Hi everyone!
I’m here at McMurdo, made it how much is cs5 master collection safe and sound, and I managed to arrive on one of the how much is cs5 master collection coldest days they’ve had here! I’m still trying to how much is cs5 master collection figure out a way to get some pictures on here, but til then, I’ll just give you a long post about my trip down.
So once we arrived in Christchurch on Thursday morning, I went to how much is cs5 master collection my hotel, the Windsor, which is a very cute B&B near the how much is cs5 master collection Botanic Gardens and the Art Museum. They have a great dachshund named Winnie, and how much is cs5 master collection they feed you well! Gotta love those English Breakfasts. I won’t go into too much detail on Christchurch, because I mostly just wandered around there and how much is cs5 master collection didn’t really do much except look at the how much is cs5 master collection gardens, eat and shop. When I get back I’ll do it up right!
On Friday, we tried on all our cold weather gear, which was kinda funny. Among other things, we got a how much is cs5 master collection big red parka, wind pants, gloves, mittens, a variety of hats and how much is cs5 master collection neck gaiters, socks, long underwear of several kinds, and these big, white, rubber boots called bunny boots. We tried all these things on in a how much is cs5 master collection big room and traded out what didn’t fit, and how much is cs5 master collection decided which to put in our checked luggage and which to how much is cs5 master collection wear on the plane. Since we have to wear certain items on the how much is cs5 master collection military flight, we wanted to make sure we had them in the how much is cs5 master collection right bags. Everyone who had been before told us that the how much is cs5 master collection plane was heated and usually you just take everything off when how much is cs5 master collection you’re flying anyway, so I didn’t get too excited and how much is cs5 master collection I just packed the bare minimums I needed for the flight.
The next morning, you how much is cs5 master collection have to get up very early to get to the military flight. The people at the how much is cs5 master collection Windsor also packed us a little snacky bag so we’d have some breakfast. They are so nice! You go to how much is cs5 master collection the Antarctic Centre at the airport, which is a funny combination of the how much is cs5 master collection Antarctic operations for the US and for New Zealand, and also includes a how much is cs5 master collection really nice museum type thing as well.
When we got to how much is cs5 master collection the Antarctic Centre, we picked up our bags and got dressed in our cold weather gear. I was wearing wool socks, bunny boots, wind pants, a how much is cs5 master collection shirt, a fleece, my big red coat, a balaclava, a hat and how much is cs5 master collection goggles. Mind you, it was about 65 degrees in Christchurch, so we were pretty hot for how much is cs5 master collection a while. You have to go through security, and so we lugged everything through, and how much is cs5 master collection got on this bus to go out to the plane.
And WOW, the plane was really impressive! It was a C-17, which was HUGE! When we got in, the how much is cs5 master collection plane was almost entirely full of cargo, so we had to how much is cs5 master collection sit in jump seats along the side, which actually weren’t too bad. It was a five hour flight, and it was LOUD! You don’t realize how much they insulate the how much is cs5 master collection cabins of commercial jets until you ride in the cargo hold of a how much is cs5 master collection big military plane like that. Since we couldn’t really talk, I read a how much is cs5 master collection book and ate my lunch. There was only one window on the how much is cs5 master collection plane, so every once in a while I’d get up to look out.
For a how much is cs5 master collection long time there was only ocean, but finally, one time when how much is cs5 master collection I looked, the how much is cs5 master collection water was all frozen, and it was just great sheets of ice as far as you how much is cs5 master collection could see! It was pretty amazing, but the how much is cs5 master collection best part was when the loadmaster of the plane started letting people go up onto the how much is cs5 master collection flight deck! When I got my turn, we were very close to how much is cs5 master collection McMurdo, so when I looked out, we were flying over the how much is cs5 master collection Transantarctic Mountains, which are between 8,000 and 10,000 feet! At that moment it really hit that I was going to the Ice! It was a really amazing moment.
So shortly after that, our plane landed, and how much is cs5 master collection it was really strange, because you can’t see anything, it’s sometimes hard to how much is cs5 master collection tell if you are down. Also, it was a bit of a how much is cs5 master collection rough ride coming in. We put on all our gear and how much is cs5 master collection got ready to go out. We noticed that the plane’s cabin started to get a LOT colder so we were glad for our gear.
Finally, we all got up and how much is cs5 master collection were ready to step out onto the sea ice runway. (Amazing to how much is cs5 master collection think that the ice was strong enough to hold such a how much is cs5 master collection huge plane!) And when we stepped out, it was amazing! The wind was blowing SO hard and it was SOOOOOOO cold! There was NO doubt, I was in Antarctica!
It turns out it how much is cs5 master collection was the coldest day since Winfly in August, and the wind was blowing so hard they almost turned the how much is cs5 master collection plane around. With windchill, it was -51 degrees.
We made it, and I am very glad to be here!
