"Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost." ~~J.R. R. Tolkien
Kiwis. Flowers. Birds. The chirp and smell of spring time. Rugby. The 2011 Rugby World Cup in fact. All of these things equated New Zealand. I had made it!
As it turned out, Qantas didn’t strike and we landed safely in New Zealand yesterday morning in Auckland. It felt amazing to walk off of the plane after a 12 and 1/2hr flight as we made our way towards customs and then to the Jet Star terminal where we had to transfer our bags for the Christchurch flight.
On the flight to Auckland from L.A. we were served dinner, breakfast and had at our disposal a variety of movies or TV. Within ten minutes of the first movie I attempted to watch, I was sound asleep, as comfortable as I could get in a tight space against the window. I woke up about three hours before we were supposed to land in Auckland, just in time for breakfast.
In Auckland we went thru Customs which was relatively painless believe it or not. I was given a twelve month visa and sent on my way.
Two hours later we were back on a plane headed for Christchurch. We landed in Christchurch around 1:30pm, were greeted by the U.S. Antarctic Program, shuttled to our hotel and the rest of the day we had to ourselves.
There were three things on the immediate list after getting my hotel room: 1) Shower, 2) Food 3) Exploration time.
Due to the fact that I didn’t have access to a car or the time to get access to a car, I settled for walking to what I could get to. For one, the first thing that I realized was that we were in a city in New Zealand, but Christchurch could have easily been mistaken for a city in the United States. The only exception was that fashion seemed to be a bit off the wall and everyone had a Kiwi accent. Otherwise, there were Subways, Borders, Starbucks, and a Kmart.
This all was a little sad to see. I wanted to be removed from anything and everything remotely American. I wasn’t here to eat a Subway sandwich or drink a latte; I wanted to see New Zealand. What saved me was that I knew that when I returned from the ice I would have the opportunity to get out of the city and see the real New Zealand. I had full intentions of getting to the mountains and the land of Lord of the Rings. I knew Gollum was waiting for me somewhere out there.
The hidden gem I did find that captured my attention for the two afternoons I had to wander around Christchurch was Hagley Park and the Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens was comprised of acres of unique trees and a variety of plants and shrubs that were in full bloom. Birds fluttered from the trees, mallard ducks with their ducklings swam in the small stream that meandered through the park. In the background were the shouts of a pick-me up game of tag rugby. It was surreal to suddenly be thrust into the world of spring when I had just left fall in Alaska.
All I wanted to do was soak up the smells and vibrant colors. I knew my world would become suddenly very white, filled with the smells of petrol and diesel, although amazing in its own way.
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The actual city center of Christchurch was closed off to the public due to all the damage from the earthquakes. We were able to walk within a few blocks of some of the damage and were able to witness some demolition and what little repairs they’ve been able to do that were going on. Walking by historic old brick buildings that were in ruins was in some ways heartbreaking. I had no way of knowing what the city had been like before. Businesses were just gone. Buildings blocked off, streets closed to the public, yet looking into the windows revealed that everything within still remained as it had become after the earthquakes. People had just left. But where had they gone?
We had the opportunity to stumble across a Rugby festival in honor of the Rugby World Cup that was supposed to have been held in Christchurch, but due to the earthquakes had been relocated to Auckland and elsewhere. I had played rugby in college for three years so it was awesome to wander around and watch men and women play against one another in skirmishes while listening to live music. It made me slightly nostalgic for the wild rugby days of college.
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| The All Blacks Rugby Festival |
Today my hotel group met at the U.S. Antarctic Program headquarters that was near the airport, the CDC (Clothing Distribution Center). It was here that we would get issued all our ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) gear. We had a short briefing on how to check over all the gear, pack the bags properly and label everything appropriately.
It was finally feeling very real as I pulled out my “big red” (the big, red puffy National Science Foundation parka that we’re given) from one of the gear bags they had issued me. I had my very own name tag on my jacket. I was an official participant of the NSF. I felt nervous as I tried it on to see how it would fit. It was a lot heavier than I expected. I felt as if I were lugging around twenty pounds of insulation.
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| AKA: "Big Red" |
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| Packing and gearing up |
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| An example of all the ECW gear we are issued. |
The key thing when trying on all your gear is that you want to make sure that it’s not too big, yet not too confining since you will be wearing a million layers. As it turned out, I ended up exchanging a lot of my gear for smaller sizes. It’s always tough when you’re short and you’re wearing men’s clothes. They’re either too long or too wide. But finally, I was outfitted and everything seemed to fit pretty well.
My final ECW Gear List Consisted of the following:
Big Red
Carhartt Hooded Insulated Jacket
Carhartt Insulated Bibs
2 pair socks
1 set of expedition weight long underwear
1 set of polypropylene long underwear
1 fleece jacket
2 pairs insulated leather gloves
2 pairs glove liners
1 pair of insulated leather mittens
1 fleece hat
1 balaclava
1 neck gaiter
1 pair of the blue FDX (Frankenstein) boots
1 pair of insoles
2 pairs of insulated bootie slippers that are supposed to be worn with the FDX boots
1 Smith Snow Goggles
It was then time to pack my boomerang bag, my carry-on, my checked bags, and what gear I was going to leave behind in Christchurch to wait for my return from the ice. I had decided to leave behind a small backpacking stove, a lightweight sleeping bag, and a set of lightweight clothing for warmer climates. The boomerang bag was to be filled with pj’s, a spare set of clothes, toiletries and whatever other small items we might need in case the flight was turned around and sent back to Christchurch due to bad weather. If we were required to return to Christchurch, we would only be given our boomerang bag until we flew again for the ice.
We were allowed a total of 150lbs for the flight to the ice. Our carry-on bag was not included in this weight so this was where we could add on a few extras. These extras often included such things as: fresh avocados, fruit, chocolate, coffee, teas, snacks, liquor. We could add whatever we wanted as long as the bag fit into the appropriate carry-on bag specifications that the military had set for us.
While at the CDC we also learned what time we would be flying for the ice and what aircraft we would be on. Some of us would be on the C-17 while some of us would be on a military Airbus. I had kept my fingers crossed for the C-17 because that was where the true Antarctic fly-in experience was, but I was on the list for the military Airbus. Either way, it was going to be an experience. We were flying into McMurdo on a giant military plane that had skis on it for landing on the ice.
I would be checking in for my flight at 05:00am on Friday (tomorrow), expected to be in the air by 07:00am. That meant we had to be awake at 04:00am to get picked up by our shuttle at 04:30am. When we stepped onto that plane we were required to be wearing the following: our cold weather boots, insulated bibs, long underwear, Big Red, fleece hat, neck gaiter, and have accessible our goggles, balaclava, and gloves.
Once we boarded that plane, we would blend together as one. Identities virtually lost in the vastness of our red puffy parkas, our names the only give-away as to who we were behind that fur lined hood.
The experience that would be ever life changing was about to commence. I was going to board that flight as one person, and I was going to return a very different person in four months.
I was eagerly waiting to see who that person was that would re-deploy in late February, 2012.
Go Franny!!!
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