Dude, We're Here.

I've been sitting here staring at the screen for the past 10 minutes, not knowing where to start! The past 48 hours have been so new and so exciting -- I'm not sure how to verbalize everything that's happened because it's been such a whirlwind.

Our original C-17 flight from Christchurch to McMurdo was delayed 24 hours because of fog on the ice runway. The flight that had gone out the night before us ended up boomeranging -- aka, got all the way to the station, circled around, and then decided conditions weren't safe to land and flew all the way back to Christchurch. After our flight got delayed, I was really worried that the same thing would happen to us, since this whole fog issue seemed to be going on for days. I heard about a smaller C-130 that was flying out about 8 hours before the C-17 was, and decided I was going to try to weasel my way onto that flight so that I could get there sooner! (C-130's land in pretty much any condition). So Phillip the firefighter, my travel buddy, and I hauled all our stuff out to the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) in the hopes of getting onto the flight. Even if we didn't make it on, we figured we'd just go ahead and get our gear issued so that we wouldn't have to do it later.

Once we got there, we were told that there was a slim chance we'd get on, simply because of weight. But about halfway through my gear issue, someone poked their head in and said, "Alright, you're leaving in 40 minutes!" So, we threw on our ECW (extreme cold weather) gear and boarded! It was really interesting flying in a military plane -- it's not quite as cushy as a commerical flight, what with the noise-reducing earplugs you have to wear and the cargo nets you have to sit on. But, I did get to go up into the cockpit which was pretty awesome.

Once we landed, a shuttle took us into town, which is about a 40-minute drive. About halfway there, we pulled over because there were 2 Adelie penguins right next to the road! They were SO CUTE. And absolutely hilarious. Emperor penguins are majestic, but they just kind of stand there. Adelies are wild and crazy and run around and have a ton of personality. They were awesome.

So now I'm settling into my surroundings, trying to get acquainted with the environment and the station! This post is getting long, so I'll be heading out, but check back for updates!

Peace, love & penguins!!