So, I was incorrect in my estimation of the weather. Despite being cancelled in Wednesday, the weather cleared nicely Thursday and I was able to make the four flights home, returning Friday and on time for Ava’s birthday party.
I’m so relieved to be home.
(Incidentally, a scientist in McMurdo told me that there’s the same amount of weather detecting technology on the entire continent of Antarctica than is in the entire state of Texas. No wonder it’s difficult to always tell the weather.)
In fact, I’d been thinking of home right about after my second week. Before I left, Ava’s second grade teacher and I jokingly said that I should have a Skype chat with the class while I was at McMurdo. There’s many things difficult about the proposition, namely that the internet connection on and off the continent is extremely thin, making any live streaming very difficult, if not mostly impossible. As a result, there’s a rule on station that only allows Skyping as a part of educational outreach, if telemedicine is needed, or if grantees or other higher-ups have the need. All I had to do was ask, and I would be given a chance to Skype from mid-way up Ob Hill with my daughter’s second grade class. I could not only say hello, but I could teach the youngsters about Antarctica as a habitat (a lesson they were doing at the time).
So, on the Thursday before I left, I got up very, very early and tried connecting with Ava and Mr. Olsen’s class in Centennial.
Mr. Olsen sent the below to me later. Ava’s face makes me tear up every time.
I say “tried” because, while we made a great connection for about two to three minutes, all southbound traffic was lost on my end. In other words, they could hear and see me, but I couldn’t hear or see them. As a result, I talked for a few more minutes, re-tried the connection a few times, and gave up, discouraged. There’s a saying we all use on station, “Antarctica: It’s a harsh continent.” Knowing this, I thought I had lost my chance to try again. However, Antarctica wouldn’t be so harsh to me the second time around.
That next Tuesday (Monday in Denver), we re-established a Skype session that lasted for almost a full 20 minutes.
I was able to turn the camera to show the class White Island, Black Island, Mount Discovery, the area sea ice, and a slightly smoldering Mount Erebus, talking about all of these features while also informing the class of daily life during the summer in McMurdo.
We even sang Ava Happy Birthday, surprising her. She wasn’t aware that we’d be able to reconnect before I got home. I felt amazing.
Seeing as I anticipated leaving the next day, this was probably the best way to end an already amazing trip. As such, I spent a good part of the day packing, grabbing a few drinks with friends, and saying my goodbyes.
I also grabbed a few more shots of the beautiful day on Thursday morning, right before flying out. The view from the water treatment plant in McMurdo is simply the best.
I ended up getting on the flight that day with a group of about 45 “Polies,” or personnel from various positions who had spent one extremely long winter at South Pole and added to that almost 10 days of flight delays getting off continent. Yup. One four-weeker and 45 ten to thirteen people who had been at South Pole for over a year. I planned on keeping my head down and being quiet.
Turns out the experience was quite the opposite: So excited were they that they would see grass or trees again, use a cell phone and actually “text” someone, see dogs or babies, or actually drive a car over 25 mph that they made the trip home a hoot.
In actuality, the hit home for me on one very important level: Being that this was my second time to McMurdo, I wanted to make sure I didn’t take that place, that continent and all it has to offer, for granted. Instead, they reminded me that the experience of being there is unique, almost sacred.
Those are shots from the Phoenix Airfield, the new airfield at McMurdo where the C-17s land on their trips back and forth from Christchurch. We stood outside for about an hour in the beautiful weather just waiting on the plane to come in, and witnessed a perfect landing. It would be the plane that would carry us home.
The plane ride to Christchurch was awesome. The plane was almost empty, and our flight got into the city a little bit early.
I had just enough time to shower and re-pack my bags and grab anything I needed for the commercial flights home the next morning. I even grabbed a couple beers and one of the best burger I’d eaten in a long time.
That night I slept extremely well in a room I did not have to share with anyone.
When I got to the airport for the first leg of my flight, I was excited to see that some of the Polies were also flying out with me. A few sat near me during the flight from Christchurch to Auckland, where Leonardo (of TMNT) was kind enough to pass out mints after the in-flight service
The flight attendants made him do this after coming to understand that being Leo was part of his weekend-long stag party. His friends all around him snickered the entire flight, while I overheard one Polie say, “He’d get along great at Pole.”
There’s not much else to report on the way home: The leg from Auckland to San Francisco was nice. I had an aisle to myself to lay down in during the 11 hour flight, and we arrived early. I was even invited to hang in a VIP lounge, courtesy of two of the Polies who had access, calling me their “re-deployment supervisor” to make sure they get adjusted and to the final flights ok.
Pulled into Denver right at rush hour, but I didn’t mind. I was finally back.
Until next time, dear readers.
