There are only two ways to get to Antarctica, by plane or by boat (maybe a few others if you are really creative, but these are the two most efficient). Our LONG journey began around lunchtime on Thursday, November, 4 in Kansas City. We had a 'short' flight to Dallas (just over an hour), then a longer flight (about 3 hours) out to Los Angeles.
A look from above of the International Terminal at LAX airport. Photo credit: Brandon Gillette
Here we met Gordon and Kristin traveling in from Maine. They had a similar trip after leaving from Bangor earlier that afternoon. At 11:30pm PDT, we boarded our flight to Auckland, NZ where we arrived at 9:30am NZST (nearly 14 hours later) on Saturday, November 6. WAIT?!? What happened to Friday? When flying west from the United States you will eventually cross the International Date Line. Friday completely disappeared into the night for us. The flight was relatively calm with the best part being our descent into Auckland. Veering a sharp right, dipping the wings below the view of the horizon exposing a magnificent view of the landscape as we dropped through a layer of stratus and stratocumulus clouds!
Once we arrived in Auckland we went through customs, being sure to declare any outside fruit or nuts or indicate if we have recently been to a farm or forest. New Zealand is very strict about what comes into the country so as to protect their environment from invasive species.
With one more flight to go, the four of us grabbed a nice cup of coffee and sat outside the airport on green grass and enjoyed the 50 degree morning! After another 'short' (just over 1 hour) flight, we arrived in Christchurch, NZ, home of the United States Antarctic Program.
As we sit in a coffee shop getting caught up on the last two days worth of work and news, the early spring weather is gorgeous! Now it's off to dinner and then SLEEP! Tomorrow we take some field refresher courses at the clothing distribution center (CDC) and check-out our extreme cold weather (ECW) gear. Monday . . . to the ice!
A look out the window from the Windsor B&B lobby. Photo credit: Brandon Gillette
A side-street in Christchurch, NZ. Photo credit: Brandon Gillette