We left sunny New Zealand, sat in the C130 ( I thought it was a sweet ride, but definitely not luxury flying), and when the doors opened up 8ish hours later we were in pretty soft snow, with a lot of white around us (not unlike the conditions I left in Canada, but with more amounts of nothingness). Arrived in Antarctica! Finally! Or so I thought.. it took about 2 hours to get from the airfield to McMurdo because of the bad road conditions. Our normal ride (IVAN, see below picture) couldn't handle the soft roads so well, so it was actually towed while on the ice (where the airfield is) with us all inside of it on a magic carpet (yes, more or less like the magic carpet we go sledding with, except much, much bigger) until we reached land. On the way back to camp we saw a lone, decapitated penguin (just kidding, it was hiding its head) which was really unexpected and really really fantastic to see. Seals too! Even though I was super exhausted, I couldnt close my eyes during the ride because those first glimpses of the Antarctic were just too exhilarating.
IVAN
Headless penguin
We arrived to McMurdo station, got briefed, and were assigned dorm rooms. 6 hours sleep later I was on my way to happy camper training: a survival training program where we camp out on the McMurdo ice shelf overnight, learn about how to recognize, treat, and PREVENT things like hypothermia and frostbite, and general field camp practices to keep you (and the people around you safe). I got back from this two day course a few hours ago, and I am wiped.
Will tell you a bit more about the course in a later post, its worth talking about in a bit more detail.
There is a lot of really cool science going on at McMurdo right now, and I am having a blast talking to the other scientists that are around and hearing about their projects.
Happy campers on their way to snow school
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