A little over 5 weeks ago I left London for New Zealand, my final destination being McMurdo, Antarctica. The day after my arrival into Christchurch I made my way to the CDC. Here I got my flu shot (final requirement of PQ) and picked up my ECW gear, necessary for the extreme cold climes of that most southerly of continents. Most useful in this pack is Big Red, mine smells of spilt beer right now though so I don't wear it unless necessary. The following morning, at some ungodly hour, I returned to the CDC to board the C17 bound for Pegasus. The weather was kind, so our flight made it all the way, unlike later in the season when a number of aircraft had to boomerang.
Stepping off the plane in Antarctica I got my first sight of Erebus, standing tall and proud behind the Ivan and two Deltas. I stupidly didn't take any photos of the plane or the mountain, got onto Ivan and headed out to MacTown.
The next five weeks have been a haze of working long hours with intermittent flurries of drinking. I spend alot of hours at LDB as a Beaker, though I try to boondoggle now and again. Before I could get off base for any trips or hikes I had to attend an OSL (safety first). A couple of weeks back I got to go on Happy Camper. Most of this was pretty fun, the hours spent in F-STP weren't great though.
At work (reached by bus from DJ) I deal with SURFs and TURFs, handle alot of BNC, TNC, SMA and N-type though I don't see much of the LARKs and SHORTs. The other members of the team and from UH, UCLA, UW, UD and OSU. The data we get from ANITA during flight will mainly be sent via TDRSS, though LOS is much better when available. Right now I'm working on Ryan's MAGIC Display, trying to make pretty plots with the help of a BEDMAP image.
Our neighbours at LDB are CREAM and ULDB. We're here with NASA and NSF funding. I'm quite jealous of people who get to go out to base camps away from McMurdo - I've met people headed for AGAP (north and south) and WAIS divide as well as Pole. There are also people working is ASMAs and ASPAs which must be pretty cool.
The community here is pretty odd, as expected, but I've met some pretty cool DAs, not so many GAs though, and only one PI and no DVs. Most people in McMurdo are USAP participants, though I have met some from BAS and AntNZ. I've been to a party in the BFC, which is near the Helo pad and MMI. It can get dull out here, but there are activities posted on Highway 1 to help keep people occupied.
I'm trying to make the most out of being here, but I am looking forward to heading home already. Bag drag is still a long time away though, especially with ANITA still on the ground.
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