So we finally made it to Antarctica! Unfortunately, I am having issues with my laptop and most likely won't be able to most photos until I return as I am on a McMurdo Station computer. However, much has happened in the past few days.
We spent Thursday (New Year's Eve) in Christchurch, NZ receiving our clothing issue (my checked bag was still MIA). Afterwards, we spent the afternoon wandering around Christchurch, including a tour of the botanical gardens and museum and Cathedral Square. Christchurch is incredibly beautiful...hopefully I can go punting on the Avon when we return.
Our estimated check in time for Antarctica (New Year's Day) was 6:00 am, so the majority of us did not attend the New Year's Eve celebration in nearby Cathedral Square which was a bit disappointing as we missed the band doing ABBA cover songs :). Could see the fireworks from our great B & B though.
After preparing to leave the hotel at 5:15am the next morning, we received a call informing us our flight had been delayed by 3 hours due to weather conditions in McMurdo. So our next check in time was 9:00 am (still no sign of my luggage)...after receiving our boarding passes for the plane (we flew in with the US Air Force on a C 17 plane...so cool!!!), my luggage finally showed up at the Antarctic passenger terminal!
We were loaded into a bus and taken over to the plane...after cramming in with the military personnel, we attempted to the take off but apparently a warning light came on in the plane and it was aborted...a little disconcerting feeling the plane shudder to a stop and seeing all the Air Force guys frantically leafing through their manuals to figure out what the light meant. After circling back around, we made a successfull take off for our 5 hour flight to McMurdo Station.
Luckily the weather was clear, and we made a successful landing on the Pegasus ice runway (apparently crash landings in several types of planes around here can be pretty common). Stepping off the plane was absolutely incredible. It was a beautiful clear day and the surrounding mountains (including Erebus) looked absolutely surreal. We were then loaded into Ivan the Terrabus for a 30 min ride to McMurdo Station...and 10 minutes into our ride we spotted an Emperor Penguin!!!!..apparently it is very rare to see an Emperor in this location. We also saw several Weddell seals lounging around on the ice near Scott's Hut. Wildlife spotting dreams fulfilled!
Today we will gather some of our equipment from the lab and hopefully attend the "IceStock" concert, McMurdo's New Year's celebration (holidays are celebrated on the first available weekend here).
Talk to you soon!
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