Back On The Ice

I landed today at McMurdo, marking my 12th season
on the Ice. It was really one of the easiest, most
uneventful trips I think I've ever had down here.
We did have a one day delay in Christchurch due to
the weather in McMurdo, but overall the whole trip
was pretty seamless. After two days of orientation
in Denver, we hopped on a relatively short flight to
Los Angeles and a six hour layover. Then a 13 hour
flight to Auckland, where I enjoyed some really good
airport sushi and then down to Christchurch. I'll
post some more photos of the damage in Christchurch
soon, but to sum it up in one word, that would be
"devastating". Having that extra day in Christchurch
meant that I was able to visit some of my favorite
places in Christchurch and then came the flight down
to the Ice. I was fortunate enough to fly again on
the Skytraders Airbus that is making trips courtesy
of USAP's agreement with the Australian Antarctic
Division. I sat in the exact same seat as my trip
down last year and got some fantastic photos of Mt.
Erebus and Ross Island on the approach to the brand
new Ice Runway. It was great to be reunited with Lynn
after six weeks and we settled into our cozy temporary
dorm room. We'll be making our permanent move in about
two weeks when our winter-over friend departs our
summer room. Until then...back to work!