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<\/a><\/p>\nOn Sunday, shuttles picked us up from several different hotels and took us to the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) Clothing Distribution Center.\u00a0 This is also the terminal where we will board our planes from.\u00a0 \u00a0We had briefings there, had our laptops screened for viruses, got flu shots, and were issued our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) Gear.<\/p>\n Today, we have to wear our core gear (parka, pants, boots, balaclava, gloves) on the the flight that takes us to the Ice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While I was here in Christchurch, I also able to meet up with the rest of my team.\u00a0 They arrived 3 days before me and were supposed to already be on the ice when I arrived.\u00a0 But poor weather conditions at McMurdo have caused delays for several days and they haven’t been able to send their flight to McMurdo yet.\u00a0 So, the new plan is to get all of us (from both flights) out today on a C-17,\u00a0 which is a large military transport plane (much larger than the C-130s).\u00a0 There are 111 of us total for the flight scheduled today, plus all of our gear and I am sure cargo.<\/p>\n So far, I haven’t received any new updates!\u00a0 So, hopefully, the next time I write, it will be from McMurdo!<\/p>\n UPDATE:\u00a0 About an hour after I wrote this, while I was taking my bags to the front desk to check out, I received a message that we had a 24 hr fly delay.\u00a0 So, we will try again tomorrow!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today is my scheduled Ice Flight to McMurdo Station.\u00a0 I woke up at 4 am to get ready to leave and received phone call at 4:40 notifying me that the ice flight was delayed for 4 hrs.\u00a0 So, I took a nap, had a good breakfast, and now have time to write this post! I arrived here on Saturday after about 30 hrs of traveling (my house – to the hotel here in Christchurch).\u00a0 New Zealand is a day ahead and 4 hrs behind Seattle time, so I skipped Friday! On my flights here, I met quite a few people traveling to McMurdo as well. Some are grantees (people working on the science projects) working on the ice for a month or 2, and some are support people who will be here for the entire field season (4 months).\u00a0 There are people studying neutrinos, and doing research in the dry valleys.\u00a0 And there are people with firefighting jobs, and heavy equipment operators.\u00a0I even met a nurse who loved spending the summer season here doing all sorts of jobs.\u00a0 This year, she is a janitor. Some have been here for 16 seasons.\u00a0 And, for some of us (like me), it is our first season at McMurdo. On Sunday, shuttles picked us up from several different hotels and took us to the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) Clothing Distribution Center.\u00a0 This is also the terminal where we will board our planes from.\u00a0 \u00a0We had briefings there, had our laptops screened for viruses, got flu shots, and were issued our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) Gear. Today, we have to wear our core gear (parka, pants, boots, balaclava, gloves) on the the flight that takes us to the Ice. While I was here in Christchurch, I also able to meet up with the Continue reading Christchurch and Deployment Preparations<\/span><\/a><\/a>