This week was focused on cleaning and turning in all field gear, finishing our End of Season reports, and getting ready to redeploy back to Christchurch. Originally, I was scheduled to head out on the 20th, then the 16th, and now the 14th! With the summer season coming to a close, everyone is back from the field, the South Pole folks are passing back on through, winter personnel are starting to arrive, and additionally military personnel helping with the vessel offload, it’s crowded here at McMurdo! So, since my stuff is more or less done, they want to try and get folks out of here who don’t need to be here longer. So I’m currently on the schedule to bag drag on Friday and leave out Saturday early afternoon.
There were several boats this week out in the McMurdo Sound. A cruise ship, a sailboat named “Perseverance“. They were contracted out to help retrieve some buoys that are stuck out on the ice shelf. And the heavy icebreaker USCGC Polar Star still sailing around.
Friday brought a storm system to the area. Was able to capture some video of waves, as well as the water instantly freezing once it hit the side of the cargo ship.
The departure process began with a significant delay. On Friday, severe storms moved through the region, causing enough damage to the skiway to make flight operations impossible. By Saturday, the flight was officially cancelled to allow ground crews to repair the surface. Moving the next shot to Sunday the 15th.
Sunday morning brought a notification of a three-hour delay, though the outlook remained optimistic for a late-day departure. Received notification around noon that we were scheduled for a 1400L transport to the airfield.
We boarded the Cress about an hour later for the slow transit out to Phoenix Airfield. Upon arrival, the group stood out on the ice for approximately one hour. The arrival of the Kiwi 757 marked the beginning of the final stage of our deployment.
The 757 was a like a standard commercial aircraft with a 3 x 3 configuration. Of course, I ended up with the middle seat, which is even more “enjoyable” when you’re in full ECW gear. Five hours later we landed back into Christchurch. The darkness and the rain greeted us, but after seeing neither since October, I was excited!
After disembarking, we boarded a bus to head over to customs and retrieve our baggage before walking across the street back to the CDC (Clothing Distrubution Center) to turn back in all our issued gear, collect anything we left there, and recieve our hotel information for the night.
I ended up with a hotel near the downtown area and they had shuttles waiting for us. It was finally about 2AM when I got to my hotel and I was absolutely beat.
Currently, my return ticket is for March 2nd, so I get sometime for R&R before heading home. Scott is scheduled to come out and visit for the last portion, so this week, I will be resting up, exploring a bit of the Southern Island, and perhaps go visit Fiji for a long weekend.
I’m truly grateful for everyone’s love and support this past few months. Thanks for the inspiration to share about my experience. Once a have some time to fully digest, I’ll close out the Antarctica Blog portion with some final thought (and more pictures and videos now that I have real Internet again)
Erin, you are just an incredible woman who truly loves adventure! I have loved reading your blogs and following your adventure and job in the Antarctica. I can’t believe your time there has come to a close. I am sure you are eager to get back to the States and see your family. It was really, really, nice having Scott and your children here for a visit. You can be so proud of the children you and Scott have raised.
Enjoy your R & R. You certainly deserve it. Have a great time with Scott and get home safe and sound.
Thank you for taking the time out of your busy work schedule keeping us all informed as to what was going on in your life over these past months.
God Bless and much Love,
Dorie