Preparation Week Recap
Oct. 5, 2005, McMurdo Station, Antarctica
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| The trip is finally beginning and I have been thinking about this moment for months. The nervousness is replaced with excitement and anticipation. I flew to Dallas to meet up with Shane and Steve last week (September 25). We spent a week together preparing for the trip. Permits, paperwork and packing! We shipped out 9 large boxes to New Zealand containing everything from extra winter boots to GPS systems. It was good to have all three of us there as we all came up with things we had forgotten to put on the list of necessities! The week in Dallas was also an opportunity for Steve and I to get to know each other (we had never met) before we spent 2 months together on the ice! Steve is a great person and we have hit it off really well. It certainly takes away some of the nervousness when you have a room-mate who has been to Antarctica 5 previous times. |
October 1-3rd
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| The flight from Dallas on Saturday Oct 1 took us to Los Angeles where we met up with Rebecca Watson. She was a member of the 2002 expedition team. She is also a nice person and now that I have met the whole team I can’t wait to spend a few months working together! After a 2 hour layover in LA we left for Auckland; an 11.5 hour flight. That is a long time in one seat! I saw 3 movies though (War of the Worlds, Bewitched, Fantastic Four) so I guess it was not all bad. We landed in Auckland at 6am on Monday October 3rd. After waiting for Shane to get through customs with all our chemicals needed for the trip we boarded an hour long flight for Christchurch. |
October 4th
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| Today we were fitted for our extreme cold weather (ECW) gear. As you can imagine, you would not want to get to Antarctica and realize your boots don't fit! The rest of the day was spent jogging, shopping and relaxing. It is springtime in New Zealand and it is beautiful. Shane also took the team out for a nice dinner together. We spent most of the evening trying to figure out a nickname for our field camp. Not that it is necessary to do this but it was fun exercise anyways. After much discussion (and laughter) we settled on "muscle beach" to signify our work on skeletal muscle. Early to bed because tomorrow we leave for Antarctica! |
October 5th
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| A 5am wake up is never an easy thing but when you are preparing to go on the trip of a lifetime it just seems a little easier to get out of bed. We arrived at the airport to find that our boarding had been delayed by 2 hours due to potential ground fog in Antarctica. We were nervous that we may not get to fly out at all but after the 2 hour delay we were given the go ahead. We dressed in our ECW gear and went through a number of security checks before heading off to the runway. The bus took us to the runway where a massive US Air Force plane was waiting for us. It was exciting just to imagine that we would be flying in this thing!
Much to our delight, the horror stories of a cramped flight on little canvas seats was put to rest when I boarded the plane to see seats just lie a normal airliner! Apparently the new planes they are using are a little more comfortable than the past. However, seats are the only common thread of this plane and commercial airliners. The entire center of the plane is hollow and wires and gadgets hang everywhere. Also, it is very, very loud and you are required to wear earplugs. They did give us a nice bagged lunch though (which is different than most commercial airliners too!). Next week - the landing and more!
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(L to R) Dr. Tom Hawke, Dr. Rebecca Watson, Dr. Shane Kanatous and Dr. Steve Trumble at boarding station in Christchurch.
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C17 USAF plane on runway at Christchurch
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Inside the C17 USAF plane
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Sea ice as seen from the C17 USAF plane
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Polar Science
www.polarscience.ca
info@yesican-science.ca
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