Cleared to Fly!!!

Doctor says everything looks good. Tomorrow will be a week, which is the minimum that they'll let someone with barotrauma as bad as mine was leave, so good job body on healing quickly. Yesterday they gave me Drixine, which I think is what they call Affrin on this side of the planet. I don't think my nose has been this decongested ever. Seriously, I'm finally using my giant nose to its full advantage.

I haven't checked the flight schedule, but most likely I will leave at 9am, which means a 6:45am shuttle pickup and should put me in at pole at around noon. I'm finally leaving!!!

Soccer in Antarctica

Finally, there was a soccer game down here. It was only a 3 on 3 but it was still fun. We played for about an hour in a half. It's very dry here, so it took a little while for my lungs to adjust but once they did I was able to hit my stride. The games were in the big gym so we didn't have to brave the elements.

Now I'm watching more playoff football on AFN. Oh, there's a new public service announcement. Aside from our troops having big problems with suicide, domestic abuse, driving drunk, driving fast, driving motorcycles in general, being drunk, not knowing how to put out fires, and giving away secrets on facebook, apparently they also huff aerosols. Well done America. It wouldn't be so bad if these were spaced out throughout the day, but since they're all on back-to-back for the entirety of the commercial break, I'm starting to think our military needs some better role models--or maybe a hug. They had a commercial with an ex-NFL star quoting all his accomplishments and saying he was mostly proud of being a team player and then said "over 100 troops die a year in auto related accidents. That hurts the team." I did not see that coming.

Adelie Penguins in the wild

I just happened to go for a walk out to Scott Hut and there were 7 little Adelie Penguins waddling on the ice. I snapped some pics and took a couple of videos.

Arrived in Antarctica!

After 5 days of cancellations and an aborted takeoff (which was all sorts of fun...) we finally left for antarctica. We arrived at around 4:15am at Pegasus field, which is a permanent ice field about an hour's drive from mcmurdo. Once we arrived in town, we were immediately taken to an orientation breifing and then taken to breakfast in the galley. Finally, at around 8:30am I was able to get some rest. During the flight, my sinuses were really clogged and as we were landing, my left ear really hurt. Once we landed, I noticed that I couldn't hear out of it and I couldn't seem to pop it so I went to the doctor assuming I would just get some sinus meds and be on my merry way but apparently, my ear was in worse shape than I thought. According to the medical staff, I burst a few blood vessels and it didn't look good. They gave me some Flonase and Sudafed to help clear things out but they said I can't fly out until it heals or else I could risk permanent hearing damage! It could be one to three weeks! I've already regained hearing in my ear and am generally feeling much better, so I'm optimistic about the whole thing. I am, however, not looking forward to spending ANY time here in McMurdo. Everyone I know is leaving tomorrow, so I'll be stuck whith no one I know and nothing to do. I was fairly depressed earlier, but I'm feeling better now. Hopefully, I can heal fast enough that they can send me out in a few days, but if not, I have no idea what I'm going to do with myself. We're not at altitude here, so I can exercise without having to acclimate first so maybe there's some soccer going on that I can play. There are also spectacular hikes and cross country ski routes nearby, but I have to get certified and that might take as long as I'll be stuck here anyway.

Being stuck makes me feel homesick. Travelling in New Zealand was like a vacation, but until I arrive at Pole and start working, I would rather just not be here. Hopefully, I'll find stuff to do aside from lounge around in long-johns all day...

Landed in McMurdo

Landed at Pegasus field about 20 minutes outside of McMurdo. The sea-ice runway was closed due to melting. I don't know what it is about those LC-130's but it's really a great flight--with the exception of the noise, but you wear earplugs. Take off and landing are so smooth. Maybe it's the ski's.

We landed right by Mt. Erebus, which is a huge active volcano. When we landed, it was spitting off steam from its summit. It was really beautiful. After a short wait for the shuttle and a 20 minute or so drive, we got back to McMurdo. Last time I was here there was a lot more snow on the ground. It was above freezing, which by the way felt like the middle of summer to me, and so most of the pathways had melted. Also the frozen sea around Ross island had started to melt which allowed GIGANTIC seals to sun themselves. These were huuuuge! I've seen the elephant seals of the californian coast (near San Louis Obisbo) but these seemed waaay bigger! It was quite a sight. After trekking back from Discovery hut, Jamie (the other team member who flew back with me) and I climbed one of the hills by the base. It was about an 800 ft climb--not too bad, but really steep. It was just incredible to be able to walk uphill without being winded. Hooray for sea level!

Anyway, I've got to take my bags over to redeployment to get weighed. Off I go!

Tomorrow night I should arrive in Christchurch, then Auckland, then LAX! Hooooooray!

Going Home

I'm set to leave the pole today at around 12:30 which should put me in McMurdo before 4. I don't know yet when my flight is supposed to leave from McMurdo, but supposedly I get into Christchurch at 3:30 am. So I have a night in McMurdo, then no nights in christchurch, which is ridiculous. So I'm not supposed to sleep on my trip back? I think I fly from Christchurch to Auckland which is probably about a 1.5 hr flight and then from Auckland to LAX, which is probably something like 15 hours. Hopefully I'll get some sleep on the plane.

I'm really excited to go home. I can't wait! Of course, I start traveling today, and get home in 3 days. That's nuts.

McMurdo Station, Antarctica

The Massive C-17 which flew us to McMurdo



View of Antarctica from the air



The really really small bunk room.



View of the ice shelf.

I landed yesterday in McMurdo base at around 2:30. We took a C-17, which is a HUUUUUUUGE military cargo plane. I was sitting right near the biggest dewar of liquid helium I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure it said "do not fly with passengers". If it were to malfunction, that would be it. The flight took 5 hours. We landed on a a runway made from frozen sea ice. After taxiing for a while, we got out in ANTARCTICA!!! It was beautiful. McMurdo is right by the coast, but surrounded by a frozen sea. We could see My Erebus, and a whole lot of other enormous mountains. It was just incredible. The base felt like a post-apocalyptic mad-max type environment. All the cars were lifted 4x4s or conversions or weird machinery on tank treads. Even the ambulance was a monster truck. All the trash has to be sorted and recycled (as everything gets flow back to the US). The food was good. I had steak with salad and braised cabbage. The strangest part was the room. It was a room about twice the size of a standard bedroom, something that could fit 10 people if they were bunked. We, however, had more than 30 of us in there. You had to walk sideways through the hallways. The sun is up 24/7 at this time of year, which is really REALLY weird. I went to bed at around 10:30, but the sun was still as if it was 4 pm during the summer.

When we had some free time, we walked to Discovery Hut, which is where Shackleton and his men stayed when the Discovery was frozen in ice. I didn't get a chance to go in. Maybe on the return. Outside, there was a seal which they caught and killed in 1902, and it was in incredible condition. Even the wood that the hut was made from was in impeccable shape. It looked like it could have been built this year. The whole site was just incredible.

At 7 am the next morning, we went to catch the flight. I'll talk about the flight and the south pole station in the next post.