Tags
Antarctica, deployment, McMurdo Station, Nathaniel B. Palmer, open water, Travel, vessel offload
So after the whirlwind of traveling for two months and then one whole month stateside to kind of, sort of, relax at home, it was time to return to the Ice. I left Spokane on January 20 and headed to Denver for two days of thrilling orientation. At least I got to visit with my Denver friends!
Denver friends Audrey & Jordan, me and my co-deployment pal Justin.
Me with Denver-based friends Danny and Robyn, and my co-deployment companion Josie.
After Denver, it was the standard travel marathon to get to the Ice: fly Denver to LAX; then to Auckland, NZ, crossing the International Dateline along the way and thereby completely skipping over a day (RIP January 22, 2011); then down to Christchurch for a two-night stay in order to get our ECW gear issued; and finally a 5-hour jaunt by military C-17 cargo plane to McMurdo Station. I arrived on station on January 25. Somehow it was like I never left.
Pretty much immediately after I got here, the resupply vessel made it into port and I spent 5 long days working 12-hour shifts until it was all unloaded. I worked the Galley Pad, which meant I was unloading and checking in all the food for the next year (and then some) as it came off the ship. It was long, exhausting work but we made it pretty fun – the Kiwi Defense Force crew working with us really helped in that arena:
Ben, one of the Kiwi helpers, "lifting" a 40-foot refrigerated milvan. Yeah... we unloaded a LOT of food.
Matt & Laura (Kiwi helpers), Bamma and I taking one of many jumping pictures in the Galley Pad during vessel offload.
While I was hoping to have more time at home and not come back to station until late February, there were some perks of getting here when I did. I got to see the Nathaniel B. Palmer research ship come in…
…I got to watch all the ice break out of McMurdo Sound (something that hasn’t happened in the last 11 years, and never to the extent it did this year)…
Sea ice breaking apart in McMurdo Sound.
Sea ice breaking apart near Scott Base.
Open water in McMurdo Sound.
…and I saw lots of wildlife (more on that coming soon to a blog post near you).
Visiting with some Emperor Penguins. They were hanging out near our airfield while they molted.
And of course, during the overlap period between when I got to station and the last of the summer people left on March 5, the main focus of mine and other winterovers’ time was hanging out with our summer friends – people we wouldn’t see for at least six months.
My summerover friends, Robin & James. We were all DAs together in 2007-08.
Sharon, me and Cameron. We were all MidRats together in 2009-10.
Carlie and Jack, my summer Fleet Ops buddies.
So… yes. There was a lot of this during those socially-active few overlapping weeks:
Empties.
What can I say? We McMurdians are perfesshunals, if nothing else.
Anyway, the last C-17 flew out of here on February 26 – slightly delayed due to all the earthquakes in Christchurch, NZ. Then the actual last flight – an Australian-operated Airbus – took off on March 5, tipping its wings to us as it left in salute. That would be the last (planned) plane we would see for close to six months (spoiler alert: plans changed, but that’s for a later post).
The last flight leaving McMurdo for the winter. So long for the next six months, world. (photo by K. Nelson)
Thus began my second austral winter spent at McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica. Bring on the crazy.
-Ceds
