Now that I'm back in the deep south, it is time to start blogging again! For those of you new to this blog, it is an attempt to keep in contact with many of you while I am working in Antarctica.
It seems strange to say that going to Antarctica is becoming routine, but it kind of is. That is not to say that it is any less amazing of a place to have the opportunity to visit! This is my fourth trip, and while the sites have become familiar, it is still a special place.
It takes quite a while to actually make it from the good-old USA to the south pole. As for me, I start in Chicago. Call this day 1. I fly to Los Angeles, then catch an over-night flight to Sydney. I land on day 3, because we cross the international date line. This year, I left on December 30, and landed on January 1, completely missing new years. From Sidney, we fly to Christchurch, landing in the mid-afternoon of day 3. Day 4 is spent fitting clothing and adjusting to the new timezone. In an ideal world, we fly to McMurdo on the coast of Antarctica on day 5, then fly to Pole on day 6. However, these last two steps can be hampered by weather, mechanical, or other delays.
The trip down this year went surprisingly smoothly. There were no unexpected delays, and we made it to Pole on day 6, as planned!
Here are a few photos from the trip down.
Christchurth is two years into the recovery process after the earthquakes from 2011. They have made progress since last year, but the progress is still slow.
[A church steeple, being prepared to put back on the church]
[Part of Downtown christchurch, with a life-sized doll sitting on the building]
We spent our one full day in NZ walking around Littleton, the town just over the hill from Christchurch. Littleton was hit hard by the earthquakes as well.
[Painted blocks in front of a house in Littleton. They have larger recycling bins then rubbish (trash) bins!]
[Pretty flowers in Littleton]
[fish & chips, a NZ classic!]
[ooh! That's my plate! Sneaking a peak into the kitchen]
[The graveyard in Littleton was a sad place; many headstones were knocked down by the earthquake]
[The view out over Littleton]
We flew from New Zealand to McMurdo in LC-130's, which are smaller than the usual C-17's, and thus take 8 hours instead of 5.
[Cargo strapped down in the back of the LC-130]
[Is it a shark? Or a sloth? No, just an air vent (I think) in the LC-130]
[The coastal mountains approaching McMurdo]
[Flowing glaciers around the coast of Antarctica]
Our flight from McMurdo to Pole was delayed several hours due to very bad conditions on the runway (see following photos). Warm temperatures combined with dust blowing out from the continent caused the runway to turn to mush.
[Vlad, trying not to look too excited for his first trip to Pole]
[The sad state of the airport, out on the Ross Iceshelf]
[Waiting...]
[30cm deep slush around the passenger building]
We did make it out eventually that day, and arrived at Pole right on time!
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