The eagle has landed

Yesterday, on Tuesday October 23, 2007, I completed a life dream: to set foot on every continent. The hours since have been exciting and overwhelming, but here's a tidbit.

To make the hop from New Zealand to Antarctica, we board an Air Force C-17 Globemaster. Huge pallets of cargo take up the middle of the cargo bay, with passengers lining the walls. The flight is loud and drafty, and there are windows only on the exit doors: so it's a bit unnerving to feel the pilot maneuvering without any idea what's going on. But 5 hours after what feels like takeoff, there's a big bump that feels like landing on 7 feet of sea ice. And then, after months of waiting and hoping and paperwork and training, there we are, standing on the ice. Incredible.

Stay tuned for more--for now, I've got to fill up on breakfast, take a walking tour of "town" (ie McMurdo station), and report to work.

Boarding the Globemaster:

Business class redefined: The crew invited us up to see the cockpit:
The viewDisembarking:
Warmly yours,
pepe

Final hours of springtime

Spent the last day in Christchurch soaking up some of the things I'll miss: the sound of ducks, the smell of flowers in bloom, the familiarity of civilization.

ps - Windows machines seem to stretch my pictures in strange ways when I upload them. Any idea why, or how to fix that? (Besides the obvious "find a Mac," of course.)

g'night
pepe

Getting Closer

After 24 hours in airplanes, airports, and other compound words beginning with "air," we've arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand. "We," I should note, includes about thirty of us with the United States Antarctic Program luggage tags, though we travel in small packs rather than in a large herd.
The official itinerary in Christchurch:
-Sunday: overindulge in local microbrews, complicating jet lag recovery (check)
-Monday: report to the Antarctic Center for cold-weather clothing distribution
-Tuesday: early-morning departure for McMurdo station
The big day approaches, yet my excitement is blunted by the desperate desire to sleep in something without a tray table in front of it.

And so I bid you goodnight.
pepe

Checking in from Colorado

The journey has begun! Training consists mainly of sitting and listening to powerpoint presentations on safety and harassment. Perks, though, include a suite hotel room (double-entendre intended) and a brief visit with Noah Weiss, a housemate and fellow engineer from Brown. Departing later today for LAX, AKL, and finally CHC.

(Noah Weiss, his pet king cobra, and myself)

ciao,
pepe

Southward Ho

Terra australis incognita: the unknown southern land. The seventh continent; the big kahuna. Antarctica. Like Shackleton and Mawson before me, this frozen land is my destination. And this humble website is my blog.


The journey will begin with training in Colorado and transit through New Zealand, after which I'll emerge from radio silence in McMurdo station on Ross Island. (A location unfortunately obscured by the crease in Putnam's 1920 map, above.) There, in the midst of an ice shelf the size of Spain, I'll endure five months of self-imposed exile, before returning to New Zealand and the States.

So wish me luck, think warm thoughts, and I hope you enjoy my tales.

Yours,
pepe