On our way!


Quick note from onboard the RNZAF Boeing 757 before take-off:

It was an early morning today... we all needed to return our RAT results by 4.30am so that our standbys could be called in if needed. Thankfully everyone has tested negative and we're good to go. 

Breakfast and a final bit of (re)packing then out the door at 6.15am. We headed straight to the APT (Antarctic Passenger Terminal) for check-in. A long line formed out the door and around the corner with ~300 passengers all loaded up with Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) clothing,  plus all their luggage. One by one they were allowed to check-in: Identification checked, dangerous goods checked, checked-in luggage weighed, each person weighed with their carry-on gear, and finally exchange of departure cards for 'boarding passes' - a lanyard with a numbered tag.

I then had to duck out to return our rental car, but returned to the APT in good time for a team photo and the pre-departure briefing. Then we filed through security screening and onto the transport to the plane - an old repurposed American school bus. Quite a squeeze with everyone's bags and bulky clothing.

The bus drove us out of the terminal complex, across the public road, then out onto the tarmac to meet the waiting aircraft. We all piled out of the bus for final instructions in the sunshine before boarding the plane... in addition to everything we were already carrying, we also had to collect a lunch bag and water - a difficult load to manage elegantly!

Every seat in the plane is spoken for so we don't have a lot of room. But the real advantage of the 757 is that we all have a window which we can look out of all the way down - unlike the C17s and Hercs which only have 4 little port windows down the whole plane, and noone can be taking in the view during take-off or landing. 

It's now time to taxi, so I'll send this off now. Looking forward to a lovely and fast (only 4½ hours!) and stepping out onto the ice for my eighth time! Hopefully the next update will be from Scott Base!

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meet the team

Image
We’ve got a team of 12 people heading to the ice this season to complete a wide array of interdisciplinary science, with platelet ice at the heart of all the activity. There’s also another five team members who have completed all of the pre-deployment certification just in case anyone is turned back at the last minute (for example if someone is injured or tests positive for covid). Who are these people? Here’s a wee intro to the main team, in alphabetical order: Adam : I’m a camera operator and film producer, specialising in remote and extreme locations. This year I’ll be working alongside Vanessa, collecting documentary footage for The Climate Canary. In my spare time I’m keen to take the underwater ROV for a spin! Brett : I’m a marine instruments technician, and this will be my 14 th trip to Antarctica. In the field camp I’m primarily responsible for overall running of the camp and recovering the oceanographic mooring we installed last year. I’ll enjoy creating a curling sheet s
Read more

Woop woop! We got the mooring back!

Image
Updated 8-11-2022 with photos during a short visit back to Scott Base Happy days! A major and ambitious milestone has been achieved! Last season, when we were here to test the platelet coring system, we deployed a brand-new type of oceanographic mooring with an experimental design. A 'mooring' just means a string of instruments suspended through the water column and programmed to keep collecting data for as long as possible. This is standard operating procedure for ship-based oceanography but is rather a different prospect in our situation, primarily because we have non-permanent sea ice cover to contend with. It is usual for us to deploy a mooring, but to only leave it in the water for the period that we're actually in Antarctica conducting the science. We'll drill a hole in the sea ice, mount a tripod over it, then suspend a weighted line with instruments attached down into the water column. When we've completed the rest of the work, we return to the mooring sit
Read more

3rd time's a charm!

Image
Just a quick note to say we have finally arrived at Scott Base. The flight was a little late getting away this morning as there were new rules in place as to what people could include in checked luggage. But otherwise, the flight was completely without incident. It was an absolute treat to be able to enjoy the view all the way in to landing on a beautiful, still, and cloudless day. Absolutely perfect weather to arrive to. Since arriving at Scott Base around 4.00 pm, we've already been busy with an arrival brief and tour (for those who are new). Then time to find our rooms and set up beds before dinner. A meeting with the Scott Base engineering leads to plan tomorrow's deployment of the container camp followed by a team get together and a tour of our extra containers. We'll be getting straight into training tomorrow morning so that we're all set to head out to the camp on Monday.
Read more