Waiting period

 Aloha from Christchurch, New Zealand, 


After getting all packed up last night, waking up early and hauling everything down to the lobby we found out our flight down to McMurdo station was going to be delayed 24 hours due to a maintenance issues.  Having flights delayed is very typical for flying down to Antartica.  We are even require to pack a specific bag called a Boomerang bag which is given to us if we have to turn around the plane mid-flight due to weather while all the other luggage’s stays on pallets at the Airport.  

In the past the delays just meant more time to explore New Zealand but with this year being special due to Covid that is not the case.  We moved to a different hotel once our managed isolation was done this past Friday and we are required to stay on hotel property during our whole stay.  If Covid were to get down to Antarctica it would be a disaster.  The NSF is taking every precaution to make sure that will not happen.  Even though we have to wear masks whenever we leave our rooms we now are allowed to hang out in the lobby, play games, enjoy the buffet and no longer eat alone in our rooms.  There is even a ping pong table-don’t worry I beat a few of the Kiwi’s that are traveling with us.  

It has been such a weird experience seeing people without their mask.  I had no idea what everyone’s chins, teeth or noses looked like for the past 3 weeks.  Subconsciously I imaged some faces drastically different than what they really were.  Everyone had the same look of awe during our first meal here as they looked around the dinning room seeing people’s faces for the first time.  It has been nice sitting across the table from someone during the meals and having conversations.  I have even had some in-depth dialogues with fellow soccer fans both formally from Europe.

Another highlight is the food at this hotel great! I had some local lamb last night and ice cream for dessert.  McMurdo is not known for the cuisine so you have to fill up on the good stuff while you can.

The weather looks good for tomorrow so as long as the mechanical issue is resolved I should be flying down tomorrow morning.  It is a 5 hour flight and we take a military aircraft down.  I am pretty sure that once I step off the plane, get that punch of cold air I will cheer with delight and amazement that I am really in Antarctica.

Lots of Joy, Gillian  



Enjoying yard time with Team A from the quarantine olympics

Maybe not the way the NSF wanted to get publicity but it was a slow news day in Christchurch 

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