As far south as you can go: Flying into McMurdo

I am getting into the stage where I have a lot of photos and stories and I feel like I want to tell everything at once. So my posts will probably be lagging the actual events - it is still a story worth telling.

I have been in Christchurch for 4 nights and both Zozo and I were getting pretty anxious to fly down south - we wanted to celebrate New Years in Antarctica. Zozo even filled out his departure card in advance:

Unlike me, who did not fill hers right up until checking in. We were issued cold weather gear the day before and we were supposed to come to the clothing distribution center (CDC) at 8:30am on Thursday, December 29 to check in for the flight. We were required to change into our cold weather gear (to wear it on the plane) and proceed with checking in luggage and all the usual things. I feel like I have spent the last few days packing and re-packing - deciding what to leave in Christchurch vs what to put in my "boomerang bag" vs how to pack my actual bags. Somehow it was a never-ending process and it continued well into me getting into the CDC as I was changing right there. Also, the weather in Christchurch has been sort of nasty - windy, rainy and cold. And of course on the morning of December 29 it was sunny and hot - just in time for us to wear super-warm parkas and thick boots.

Unlike a normal airport check-in we went through the military terminal, where we had to see to video about the LC-130 plane and how to behave in it. I have to say the video scared me a little..

The plane ride was super loud and crowded. I was sitting in a net seat along the side of the plane and there were people in front of me (knee-to-knee). I did not get any good pictures inside the plane - it was sort of dark and my camera refused to cooperate. Every spare inch of the floor was occupied by cargo, so even when you did not have a person in front of you - there were bags and you were not allowed to lay down and sleep on them either ;)

Luckily I was able to sleep in my seat, so it was not terrible. The sandwiches that they gave us also helped - amazing how hungry you get while sitting in an uncomfortable position ;) Well, honestly since we only had breakfast before 8am (before check in) and landed around 7pm - it would have been hard to go without any food.

About 5 hours into the flight I was allowed to go up into the cockpit. The first time I went there we were still above the clouds and I only got a picture of a map (the blue marker is our plane and the path is outlined too):

I also developed an appreciation for the pilots - there was absolutely nothing to see (white fog) in front of the plane for hours, and they were not freaking out like I was ;) I know they are trained and there are ways to figure out where and how you're going, but it was an eye-opening experience to see it all. I have a lot of friend that fly small planes, but they are only allowed to go up in a good weather conditions. And commercial pilots are now barricaded behind secure locks. So although I knew that flying through clouds is really challenging - I never experienced that feeling of a complete whiteout. Good thing I did - that is something I might encounter on the ground in Antarctica!

About half an hour later we started seeing sea ice through the windows - it was really pretty, various shapes and forms - big flows, little flows. I kept thinking that last time I saw sea ice in the Arctic I was not even dreaming about going down south and looking at its "cousin" - Antarctic sea ice. I am really fascinated by this feature - and I feel extremely lucky to be able to study it and to observe it in different places:

Since the clouds were clearing up I asked to come over to the cockpit once again. The views were breathtaking. I took tons of photos - I can't download them all, but I will show a few.

Here's mount Erebus - Antarctica's active volcano from a distance:

This is probably Cape Royds - the wooden building will be the Shackleton's hut and the tents/trailors around it are an active summer science camp. I am not sure who they are and what they study, but their location is magnificent.

A closer look at Mt Erebus:

At this point we were preparing to land and I got kicked out of the cockpit - needed to go sit down and buckle up into my net.

The landing was really smooth. LC-130 has skis and it seemed for me that we skied forever. I guess with less friction you do not stop short on skis and the runway is about 2 miles long - so there is space for a plane to ski for a long time. As I mentioned before, we were getting into an unseasonably warm runway - note the slushy snow below the wing of an aircraft. It has been like that for a few days and that is why an airbus could not land. There was a really narrow window for an airbus to come down - during the cold season there is a runway built on sea ice - it is much closer to McMurdo, but it can't sustain a heavy plane. Once operations move to Pegasus runway - located on the Ross Ice Shelf (still ice over water, but thicker continental ice) - there is a small window every season before the runway becomes slushy.

The vans (that were supposed to pick us up from the plane) got stuck in the slush, so we had to walk to the "ice road" for a little bit (probably 300m or so). It was a gorgeous walk - sunny, non-windy weather, breathtaking scenery and the joy of being out of a super-loud plane made me super happy. So here's me (and Mt Erebus ;)

There are other mountains surrounding Ross Ice Shelf, but Erebus is very photogenic and I knew that you don't get to see Mt Erebus from the station. Actually McMurdo station is in the valley right in the foothills of the mountain. On the picture above you can see black rocks to the right of me - that's where McMurdo is. The station itself is in a valley surrounded by small hills - I am planning to hike them in the next couple of days and will hopefully provide you more details.

Zozo got a little tired of the walk - it was harder for him, since the slush was about his height. Later on Zozo got to meet some of the air field workers and they assured him that the walking part was a highly unusual thing - never before did people walk from the plane to the shuttle - there was usually a vehicle available for pick up.

When we got to the shuttle stop we saw weird looking vans with tri-wheels. Maybe they would have had less troubles in the slush, who knows.

Zozo is making friends really fast - here's him posing on Mitch's head. Did not quite learn to balance, but got a lot of laughs. We were waiting for the shuttle for some time and Zozo was providing much needed entertainment.

Finally we got picked up by this weirdly looking vehicles called Delta. Zozo and I lucked out and got to ride in the cabin - so we did not experience the awfulness of a metal box with no ventilation conditions. The ride was super slow due to awful conditions of the road - it took about 2 hours, compared to "normal" 40-50mins.

We got into the station, had a short orientation and got settled in our rooms. Here are Zozo and I on the balcony of the "chalet" building - the head administration building at McMurdo. There are flags of all Antarctic nations (there are more that did not fit into the picture). Transantarctic mountain are in the background.

Today (December 30th) I am still settling in. I arranged my training schedule, got in touch with Lee and figured out future plans. We have two holiday days ahead (31st and 1st), which complicates scheduling a lot. I am then going off to "happy camper" school - an overnight trip out in the snow. It is really exciting and I'm very much looking forward to it. After I do that and an environmental training - I will be able to actually join Lee in the field.

Zozo and I took a trip to the Hut point today in search of penguins. We saw some seals in the distance, but Zozo was the only penguin in sight. The sea ice is starting to break, but the coast is not open yet. I have heard that once the icebreaker comes in - our chance on seeing penguins will be much higher. I'm also hoping that we will get to see some on our field trips, so I am really looking forward to getting out there.