Update 15: Headed Home!

[Paul Summers]

Hello from somewhere over the Pacific!

I'm very excited to announce that we have made it through NZ and I'm currently on a flight to California. We made it back to Christchurch from McMurdo on Sunday via a New Zealand Royal Airforce 757. The plane we were originally scheduled to fly on, the C-17, is still not flying due to mechanical issues, so I am very grateful to the Kiwis for flying us out! The 757 is quite similar to other commercial airline 757s you may have flown on, with many more windows and more comfortable seats compared to the military transport LC-130 and C-17s. That said, like most commercial flights the flight was 100% full, and with no assigned seats there was some drama about who got the 'Premium' seating section. But after some rather stern urging by the NZ Air Force, we did all end up on board safe and sound. We walked up a rather shaky stairway, and you can see we had quite the queue to get on board!

Before the Christchurch update, I wanted to share a few more photos from McMurdo. During the delay I opted to keep my camera in my carry on bag instead of a 2nd change of clothes, so I feel I must share them to justify this decision. A week on 2 sets of socks simply must be justified internally for me. With the continued break out of the sea ice we saw some beautiful ice-tide pools, a first for me! Pete even got in on the sight seeing, making his bold trip out for a beach photo shoot that I mentioned last time. I wanted to get a photo of the surfing penguins, but I never did see them despite the sign saying they were around.

This year the sea ice was originally broken up by the icebreaker, but then waves and winds work to break up the remaining ice and blow it out of the sound. Each bit of ice that breaks off, called a floe, can stay intact for some time, and so on days the winds reverse, the entire sound can suddenly refill with ice floes. This happened for us one rather surprising morning when we awoke to a sound full of ice. This made for a very pretty view I thought. Amazingly though all this ice blew out again the next night, disappearing as suddenly as it had appeared. Additionally the broken ice leaves much more opportunity to see seals and penguins actually swimming! I've shared a few photos of swimming penguins, but this day was my first time getting a good shot of a swimming seal around some smaller pancake ice. 

Upon return to Christchurch, which was late in the day around sunset for us, we did get to see the C-17, and we gave it our best wishes for a quick recovery. Turns out the parts flown out specially to repair it ended up being faulty...so I think my well wishes didn't help very much. Hopefully they will get it up and running soon as lots of people are still down in McMurdo! 

In Christchurch we first went back to the clothing distribution center to return our issued extreme cold weather gear, as well as drop off any other issued baggage or equipment we had. We also received our flight information for flying home from Christchurch, and our overnight hotel assignments. I was assigned to the same hotel as I was in for 2 weeks in 2021 as a part of managed isolation quarantine, and even got assigned the room directly above my quarantine room. It was a bit of a shock to walk into a nearly identical room 2 years later. Thankfully this time I was only staying 1 night, not 2 weeks! We got into our rooms about 1030 PM and though I was tired I found the world of fresh sheets, warm wind, modern showers, and views of downtown to be so exciting I had lots of trouble falling asleep. Even though we arrived Sunday, we all were booked flights home on Tuesday, so we had Monday to move to a different hotel for our final night, explore town, stretch our legs and soak in as much summer as we could. I very much enjoyed walking the gardens, I walked over 10 miles, and was so inspired by these kids rope swinging into the river I returned later that day to do the same. I did not do a backflip, but I did enjoy the swing. The swing was quite popular, with another set of kids heckling me to go higher when I came back, but I decided not to push my luck. 

I am currently flying home on the new direct flight from Christchurch to SFO, which is very comfortable on a 787 with inflight internet, albeit a week after I originally hoped to be on it, but such is life. I had planned to take about a week off for vacation anyway, so I think I will just count these last few days as that 'vacation', at least the New Zealand part was quite fun! I will head back to work pretty quickly though as I hope to defend my PhD this coming spring, ideally in May, and there is still a lot of work to do! 

Reflecting back on the season, it has definitely felt long for me and I am quite ready for some time to see loved ones again and rest and recover from the stresses of field work. That said, I am very proud of all the work we did get done, and so impressed by all the people I had the pleasure and privilege to work with. From janitor to cook, forklift operator to fuelie, grantee to field coordinator, absolutely everyone in Antarctica is necessary to get science done, and I am always impressed by everyone I meet there. I don't know if I'll be headed back any time soon, or potentially ever again, but the memories and friendships from Antarctica will certainly last a lifetime. For Pete, it's always a little harder to leave Antarctica (home for him) but I know he too will cherish these memories for years to come. 

As this is likely my last update, I wanted to thank you all for following along! I know my updates are long winded at times, and always filled with typos, but hopefully the photos have been fun. I apologize I didn't respond to all of those who sent messages, but your messages of encouragement and support were always highlights for me! I hope I get to catch up with you all some more very very soon!

Sending my best to you all,

Paul