Well the last time I wrote I was just arriving in Denver for orientation and training. Orientation was as whole lot of information packed in to a very short amount of time. The majority of the training had to do with basic safety, travel, and information on what we can expect when we get down to the ice. I quickly learned that there are two different types of people going to the ice this year. There are those who will be going to Antarctica for the first time, like me, and there are also those who have been going down to work on the various bases for many years. There are many interesting people here from all accross the United States who have lived and traveled all over the world.
After training was finally over, we set out on Monday around noon, and started our long journey to Christchurch, New Zealand. Between the extremely long flights, bus rides, lay overs, transfers, etc., it took me 24+ hours to get here...but somehow I did manage to get here. I also managed to travel into the future somewhere along the way and am now a day ahead of what I was when I started off, which is going to be tough to get used to. New Zealand seems like a very interesting place, I was able to go walk around town for a couple of hours this afternoon and check things out, but because I am so jet-lagged at this point I will probably wait till tomorrow before doing any more exploring.
Tomorrow I am scheduled to pick up my ECW (extreme cold weather) gear, and from there should have the rest of the day to check out the town, until I head out to the ice on the 15th.
Max
ReplyDeleteMy New Zealand contact just told me it's about 3:30am in Christchurch so I figure that you are in bed asleep. I'm looking at your blog with an 8th grade science class. We will be asking questions in the future. The temperature seems to be the biggest thing on their minds. Let us know how cold it is when you arrive on the ice.
Peggy