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...