Great news! We made it to McMurdo yesterday afternoon (approx. 6pm Saturday, Nov. 21 CA time). We were one of the last groups to fly in on the C17 (yay!). Actually, our plane returned to Christchurch with the remaining winterovers of the last season. You could see their smiling faces as they headed toward the plane. Those great people had been on the Antarctic continent for more than a year and were very eager to be going home I'm sure.
The weather here in McMurdo is a rather pleasant 43 deg /37 F with wind chill. After arriving yesterday, I walked around town and down the cove to Discovery Hut, the original hut from explorer's in the early 1900's. Because it is so cold and dry in Antarctica, it takes a long time for decay to occur. Surrounding Discovery Hut are several mummified/petrified seal. They were covered in snow but you could make out their mouths and little flippers!
The sea ice surrounding McMurdo is still very thick so there are a limited amount of wildlife in the area. There were a few seals resting next to Discover Hut, but unfortunately no penguins. Maybe I'll see some on my way out.
We were scheduled to head to South Pole today, but as a backup flight. This means they had another flight planned, but if that couldn't go for weather, then we'd get to South Pole. That flight did take off (which is great since there were people waiting for several weeks to get to their field site) and we are now expected to leave tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed!
I've been resting up from all the traveling in the last week.
Until next time,
Mindy
The weather here in McMurdo is a rather pleasant 43 deg /37 F with wind chill. After arriving yesterday, I walked around town and down the cove to Discovery Hut, the original hut from explorer's in the early 1900's. Because it is so cold and dry in Antarctica, it takes a long time for decay to occur. Surrounding Discovery Hut are several mummified/petrified seal. They were covered in snow but you could make out their mouths and little flippers!
The sea ice surrounding McMurdo is still very thick so there are a limited amount of wildlife in the area. There were a few seals resting next to Discover Hut, but unfortunately no penguins. Maybe I'll see some on my way out.
We were scheduled to head to South Pole today, but as a backup flight. This means they had another flight planned, but if that couldn't go for weather, then we'd get to South Pole. That flight did take off (which is great since there were people waiting for several weeks to get to their field site) and we are now expected to leave tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed!
I've been resting up from all the traveling in the last week.
Until next time,
Mindy