Off the Ice!

Well we made it to New Zealand finally! I was getting worried last night because the flight down here was given a two-hour weather delay, but everything proceeded normally after that. We never did figure out where the supposed weather problems were at, since it was blue skies in McMurdo and the online weather report for Christchurch was the same.

This morning, we had to be at the post office building in McMurdo at 2:30 AM for transport. After an hour-long ride in the back of a large vehicle called a Delta, we made it out to the Pegasus Ice Runway. For some reason, they like to get you out to the runway super early so the plane wasn't even there yet. We got to the runway at about 3:45 AM and the plane finally got there at 4:15. It was fun to watch a huge plane like the C-17 land on an ice runway though.

C-17 touching down at Pegasus

Finishing up the loading of the plane with cargo while the crowd waits to board

They proceeded to unload all of the passengers, unload all of the cargo that is staying in Antarctica, and load up cargo headed north with us, all while we were standing around waiting.

Waiting for 2 hours to board

Finally, they let us board at about 5:30 AM. There were 120 passengers on our flight, which is very full when you consider all of the pallets of cargo that were loaded on as well. I was in one of the normal airline seats in the center of the plane for this trip instead of sitting along the wall like last time. We lucked out because the only empty seat on the whole plane was in our row so we were able to pile our bags onto that seat, giving us more leg room.

Looking forward from my seat

It's interesting flying on a military jet. We didn't have any sort of security screening this time around (when we left Christchurch to go down to the ice, we went through a metal detector and they x-rayed our carry-on). They tell you to put on your seat belt and they go over the safety procedures, but no one comes around to check that you are properly belted or that you have your tray table upright or anything like that. They don't care when you use your electronic devices, so you can rock out on your iPod from take-off to landing. There's only one bathroom for everyone to share, no one delivers a soda to your seat, and you can essentially see the innards of the plane from your seat. The normal airline style seat that I was in is loaded onto the plane just like the rest of the cargo, mounted on some type of rolling platform that shifts around when the plane moves. It is pretty minor, but occasionally it can give you a little jolt when the sliding platform suddenly runs out of room to move. It is also fun to see who else is on your flight. The majority of the passengers were with the U.S. Antarctic Program, but there were also people with New Zealand, France, and Australia's programs. I was particularly interested by some of the emergency exits, as you can see in the picture.

A blurry picture of one of the emergency exits. Apparently, all you need is an axe and a blank spot in the wall! I don't think you could get away with that on a civilian jet... They do have more traditional emergency exits in the front and rear of the plane

We finally took off at about 6 AM. I slept for most of the flight. We landed at about 11 AM in Christchurch.

Even though we were technically considered to have been in New Zealand the whole time as far as our visa status goes (you don't need a passport to go to the continent of Antarctica), we still had to go through customs and New Zealand's biosecurity when we got back. Another flight arrived from Singapore at about the same time so the lines for both of them were long.

After we finished up, we headed over to the Clothing Distribution Center to change out of the Extreme Cold Weather gear we were required to wear for the flight and to return all of the gear that we had borrowed before we left. I feel like I'm traveling light now that I got rid of all of that stuff!

Since then, we've checked in to our hotel (I'm staying within walking distance of the airport), had lunch at the International Antarctic Centre (I guess we can't get enough of Antarctica!), and now I think we're going to go for a swim! It's nice to have plants outside and birds chirping! It looks like Byron is going to take off tonight to head up to Auckland. He's staying in New Zealand for a sabbatical so this will probably be the last time I see him.

While we were on the flight up here, one of the travel agents booked me for my flights. I leave tomorrow for home but won't get there until Tuesday evening.

We made it to the ice!

We made it!

Last night, Byron and I went to dinner then went back to the hotel for a nap before our flight. I went and knocked on Byron’s door at the prearranged time so that we could leave for the CDC but no answer! I went back to my room and had the front desk connect me to his room. A very groggy voice answered and I told him that we needed to go!

We still made it to the CDC on time. They had already gathered a ton of stuff for me in my size based on a form I filled out. However, I still needed to try everything on. It felt like a mad dash since we were told that I only had 30 minutes. Besides trying on clothing, I was also supposed to be getting dressed for the flight and organizing all of my bags.  A lot of the clothing that they give you is extra stuff to layer or pick between your favorites, like gloves. I think I have 4 pairs of gloves now!

However, there are a few essential items that comprise your Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear: a hat, goggles or sunglasses, a huge parka, snow pants, gloves, and ‘bunny boots’, which are huge white boots. Your ECW gear has to be accessible within seconds for all flights by plane or helicopter.

My goal was to end up with 4 bags: one was a checked bag (my suitcase), another was a different checked bag with the cold weather gear I didn’t need for the flight, the third was my ‘boomerang’ bag that would carry all of the essentials in case our flight had to turn around, and the final one was my carry-on bag which needed to contain my backpack as well as the extra ECW gear that I didn’t want to wear. I’m grateful that Byron was there to help me sort out everything because it was very overwhelming for a first-time participant.

After that, we went to go check in at the U.S. Antarctic Passenger Terminal next door. The first step was to show them my passport and declare that I didn’t have anything hazardous. I then dropped off my checked bags to be weighted, screened, and loaded on a pallet. I had to be weighed myself along with my carry-on bag. We waited around for a little while in a waiting room before we had a quick orientation and video about the flight. We waited some more and then we were allowed to go through screening ourselves. This screening was a basic version of the U.S.’s security screening. All of our stuff was xrayed and we passed through a metal detector. They don’t worry about liquids and taking off your shoes and all that stuff. Finally, we boarded a bus to take us to the plane.

As we got off the bus, we were handed a water bottle and a sack lunch for the flight. We climbed aboard and waited for what felt like an hour. I don’t really know what we were waiting for. We had another orientation, this time with safety information. The oxygen masks are quite different from the ones on commercial jets. You are supposed to pull this plastic bag over your head and hope that oxygen gets to you! Our plane finally took off at about 12:50 AM.

 

Waiting for take-off

The flight was pretty uneventful. I was seated along one of the walls of the plane in a jump seat. It’s interesting to be flying in the middle of a cargo hold of a plane, but we all survived! The pallets of stuff in the center of the plane would shift slightly back and forth as the plane moved.

The highlight of the trip was when I got to go up in the cockpit! I knew that the pilots sometimes allowed this, so I was paying attention to see what happened, and sure enough, someone went up to ask one of the crew members and he was allowed to go up (you literally have to climb up a steep staircase to get to the cockpit in this plane). I wasted no time in requesting my turn, camera in hand! When I looked out the front window, I had my first glimpse of Antarctica straight ahead of us! I took pictures and one of the crew members was kind enough to take my picture as well. I told the crew that they should keep flying south. I’m glad I went up since the line got pretty long after that.

Standing in the cockpit of the C-17

My first view of Antarctica from the cockpit!

Finally, it was time for touchdown. It was really smooth. It seemed to take a while for the plane to stop, but it was a heavy cargo jet landing on an ice runway so what do you expect? I'm excited to finally be on the continent!

Byron and I after the landing at Pegasus Runway, Antartica