Marching orders

Well, the time's finally come to return to New Zealand. Our plane is supposed to leave around 9:30 I think. It's a C-130 Hercules, so it'll be a looong flight- getting to Christchurch late afternoon.


I'm going to be pretty sad to leave this place. The only consolation is that I'll be coming back next year.. I do have to wait 10.5 months for that though!


It's been a spectacular 5 weeks- to the point that its overwelming. The place is just so immense, and so awe-inspiring, that your brain can't quite comprehend it all.


And then, at the same time, it's all kinda easy. You get on a plane in Christchurch and 5 hours later you're stepping off in Antarctica! For the majority of the time that I've been here, the weather's been great and it hasn't really hindered our work at all. You dress a little differently, but its not really restrictive, and you have a few limitations on where you can go, but otherwise it's all pretty easy. And really, we have limitations in NZ around where you can go with property rights etc.


Most of the time we've been at Scott Base, which is kept warm to the point that we just wear t-shirts and jeans. You look outside and it's a bright sunny day with a little bit of a breeze, and it's not until you go outside that you feel a bit of a chill.

When there isn't a breeze, which isn't uncommon, its usually quite warm- to the point that you sometimes don't need a jacket, and if you're doing some physical work, you can get by in short sleeves.

But it is the windchill that gets you. It saps the warmth right out of you and you have to protect all your skin from it. But because you're aware of the risk you take more precautions. I've often been a lot colder in the mountains of NZ than I've ever been down here, because you're aware of the risk, and you don't want to be the guy that gets sent home for frostbite.


Anyway, thats a bit of a rant, and now I've got to go say goodbye to the great people that work here, and thank them for being so accepting of us. We've really felt like part of the team here, which is great!

I might write another sort of summary once i get back, and have had a chance to digest it all.