Hello New Zealand!

After a 14 hour flight to Sydney (only caught a glimpse of the harbor through the plane window) and a 2.5 hour hop over to gorgeous (but unfortunately not sunny) New Zealand, I am almost on my way to the "Ice" (and hoping my checked luggage shows up tomorrow-ugh).Ran into many other USAP participants en route. Tomorrow morning we will report for ECW (extreme cold weather gear) issue at the Antarctic Center and will have the afternoon free to explore Christchurch (ventured out to a nearby pub for dinner and I am already in love with this city). Will try to post photos tomorrow (the jet lag is currently starting to set in...). Happy New Year!

P.S. I wish I had an Australian accent...and mad props to Qantas Airlines for great service (they even serve ice cream!...it's the little things that make me happy...)

Less than 24 hours to go!

1 sinus/ear infection and 1 Christmas Eve blizzard later, I am finally packed to leave for New Zealand and Antarctica! I depart Monday, December 28th, en route to LA-Sydney-Christchurch, with a tentative deployment to the "Ice" on Jan 1, 2010.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas! This time tomorrow I will be preparing to board my international flight...

10 Days To Go

In 10 days I leave on the adventure of a lifetime. I don't know how I got to this point, but after a tough year in both my personal and professional life, I am extremely fortunate to be traveling to the Last Continent on a research expedition in conjunction with the University of Oklahoma during the month of January 2010 (with a little fun in New Zealand along the way :) ). At the request of many friends and family members, I will attempt to document the many events (and mishaps!) along the way.

Happy Holidays!