G-063 is all packed up and ready to fly back to Christchurch, New Zealand, but we can't yet! We were originally supposed to depart yesterday but poor weather conditions have caused several flight delays. Now we are scheduled to leave on Saturday. We befriended another team of researchers who were scheduled on the flight ahead of us. At one point earlier in the week, they actually got so far as to be on the plane with the propellers turning, only to be sent back to McMurdo! They finally successfully left here yesterday.
While we wait, we've found some fun things to do. Yesterday we had a really fun cross-country ski outing! We borrowed cross-country skis and hiked them over the hill to Scott Base, a couple of miles away. Scott Base is the New Zealand base of operations here in Antarctica. Its much smaller than McMurdo Station, and many operations are conducted jointly between the two.
Megan hiking her skis over to Scott Base.
From Scott Base, we skied out on the snow covered ice that surrounds the island that we are on. It was very flat and made for a fast ski. We traveled on an ice/snow road that goes to a landing strip about 6 miles out. Occasionally we were passed by bulldozers that were grooming the road, and also shuttles that take people to and from the airfield.
G-063 skiing near Scott Base.
We've also used some of the extra time here to debrief our field season. What went well? What would we do differently next time? We wish we hadn't missed the week in the field that was cut off due to weather at the beginning. We also brainstormed about how we could have organized our time and energy a little bit more efficiently. For instance, would have been worth it to have an ATV so we'd spend less time and energy pulling sleds? Overall, we're very happy with the amount of tasks that were accomplished during our pretty complex field season.