging in their hamocks- quite a sight to see, some had boom boxes resting in their hamocks, and every corner of the ferry had a TV set blarring the entire night, yet between the boom boxes and TV sets, they all seemed to sleep! Morning came and we transfered to our next boat to go deeper up the river and into the real untouched jungle. Prof Lola greeted us ( great name) and we set off again at 9am, the river started to get narrower and little huts started to appear from time to tie along the way. Canoes started to pass us, the day passed by, we swang in our hamocks between filming, and sunset was spectacular. 11pm we finally arrived at the Caxiuana Research Centre in the far North east of the Amazon after traveling for 36 hours, it was exciting to finally arrive. I diligently put up my blue mosquito net in the room which had no fly screens, and no doors, and looked around to see that everyone else had moved their matresses out onto the landing, but I persisted and clamoured under my net and wafted off to the sounds of the jungle wondering if I would find a monkey in my room in the morning - alas I did not but morning came at 6am ( yep no blimds either) and the noise of the camp kitchen motivated us all to head down. It was an amazing sight to step out the doorway and look across the courtyard to see the edge of the forest at out feet - more amazing was the adventure we had when we kitted-up and headed into the jungle for our first day of filming. Magical is what The Amazon is - LC x

3 ALLIGATORS LATER!

Finally landed in Saol Paulo, and after 4 hours of hassling to get tickets changes, a run in with the security who deemed our paddle board to be a possible weapon, and then boarding the wrong plane, yes 2 scanner and three lovely hostesses later, I was only alerted to the fact I was on the wrong plane when a lovely old man came up and told me I was in his seat! Now the chances of this were remote as the plane was half empty and he was the last one to board. He said your on the wrong plane - great that he could read the ticket it said Brasilia and we were meant to be going to Campo Grande which is near Brasilia but not Brasilia! So we were escorted off the plane, whisked away in a waiting car and then dropped off and told to run fast. At this stage I got the giggles, it all seemed so funny that I couldn't run no matter how hard I tried...finally made it to the plane and to our seats. Long and short we flew to Campre Grande and then a car drove us for 5 hours in the pouring rain, no idea how they stay alive, passing in the rain, cant see if a car is coming on the other side, and a pair of rosary beads around the mirror seems to make it all fine! Arrived late, and collapsed into bed. Morning time and we headed off the a small forest area- lush green, stunning waterfalls, hiked into the rapids and then back to have lunch at the local eco farm - standing in front of their lake I was greeted by a large alligator who crept up and out of the water rather suddenly, and then 2 more popped their head s up and before I knew it there were three coming towards me - okay I am not crocodil dundee though I was assured they would not come after me, there is too close for comfort and that was it. But I can say I have been as close as 10 feet away from 3 alligators now.. and survived to tell the story! Loving the jungle, Rid is doing its thing, onl a few mossie bites. Off to Manaus in the morning and to the great Amazon river. Filming is going well, weather is extrenely hot and humid, but loving it. LC

Heading out to The Amazon Rainforest tonight in 2 hours from Atlanta - Malaria tablets on the go, and stocked up on chocolate treats for later night snacks! Really excited to finally be boarding the plane. It is going to take us 20 hours, 2 plane trips and a 5 hour car transfer to arrive in Bonito. Currently it is raining, and only 22 degrees in the Amazon, so have just bought an umbrella!! Fancy that - you would think I was still in Sydney. Lots of love and speak to you from the Amazon soon! Liz x

JUNGLE STYLE!

Who could have ever imagined that Jungle Khaki pants and I would end-up in the same sentence! Went on a shopping expeditiont oday ( yes those who know me well know I like to shop a little!) but really my purchases were not for the faint hearted! Rid laden head scarfs, long very unflattering khaki pants, crinkly white grandmother shirts, yes drip dry and no ironing, hideos sandles good for jungle waterways, and to top it off, a khaki hoody that makes me look like Indiana Jones..just need the hat. And speaking of hats, yes it has a mosquito net on it - so you guessed it NO photos of me will be forth coming. So now I am kitted out for the Amazon, I have my Tetnus booster to look forward to and my anti maleria tablets to get started on, really just like going to Hayman Island, how hard can it be?? The boat trip from Belem is on  a commuter ferry and while we have our own private lodgings, I have since found out they are a hamock...no bed just something to swing in for 8 hours +++ So cant wait to get started on my adventures next week. Earthmumliz signing out!

FIRST CAMPING IN -15 DEGREES!

Just back from Greenland and had an awesome shoot. Many firsts for me including my first time camping - own tent, thermal mattress a balmy -15 degrees! Not bad effort for first time with NO toilet and only flat ice, no where to hide - did you know there are no trees in Greenland, really quiet inconvenient especially being a female! Travelled from the far north to the far south to look at what is happening to the icesheet and glaciers to learn about the rate of accelerated melting. We lived in Qaanaaq for 7 days, with bag toilets, really another first but the people were amazing, and walking in the street at 2am with sunglasses on was yet another first for me...sun never sets for many months, so you really have to remember to put yourself to bed. Thanks to Alun Hubbard and his team at S10 camp for a good pot of porridge with strawberry jam and cinamon sugar, yet another first and cold coffee quite a Hubbard special. Foggy weather in IIlulisate enabled us to twist Jason Boxes arm and ride with him to Swiss Camp - met the amazing Steffen Konrad at Swiss Camp and dropped of some bulding supplies for their remodeling works due to shifting iceflows, they are having to rebuild Swiss Camp- it has moved nearly 30kms over the last 15 years.  Dirk and the team from GEUS kindly drove us out to the edge of the ice-cap along the bumpiest road you will every travel on - and then we hauled our gear over the hills and up onto the icesheet for a few nights. This time we had a toilet of types, a blue barrel with a realy toilet seat on it - a bit strange to see this on the horizon and to see the interest it raised from the artic foxes who appeared when you least expected them to check you out! Greenland was an amazing adventure, things magically happened, and we really saw first hand the accelerated changes that are happening on the icesheet, the glaciers which curtain the ocean and the sea-ice which is retracting at rates outside the conservative models from the last Climate Change Summit. Good News is that they are starting a gardening club in Nuuk for the first time - it is getting so warm in the summer now they are going to try to grow small trees, fresh herbs and strawberries.