So I arrived safely in Antarctica!! I can't write too much, but let me just say that it's absolutely fucking amazing (sorry for using the f-work mom, but there's no better way to put it). I'll write more when I get to the South Pole tomorrow and have a little more time.
For now, one tidbit: I saw hundreds of penguins. Hundreds and hundreds of hilarious penguins. Got some great photos and movies. Nobody on my experiment has ever seen penguins in Antarctica before. For the first time, they showed up at McMurdo the day we arrived. Somebody's looking favorably on me, I guess.
One more military flight to go and this trip is halfway there. Keep your fingers crossed I don't get altitude sickness and pulminary adema. Hopefully the pills I'm taking with stave that off...
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Friday, January 5, 2007
CHC to MCM
Well, it looks like we're actually going tomorrow morning. We're supposed to report at 9:30 (which is apparently quite late. Usually you have to get there at 4 AM). I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pretty damn scared at this point. Everytime we've had a delay, a little part of me has rejoiced at another worry-free day. We had dinner with a few colleagues who had just come back up here, and they told us some pretty unpleasant stories about medevacs, accidents, toxic spills, power outages, emergency evacuations, etc. I think this is the closest thing to a real military experience that I'll ever have. I'm constantly encountering people who've been down there a few times before, and I feel like that scared young soldier in all those Vietnam movies who's on his first tour.
There's always the possibility that our flight will "boomerang." There's a point of no return beyond which you don't have enough fuel to get back to New Zealand, and at that point, the pilots check to see if the weather forecast is good enough to land at McMurdo. If it's not, they turn around and fly all the way back to Christchurch. Anyway, if all goes well, I'll be in McMurdo at this time tomorrow night. McMurdo is sort of like one of those old Wild West mining towns, so it should be interesting. There are no flights on Sunday, so we should have a day or two to go on some nice hikes across the sea ice. I think there's even a Catholic church at McMurdo. We may also be able to visit the Kiwi base. Who knows. For now, hail and farewell...
There's always the possibility that our flight will "boomerang." There's a point of no return beyond which you don't have enough fuel to get back to New Zealand, and at that point, the pilots check to see if the weather forecast is good enough to land at McMurdo. If it's not, they turn around and fly all the way back to Christchurch. Anyway, if all goes well, I'll be in McMurdo at this time tomorrow night. McMurdo is sort of like one of those old Wild West mining towns, so it should be interesting. There are no flights on Sunday, so we should have a day or two to go on some nice hikes across the sea ice. I think there's even a Catholic church at McMurdo. We may also be able to visit the Kiwi base. Who knows. For now, hail and farewell...
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Another Sunny Day in Christchurch
It seems like every other person you encounter in the hotels and on the street in Christchurch is heading to or from "the ice" (that's how the all cool kids refer to Antarctica...) It's actually a pretty fascinating logistical system down here. Everyone is spread out in bed and breakfast's and hotels throughout the city (your tax dollars are hard at work subsidizing the New Zealand tourist industry). Each hotel has a list of the people heading to the ice, and they're in constant contact with the USAP office about flight schedules and delays. They post notices or slip faxes under your door or come knock in the middle of the night. It's sort of comforting to have all these people looking out for us when we're so far away from home.
Christchurch has been a bit jarring at times. We went from the shortest days of the year in Chicago to the longest ones down here. It's not getting dark until around 9:45 or so, and the weather is absolutely perfect. Maybe it's a nice middle ground before we head out to eternal sunshine at the Pole.
Our co-worker Andres just came back from Antarctica at 4 AM last night. There was a medevac from McMurdo to Christchurch for some unknown reason, and he was able to hop on. It was good to see him and get a debriefing about what's been going on down there. He looks a bit like an ewok after not shaving or getting a haircut for a few months. And because all the hotels are filled up, he got an amazing sweet in this really nice hotel right on the central square. Must be nice. He headed straight out to get a haircut. You can see the results for yourself:
On a side note, I went out today and purchased some "supplies" for this hilarious staged photo I'm planning to take at the ceremonial Pole. Stay tuned for that one. It's sort of a tradition. Andres showed us his photo where he's wearing a nice gray business suit. Quite a juxtaposition.
Word is that we're supposed to be flying to McMurdo tomorrow morning, but we won't know for sure until later tonight. I think I'll go for a run in the meantime. Probably the last time I'll be able to do that, since running at the 12,000 foot altitude of the Pole is apparently not advisable.
I'll post some more thoughts later tonight if we do indeed head out tomorrow morning...
Christchurch has been a bit jarring at times. We went from the shortest days of the year in Chicago to the longest ones down here. It's not getting dark until around 9:45 or so, and the weather is absolutely perfect. Maybe it's a nice middle ground before we head out to eternal sunshine at the Pole.
Our co-worker Andres just came back from Antarctica at 4 AM last night. There was a medevac from McMurdo to Christchurch for some unknown reason, and he was able to hop on. It was good to see him and get a debriefing about what's been going on down there. He looks a bit like an ewok after not shaving or getting a haircut for a few months. And because all the hotels are filled up, he got an amazing sweet in this really nice hotel right on the central square. Must be nice. He headed straight out to get a haircut. You can see the results for yourself:
On a side note, I went out today and purchased some "supplies" for this hilarious staged photo I'm planning to take at the ceremonial Pole. Stay tuned for that one. It's sort of a tradition. Andres showed us his photo where he's wearing a nice gray business suit. Quite a juxtaposition.
Word is that we're supposed to be flying to McMurdo tomorrow morning, but we won't know for sure until later tonight. I think I'll go for a run in the meantime. Probably the last time I'll be able to do that, since running at the 12,000 foot altitude of the Pole is apparently not advisable.
I'll post some more thoughts later tonight if we do indeed head out tomorrow morning...
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Here We Go...
I have to admit. I never thought I'd be writing a blog. But after seeing Mike Lee's inspired entry into the blogosphere with Brasil Dreams, I decided to follow suit. (Though since I was the one that gave him the idea in the first place, I don't feel like too much of a follower...).
So here I am stuck in lovely Christchurch, New Zealand (more on that later...), writing my first ever post. I'll try to cram in all of the stuff that's happened since I left Chicago a few days ago.
December 30, 2006 to January 1, 2006
It was
a miserable morning of packing, but I had finally done it-shoved a few months of clothing and books into my backpack along with some military issue (hopefully clean) long underwear that Will Bain was kind enough to let me borrow. I attached the handy U.S. Antarctic Program baggage tag with that cute little penguin on it and headed to O'Hare. There I met my co-worker Justin, and after a little re-packing to skirt our gear under the Qantas weight limit, we were off to LAX. As you can see below, Justin was particularly concerned about packing for the long, cold Antarctic nights (the TSA woman who hand-searched our gear at O'Hare didn't even bat an eyelash.) [Note: Justin made me self-censor this photo out of the blog...]
The twelve-and-a-half hour flight from Aukland to LA was pretty uneventful. Since we were travelling over New Year's, the flight was empty. I had a whole row to myself, and managed to sleep for most of the flight (thank God...) Qantas has amazing in-flight entertainment though. They have twenty or thirty movies and a bunch of TV shows that you can start, stop, pause, rewind, all on demand. Plus video games.
Before our flight from Auckland to Christchurch, we spent quite awhile having one of those ridiculous arguments that only physicists have: given the flight time and the time zones, did we actually experience New Year's eve at all? After some arguing, some pencil and paper, and some help from passers-by, we concluded that we experienced an hour or so of December 31st ( from midnight to 1:15 AM). At that point, we crossed the international dateline and vaulted ahead a day to 1:15 AM on January 1st. So we never got our midnight toast or kiss with the stewardess. In fact, I think I slept through the whole thing. If we had taken off a little earlier though, we would have been some of the first people in the world to experience 2007. Oh well.
Anyway, most of New Year's Day was spent in Christchurch relaxing, eating, and having some beers. We were to report on January 3rd to the CDC (the Clothing Distribution Center) to get issued our ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) gear. Why the hell does the military use so many acronyms anyway? Will? Departure for McMurdo Station on Antarctica was scheduled for the 4th, and for the South Pole on the 5th.
January 3
Getting the ECW is a pretty interesting experience. You're shoved in a warehouse with 50 other people. You're each issued two bright orange duffel bags with your clothing in them. You try everything on, because, as they repeatedly remind you, your very survival depends on all your clothes fitting properly. As you can see, I had a few problems with my carhart coveralls. Ten pairs later, I found out that it is indeed still possible to dance wearing long underwear pants and shirt, fleece jumpsuit (think the footy-pajamas you wore as a kid...), another fleece jacket, and coveralls.
And on top of it all, the distinctive, bright red USAP parka. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the photo where I'm wearing the face mask and goggles. I'm sure you'll be seeing plenty of those when I get down there.
After getting our gear, we found out we wouldn't be flying down to Antarctica on schedule. We fly down on military C-17's (and to the Pole on smaller LC-130's). Apparently the one we were supposed to go down on has been having some mechanical problems (which, everyone assures me, is quite common.) So we were told that we would be flying on Friday. Now that latest word is Sunday, but nobody really knows. I guess they're waiting for a spare part or something. So stay tuned.
What is there to do in lovely Christchurch while you're waiting, you might be wondering? Well, there's really only one answer:
I think that's about enough for my very first post. More soon, I promise...
So here I am stuck in lovely Christchurch, New Zealand (more on that later...), writing my first ever post. I'll try to cram in all of the stuff that's happened since I left Chicago a few days ago.
December 30, 2006 to January 1, 2006
It was
a miserable morning of packing, but I had finally done it-shoved a few months of clothing and books into my backpack along with some military issue (hopefully clean) long underwear that Will Bain was kind enough to let me borrow. I attached the handy U.S. Antarctic Program baggage tag with that cute little penguin on it and headed to O'Hare. There I met my co-worker Justin, and after a little re-packing to skirt our gear under the Qantas weight limit, we were off to LAX. As you can see below, Justin was particularly concerned about packing for the long, cold Antarctic nights (the TSA woman who hand-searched our gear at O'Hare didn't even bat an eyelash.) [Note: Justin made me self-censor this photo out of the blog...]The twelve-and-a-half hour flight from Aukland to LA was pretty uneventful. Since we were travelling over New Year's, the flight was empty. I had a whole row to myself, and managed to sleep for most of the flight (thank God...) Qantas has amazing in-flight entertainment though. They have twenty or thirty movies and a bunch of TV shows that you can start, stop, pause, rewind, all on demand. Plus video games.
Before our flight from Auckland to Christchurch, we spent quite awhile having one of those ridiculous arguments that only physicists have: given the flight time and the time zones, did we actually experience New Year's eve at all? After some arguing, some pencil and paper, and some help from passers-by, we concluded that we experienced an hour or so of December 31st ( from midnight to 1:15 AM). At that point, we crossed the international dateline and vaulted ahead a day to 1:15 AM on January 1st. So we never got our midnight toast or kiss with the stewardess. In fact, I think I slept through the whole thing. If we had taken off a little earlier though, we would have been some of the first people in the world to experience 2007. Oh well.
Anyway, most of New Year's Day was spent in Christchurch relaxing, eating, and having some beers. We were to report on January 3rd to the CDC (the Clothing Distribution Center) to get issued our ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) gear. Why the hell does the military use so many acronyms anyway? Will? Departure for McMurdo Station on Antarctica was scheduled for the 4th, and for the South Pole on the 5th.
January 3
Getting the ECW is a pretty interesting experience. You're shoved in a warehouse with 50 other people. You're each issued two bright orange duffel bags with your clothing in them. You try everything on, because, as they repeatedly remind you, your very survival depends on all your clothes fitting properly. As you can see, I had a few problems with my carhart coveralls. Ten pairs later, I found out that it is indeed still possible to dance wearing long underwear pants and shirt, fleece jumpsuit (think the footy-pajamas you wore as a kid...), another fleece jacket, and coveralls.
And on top of it all, the distinctive, bright red USAP parka. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the photo where I'm wearing the face mask and goggles. I'm sure you'll be seeing plenty of those when I get down there.
After getting our gear, we found out we wouldn't be flying down to Antarctica on schedule. We fly down on military C-17's (and to the Pole on smaller LC-130's). Apparently the one we were supposed to go down on has been having some mechanical problems (which, everyone assures me, is quite common.) So we were told that we would be flying on Friday. Now that latest word is Sunday, but nobody really knows. I guess they're waiting for a spare part or something. So stay tuned.
What is there to do in lovely Christchurch while you're waiting, you might be wondering? Well, there's really only one answer:
I think that's about enough for my very first post. More soon, I promise...
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