Hi! Here’s a superquick post from Dunedin before my minutes run out…we saw yellow eyed penguins today and camped last night at a really nice little campsite. Going to visit waterfalls tomorrow. We ate a beautiful lunch today.
Hope everyone is well - I’m having a great time and Lou is doing a fantastic job as driver!!
So I am off the Ice and safely arrived in Christchurch after five great months!
After a night of restless sleep (waking every hour paranoid that I’m going to miss our flight) I got up to see that our transport time was at 9:45. Got a last McMurdo breakfast of freaky eggs and greasy sausage, packed up my carryon, put on my sassy windpants and bunny boots, and went on up to where the Deltas and the Terra Bus awaited. As we got on the transports, all our winter-over friends were waiting to say goodbye and give us hugs. It was pretty nice weather in McMurdo, but when we got out to Pegasus Field, it was gale-force winds, and it was hard to believe the plane could even land!
It was a pretty scary beginning to the flight, but once we got in the air, things settled down and the rest was uneventful.
When we got to CHC, it was so warm! We dropped off all our Cold Weather gear, I packed a box of warm clothes to send home (the weather here is fantastic!), and my travel buddy Lou and I went to our hotel, which is super trendy, with a tiny room, but is really fun!
So today we’re making our plans, and we’ll make some decisions and have our plan by tomorrow.
I’m here safe and sound, having a great time, and am looking forward to a fantastic time in NZ!! Those hobbits had better watch out!
So after a few weather delays, it looks like we’ll be getting out of here tomorrow morning. Hooray! I’ve had a great season, but I’m ready to get back to trees, grass and furry animals that aren’t seals.
The one caveat is that while loading the plane today, someone poked the plane with a forklift. Ooops. Hopefully that won’t mean we have to stay another night, but we shall see. They did let the plane fly back to Christchurch, so it bodes fairly well.
Thanks for reading my blog and for everyone’s great support this season! When I get back from my vacation in New Zealand, I’ll hopefully put up some pictures from that trip.
Hi All!
We’ve been really busy down here AGAIN! Imagine, they’re making us work! What’s up with that? I’ve still had some time to have some fun, though.
Now that the icebreaker has opened the channel, we’ve gotten to see a few more creatures near the base. I’m stuck inside a lot so I haven’t yet seen any whales (though I do go out to look when I can), but I did get to see some seals when I was out on a walk.
I think this little dude is a Weddell Seal. He’s a young one - VERY CUTE! There was also a mom with some other babies nearby.
Also, the research vessel Nathaniel B Palmer was in town, changing out crews. Some of you may know that I did the travel stuff for the Palmer and Vessel folks when I worked in Denver, so it was fun to finally get to see one of the ships.
Here’s the NBP from the ice pier.
We also had the fuel tanker come and give us a fill-up. They got stuck in some weather and bad ice conditions and had to have the Oden come get them, but they finally made it here. We’re now waiting on the cargo vessel to come and bring us more stuff, and take away all our trash.
Here’s the Tanker Gianella with the NBP parked alongside. Notice the large “No Smoking” sign on the tanker. Probably a good idea.
