Two days ago I arrived in Christchurch, NZ which is where the US Antarctic hub is located for Ice preparation. Right now, it's noon on Monday, Oct. 8 and we were scheduled to depart early this morning on our C-17 Ice flight, however there are Category 1 (highest) white out conditions at McMurdo so we have a 24 hour delay at the moment. We'll give it a try tomorrow, but it seems there has been no change in the weather over the past 3 days. We'll see! Speaking of weather, you can check out a live cam of McMurdo here.
While in Christchurch, we have been issued our ECW's (Extreme Cold Weather gear), had a brief orientation, and were able to meet many experienced Antarctic travelers. I've been humbled in realizing that my 6-week trip is a very short one compared to most of the Grantees and employees who will be returning home in February or March of 2013! Our 6 week trip is practically nothing, but a huge deal to me! Somehow we have double the bags that those long-termers have with them. I feel very prepared with everything I've packed, but maybe it's a bit too much.
We have nothing scheduled while we are in limbo waiting for our flight, so today I've gone to a great breakfast, transfered hotels to one closer to the airport, and am now catching up on all internet-related things. I'm still a little unsure of exactly what to expect in Antarctica, but hopefully we'll be in good hands with our teammates Lars and Tom. Lars is an atmospheric research scientist who is tracking ozone depletion at many locations around Antarctica, and he's been there a handfull of times now to calibrate his equipment. Tom is his assistant, a space engineer who has worked on several US shuttles and satellites. Both are experienced outdoor expeditionists, and they will be good guides to keep us safe. I will have so much to learn from them!
Well, that's it for now. Hope to write again soon with a report about landing in Antarctica!
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